What is Valorant Premier? Everything you need to know about the new competitive mode “beyond Radiant”

❘ Published: 2024-01-09T12:50:00

Riot Games

Valorant‘s new competitive mode, Premier, was released with Episode 7 Act 2 allowing players to go “beyond Radiant” with new seasonal challenges. Here’s everything you need to know about Valorant Premier, a new introduction from Riot Games.

In 2022, Riot Games shared its vision for the future of competitive Valorant, and they have finally taken the first step toward it. They introduced a new competitive mode to the game that aims at providing a higher competition than what players are used to in Ranked.

This new mode is known as Premier and after a successful global beta, it launched at the end of August 2023. Consider it something like Faceit for Counter-Strike 2, which is more competitive than regular matchmaking, but for Valorant.

If you’re wondering what Valorant Premier is all about, here’s a rundown of everything you need to know.

What is Valorant Premier?
Valorant Premier release date
Who can play the mode?
All Valorant Premier Divisions
Premier match queue windows
Live match rules
Rewards

Join VALORANT Game Director Andy Ho and Global Head of VALORANT Esports Leo Faria for some exciting updates coming to Premier during its official launch and in 2024.

We’re playing for real now. You in? pic.twitter.com/giUws6u6qQ
— VALORANT (@VALORANT) August 25, 2023

What is Valorant Premier?

Premier is a new competitive mode in Valorant that will provide a much higher level of competition to players compared to Ranked.

Riot aims to “present an even higher goal beyond Radiant that provides the most competition-hungry players with a rewarding challenge beyond ranked.”

The mode is a new path to pro for players from the comfort of directly playing from their homes. According to Leo Faria, Valorant’s Head of Esports, Premier “will be the path to the VCT Challengers leagues” in the future, eventually replacing the current open qualifying system.

Valorant Premier release date

Valorant Premier was released on Tuesday, August 29, 2023, alongside Episode 7 Act 2. This is Stage 1 of the game mode and will end on October 22, 2023.

Your team, match history, and Premier MMR got carried over to the launch stage from the Ignition stage upon its release. However, Premier Score, Division, Zone, and Enrollment will not carry over between Stages.

To play Valorant Premier, players must verify their phone numbers.

Who can play Valorant Premier?

Anyone with a valid Valorant account that’s in good standing (not banned currently) is eligible to take part in Valorant Premier. All you need to make sure of is that your phone number should be verified.

You can form a team of five and up to seven players can take part in the competitive mode. The nature of the mode remains unchanged from what it was during the beta period but is enhanced with more features and will last for a prolonged period.

Once you build a roster, your team will be placed in a division where you’ll play across a persistent season composed of a mix of weekly matches and tournaments. If your team has everything it needs to win, you may even qualify for the end-of-season tournament to battle for being the Division Champions.

If you want to dive into more details on how to play Valorant Premier, our guide has everything you need.

There will be five Divisions in Valorant Premier.

All Valorant Premier Divisions

There are currently five divisions in Valorant Premier, and we’ve sorted them in the order of highest to lowest below:

Contender
Elite 1 – 5
Advanced 1 – 5
Intermediate 1 – 5
Open 1 – 5

You may invite whoever you want to your roster and the Division will be decided based on the MMR of the top 5 players on your team. Starting Episode 8 Act 1, every Division’s Standings will be viewable to all players.

Teams with at least 5 members can preview their Division after selecting a Zone. However, this interim is subject to change provided you add or remove team members. The Division gets locked after you’ve played your first match.

You’ll get to know about your team’s Division once the Enrollment phase is over. It’ll be displayed on the Premier hub and on your Team page. Remember, your team won’t be able to change Divisions once a Stage has been set in motion.

Valorant Premier match queue windows

Queue windows for Valorant Premier matches depend from Zone to Zone, during the evening according to your local time zone.

Weekly matches will mostly take place around 7 pm local time, but this can change at any moment and may occur between 7 to 9 pm local time. To get the exact queue windows, it’s best to check your Team Hub in-game.

In case it shows your party is unable to queue, be sure to:

Confirm the player is verified via SMS.
Confirm all players are on the same Premier team.
Confirm player accounts are not restricted for disruptive behavior
For any match:
- Confirm the queue windows are open
- Confirm the party has 5 eligible players
- Confirm the roster is currently enrolled
For weekly matches:
- Confirm your weekly match limit has not been reached
For the Tournament:
- Confirm your roster has enough points to qualify for the tournament
- Confirm the tournament limit has not been reached

All teams can play two matches on each map per week, and it resets on Tuesday. Yes, you may play both of your weekly matches in one day, provided you queue up early and the queue window for your Zone hasn’t closed yet.

Riot GamesValorant Premier has a definite set of rules.

Valorant Premier live match rules

Premier matches in Valorant have a different set of rules when you compare them to Competitive matchmaking.

All weekly matches are Best of 1 and here’s what the Overtime rules look like:

The first team to win 12 rounds gains Overtime Priority.
The team with Overtime Priority chooses the Starting Side for Overtime by voting, using a simple majority of the 5 players.
Teams must win by 2. Every round, teams swap sides.
If 3 sets of Overtime have been played, play one final round of Sudden Death.
Sudden Death side choice is whatever the team with Overtime Priority chose during the Overtime Starting Side Choice Phase.

To qualify for the Playoff Tournament, teams must earn 675 points. All teams within a Division that qualify for the Tournament are matched into a bracket of up to 8 teams. Each bracket results in one winning team. However, a Tournament bracket may start with as few as 5.

Valorant Premier Rewards and Crest

The rewards for participating and winning the Playoff tournament in Valorant Premier include:

A unique Gun Buddy
Title for winning
A Player Card for playing at least one match

All rewards will be distributed the day after the Launch Stage ends. You will be eligible for your reward as long as you’ve played at least one match.

You can also earn a Crest and for that, play at least two weekly matches or one tournament match with a team. The Launch Stage Crest will be available at the start of the new Stage in October. You can view your Launch Stage Crest by clicking on Career and then going to Premier.

So, there you have it – that’s everything you need to know about the new competitive mode “Premier” in Valorant. For more about the game, be sure to check our other Valorant tips, guides, and content: