On March 21, 2019, Europe-based esports organizations will finally be able to compete at the highest level of PUBG. The PUBG Europe League (PEL) will become the counterpart to North America’s National PUBG League (NPL), which has been active since Feb. 1, 2019. European teams and fans have been patiently waiting, but they won’t have to wait much longer. In less than two weeks, top-tier PUBG teams based in Europe will come together to initiate the action!
When do they play?
The PEL format is a little different than the NPL format, but it is pretty similar. The European league will consist of three “phases” in 2019, with the first phase being three weeks long. Starting on Thursday, March 21, there will be four days a week of gameplay (Thursday through Sunday). On each day, the 16 teams involved will play five matches together. Phase one is scheduled to end on April 7, 2019.
How long is the season?
The format of the league phases closely resembles that of the NPL. Currently, there are 16 teams in the PEL, but their spots are constantly up for grabs! Phase one is going to be much shorter than the other phases. With that in mind, PUBG Corporation announced, “no team will leave PEL and no one will join PEL” at the end of the phase. However, there is still a reason to play your best due to the point system in place.
PUBG has implemented a point system that will rank the teams in the league. This point system’s purpose is to determine which teams will participate in global competitions such as the FACEIT Global Summit. The summit is an international competition between several regions, and a similar tournament will be held at the end of phase 2. These international tournaments are also going to have much larger prize pools than the phases. At the end of phase 3, teams will compete in the PUBG Global Championship and qualify based on their performance in the previous phases.
PEL Contenders League
The PEL and other PUBG leagues seem to be inspired by European football leagues (soccer for all of the Americans). The relegation formula resembles that of the football leagues, but the PUBG teams have a fighting chance. At the end of phase 2 and 3, the four lowest-ranked teams will have to fight for their right to stay in the PEL. The teams they will be fighting with will be the top 12 teams from the PEL Contenders League in the PEL Promo Tournament. This system allows teams in the Contenders League to play at the highest level when they deserve to instead of having to wait until next year. The top four teams from the PEL Promo Tournament will advance into the PEL while the other 12 will be sent back (relegated) into the Contenders League.
Who is going to play?
The first 16 teams participating in the PEL include six teams that were directly invited. These teams have proven themselves in the past to be ready to compete at the highest level. The other 10 teams for phase 1 qualified through PEL LAN Qualifiers and fought their way in. Here is your PEL lineup for phase 1:
What do you think of PUBG implementing a relegation system? Do you think that the league formats should be the same between regions? Be sure to let me know in the comments, and check in later for further articles about the FACEIT Global Summit and updates on all things PUBG down the road!
Published: Mar 8, 2019 02:33 pm