With VALORANT Episode 9 Act 1, a new Premier stage has started with a clear view of the Challengers League.
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, followed by the Premier Ignition stage and official Premier Stage 1.
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.
Note: We updated the schedule and map rotation on June 20, 2024 at 4:16 AM PT.
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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 to 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.
VALORANT Premier Weekly Map Rotation & Schedule
The enrollment period for Premier Stage E9A1 begins with the launch of the new Act. The first week of matches will begin on June 27, 2024, and will conclude with the playoffs on August 11, 2024. The maps will rotate every week, and there will be two-day breaks between each week.
Here is the Schedule for the weekly map rotation:
| Time Frame | MAP | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Lotus | June 27 to 30 |
| Week 2 | Bind | July 3 to 7 |
| Week 3 | Haven | July 10 to 14 |
| Week 4 | Icebox | July 17 to 21 |
| Week 5 | Sunset | July 24 to 28 |
| Week 6 | Abyss | July 31 to August 4 |
| Week 7 | Ascent | August 7 to 10 |
| Playoffs | Bo3 | August 11 |
Premier Stage E9A1 will run for 7 weeks, rotating every map from the active map pool, including the newest addition, Abyss. Depending on your time zone, the event will take place between 7 and 9 PM. You can check this while enrolling in the game.
There you go! Hopefully, now you’ll be able to keep track of your upcoming Premier matches and practice the maps accordingly. We wish you all the best for your upcoming matches and Premier journey.
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