VALORANT EMEA Challengers Promotion/Relegation System Explained

Valorant

April 21, 2024

Bryan Francis

Since the transition of VALORANT esports to the partnership model, there has been widespread discussion regarding its structure. The Premier game mode was introduced to attract more casual games to esports. With the VCT EMEA Stage One underway, VALORANT has provided more information on the upcoming promotion and relegation event in the EMEA Challengers. In this article, let’s look at the event’s structure and what fans can expect from it.

What is the VALORANT EMEA Challengers Promotion/Relegation Tournament?

Image Credits: Riot Games

The Premier game mode was introduced to VALORANT in 2023. In this game mode, players can form a team of 5-7 players. The team is placed in a given rank based on the threshold of their competitive rank in VALORANT. Each stage of this tournament will last an entire Act in the game. The vital thing to note is that following the launch of Episode 9 Act 1, there will be a new rank in the Premier called Invite Division.

Each regional promotion event within the VALORANT EMEA region will occur between May 4 and 7. In the tournament, the following teams will be taking part:

The top four Premier teams from their respective zones.
Two relegated teams from the respective Challengers League.
Either the top four teams from the region’s VALORANT Regional Circuit (VRC) or the winning team from the VALORANT Regional Circuit.

In the event, regions with no VRC will only have the top four Premier teams alongside the two relegated teams from their respective VCL.

EMEA Challengers Promotion/Relegation Tournament Format

The tournament has a simple format. It begins with a single elimination bracket. Depending on the region, the Premier and VRC teams will be part of this bracket. If there are only four Premier teams and one team from VRC, just one Premier team will make it out of the bracket. Following this, the VRC and the Premier team will face off against one of the relegated teams from the regional VALORANT Challengers League. This competition will follow a double-elimination bracket.

Image Credits: Riot Games

The top 2 teams from this bracket will make it into VALORANT Challengers League Split 2 for their respective regions. If an area has four teams from Premier and four from VRC, then the set of four teams will be a part of a single-bracket elimination. From both those sets of teams, the top Premier and VRC teams will qualify to face off against the relegated VCL Split 1 teams.