Premier, VALORANT’s tournament system encouraging amateur teams to band together and compete for glory, has had an early enrollment entry barrier that’s discouraged many teams in past seasons from competing. Riot is now seeking to make Premier more accessible for all players, at any point in the stage.
The official VALORANT account posted an update to Premier for Episode Eight, Act Two onwards, which features multiple quality of life updates to the game mode. The biggest change is open enrollment at any point of the stage, allowing teams who only formed midway through the stage to immediately sign up in their zone and start earning points towards the end-of-season playoffs.
Premier is VALORANT’s path to pro system, allowing teams to form up, take on other pre-made teams, and earn rewards for their performance, with the highest division qualifying for their region’s Challengers league. However, upon its official release on Aug. 29, 2023, many players found the one-week enrollment period too restrictive, as any team who missed the opening window to register or faced bugs when trying to confirm enrollment would be locked out of the season for up to seven weeks, forcing them to sit on the sidelines if they wished to stick together, or separate and join different teams to participate in Premier until the next season.
The new update directly answers the problem, discarding the one-week enrollment restriction completely, allowing players to create teams and immediately start playing in the weekly matches to earn Premier Score. There is no disadvantage for joining Premier late, allowing teams who join halfway through the season to still have a chance at qualifying for the playoff tournament, provided they win enough matches to meet the 675 Premier Score threshold.
Additional updates to Premier address the most commonly requested community complaints, such as rematch protection, which stops teams from facing off against each other twice in a stage, and updated playoff results, with the stage standings changing as each playoff match finishes, making it easier for teams to scout out their upcoming matches. Quality of life updates include zone flexibility and immediate division placement, which shows teams their Provisional Division after creation, allowing them to change the starting roster or zone an unlimited number of times before the first match of Premier, which will lock in the zone and division for the rest of the season.
Players excited to form their new team for the upcoming Premier season don’t have to wait long, as Episode Eight, Act Two of VALORANT is expected to start on March 5.
