Earlier this year, Riot Games promised us something new with the Valorant Premier League. And they did not disappoint with the beta and ignition stages. Now that Valorant has officially concluded Premier stage-1, the action is kicking off in November with Episode 7 Act 3 once again. With a lot of changes to enrollment and practice mode, we have covered all the details you need to know about Valorant Premier. So, let us jump in and understand what is the Valorant Premier League along with the schedule, rules, rewards, divisions, and more.
What Is Premier in Valorant?
Premier is an advanced-rank mode for Valorant players. It’s similar to the CS2 Premier rank mode or Team Rank Mode in Dota 2. Through the Premier Mode, Tier 3 teams or grassroots players will get a bigger platform to perform and show off their skills. By competing in all the stages in Premier, players and teams will get a path into the VCT Challengers.
According to Leo Faria, Global Head of Esports at Valorant, the requirement of Valorant Challengers will now require Premier Contender Division placement and not normal ranks. This will help some teams enter the Valorant Champions Tour 2024. So, let us have a look at the rules and rewards of the game mode.
Valorant Premier League Rules
- Enrollment in Premier is simple. You can invite your friends or players who will play with you in a team you create. After that, you will able to queue together during the match queue period. Remember that even if the owner is offline, other team members can queue into a Premier game.
- Match Queue Rules: All players in the team have to verify their phone numbers through SMS verification. Moreover, if a player had an AFK or disconnect ban in the last 30 days, they will not be allowed to compete until the ban is lifted. Also, note that if a player has a communication ban for disruptive behavior, they cannot participate in Premier for the rest of the stage duration. If you think you can change your Valorant name, that will not work in this case.
- Playoff and Weekly Tournament Rules: You can play weekly or playoffs only for one team as one account. Any five players from your 7-player team can play in the tournament, plus anyone can leave the team anytime they want. You will even receive the reward if you are eligible after leaving the team. Teams will earn 100 points for a weekly match win and 25 points for a loss in the Premier game mode. The teams must earn 675 points to qualify for the Playoffs on December 17, 2023.
- Gameplay and Overtime Rules: The weekly matches in Premier are in the best-of-1 format. Teams will get a 1-minute timeout on each side and one additional timeout in overtime. The games in Premier follow the 13-round win format. However, the overtime is slightly different. The first team to get 12 rounds will get a majority-based vote to choose the side to start overtime. To win in overtime, either Valorant Premier team has to win 2 rounds consecutively. The teams will swap every round and overtime will go to sudden death after 2 sets of overtime.
Valorant Premier Schedule (Episode 7 Act 3)
Valorant Premier Release Date
The Premier Global Beta was released in April 2023. After a successful beta, the Valorant Premier Ignition stage kicked off and went on till August 13, 2023. After the Ignition playoffs, it was about time for stage 1 of the Premier League. That did not take too long as Riot officially announced that the Premier would take place right after the Valorant Champions 2023 finals on August 29, 2023. Valorant Premier Stage 1 started on September 7, 2023, and concluded on October 22, 2023.
With that Riot Games has announced many new changes to the premier model. With the announcement, Riot also shared the new schedule for the new Valorant premier season. The Match week will start on November 1, 2023, and end on December 17, 2023.
Match Queue Dates and Times
Match queue times depend on your time zone. The common timings are evening as per your local time. The timings for Premier matches can be between 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM in your local time. However, these timings are subject to change depending on in-game updates, servers, or technical issues. This is why it is always recommended to go to the “Team Hub” section in-game to double-check the timings.
The map for the queue will change every week. Premier teams can play two matches on each map per week. The maps will reset on Tuesday every week. Between the matchdays, you will also get off days for practice matches. The map rotation depends on your selected week. If you can queue early, you can finish both matches of the week on the same day. The Valorant Premier dates for stage 1 are:
- Enrollment: You can enroll any week a day prior to the Match Week.
- Week 1: November 1 – November 5 on Split
- Week 2: November 8 – November 12 on Sunset
- Week 3: November 15 – November 19 on Ascent
- Week 4: November 22 – November 26 on Breeze
- Week 5: November 29 – December 3 on Bind
- Week 6: December 6 – December 10 on Lotus
- Week 7: December 13 – December 16 on Haven
- Playoff Tournament: December 17
Valorant Premier Divisions
The Premier mode is divided into five Divisions. Each Division is further divided into five ranks, except the final Contender Division. In Valorant Premier league, the Divisions in lowest to highest order are:
- Open (1 – 5)
- Intermediate (1 – 5)
- Advanced (1 – 5)
- Elite (1 – 5)
- Contender
Each division also determines the MMR of a team, as per Riot. Your team’s Division is calculated based on the MMR of the top 5 players in your team. You can invite any ranked player to your team unless their rank changes your team’s Division. In that case, it will show an error when you invite that player. Furthermore, the MMR will carry on to future stages but the Division, zone, or enrollment will not. This means you will have to enroll again in future stages.
Valorant Premier Rewards
There are four known rewards for participating and winning in Valorant Premier. You will receive the rewards a day after the final match day, on December 17, 2023. Your reward will be in your collection if you are eligible. The rewards for Premier are:
- A Player Card
- Gun Buddy
- Title
- Crest
If you participate even in one game, you will get a player card. If you play two games a week with your team, you will get a crest. The crest reflects overall team performance. Your crest will also evolve during the stages of the premier modes. For winning any single match, you will get a gun buddy and a winner title.
Overall, Premier is a great initiative to give upcoming players to showcase their talents and climb the ladder. Your performance in Premier will also carry forward in the next stage and will be available on your career page. We hope to have answered all of your important Premier-related FAQs, but if you still have questions, then ask us in the comments below.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the duration of the Playoff queue in Valorant Premier?
15 minutes. There will be a time period now of 15 minutes. Once you lock in a queue, you will have to wait for 15 minutes to find the best possible opponent. You will have to stay in the queue to find a match.
What is Practice mode in Premier?
There will be special slots for practice during the match weeks. Teams will be allowed to queue for practice matches on these days. The days will be determined upon non-match days during a premier match week. Practice matches will follow the premier rules but will not give any points or rewards.
How will the Playoffs seeding work?
Teams with high scores will get priority in playoffs. This means the playoff points are more valuable now as they will determine your matchups in the final stage.
