This summer, VALORANT is launching a new Premier Invite Division to complete the final step of the in-game Path to Pro.
UNITED STATES – The new Invite Division above Contender will be the highest level of competition within the in-game VALORANT Premier Mode, which allows players of all skill levels to build a team and compete against opponents in a season of pre-scheduled matches. Teams that win in Premier Invite can qualify for Challenger Leagues around the world.
Within each Premier Zone, the highest-performing teams will be eligible to ascend to their respective Challengers Leagues through regional promotion paths. The Invite Division will launch with the start of Episode 9, Act 1 on June 25.
To grow the ranks of this new division, Premier will advance Contender Division teams that won the previous Act’s playoff tournament or finished in the top 32 of the Contender Division standings at the end of the playoff tournament. Top Teams will receive promotions into the Invite Division for the first time at the end of VALORANT Episode 8 Act 3’s Premier Season.
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Promotion in Premier
Additionally, E8A3 will introduce changes designed to improve the experience at all levels of Premier. Starting with the E8A3 Playoffs, teams in all divisions will earn a promotion each time they win a playoff tournament. Playoff-based promotion is designed to allow any team to know just how many wins they are from reaching top level play. In Elite 4? You’re two playoff tournament wins away from Contender.
Additionally, Premier in VALORANT will introduce standardized promotion rules in all divisions:
- Promotion is for the team. Your Team Owner or Captain can add or remove players around after receiving a promotion and the team will still qualify for placement in the higher division in the next Stage. If you’re on a team that earns a promotion and you make a new team, the promotion will not follow you.
- Roster changes will not lose the promotion. Your team will always move up at least one division for the following stage even if you replace your top 5 MMR players with lower MMR players.
- Teams may move up more than one division. If you add players with significantly higher Competitive MMR to your team, this may push you up to an even higher division.
- Promotion is only valid for the next stage. If you don’t play in the following Premier Stage, the next time Premier places you in a division, standard seeding rules will apply.
- Going forward, the Premier Score Playoff Qualification threshold will be set at 600. Up to this point, for most Stages the Premier Score threshold for playoff qualification was set at 675. This change gives more teams a chance of making a playoff run and while allowing teams with busier schedules (and enough wins) to feel ok taking a week off. Higher Premier Score from Weekly matches will result in a higher seed for playoffs, rewarding teams who played all their matches with easier opponents early on.
These changes will create closer matches in all divisions of Premier and increase the chances of more teams getting to experience the thrill of competing in a division playoff tournament.
New Invite and Contender Mechanics
Within Premier’s Contender and Invite Divisions, additional changes will be introduced at the start of Episode 9, Act 1. These changes are designed to foster a hyper-competitive environment where the players who are best at winning as a team will rise to the top to take their shot in the pros.
- All teams must play in two scheduled events each week on the designated map of the week.
- Losses will now be worth 0 points. (previously losses awarded 25 points)
- Teams with similar records will be matched against each other, with rematch protection enabled.
- If an uneven number of teams show up for an event, the team with the lowest Premier Score will receive a bye instead of playing a match.
- Teams will qualify for the playoffs based on their standings after the conclusion of weekly competition. (previously playoff qualification was based Premier Score)
- At the end of the playoff tournaments, Premier will promote teams based on their final standings of the current stage’s leaderboard.
- Riot’s Esports Team will contact team owners promoting out of the Invite Division to provide details on where they will play now that they have earned their shot at Challengers.
Additionally, a new “Contender Eligible” designation will recognize players who are ready to participate within the highest levels of Premier. Only Contender Eligible players will be able to compete on Premier teams in the Contender and Invite Divisions. This eligibility will be accessible as early as the Elite Division, with higher levels of Premier having even more ways to achieve it.
To attain Contender Eligibility, a player can:
- Play a weekly match in Contender or Invite.
- Play a playoff match in the Elite 5 Division.
- Play a Competitive match when ranked as Immortal 3 or higher.
Players who are Contender Eligible will be:
- Able to join teams in Invite and Contender Divisions.
- Automatically seeded into Contender Division when forming a new team with at least four other Contender Eligible players.
Teams whose top five players have significantly high MMR will be able to form a new team in the Contender or see their existing team placed there. MMR calculations across divisions will be revised to ensure a steady influx of teams into the Contender division, thus sustaining a robust team base. Contender Eligibility information will soon be visible in the VALORANT client.
With the launch of the Invite Division, VALORANT’s vertically integrated esports structure will allow top talent to advance through Premier into higher levels of play in Challengers, the International Leagues, and potentially even qualify for major global events like Masters and Champions. More information about the Invite Division, Premier schedules, and VCT Challengers will be shared closer to the start of Episode 9, Act 1.
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Cover photo courtesy of VALORANT
