Cover-Credits:
Riot Games announced that the Valorant Premier Global Open Beta will launch on 25th April 2023 (Tuesday) and will run till 23rd May, concluding with the Premier Playoff Tournament. Premier is Valorant’s team-based competitive system that will allow players to build their own teams and compete in a well-planned tournament system with pre-scheduled matches. Players should note that this is a test version of Premier planned ahead of its full launch.
Through Premier, players will be able to form their own teams of five to seven players and compete in weekly matches over an act-long season against other players in the same region and skill division, and secure points to make it to the Playoff tournament at the end of the season. In the future, Premier will be the path for players to enter the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Challenger Leagues.
As a proper, well-planned tournament, players need to be aware that Premier is different from the regular ranked games and it has a different set of rules for Overtime (OT) and even map selection just like in pro tournaments.
Rules to remember for Valorant Premier
Firstly, there are no restrictions on who you can be on a team with (rank-wise) but some restrictions will kick in after the team has been enrolled. Once your roster is set and enrolled, your division and match schedule will be determined. Your team will be seeded into one of 20 Divisions based on the average MMR of your team’s top five players. After this, you’ll be limited to only inviting other players that would not cause your team to change Divisions.
Every week, your team will play up to two matches and earn points toward your Premier score. This score will determine whether your team qualifies for the next stage of Premier, the Playoff tournament. Your teams will earn 100 points for a weekly match win and 25 points for a loss. You will require 375 points to qualify for the Playoff tournament in the Premier Global Open Beta.
On the last day of the Global Open Beta, Playoff tournament matches will take place and will utilize a map pick-and-ban system similar to pro matches.
Here are the things to keep in mind when your team reaches the tournament stage:
Valorant Premier: Map selection
During the weekly matches, there will be a “featured map” for each match that will be listed on the schedule in the Premier Hub. You will be able to see well in advance what map you will be playing on.
During the tournament phase, teams will be making use of the pick-and-ban system that we see in pro play. Here’s how it works:
During map pick and bans, teams will take turns banning maps. While all members of one team can vote on which map to ban, the party leader will ultimately lock in the team's choice.
The process alternates between teams until a map is chosen. The team that did not choose the map then gets to choose if they'd like to attack or defend first.
Overtime Rules in Valorant Premier
In the case two teams hit the 12-12 round score, the match will go into Overtime, but with slightly different rules. Here’s how Overtime rounds will work in Premier:
The first team to win 12 rounds will get Overtime Priority.
The team with Overtime Priority will choose the starting side for Overtime by voting, using a simple majority of the five players in the team.
Teams must win by 2. Every round, teams swap sides.
If 2 sets of Overtime have been played, teams will play one final round of Sudden Death.
The Sudden Death side choice is whatever the team with Overtime Priority chose.
If you are looking forward to playing the Valorant Premier Global Open Beta, keep the following dates in mind:
Enrollment period: 25th-28th April
Weekly Matches: 29th April to 20th May
Playoff Tournament start: 21st May
Following this, the next phase of Premier is set to return in July with the full launch planned soon after Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Champions 2023 in August.
