Qualifying for Challengers through Premier: Your Path to Pro Play
As we step into 2024, VALORANT Premier system is set to become the gateway for teams who aspire to qualify into Challengers and the VCT. This shift brings us closer to our ultimate goal: enabling talented players to ascend into the Champions Tour directly from within the game.
We want to acknowledge that this will be the first of many incremental steps, and that Episode 8’s Premier Season will be the transitional phase that requires us to start with a ranked requirement. Looking ahead, our vision is to facilitate promotions into Premier Contenders exclusively via Premier. While we had to start somewhere, in the future we want to build ways to level into this rank with your squad and without the requirement of ranked play.
TL;DR
- Starting with Episode 8 in January, Premier will begin to qualify players into the VALORANT Champions Tour
- Episode 8 is a transitional phase: Premier teams will require a ranked requirement of Immortal 3 or higher, alongside qualifying for Contender—the highest tier of Premier
- Specifics on the path to Challengers may vary by region
What is Premier?
Premier is our in-game competitive tournament system, providing you with an opportunity to test their skills in a competitive arena. For an indepth look, check out our detailed FAQ which can provide more insights.
The Path to Contender
To qualify for Challengers, you must first qualify for the Contender Division, the highest tier of Premier. This achievement signifies your readiness to compete at the highest levels of VALORANT. So, how do you reach Contender status?
1. Immortal 3 Rank: You'll need a current rank of Immortal 3 or higher to qualify for the Contender tier of Premier. This rank should also be relatively recent, so dust off those ranked matches and keep them up to date.
2. Assemble the Best Team: Building a formidable team is key to your success. Seek out players with the highest possible rank and ensure their rankings have been recently earned. A strong team will elevate your chances of qualifying for Contender Premier.
As you prepare for competition in Contenders Premier, please make sure to follow the below policies:
- The Challenger League age requirement is 16 years old, make sure that all players on your team are 16 or above to remain eligible for the promotion tournament in May.
- In order to facilitate the best possible experience, current Pros can not compete within Premier. We define Pros as players who are currently on an active Challenger or International League roster. Game Changers competitors are eligible to compete in Premier. Players who are found competing in Premier and in violation of our policies will face penalties.
- Players are allowed to participate in Premier with only one account. We’ll be monitoring for ringers, substitutes, and cross region play. Teams who violate these and other rules (cheating) rules will face severe repercussions.
In this journey, we're aware that certain edge cases may arise. We’ll be monitoring for players participating in multiple regions, smurfs, ringers, and for situations where roster changes create challenges. Our goal is to learn from these situations so we can address them at scale for subsequent seasons.
Timing and Competition
Timing plays a crucial role in your journey to Challengers, below are general dates and checkpoints to be aware of:
- To guarantee your Contender eligibility, you'll want to have a competitive ranking of Immortal 3 or higher by the time Episode 8 Act 1 starts on January 10, 2024.
- Build a team entirely composed of Contender eligible players and register your team in Premier between January 8 - 17, 2024.
- Sign up for your respective Challengers Open Qualifier with your Contender Division Roster. Specific information on Challenger League sign ups will come out in the coming weeks via Regional Channels.
- Compete in Challenger Open Qualifiers throughout January for promotion into Challengers.
Teams that don’t qualify into Challengers during Open Qualifiers will have the opportunity to compete in Premier Contender, the highest level of in-game competition within VALORANT. We’ll operate two stages of competition between January and the end of April, with the Premier Contender Play-Offs of the second stage qualifying them for the Challengers Promotion and Relegation tournament. Keep an eye on the calendar to plan accordingly.
