QEL x Brazil Fortress 6v6 Proving Grounds 1 - Sponsored by TF2easy

Brazil Fortress and Quick Esports League are proud to announce Proving Grounds 1, a multi-regional competitive 6v6 event for North America, South America, and Europe.

The tournament features medals and a $1,500 USD prize pool, with $500 USD per region. Running from January 31st to February 1st, the tournament will include four divisions for NA, EU, and SA, and will follow a double-elimination format with Bo1 matches and Bo3 playoff rounds.

Proving Grounds 1 serves as the first installment of the Proving Grounds series, one of the several event formats planned under QEL going forward.

Signups

Signups are open from January 21st to January 30th. All signups will take place on our website. Teams will signup to the division they intend to play in. All teams will be manually approved by the QEL staff team, and QEL reserves the right to adjust team placements between divisions accordingly.

Format

Proving Grounds 1 will follow a 6v6 format, consistent with QEL's previous In-Season and Post-Season Cups. Teams will play with standard 6v6 class limits, with one offclass permitted at any given time. For example, teams may not have both a Heavy and Engineer at the same time.

The event will use a modified whitelist, similar to previous QEL 6v6 events. The following items are banned:
* Market Gardener
* Quickiebomb Launcher
* Loch-n-Load
* Wrap Assassin

The cup will be a two day double elimination event taking place on Saturday January 31st, and Sunday February 1st.

Schedule

Saturday, January 31st - Day 1

North America: 6:00 PM EST
South America: 18:00 / 6:00 PM GMT-3
Europe: 18:00 / 6:00 PM CET
The expected number of matches to be played will be announced early on Saturday once teams are finalized.

Sunday, February 1st - Day 2

North America: 5:00 PM EST
South America: 17:00 / 5:00 PM GMT-3
Europe: 17:00 / 5:00 PM CET
Played until completion.

A week ago, the scene shifted.
Big announcements. Sudden changes. Patterns resurfacing.
And some ideas... seem familiar.
The community's commotion is still spreading.

QEL has been watching, aware of everything happening.
Patiently. Quietly. Calculating.

We are not yet ready to share all the details, but the plans are in motion.
And they are bigger than anyone expects.

January 2026.

The stage is set.