The Episode 9 Act 1 Premier changes of VALORANT revolve around the new “Invite” division.
Premier is VALORANT‘s official competitive mode, where you need a pre-made team to compete. Riot Games introduced the Premier Beta in August 2022. Since then, the Premier mode has gone through several tweaks and adjustments to make it even more flawless.
Now, with Episode 9 Act 1, Premier is in a new stage. Just like before, you can enroll with your team of up to 7 members and participate in a division decided by the top 5 players’ MMR. However, the new Premier also differs from the previous versions in a few ways.
What’s New in Premier E9A1?
There have been some additional tweaks to Premier with the Episode 9 Act 1 update. These changes include:
- Invite Division: Invite Division is a new tier within the Contender Division. However, the Invite Division will determine what teams will have the opportunity to make it into a Challengers League. At the end of the stage, a limited number of Contender Division teams will be promoted to the Invite Division. The number of invited teams will vary in each region.
- Winners of previous act playoff tournament and Top 32 will be placed in the Invite division.
- Contender or Invite Roster Restriction: A player must be Contender eligible before a Contender or Invite Division team can add them into the team. Below are some more points for teams and player eligibility for the Contender Division in Premier:
- Play a weekly match in Contender or Invite.
- Play a playoff match in Elite 5.
- Play a Competitive match when ranked as Immortal 3 or higher.
- Contender and Invite Weekly Matches: Contender and Invite Divisions play both of their weekly matches on Saturday night. All North American teams in Contender and Invite play their matches at the same time. When the Act starts, you’ll see the exact times in-client for your division.
- Contender and Invite Playoffs: The top teams in Contender and Invite divisions qualify for playoffs. The playoff finals will be played in best of 3 formats.
The path to pro status is now easier to see than before with the arrival of the Invite Division. However, it has not made the competition any easier. In order to advance to the Challengers League, all teams must go through to the very end. Nevertheless, we are wishing good luck to every team competing in the Episode 9 Act 1 Premier launching on June 25, 2024.
