Overall Format

PROJECT PBE Set 17 is a competitive Teamfight Tactics event designed to bring together top players from around the world to compete on the PBE server using a custom Discord bot for ladder tracking and tournament management. The event’s Tier 1 circuit consists of the top 350 players, determined by their peak regional rank* up until February 15th, 2026, who sign up to compete. Worlds attendees and Tier 1 pros from Sets 15 and 16 are automatically qualified for the event, but they must still submit a sign-up form. The Tier 2 circuit includes the next 400 players based on the same peak rank criteria. A promotion and demotion system has been introduced starting Set 17, so top performers in Tier 2 no longer automatically qualify for Tier 1 in the following set, and Tier 2 no longer has separate prizing; only the MAJOR has prizing. Finally, an Open circuit is also available for any remaining competitors who signed up, but did not qualify for Tier 1 or Tier 2 but were able to reach the Masters+ before the snapshot date. Competitive integrity is emphasized, and if there are insufficient sign-ups, the event organizer reserves the discretion to determine participant cutoffs. Players who have registered and have been selected, will see their role in the official Discord change based on the circuit they have qualified for. For Set 17, PROJECT PBE will also be working with DataTFT to produce statistics during the event that can benefit the wider TFT community, providing insights into meta trends, compositions, and player performance.

The top 25 players from the Tier 1 ladder will advance to the PROJECT PBE MAJOR, a two-day tournament taking place April 11th and 12th, 2026, with the first game starting at 10:00 AM EST. The tournament is conducted in a multi-game format with reseeding and elimination procedures, including Day 1 matches for the top 25 players, reseeding after each game, cutting the bottom players after game four, and having the remaining top 16 play two additional games. Bonus points are awarded based on ladder placement: the first-place player receives a bye for Day 2, second through ninth place earn +2 points, and tenth through seventeenth place earn +1 point. Day 2 features a checkmate format, where 20 points are required to achieve a check, and players must finish first to checkmate once they reach this threshold. The top finishers in the Major receive prizing, with the total amount for Tier 1 yet to be decided; Set 16’s Tier 1 prizing was $3,000 USD. Prizing is distributed exclusively via PayPal. Finally, an updated video manual for Set 17 will be provided before the event to familiarize players with using the bot effectively.

*Regional rank is cross referenced utilizing a regional LP multipliers calculator that we’ve created in order to better cross-compare regions. While the current state of our “True LP” calculator is good enough to produce meaningful cross-comparison, we are still trying to improve the calculator as much as possible before the start of the event via formula updates and feedback from top pro players from around the globe. We will be releasing the math and formula behind the calculator prior to the event for full transparency when sign-ups close. For now, we are still improving the formula as much as possible.

Overall Format – Decay System and Tiebreakers

The ladder portion will run from April 6th to April 10th, 2026, with exact times to be announced. During this period, players use the Project PBE Discord bot to compete for Beta LP (BLP), which is updated frequently via our custom-built Discord bot. Queue times are expected to remain short, generally no longer than five minutes. Scores are tracked meticulously and updated every 20 minutes, and players’ progress can be viewed through leaderboard channels or by using the bot’s commands. The ladder includes a decay system to encourage consistent participation and competitive activity: at the end of each day, if players have not played enough games to offset the potential decay, BLP will be reduced according to a formula based on placement and activity, ensuring that inactivity does not unfairly preserve rankings. Our decay system works differently than decay you may experience on the live servers.

– Top ranked players 1-8 will experience 30BLP of decay.

– Top ranked players 9-16 will experience 25BLP of decay

– Top ranked players 17-24 will experience 18BLP of decay

– Top ranked players 25-32 will experience 10BLP of decay

To avoid decay, you must play enough games where the absolute value of BLP gained/lost each game is equivalent to the amount of BLP you would have decayed due to inactivity. For example, if you are 5th on the leaderboards, you will lose 30BLP due to decay. To avoid this, you must play enough games where you gained/lost a total of 30BLP. In this example, we will assume the average ELO of each lobby is equivalent to yours to simplify calculations. To avoid decay, this can be achieved by any of the following:

– Playing 1 game and going 2nd (+30 BLP) Playing 2 games and going 5th, and then 3rd (-10BLP, +20BLP): |-10| + |20| = 30

– Played 1 game and went 8th (-40BLP) |-40| > 30
– Playing 3 games, and went 4th, 4th, 5th (+10BLP, +10BLP, -10BLP) |10| + |10| + |-10| = 30

There are plenty of other combinations, but these are just a few examples.

Players are encouraged to play as many games as needed to maximize their BLP, and tiebreakers for ladder placement follow an ordered system: most top 4 finishes, most first-place finishes, fewest 8th-place finishes, most top 2s, most top 3s, and placement in the last game.

Win-Trading Policy

PROJECT PBE enforces a strict win-trading policy. Win-trading is strictly prohibited in PROJECT PBE. For the purposes of this event, win-trading is defined as any deliberate action that significantly weakens a player’s own position in order to benefit another player, with the intent of influencing standings or tournament advancement. All players are expected to play in a manner that maximizes their own placements. Any actions that intentionally compromise your standings to aid another player may be subject to investigation under this policy. To ensure fairness, a play will only be considered win-trading if substantial evidence has been brought forward. Substantial evidence is defined when at least 3 out of the following 5 conditions are met. The 3rd condition must always be met for a decision to be made. If the 5th condition is satisfied, the player is automatically subjected to penalties and the play will be considered win-trading.

Win-Trading Policy – Substantial Evidence Criteria

1. Impact on Tournament Progression – The play in question resulted in another player securing a crucial advancement in the tournament (e.g., making it to Day 2, qualifying for the final lobby, etc.).

2. Community Suspicion & Reviewability – At least two or more competitors must independently report a strong suspicion of win-trading. The play must be supported by video evidence from any perspective (e.g., a player’s own VOD, a third-party spectator, or a tournament stream). Match history alone is not sufficient evidence. Players are highly encouraged to stream and/or record their games to ensure that plays remain transparent and reviewable.

3. Independent Panel Review (Mandatory Condition) – A panel of seven non-participating, high-level TFT players will review the play. The panel will consist of 2 players from AMER, 2 players from EMEA, 2 players from APAC, and Kai (who will always be the seventh panel member). To qualify for the panel, a player must have reached Challenger at least once in the past three sets. A formal panel will only be assembled if a serious allegation is made within the required timeframe. The review process will be made public for full transparency. The panel will decide by majority vote (at least 4 out of 7 must agree) for this condition to be fulfilled.

4. Deviation from Standard of Play – The play must be deemed below the expected standard of competitive play for PROJECT PBE. While subjective, this final call will be made by Kai, based on his experience as a former Challenger player.

5. Open Admittance to Win-Trading – If a player openly admits to win-trading, either via text or with video evidence, they are automatically subjected to penalties and the play will be considered win-trading. The conditions above are no longer required to subject the player to punishment and immediate disqualification.

Rules and General Things to Know During the Event

All players are expected to maintain sportsmanlike conduct, competing with integrity and respect toward other participants. Unsportsmanlike behaviors include intentionally targeting other players to harm their outcomes, creating toxic environments, or making game decisions that serve no personal strategic benefit.

1. All games will be played on the PBE server (based in NA). Players from outside of NA may participate, but they will need a PBE account. Your PBE account name MUST be composed of purely alphanumeric characters only. This is due to the limitations of the bot.

2. The bot will undergo maintenance once a day to make sure the bot can keep functioning, but it will be inline with when PBE patches daily. If there are any issues we will ping everybody in the server via the #bot-updates text channel.

3. If the bot is updated, you will need to rejoin the queue if you were in the queue while the bot resetted.

4. Failure to consistently create lobbies as a lobby leader (AKA multiple people are complaining about your inability to invite/create the lobbies), may result in expulsion from this event, as well as future PROJECT PBE related events, and any event Kai may host in the future. A ban will ultimately be decided upon based on the discretion of Kai and team. Everybody can forget, but if it’s a recurring problem there will be consequences.
5. Players are required to have the PROJECT PBE tracker on during their streams, unless there is a legal conflict of interest from a streamer’s parent organization or brand (if a sponsor decides to put their brand on the tracker). Streamers who fall under this category will be given a brandless tracker if such is the case (the tracker will instead have PROJECT PBE branding on it instead). All players will receive a brandless tracker if the project fails to secure a sponsor
6. Because the PBE is a beta environment, bugs are expected to happen. Bugs are allowed, exploits are banned. As per Mortdog, “Anything you could do by accident is a bug, but anything you can do on purpose is an exploit”. If a player is using an exploit, please notify staff in #help-desk with proof. Proof of a player utilizing an exploit will result in disqualification entirely (unless penalty is stated otherwise in #known-bugs) and an indefinite ban from all future events Kai hosts.
7. All competitors in PROJECT PBE are expected to maintain a high standard of sportsmanship throughout the event. Players are required to compete with integrity and respect toward their fellow participants. Examples of unsportsmanlike conduct include, but are not limited to: Intentionally griefing another player out of spite or revenge (e.g., targeting a player because of a previous in-game interaction or personal grudge), making game decisions that do not serve your best placement solely to harm another player’s result (e.g forfeiting against a double-down lose streak player solely to grief their lose streak), behaviors that create a hostile or toxic environment within lobbies or in public spaces (such as stream chat or Discord). While creative lines of play and personal style are always welcome, all decisions made during a game must be justifiable through the lens of optimizing your own tournament outcome. If a line of play is taken primarily to punish another player without meaningful benefit to your own placement or score, it may be reviewed as a violation of this clause.

8. A two-step verification system provides competitors with 10 minutes to join a lobby after being queued to prevent disruptions.