The regional leagues and pro circuit events of 2019 competitive season’s Phase 3 are well underway, with teams battling to claim a spot at the season finale — The PUBG Global Championship, that will start on November 8 and will put 32 teams battling for a share of 2,000,000+ USD prize pool and a title of the best squad in the world. As we’re just eight weeks before the start of the PGC, let’s look at each of the regions, and see who is most likely to represent them at the PUBG’s biggest stage.

South Korea — PUBG Korea League ( PKL )

Phase 3 Playdays: August 26 — October 12; Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays 11am CEST

PGC Slots: 6 ( PKL Phase 3 Champion + Top 4 teams in PKL Championship Points Ranking + PGC Korea Qualifier Winner )

Stream : https://twitch.tv/paperthinhere ; https://twitch.tv/pubgkorea ; https://twitch.tv/pubgkr_map

Thanks to OP Gaming Rangers championship win at Faceit Global Summit and Team South Korea being the best Asian team at the end of Nations Cup, PKL will have six teams at the PGC. Most of those spots, four to be exact, will be decided on points scored throughout all three phases of the 2019 season.

PKL Championship Points after Week 2 of Phase 3 ( source )

Currently a battle for those spots is being held between the following : DeToNator_Korea ( 5th in Phase 1, 3rd in Phase 2 ), Afreeca Freecs Fatal ( 2nd in Phase 1, 7th in Phase 2 ), Gen.G ( Phase 2 and MET Asia Series Champions ), OGN Entus Force ( 4th in Phase 1 and Faceit Global Summit ), Danawa DPG ( 2nd in Phase 2 and 5th at MET ), VSG ( 3rd in Phase 1 ) and OP.GG Esports ( Phase 1 and Faceit Global Summit Champions ). Most of those teams are also currently near the top of PKL Phase 3 standings, the winner of which will be directly invited to the PGC as region’s #1 seed.

Currently leading the Phase 3 rankings however are two teams outside of the main group — SK Telecom T1 and Team Quadro. Both those teams had a mediocre results earlier in the year ( Quadro finished 10th in Phase 1 and 11th in Phase 2, while SKT have ended 8th and 14th in those respective phases ), and only a Phase 3 Championship will guarantee them a early ticket to Los Angeles.

For the teams that won’t qualify to PGC based on Championship Points or a Phase 3 championship, there’ll have one more opportunity to qualify, as PKL will have a last chance qualifier at a unannounced date between the end of PKL Phase 3 and PGC, with a final PKL slot up for grabs.

Europe — PUBG Europe League ( PEL )

Phase 3 Playdays: August 30 — October 6; Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 6pm CEST

PGC Slots: 6 ( PEL Phase 3 Champion + Top 5 teams in PEL Performance Point Ranking )

Stream : https://twitch.tv/pel_esports ; https://twitch.tv/pel_esports_map

European ( + Middle East, Africa and CIS ) region also will be represented at the PGC by six teams, due to Team Liquid finishing 3rd at the Faceit Global Summit and FaZe Clan victory at the GLL Grand Slam.

In difference to South Korea, PEL will not hold a additional qualifier, and instead will have the best team of Phase 3 being invited directly, while remaining five slots will be decided by PEL Performance Points Ranking ( which counts 30% of team’s PEL Phase 2 points and 70% of their Phase 3 scorings ).

PEL Performance Ranking after Week 2 of Phase 3 ( source : Pro League Hub Twitter )

After two weeks of Phase 3, the top of Performance Ranking features the five of the six best teams of Phase 2 — Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, Natus Vincere, G2 Esports and Team Solomid are currently also the top 5 teams in Phase 3 standings, making it likely that one of them will take the region’s top seed. Due to that, PEL’s last slot for the PGC is currently being contested by Raise Your Edge and Pittsburgh Knights, with RYE leading by .4 points ( 287.0 Performance Pts vs 286.6 ), and the next teams in the ranking ( Ninjas in Pyjamas and Team Reciprocity ) currently sitting at 254 Performance Points ( which equates 47 Phase 3 points ).

North America — National PUBG League ( NPL )

Phase 3 Playdays: September 7–29; Saturdays and Sundays 11pm CEST ( + Friday September 27 )

PGC Slots: 5 ( Top 2 of NPL Phase 3 + Top 3 teams in NPL Championship Points Ranking )

Stream : https://www.twitch.tv/playbattlegrounds ; https://www.twitch.tv/pubgesportsmap

Outside of Europe and South Korea, North America have been the only region to clinch a additional PGC slot from Global Events, thanks to Shoot to Kill ( currently Lazarus ) second-place finish at the Global Summit, increasing NPL’s representation at the PGC to five teams.

NPL Championship Points Ranking after Phase 3 Week 1 ( source )

Two of the five spots have been all-but-locked in since the end of Phase 2 — Tempo Storm and Genesis ( ex-Cloud 9 ) have finished 1st and 2nd respectively in both Phases 1 and 2, which means that they’ll qualify to the Global Championship as long as they won’t lose their Championship Points ( that happens only if they finish outside of the Top 10 in Phase 3 ).

Remaining spots however are still up for grabs, and there’s a lot of possibilities on how will they be decided :

The top 2 teams of NPL Phase 3 will be directly invited to the Global Champs, which opens up a path to the PGC for the teams that haven’t racked up a lot of Championship Points ( ex. eUnited and Wildcard ) or have just been promoted to NA’s top division ( we’re looking at you, Soniqs ), while the remaining three slots will be decided based by NPL Championship Points

If Genesis and/or Tempo Storm ends up in the top 2, they’ll receive a direct invite while dropping a Championship Points seed to the next team in CP Ranking.

Ghost, SSG, Rumblers, Envy and Lazarus have enough points to clinch a Championship Points seed with a 3rd-place finish in Phase 3.

China — PUBG Champions League ( PCL ) and China Masters ( PCM )

Phase 3 Playdays: August 26 — September 29 ; Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays 11am CEST ( PCL ) ; October TBA ( PCM )

PGC Slots: 4 ( PCL Spring Champions + PCL Summer Playoffs Champions + Top 2 of Masters )

Stream : https://douyu.com/100 ; http://huya.com/660004 ; https://egame.qq.com/605976197

China’s road to the Global Championship features three premier tournaments, with each of them having at least one ticket to Los Angeles on the line. The Spring Season of Champions League have been the first tournament, ending in June with VC Gaming clinching the championship and punching their ticket to California. The second tournament, PCL Summer, is currently ongoing and will hold their Season Playoffs on September 23–29, featuring sixteen best teams of Regular Season battling in a Best-of-30 for the Summer title and a PGC slot.

PCL Summer Regular Season Standings after Week 3/5 - Teams with green dots will play in the Week 4 Final ; teams with yellow dots have finished in the top 12 of PCL Spring.

At last, after the Summer Playoffs of PCL, we’ll see a season-ending tournament for The Sleeping Giant of a region — China Masters. A indirect continuator of PCPI ( China Pro Invitational ) will feature twenty-four teams, all invited by finishing in the top 12 of PCL Spring or PCL Summer Season ( or best non-top 12 teams from Summer in case of supplementary invites ), with the two best teams being invited to Global Championship.

Southeast Asia — PUBG SEA Championship ( PSC )

Phase 3 Playdays: September 5–21 ; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 2pm CEST ( Online Stage ) ; September 27–29 ; each day starting 2pm CEST ( LAN Stage )

PGC Slots: 3 ( Champions of each PSC Phase )

Stream : https://www.twitch.tv/esports_alliance ; https://www.twitch.tv/esports_alliance_B

Battle Points for PSC Phase 3 LAN/ Final Stage, decided by team’s position in Main / Online Stage

Before the start of Phase 3 circuit, PUBG Corp. have announced that SEA’s three slots for the PGC will be given to the best team of each phase’s SEA Championship. With that decision, Vietnam’s Divine Esports and Thailand’s Armory Gaming, the best team of PSC Phase 1 and 2 respectively, have both received their tickets to the PGC.

That leaves one more invite up for grabs alongside the PSC Phase 3 championship trophy, and currently battling for the that spot we’re seeing the following teams :

Sky Gaming Daklak , a rising Vietnam squad lead by experienced “MeoU” ( played for Refund at the PGI ) and “Sapauu” ( one of the top fraggers of Nations Cup ), is comfortably leading the standings after Week 2 Day 2 after a streak of four consecutive Chicken Dinners.

, a rising Vietnam squad lead by experienced “MeoU” ( played for Refund at the PGI ) and “Sapauu” ( one of the top fraggers of Nations Cup ), is comfortably leading the standings after Week 2 Day 2 after a streak of four consecutive Chicken Dinners. ArkAngel Predator , currently the best Phillipines team in the proscene, have been close but never close enough to qualify for the PUBG Classics ( 5th in Phase 1 and 4th in Phase 2 ), and wouldn’t be satisfied with the 2nd place that the currently occupy.

, currently the best Phillipines team in the proscene, have been close but never close enough to qualify for the PUBG Classics ( 5th in Phase 1 and 4th in Phase 2 ), and wouldn’t be satisfied with the 2nd place that the currently occupy. Purple Mood ( PLME ) and Tokio Striker — two experienced Thailand squads, each with a star player known for his plays on the global stage ( HoN_BoYa for PLME and ShippyS for Tokio ), have been amongst the best in their country throughout the year, but both had a up-and-down results during the PSC, and they aim to redeem themselves on the regional stage during PSC Phase 3.

PSC Phase 3 Online Stage standings after Phase 3 Week 2 Day 2

Oceania — ESL AU & NZ Championship ( ESL )

Phase 3 Playdays: September 3–25 ; Tuesdays and Wednesdays 10:30am CEST ( Regular Season ) ; October 26–27 ; time TBA ( Season LAN Finals )

PGC Slots: 2 ( Top 2 of LAN Finals )

Stream : https://www.twitch.tv/esl_australia

Phase 3 Regular Season Standings after Week 2 of Phase 3

The Oceanic proscene have went through a huge storm ahead of the Phase 3, with a lot of teams aiming to bolster their chances at the PGC spot with a roster changes. The major ones were as following :

- The winners of OCE Phase 1 and runners-up of Phase 2, Team Incognito, have disbanded just hours after their run at the GLL Grand Slam. Two of their players, “Ronon” and “Ykikamucow” have kept Incog’s spot in Phase 3, forging a new team called “Shift” with “Bee2” from Ground Zero and “Reggilove”.

- Phase 2 OCE Champions and Runners-up of GLL Grand Slam, Athletico Esports, have replaced “Luke12” ( as he joined NPL’s Team Lazarus ) with old Incognito’s rifler in “Jouxy” ( fun fact : he played for ATH’s Academy Team back in late 2017 )

- Hell Yeah Brother have been joined by Incognito’s former IGL in “Insight” and “Nick101” from Team Immunity, as they replace “Krushhh” that joined Charm Farmers and “ch4rle”

- Justice Esports have dropped their old roster ( which is now playing under Mr.WorldWide banner ), and in their place have formed a new roster.

- Sweety & the Secret Agents are back in the battle under Youngbloods banner, with “Sweetsoul” and “Gruumpz” now being joined by Team Immunity’s “Cozyy” and NPL Contenders Trifecta’s “Uniq”.

Lastly we have Vendetta Esports, with a long-term core of “eDGe”, “kritikalmotion” and “icONdks” being joined this phase by “nonreg”.

Japan — PUBG Japan Series Season 4 ( PJS )

Phase 3 Playdays: August 31 — October 19 ; Saturdays 10am CEST

PGC Slots: 2 ( Top 2 of PJS Season 4 )

Stream : https://www.twitch.tv/pubg_dmm

Ahead of the PJS Season 4 there have been a minor format change, as each of the league’s six playdays now features five games ( instead of four ), which expands PJS to thirty games total. Even with that, every game will still be very important for Japanese teams in their fight for a spot in the Global Championship.

PJS Season 4 standings after Week 2/5

After a third of the season, the top two teams in the standings are Rascal Jester — runners-up of the previous season, that changed their roster ahead of Season 4, trading “kendesu” for SunSister’s “CiNVe”, and replacing “Maron” with “MUSHUMARU” — and Sengoku Gaming — an up-and-coming, kill-heavy team ( 87 points, 64 of them coming from the kills ). Behind now there’s a chasing pack of three teams that are on the uprise — All Rejection Gaming, V3 Fox and Detonation Gaming Black — and three teams that have been a PJS Champions in the past — SunSister, Blue Bees and Crest Gaming Xanadu.

Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau — PUBG Master League ( PML )

Phase 3 Playdays: September 13 — October 6 ; Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 1pm CEST ( Regular Season ) ; October 25–27 11am CEST ( Finals )

PGC Slots: 2 ( Top 2 of PML Phase 3 Finals )

Stream : https://www.twitch.tv/playbattlegroundstw

In a very similar case to what we saw in Oceania, TW/HK/MO region had a huge shuffle between Phases 2 and 3, with most of the top teams making a roster and/or organisation changes ahead of the push for a Global Championship invite.

Taiwan’s long-reigning dynasty, ahq Esports, have changed their roster after losing their crown at the end of Phase 2, replacing their original roster members in “K3” and “W1nner” with “CY” from Flash Wolves and “YanLi” from Nova Monster Shield. Speaking of Flash Wolves and Nova MS, both organisations have decided to left the PUBG proscene ahead of PML Phase 3, with neither of their rosters retaining their slot in the league.

Another big team that have changed their roster was Macau-based MP5, which said goodbye to majority of their roster from Faceit Global Summit — “Leo”, “Spartan” and “Missboy”. In their place, MP5 have signed “K3” from ahq, “ANINI” from Nova MS, “Heiboy” and “Lokslokkk”. “Leo” however didn’t waited long for a new opportunity, as he have signed a contract with GEX shortly after.

Latin America — LATAM PUBG Pro Series ( LPPS )

PGC Slots : 2

Seriously, what the hell is going on there ? With eight weeks left before the start of PGC, not only LATAM haven’t started their Phase 3 Pro Circuit yet, it is not known when or where will their Circuit start. To make things look a bit worse, it’s been rumored that their regional esports office is having delay issues with their circuit partners, and it’s unclear when we’ll hear any details about the Phase 3 events. Hopefully that’ll happen sooner than later, and LATAM circuit will be able to compete any time soon.