Grinding Valorant ranked is a chore for some FPS game aficionados but a delight for others – especially when you finally reach the level you’ve been aspiring towards. Once you’ve breached the inner Radiant sanctum, however, there’s nowhere to go – well, not for much longer.
Riot have already outlined that the Immortal pool will be shrinking in order to make the second-highest rank more competitive, but it turns out things are about to get even hotter.
First alluded to in Riot’s VCT 2023 format reveal, an all new competitive mode will be added to the multiplayer game in alpha form from next week. Entitled ‘Premier,’ this is where the best of the best will juke it out for the win – surpassing even Radiant itself.
The alpha test will only land in the hands of a few players, and is localised to Brazil. Of course it’s worth noting that this is the alpha form of Premier, so there will likely be a bit of trial and error.
“We want to present an even higher goal beyond Radiant that provides the most competition-hungry players with a rewarding challenge beyond ranked,” writes Jon Walker, ranked designer for Valorant. “We wanted to build a connection between the game and the esport through a highly competitive mode that would allow millions of players to experience Valorant in a similar way as our VCT pros and teams.”
In Premier, you will pull together a team of five and then be placed in a wider group of teams of a similar skill level. From here, you play across a season made up of weekly matches and tournaments. At the end of the season (they last a few weeks), the top dogs will be able to battle it out in the end-of-season tournament in order to claim the title of Division Champion.
Of course, given the mode is entirely new, Riot are looking to collect player feedback in order to help it thrive. The devs have specifically asked players to look at team creation (teams can add their logos and colours), as well as the all-new map pick-and-ban system that will be tested alongside Premier.
If you’re looking to take on the best of the best, be sure to check out our rundown of all of the Valorant Ranks to help you on your way to glory. We also have all of the best Valorant crosshairs and codes; after all, it would be pretty cool to turn Jake ‘Boaster’ Howlett’s crosshair against him in the battle for Division Champion,right?
