Valorant Premier: Schedule, Divisions, Match Queue & More

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. Valorant has officially concluded premier Stage E8A3 and is coming with the premier stage for Episode 9 Act 1. With the inclusion of Icebox and a modified Lotus map, 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.

This article was last updated on June 24, 2024, to include the latest details for Valorant Premier Stage E9A1.

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 0 points (starting Episode 9 Act 1) for a loss in the Premier game mode. Starting with the Stage E8A3 Playoffs and going forward, teams will earn a promotion each time they win. The teams must earn 600 points to qualify for the Playoffs.

• 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 9 Act 1)

Check out the premier release date and match week schedule for Episode 9 Act 1 down below:

Valorant Premier Release Date

Riot Games has announced the new schedule for the new Valorant premier season. The Matches for Episode 9 Act 1 will start on June 27, 2024, and end on August 11, 2024.

To give you a bit of background, Premier Global Beta was released in April 2023. After a successful beta, the Valorant Premier Ignition stage went on till August 13, 2023. After the Ignition playoffs, it was time for stage 1 of the Premier League. That did not take too long, as Riot officially announced that Premier would take place right after the Valorant Champions 2023 finals.

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 day in the Match Week.
• Week 1: June 27 – July 1 on Lotus
• Week 2: July 3 – July 7 on Bind
• Week 3: July 10 – July 14 on Haven
• Week 4: July 17 – July 21 on Icebox
• Week 5: July 24 – July 28 on Sunset
• Week 6: July 31 – August 4 on Abyss
• Week 7: August 7 – August 10 on Ascent
• Playoff Tournament: August 11

Valorant Premier Divisions: Path to Pro

The Premier mode is divided into five Divisions. Each Division is further divided into five ranks, except the Contender and Invite 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
• Invite

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.

Contender rank will only be given to players on Immortal 3 or higher who have played a Weekly or Playoff match on a team in Contender or Invite. You can also get the division by earning a Playoff team, Finalist, or Winner crest in Elite 5 or higher. The Invite division will come at Episode 9 Act 1 update.

This rank will only be available on Stage E9A1. However, teams can still earn a promotion to the Invite Division. To get this new division, E8A3 Riot will promote the playoff winners and any team placing in the top 32 of the Contender Division standings after the playoff tournaments finish. Additionally, the top 2 teams from the Contender Division in each zone will have the opportunity to make it into a Valorant Pro Challengers League.

Here is the detailed breakdown of which zone will get you to which Challengers League:

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. Your reward will be in your collection if you are eligible. The rewards for Premier are:

• A Player Card
• Division 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.