With Episode 7 Act 2, Valorant has finally released the new competitive mode Premier. The new seasonal challenge will allow players to go "beyond Radiant" and here's all you need to know about it.
Almost two years ago, Riot started the "beta" project for a new future of competitive Valorant. The new game mode is designed to provide better competition than what players are used to in their normal competitive pub games. The Premier Competitive mode is done with it's global beta and is launched and ready for the players to have a taste of it.
What Is Valorant Premier Mode
The Valorant Premier Mode is a much more competitive "ranked queue". If you're a CS player, you can compare it to something like Faceit or ESEA. Its aim is to satisfy the hungry competitive enthusiasts and challenge their skill even more. It is viewed as a new path for the upcoming pro players to grow and improve before entering the competitive scene. Leo Faria, which is the Head of Esports of Valorant, stated that Premier "will be the path to the VCT Challengers leagues", which means that in future it might be a replacement for the current open quals system.
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
Who Can Play Valorant Premier
There aren't many requirements as to who can play Premier, but there are certain rules to ensure the matchmaking will be clean and competitive.
Here are the requirements:
- You need to verify & link your phone number to your Valorant Account (Smurf protection)
- Your account needs to be available for regular competitive matchmaking (not banned)
The second point needs further explanation. If you've received a game ban, "Vanguard Intervention", Competitive or Communications restriction in the last 30 days, you will be ineligible to play in the Premier competitive mode. If you receive any of these during your weekly or playoff matches, you will get disqualified until the end of that stage.
Professional Players Won't Be Able To Play Premier
Starting with Stage 2 of the next act which is the Ep. 7 Act 3, pro players who are on an active roster of a team that's participating in either the Challengers League or International League will be unable to participate in Premier. This is a wise choice since those players are already proven as good enough to play competitively, and there's no reason to mix them with the upcoming ones.
How To Play Valorant Premier Mode
Premier Mode is a Team vs. Team mode, so you will need to form a team first. The team needs to have at least 5 and not more than 7 players to take part in the competitive mode. Once you finish assembling your roster, you will be later placed into a division in which you will play a mix of weekly & tournament seasonal matches. Winning the Season has high stakes, as you will be later able to flex with a "Premier Champion" player title.
Valorant Premier Mode Schedule
Next up is the Schedule. Weekly matches will almost always be played at 7 PM on your local time, and may occasionally change in the hours between 7 and 9 pm local time. You can always check the exact schedule and time in your "Team Hub". Every team can play two matches per map, with a weekly reset happening every Tuesday. If you're a busy person, you can play both of the matches in one day if you make sure to queue up early and the queue window hasn't been closed.
How To Fix Unable To Queue In Premier
This is one of the most common problems happening in the Premier queue, and it's time you've gotten rid of it.
If you're getting this message, that means that you need to check if you've done all of the things below:
- Make sure to confirm that all players have verified their numbers via SMS
- Make sure that all players are on the same Premier team
- Make sure that none of the players have: Coms ban, Game Ban, Vanguard interruption or Restriction to Competitive queue.
- Make sure the queue window is open
- Make sure the party has 5 eligible players
- Make sure the roster is currently enrolled
- Make sure your weekly matches limit hasn't been reached
- If you're in the tournament queue, make sure your roster has the points needed to qualify for the tournament
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