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    ECL ’26: Winter - Ability & Build Bans

    Hello, ECL Community!

    The debate around X-Factors, abilities, and player builds in competitive EASHL continues to be one of the most discussed topics within our community. Over the past month after the NHL 26 release, we’ve followed your conversations closely — in Discord threads, party chats, and private messages — and we want to thank everyone who has contributed to this discussion.
     

    Ability_and_Build_Bans_ECL_26_Winter.jpg

    This season, our goal has been twofold:

    1. To maintain a fair and consistent competitive environment for all divisions, and
    2. To strengthen alignment with our North American counterparts so that competitive 6v6 hockey moves forward together on both sides of the Atlantic.

    We’ve been in regular contact with our North American counterparts to share experiences, discuss balancing, and explore ways to create a more unified competitive environment.

    In addition, SportsGamer and other league representatives will take part in an upcoming conversation with EA SPORTS to exchange insights on gameplay balance, abilities, and the overall direction of EASHL. These discussions are part of an ongoing effort to ensure that community feedback from both regions is heard and considered as the game continues to evolve.

    We believe that sharing unified feedback and experiences from both regions will help shape the next steps for the entire EASHL ecosystem.

    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.
     

    ECL_26_Winter_Player_Ability_Bans.png

     

    🛑 Banned Abilities

    All tiers (Gold, Blue, and Red) of the following abilities are banned:

    • Big_Rig_rulebook.png Big Rig 
    • Big_Tipper_rulebook.png Big Tipper 
    • Elite_Edges_rulebook.png Elite Edges
    • Hipster_rulebook.png Hipster
    • No_Contest_rulebook.png No Contest
    • Pressure_Plus_rulebook.png Pressure+
    • Spark_Plug_rulebook.png Spark Plug
    • Truculence_rulebook.png Truculence
    • Unstoppable_rulebook.png Unstoppable
    • Wheels_rulebook.png 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




    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    1 tunti sitten, sopulii_ kirjoitti:

    I guess this is more of a bug fix than a nerf, the ability still gives a considerable stamina boost (even if it is only a one time thing now)

    I think it can be directly compared to wheels tbh - when it activates, you get a boost in stamina which equals a boost in speed in practice.

    It's also a very odd game mechanic, where you're incentivised to actually use all your energy when you're already low on energy? So to gain energy you can just use more energy lol. It's just not realistic in the slightest.

    (And ankle breaker imo is just stupid, because it makes defenders fall over for no reason)

    All of these are valid points, yes.

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    I don’t know anything about playing goalie but every time a goalie saves a shot (usually a onetimer) on a wide open net that ”should” be going in, red sponge activates. 

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    1 tunti sitten, tbnantti kirjoitti:

    I don’t know anything about playing goalie but every time a goalie saves a shot (usually a onetimer) on a wide open net that ”should” be going in, red sponge activates. 

    Menee liian vaikeaksi selittää englanniksi niin selitän suomeksi, mutta se miten mä olen käsittänyt veskareiden perkit ja mitä tuolla Between the Pipes -serverillä (maailman isoin veskaserveri 2 250 jäsentä) on testattu, niin niitä perkkejä on 3/5, jotka aktivoituu jokaisessa torjunnassa: Sponge, Dialed In ja Recharge. Koska ruudulla voi näkyä vain yksi aktivoituva perkki kerrallaan niin siinä näkyy maalivahdin ”korkein” senhetkinen perkki. Eli käytännössä joko punainen Sponge tai Dialed In, kun ne on ne jotka suurimmalla osalla on auki. Jos veskarilla on molemmat noista käytössä, niin Spongella on prioriteetti näkyä ruudulla, mutta myös Dialed In aktivoituu taustalla. Ja sitten tietenkin veskarin siniset ja kultaiset perkit aktivoituu taustalla, vaikka ne ei näy ruudulla erityisesti tuo Recharge.

     

    Koska veskareilla on niin vähän punasia perkkejä, niin jokaisella on käytännössä joko punainen Dialed In tai Sponge perkki käytössä, mutta se johtuu vain vaihtoehtojen vähyydestä, ei siitä että ne välttämättä olisi itsessään OP. Suurin osa ihmisistä ei ole grindannu season passia loppuun, että olisi saanut punaisen Post 2 Postin auki, joka on ainakin Jenkeissä meta ja antaa huomattavan buustin sivuttaisliiketorjuntoihin.

     

    Eli vaikka noi perkit aktivoituu jokaisessa torjunnassa, se ei tarkoita että se torjunta johtuisi siitä perkistä itsessään. Kun Sponge aktivoituu, niin se aktivoituu näyttääkseen, että se kyseinen torjunta on ”hallittu” torjunta tai että veska peitti kiekon nopeammin. Jos Dialed In aktivoituu niin se tarkoittaa, että peli on laskenut sen myötä 6 % lisää torjuntataitoa lisää veskalle.

     

    Sama pätee kenttäpelaajiin, vaikka sä teet maalin ranteella ja Quick Release aktivoituu, ei se silti tarkoita itsessään että sä teit sen maalin sen perkin ansiosta, se vaan kertoo että se sun perkki aktivoituu. Eli menet vaikka käytännössä laukomaan tyhjään maaliin, niin Quick Release aktivoituu ihan samalla tapaa edelleen, mutta ei se maali sen ansiosta tullut.

     

    Käytännössä siis jos Sponge yksistään bannattaisiin niin se ei poistaisi noita epäansaittuja torjuntoja, se vaan lisäisi EA ripulimaaleja. Ei Sponge ole edes HUTissa läheskään paras veskaperkki IMO. Tää nykyinen Sponge on sama Sponge mikä oli 24 ja 25, ainoastaan tehokkaampana.

     

    Ja kuten mä tossa aiemmin laskin, niin tää 26 ei ole mitään verrattuna 24 missä veskat otti epäansaittuja torjuntoja milloin mistäkin ja se myös näkyy aika selvästi tossa maalikeskiarvossa. Ja vaikka niitä epäansaittuja torjuntoja tuli vähemmän 25, niin kyllä niitä silti koko ajan tuli eikä se ole koskaan liittynyt perkkeihin vaan tähän EA:n pelimoottoriin. Jos tässä olisi joku poppakeino saada ne pois niin usko pois olisin täysillä mukana, mutta musta tuntuu että pettymys on suuri, jos oletus on että punainen Sponge banaaniin ja niitä epäansaittuja seivejä ei enää tulis.

    Edited by FINSeRe
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    11 tuntia sitten, ItzPoro kirjoitti:

    where is goalie ability bans? 🤔

    Being goalie is hard enough with x-factors on so no need to remove those. Now with these banned x-factors most forwards will use quick release and 1T perk so it should make scoring easier

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    6 timmar sedan, sopulii_ säger:

    I guess this is more of a bug fix than a nerf, the ability still gives a considerable stamina boost (even if it is only a one time thing now)

    I think it can be directly compared to wheels tbh - when it activates, you get a boost in stamina which equals a boost in speed in practice.

    It's also a very odd game mechanic, where you're incentivised to actually use all your energy when you're already low on energy? So to gain energy you can just use more energy lol. It's just not realistic in the slightest.

    (And ankle breaker imo is just stupid, because it makes defenders fall over for no reason)

    ^ Yes.

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    As my colleague wrote above.
    This is not HUT where it works completely differently and it has a logic like that. Here everyone has the opportunity to play for themselves, their own thoughts, their own fingers, their own decisions in situations. Team game. If you want advantages, you have to play other games. "Advantages" have nothing to look for in CHEL and a lot of people prefer the game without them because they want to play hockey. And with Advantages, it's definitely not hockey

     

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    Ban them all, make a shitty game even a little bit better.

     

    - Variety on making builds (or at least they wont look the same as they have for the past 4 years).  -->  cant rock with 70ish wrist shot and quick release if you want to score

     

    - Eliminates some of the most ridiculous types of animations that help you retrieve the puck or get in a better position caused by traits, which cant be expected by the opposition --> game becomes less "rng" (more competitive), more realistic 

     

    - there aint 6 superhumans running around the ice playing their own game --> team game, playing together matters, again more realistic

     

    For sure, this will result in a few "ea goals" as you have to find new ways to score instead of trusting the old traits which names have just been changed. Well they are bound to happen each year, as so many things before even getting to a scoring opportunity are caused by some random code (puck pickups, pass receptions...). 

     

    One would most likely state that banning all traits will cause all teams to collapse in front of the net, well what changes? Teams are already doing that

     

    As much of I hope ban them all which actually made those domestic leagues the most enjoyable part of the year, at least ban the warrior trait. Game loses all meaning when you hit skater having it, and they actually recover from the ground faster than you do from that animation -> breaks the game

     

     

     

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