Premier will finally launch in full to start VALORANT Episode Seven, Act Two, with the in-game seasonal tournament system receiving a handful of major upgrades following its successful testing phases, Riot Games announced today.
In addition, Riot is setting Premier up to be the one path into Challengers by the end of 2024.
With the full launch, the division distribution is being consolidated from 20 numbered divisions per region to five categories: Open, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, and Contender (from lowest to highest).
Players will have to reach Contender to start on the new highly touted path to pro system. This will be a requirement for players competing in Challengers in 2024. Eventually, Contender playoffs will operate as a sort of promotion tournament to reach Challengers, meaning the path to Challengers and potential VCT opportunities will all run through Premier as Riot intended.
In addition to pride and glory, players will have the opportunity to unlock a new reward in Crests, which will serve as trophies that represent your best accomplishments in a given season.
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Riot in particular is excited to see who will be the first to earn something called the Flawless Crest, which is awarded to players on teams that play and win every possible match in a season (two per week for all seven weeks) and also win every match in the playoffs.
Premier is also going to launch with a slew of new features on release. All player progress and records will be tracked from launch onward, and players will be able to get live updates on matches going on during the playoffs. The full seven-map pool, including the returning Breeze and the rumored Sunset map, will be playable, but players will have access to practice matches within Premier so they can prepare for the next week.
With longer seasons and more playable maps, competitive VALORANT teams will need to earn 675 points to qualify for the end-of-season playoff bracket.
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Premier will go live alongside VALORANT Episode Seven, Act Two on Aug. 29.
