European Quake League

About
The European Quake League, most commonly referred to as EQL, is currently the most active 4on4 league in the European QW scene. It was founded in the autumn of 2005 to fill the void left by NQR following the crash of the QW.nu server, and thus NQR's web hosting.

Founded by Zanne with a website developed by Åke Vader, EQL opened its doors for its first season in October 2005. The season finished in January 2006, with Fragomatic winning an uncompetitive and uninspiring division 1 playoff competition by beating Firing Squad 3-1 in the final.

The first season saw the crew, now consisting of such QW scene luminaries as Sassa and Term, attempt to provide something that NQR was never really able to get a handle on: a consistent divisional structure and a promotion/relegation system. The divisional placement of the EQL crew was pretty good in season 1, but the playoffs that governed which teams went up and down left a lot to be desired. For example, Da Quaking Manjakks won both of their playoff matches in the division 3/4 rubbers, but still did not get promoted. Likewise, Osams lost both of their games in the division 2/3 rubbers, and ended up being moved up anyway.

A return to the activity of old
After a successful first season, EQL2 opened signups in January 2006. The level of activity that had started to rise when EQL first started had continued to grow, and in the second season division 1 had a group of clans worthy of the division. Old school clans LegeArtis, Firing Squad, The Viper Squad and Clan MalFunction were there, along with the fledgling team of Leftovers (whose players subsequently went on to re-form Slackers).

LegeArtis won the division 1 playoff competition, beating Firing Squad 3-1 in an exciting final match.

In the lower divisions, the relegation/promotion system was improved. The bottom clans in each division automatically dropped down, whilst the top clans in each division fought it out in a group playoff system to decide who should go up.

The big boys are back
With EQL2 closing its doors in late March 2006, the crew decided that a third season could be squeezed in before the usual QW Summer Inactivity kicked in.

EQL3 capitalised on the success of EQL2, and in division 1 we saw almost all of the same clans returning, along with Fragomatic (who had dropped out of season 2), Slackers and Koff. It was the strongest division 1 in several years, and predicting the outcome would be difficult.

The playoffs were a dissapointment with only one semifinal being played. LegeArtis beat Fragomatic in an exciting match which lasted for five maps. Sad enough Slackers received two walkovers, in the semifinal from Clan MalFunction and in the final LegeArtis gave them the walkover making Slackers the winner of this season without a single game in the playoffs.

EQL closes its doors
After having run for 20 seasons the last remaining admin Hooraytio announced on the 23rd of May 2016 that it was time to close the doors on the European Quake League, especially seeing the dwindling activity with the first division (of two) barely playing any games.

Admins

 * Hooraytio undefined
 * Zalon undefined
 * Itsinen undefined
 * Nas undefined
 * Trash undefined
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 * PleuraXeraphim undefined
 * Zappater undefined