Québécois CS League set to launch in September
A unique new league is set to launch in short order in North America — the Coupe Québécoise de Counter-Strike: Saison 1. As is evident based on the name, the league is tailored to the French Canadian population of Canada, and is set to be run in French and requires the majority of the roster to originate from the province. In theory, the aim of the league is to provide a space for the French Canadian NA CS to develop after losing a number of its top players to VALORANT.
Despite not being of conscious consideration for many NA fans, the province of Quebec has had a large impact on the scene over the years. Consider that names like Keven "AZK" Larivière, Yassine "Subroza" Taoufik, Anthony "gMd" Guimond, and David "J0LZ" Jolin all originate from the province. However, as previously mentioned, the release of VALORANT hit the region especially hard, with a majority of the young players decamping to that game.
As such, 5stakk, the operator of the league has decided to branch out from their VALORANT league to put on a similar offering in the CS space. The league in its first season is set to feature six teams, four invited and two from open qualifiers, with teams competing in a round-robin bracket that is set to run on Wednesdays from September to November. After the regular season wraps up, the top four teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket with the final two matches of the season played on LAN at Théâtre de la Providence just outside Montréal.
The prize pool for season one is set to be $1,500 CAD but may go up depending on future sponsorship. One of the biggest teams to keep an eye on this season is Miracle, which features many of the top French Canadian players including Yannick "KOLER" Blanchette, Cedric "Melio" Perrault, and J0LZ.
The complete team list ahead of the open qualifier is as follows:
• 
Able
• Ducky
• Open Qualifier
• Alpha1
• Miracle
• Open Qualifier
The open qualifier is set to start on September 8th while the league proper will begin on September 13th. Interested French Canadian teams can sign up for the qualifier here.
