PROJECT PBE HANDBOOK SET 14

This event is not sponsored/affiliated/endorsed with Riot games. We've NEVER claimed to be Riot affiliated or Riot sponsored. If there are any concerns regarding legality, please feel free to contact Kai (workingwithkai@gmail.com).

IMPORTANT DATES/INFO

Sign-Ups Close
March 21st, 2025 at 11:59PM EST

Ladder Grind
March 24th, 1:00AM EST → March 28th, 2024 5:59PM EST
PROJECT PBE MAJOR
March 29th 10:00AM EST → March 30th, 2024

Contact: workingwithkai@gmail.com

We will be moving away from Google Forms in set 15

Overall Format

The top 325 rated players* (based on peak rank in their respective region, up until February 16th, 2025 11:59PM in the player’s account’s respective region timezone) who have signed up, will be able to compete against each other over 5 days, utilizing a third-party ranked system created by our custom-created discord bot. The top 24 players with the highest BLP (beta LP) at the end of the ladder grind, will get to compete in a 2-day tournament the following weekend for prizing! The prize pool is currently at $1000**+ and is subject to increase.

*Competitive integrity will be valued over # of players who are able to partake. If there aren’t enough sign-ups, it will be up to the sole discretion of the owner of the project to decide at what # of participants to cut off.

**If you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Kai either via email (workingwithkai@gmail.com) or on Discord (@kai_)

Tournament Qualification

The bot will run from Monday, March 24th, 2025 at 1:00AM EST to March 28th, 2025 at 5:59PM EST. Only during this time can qualified competitors compete for Beta LP (BLP). Top 24 players based on BLP will qualify for the PROJECT PBE MAJOR. The tournament starts at 10:00AM EST the following two days after (March 29th, 2025 and March 30th, 2025). Players can check their BLP progress in #leaderboards or #get_details

Scores are updated every 20 minutes, so if players just got out of game it may take some time before their scores are accurately reflected

Any games that have concluded before 5:59:59PM EST on March 28th, 2025 alongside a screenshot uploaded into the respective lobby of said game of the post-game screen (or any screenshot that definitively showcases every placement of every player; subject to kai’s discretion) will count towards a player’s final BLP score

Tiebreakers

  1. Most top 4’s

  2. Most 1sts

  3. Least number of 8ths

  4. Most top 2s 

  5. Most top 3s

  6. Placement last game

How to Use the Discord Bot

Please reference this YouTube video (PROJECT PBE Video Manual) on how to properly utilize the Discord/bot:

Format of
PROJECT PBE MAJOR

The format of the tournament is as follows:

DAY 1

  • The top 24 players play 4 games (reseed after every game)

  • Placement per game will accumulate points: 1st = 8 points, 2nd = 7 points, 3rd = 6th points… 8th = 1 point

  • Bottom 8 are cut after game 4

  • The remaining top 16 players play 2 more games

  • Top 8 after game 6 proceed to day 2

DAY 2

  • 1st place on leaderboard gets +2 bonus points for day 2

  • 2-4th place on leaderboard gets +1 bonus points for day 2

  • 5th-8th place on leaderboard gets +0 bonus points for day 2

  • Day 2 is a checkmate format, and 20 points is required for “check”

  • Must go 1st place to checkmate after reaching “check”

The top 8 players will receive a percentage of the prizing as detailed below.

Prizing

The prize pool is $1000** (subject to increase as we find more sponsors–if you are interested in sponsoring please reach out to Kai via email (workingwithkai@gmail.com and check out the Sponsorship Benefits page to learn more on why you should sponsor the event) or on Discord (@kai_)), and based on a player’s placement in the weekend tournament, they will receive a percentage of the prize pool. All of the prizing will be paid out via Paypal ONLY (no exceptions).

Based on feedback from previous iterations of the event, we’ve structured the prize pool distribution to be less harsh across all placements.

FAQ

  1. Why make a ranked system for PBE? Why not just have fun?
    People have fun in different ways. Some like the competitiveness that comes from TFT, and others are always looking for good practice before the set hits the live servers. But the main point is to incentivize players to play more games on the PBE, so that we can have better data before the set launches onto the live servers. This way, when the set comes to live, we’ll be able to get closer to a more balanced state before the greater player base has a chance to even touch the game. The PBE cycle is also when the devs have the greatest amount of leverage and freedom to change any numbers or items, and aren’t as forcibly locked via the strict nature of the 2 week patch cycle. The PBE cycle (despite being the first two weeks of the set) is the best possible time to try and reach the best balanced state for the game. 

  2. Why is the prize pool so low?
    While some of the prize pool was from contributions from generous community members, a large majority of it is coming directly from Kai’s pockets. This is a grassroots event, and we are incredibly grateful for all donations and sponsors, no matter how big or small.

  3. Why is the ELO cutoff so high?
    Ideally, we want players who are reputably strong in the TFT community to be participating in the event. This way, the top players are incentivized to play for good practice. It’s also important to note that generally, it's the top players who will find what's broken/the buggiest interactions the quickest. This event is to also serve as a way for the developers to hot-fix any bugs before the set goes onto live

  4. How does the BLP (beta LP) ELO system work?
    We have been using the same ELO system/formula since the first iteration and have had no problems. You can find the exact formula in

  5. Do I need to hit my peak rank before signing up?
    Nope! We will be manually checking those who are near the cutoffs before finalizing the list of participants. We’d much prefer people sign up ahead of time than last minute. We will be considering your peak rank up until February 16th, 2025 at 11:59PM (your account’s local timezone)

  6. How many games can we play to compete?
    You can think of the event as similar to Boxbox’s Boot Camp. Play as many games as you’d like to reach the top! The bot will begin running from March 24th, 2025 at 1:00AM EST, until March 28th, 2025 5:59PM EST to aggregate scores. While we will turn the bot back on over the weekend for players to still get some good practice before live, scores taken after March 28th, 2025 5:59PM EST will not count towards your chance at tournament participation.

  7. Will we be able to spectate games in the discord?
    Unfortunately, no. Instead, top performing players can be viewed in the leaderboards channel, and their stream links will be available there if they choose to provide one.

  8. Am I allowed to queue up games while waiting for the bot to find me another custom Project PBE lobby?
    Yes! Since we are unsure as to how long the queue times will be, and people will most likely be streaming their games, feel free to queue up more games on your own, while you are waiting in queue for another Project PBE game (you will need to ff though if your queue does pop, or decline the Project PBE queue pop). We wanted to make sure that we arrived on a solution that will also be streamer friendly, so that those who want to stream their games but don’t want to wait in a queue for an indefinite period of time (since their chat might get bored), will not be impacted negatively by participating in Project PBE.Albeit, with the new size of player participants this set, we don’t predict queue times to extend past 10 minutes in the worst case scenario.

    Keep in mind though, historically players can find games relatively quickly (typically within 5 minutes)

  9. Why make a two-step verification process?
    We’ve created this two-step verification process so that people have time (10 minutes to be exact!) to finish what they’re up to, and have time to join the lobby afterwards. We predict that because of the small population size of PROJECT PBE, queue times will become unpredictable after the first few days. We don’t want to hold people hostage by forcing them to commit to a queue time with an unpredictable pop time. We want you to have the freedom to do whatever you like while waiting for the queue to pop.

  10. Where can I sponsor/support the event?
    You can donate to the event by going here! 100% of any personal donations go directly to the prize pool, and you’ll get a special thanks from me (kai)! If you’d like to sponsor the event for your company/brand, please check out the sponsorship benefits page here.

  11. Are there other PROJECTs I could participate in?
    YES! PROJECT MENTR is PROJECT dedicated to helping you improve at Teamfight Tactics like never before. Find out more here.