The process for players from Valorant Premier, Riot Games’ in-game path to pro system, to join VCT Challengers has been unveiled. This is the method for players to qualify for the Valorant Esports League.
The Valorant Premier serves as the in-game route for players aspiring to join the VCT Challengers Leagues. These leagues are considered the second-tier events in the Valorant Champions Tour. The highest ranking teams in each league will have the opportunity to advance to the VCT international leagues by competing in an Ascension tournament.
In 2025, teams in Challengers Leagues will no longer be able to qualify through open qualifiers and will instead be promoted from Premier. As part of its roadmap, Riot Games announced that most regions will begin incorporating Premier into Episode Act 2 as the pathway to the VCT Challengers Leagues in 2024.
This article will be kept up-to-date with any changes or updates to the process for players interested in pursuing a professional career in Valorant.
The Path from Valorant Premier to VCT Challengers for Players
In order to begin the process, players must reach a rank of Immortal 3 or above before the first Act of the year begins. They must then register and sign up to participate in the current Premier window.
In order to participate in the Challengers Leagues in 2024, players must first ensure that they meet the eligibility criteria. This includes being at least 16 years old, as players below this age are not permitted to compete. Additionally, players are only allowed to compete in Premier with one account, meaning that ringers, substitutes, or players from other regions are not allowed.
To qualify for the Contender Division within Premier, teams must consist of players ranked as Immortal 3. This designation may appear for players as soon as they reach the Elite Division.
Players must register for the Premier zone that corresponds to the Challengers League they wish to join.
The schedule for Valorant Premier in 2024.
Teams that do not meet the qualifications for their designated Challengers Leagues will instead compete in the Premier Contender Division. This competition will consist of two stages, each with a regular season and playoff. The top teams from the Contender standings will be placed in a playoff bracket. Any Contender teams that win the playoff tournament or finish within the top 32 in the Contender Division standings at the end of the competition will have the opportunity to advance to the Invite Division, which will begin during the Premier Season of Episode 8 Act 3.
With the release of Valorant Episode 9 Act 1, Riot has implemented new mechanics in the Contender and Invite Divisions. These modifications encompass:
- All teams are required to participate in two scheduled events per week, which will take place on the designated map of the week.
- Losses will now be worth 0 points. (previously losses awarded 25 points)
- Teams with comparable records will be paired up, with the added safeguard of rematch protection.
- If an odd number of teams attend an event, the team with the lowest PremierScore will be granted a bye rather than participating in a match.
- Teams will qualify for the playoffs based on their standings after the conclusion of weeklycompetition. (previously playoff qualification was based Premier Score)
- At the conclusion of the playoff tournaments, Premier will advance teams according to their rankings on the current stage’s leaderboard.
The number of teams that will qualify for the tournament from the Challengers and Invite side may differ by region. Nevertheless, there will consistently be at least two spots available for promotion in each Challengers League.
In the event of contact through email, players are required to reply within two days. Failure to do so will result in Riot contacting the next strongest team and disqualifying the initial team.
The composition of each region’s Premier division varies slightly depending on geographic location. Riot Games has categorized players into Gamepods based on their server location, which then fall under Zones and ultimately lead to the Challengers Leagues.
The breakdown of that is demonstrated below.
Promotion Path in the Americas
- North American Challengers League
- US East (Zone)
- Ashburn (Gamepod)
- dallas
- Chicago
- Atlanta
- US West
- Oregon
- dallas
- Chicago
- Northern California
- US East (Zone)
- Latin America North Challengers League
- Latin America North
- Mexico City
- Miami
- Latin America Chicago
- Latin America North
- Latin America South Challengers League
- Latin America South
- Santiago
- Bogota
- Latin America South
- Brazil Challengers League
- Brazil
- São Paulo
- Brazil
EMEA Promotion Path
- DACH Challengers League
- ROOF
- Frankfurt
- ROOF
- Northern Europe Challengers League
- Northern Europe
- London
- Stockholm
- Northern Europe
- Portugal Challengers League & Italy Challengers League & Spain Challengers League
- He will go
- Madrid
- He will go
- France Challengers League
- France
- Paris
- France
- Eastern Europe Challengers League
- Eastern Europe
- Warsaw
- Eastern Europe
- Turkey Challengers League
- Turkey
- Istanbul
- Turkey
- MENA Challengers League
- Middle East
- Bahrain
- Middle East
Pacific Promotion Path
- Japan Challengers League
- Japan
- Tokyo
- Japan
- South Korea Challengers League
- South Korea
- Tokyo
- South Korea
- South Asia
- South Asia
- Mumbai
- South Asia
- Malaysia/Singapore Challengers League & Thailand Challengers League & Philippines Challengers League & Vietnam Challengers League & Hong Kong/Taiwan Challengers League & Indonesia Challengers League
- Asia
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- Asia
- Oceania
- Oceania
- Sydney
- Oceania
This system may be subject to alterations in the upcoming months as Riot Games makes adjustments following its implementation at the beginning of 2024.
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