Riot Games has announced some major changes to the Valorant Challengers League in 2024 including a rough schedule, Affiliate Teams, and Two-Way Players.
Valorant Challengers Leagues across the world have been over for quite some time as Ascension tournaments have concluded and the VCT off-season marches on. 2023 was the first year of the new VCT circuit with International leagues and domestic Challengers Leagues that feed into the Tier 1 competition.
After a year with the product, Riot Games has decided to make a few changes for the 2024 season that should help improve the quality of life for players and fans around the Challengers Leagues.
The biggest change fans will feel is the updated schedule. Challengers will now run throughout the entire year. The leagues will start in January with the first split of matches, followed by a playoff, a promotion and relegation tournament, and then the second split. The promotion tournament will feature the bottom teams from the league and the top Premier teams from the region.
Some leagues—not all—will also have open qualifiers to fill up spots in the competition before the 2023 season starts.
Ascension tournaments will be held in September and the 2025 Challengers League season will start directly after the promotion event in October.
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Valorant Challengers League to introduce Two-Way Players
The other major changes to the league have to do with player eligibility, and introducing new player designations in the Challengers and international leagues.
International league teams will have the option to build partnerships with Challengers and Game Changes teams in 2024. These affiliate partnerships must occur in the same region for Challengers teams but can be international for Game Changers squads.
It's time to talk about #VCT Challengers in 2024!For details, roadmap, and more: https://t.co/0jdjxu8pY6 pic.twitter.com/uLntngXQSc
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) October 20, 2023
Teams that are affiliated together will also be able to have Two-Way Players. Essentially, a player on the international league team’s roster will be able to move down to their affiliated Challengers League, or Game Changers, squad to compete. The players can also come back up to play in the Tier 1 league. This move has been rumored for a while and brings some interesting hypotheticals when it comes to roster building for next year.
Player loans will also be introduced in 2024. International league teams will be able to loan players out from their roster to any Challengers and Game Changers rosters. Unlike Two-Way Players, loaned players will not be able to return to competition with their main team until the loan expires.
Fans will have to wait to see how teams plan to use these new player systems and how it will impact the Challengers Leagues in 2024.