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Hey Gamers, After community feedback, and internal testing, we have decided to add Warrior to the list of banned traits. This decision is based on the idea that using Warrior leads to situations where players are unfairly given an advantage, for example where a player is hit and recovers faster than the player who made the hit. Additionally, there is the possible meta interaction to consider where banning Truculence, but leaving Warrior available could, and from observation of recent games has, lead to a large increase in Warrior use due to it not having a natural 'counter' available to players – tilting the scales in favour of forwards vs. defenders. As stated previously, we have been monitoring the community discussion and while there is an active ongoing discussion about the banning of other traits, especially Sponge, at this time we have only received concrete evidence of Warrior exhibiting game-altering behaviour, and as such we have elected to not include any additional traits in this latest ban update. Our intention by implementing this change before the start of the ECL pre-season is to provide teams with as stable a base as possible in their ongoing preparations for the upcoming ECL ’26: Winter season. As far as other traits go, we will of course continue to examine community feedback, as well as gameplay balance, and revisit if need be, but at present the evidence in front of us leads us to believe that no other remaining unbanned traits are in the game altering position that Warriors holds. ECL ’26: Winter Restrictions After extensive discussion and testing, the League Administration has decided to continue restricting several player Abilities and Builds that were found to have a disproportionate impact on gameplay. The following restrictions apply across all ECL divisions for the ECL ’26: Winter season. 🛑 Banned Abilities All tiers (Gold, Blue, and Red) of the following abilities are banned: Big Rig Big Tipper Elite Edges Hipster No Contest Pressure+ Spark Plug Truculence Unstoppable Warrior Wheels These abilities have shown to create unbalanced or unintended gameplay advantages, reducing the importance of player skill and positioning. Specifically, as a category, we have wanted to slow down the gameplay by prohibiting abilities that add significant speed boosts. The bans help ensure that all players compete on an even playing field, where awareness and execution matter most. ⚔️ Position-Based Build Restrictions To further preserve role balance and gameplay authenticity: Forwards cannot use defensive classes: Defensive Defender, Enforcer Defender, Offensive Defender, Two-Way Defender, Puck Moving Defender Defenders cannot use forward classes: Dangler, Enforcer, Grinder, Playmaker, Power Forward, Sniper, Two-Way Forward Additionally, skaters and goalies cannot use special characters or custom character builds. 🧾 Enforcement Violations of the above bans will be handled as follows: 1st Infraction – Team captain warning + player suspended for 2 games + potential WO loss* 2nd Infraction – Second captain warning + full lineup warning + player suspended for 4 games + potential WO loss* 3rd Infraction – Captain suspended for 2 games + player suspended for 4 games + 2-point deduction + potential WO loss* *A Walkover (WO) loss will only apply if the offending team was clearly informed and continued to use banned Abilities or Builds afterward. Clear video evidence is required when reporting violations. You can view the full ECL '26: Winter - Official Rules here. Looking Forward While the overall ability structure remains similar to previous seasons, the addition of position-based build restrictions represents another step toward a stronger global standard. As always, we’ll continue to monitor gameplay trends and community feedback throughout the Winter season and forward your feedback directly to EA SPORTS. Thank you once again for your ongoing passion and input — it’s what continues to drive the ECL forward. Best regards, League Administration

It's time to kick off the ECL '26: Winter - Elite & Pro Qualifiers, and in this article, we'll cover everything you need to know about the structure and schedules for the qualifiers of these two highest levels of play in the European Championship League. The ECL Elite Qualifier consists of five (5) teams competing for two (2) open ECL Elite spots. The five teams meet in a group stage where every team plays each other twice - meaning each team will play 8 games. The TOP 4 teams go into a final round where #1 of the group stage plays #4 and #2 plays #3. The winners of these two matchups will win the promotion to Elite. The losers of the final round, along with the bottom team of the group stage will play in ECL Pro for the ECL '26: Winter season. ECL Elite Qualifier Schedule Group Stage: 11-20.11.2025 Finals (BO7): 23.-26.11.2025 #1 vs #4 & #2 vs #3 Click here to find the standings and schedule Stage 1: Twelve promotions The ECL Pro Qualifier consists of twenty-four (24) teams competing for seventeen (17) open ECL Pro spots. The group stage consists of four (4) groups of six (6) teams where every team plays each other twice - meaning each team will play ten (10) games.Teams have been snake-seeded into Stage 1 groups based on previous ECL ranking. Wild card team seeds have been randomized. The top 3 of the group stage in each group is directly promoted to ECL Pro. The rest of the teams move into Stage 2. Please note that every game matters in Stage 1. If you're outside of the TOP 3 in Stage 1, you will take with you all the points you were able to win against the other teams you played that are going into Stage 2. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Team 1 Team 2 Team 3 Team 4 Team 8 Team 7 Team 6 Team 5 Team 9 Team 10 Team 11 Team 12 Team 16 Team 15 Team 14 Team 13 Team 17 Team 18 Team 19 Team 20 Team 24 Team 23 Team 22 Team 21 Stage 2: Four promotions Groups 1 and 2 will merge into one group (A), and Groups 3 and 4 will merge into a second group (B). The points earned among the teams who already met in Stage 1 will be added to the standings and the teams will only play the three (3) teams they haven't met before. Once the games have been played and the standings have been tallied up, the top two (2) teams of both groups A & B will be promoted to ECL Pro. The two (2) teams finishing third in the groups will compete in a BO7 series for the final Pro spot. Teams finishing 4-6 in both groups will play in ECL Lite for the ECL '26: Winter season. Group A: 1+2 Group B: 3+4 Team 16 Team 14 Team 15 Team 13 Team 17 Team 19 Team 18 Team 20 Team 24 Team 22 Team 23 Team 21 Stage 3: One promotion The two (2) teams finishing 3rd in groups A and B of Stage 2 meet in one final best-of-7 matchup and the winner of the matchup will be promoted to ECL Pro. Group A #3 vs Group B #3 The loser of the final round will play in ECL Lite for the ECL '25: Winter season. ECL Pro Qualifier Schedule Pro Qualifiers | Stage 1: 12-19.11.2022 (All teams) Pro Qualifiers | Stage 2: 20-24.11.2025 (12 teams) Pro Final Round (BO7): 25.11.2025 (2 teams) Click here to find the standings and schedule If teams are tied in points at the end of the group stage, the following tie-breakers* will be applied in the order that they are listed: Group placement Points per game (PPG) Wins (including OT-wins) Head-to-head record (points in mutual games) Goal difference (across all games played) Scored goals (across all games played) *In the event of the tie-breakers being applied to teams from differing group sizes, ‘wins’ will be represented as a percentage, head-to-head will naturally be disregarded, goal-difference will be made into an ‘average per game’ amount, goals scored will (like goal difference before it) be converted into an ‘average per game’, then finally, if all else fails to break the tie between two teams, a coin flip will decide. Good luck to all teams!