The “final step” of the completion of VALORANT‘s in-game path-to-pro pipeline has an official launch date: June. Invite Division, a new Premier mode division that will slot in over Contender, will launch on June 25 with the start of Episode Nine.
VALORANT teams competing in the Invite Division will have the opportunity to win and qualify for VCT Challenger Leagues around the world. At the end of the current episode’s third act, teams that won a Contender Division playoff tournament or finished in the top 32 of a Contender Division standings will be promoted into Invite.
With the new division comes significant changes to the Contender and Invite Divisions to “foster a hyper-competitive environment,” according to Riot Games. All teams in both divisions must play at least two scheduled Premier matches every week. Losses are worth zero points instead of the usual 25. Teams with similar records will be matched against each other. Standings instead of Premier score will determine playoff qualification.
To compete in either Contender or Invite, players need to obtain Contender Eligibility by playing a Competitive match with an Immortal Three or higher rank, playing a Premier playoff match in the Elite Five division, or playing a weekly match in Contender or Invite. These are all on top of the existing base requirements for playing Premier.
A handful of new changes to Premier should streamline the promotion process for all teams at all divisions, starting immediately at the beginning of Episode Eight, Act Three. A team owner or captain can add or remove players after a successful promotion and still compete in the higher division. The entire team could theoretically be replaced, and replacing players with higher MMR players could push your team into an even higher division. All teams will earn a promotion each time they win a playoff tournament.
With the Invite Division launching in June, the teams that win out can find themselves in contention for promotion into their respective regional Challengers leagues by the end of the year.
