Riot Games is blowing up its own playbook. Starting in 2027, the Valorant Champions Tour will strip partner teams of their guaranteed league slots and replace the current franchise-style system with one built on promotion, relegation, and open qualifiers.
What’s actually changing
The current VCT model works a lot like traditional North American sports leagues. Partner teams hold guaranteed spots, meaning they show up to Masters and Champions events regardless of how they performed the previous season. The only way for non-partner teams to break in was through Ascension, a single annual promotion tournament that functioned as a narrow bottleneck for aspiring squads.
That bottleneck is gone.
Under the 2027 restructuring, open qualifiers will be available multiple times per year to any team worldwide. No more banking an entire organization’s future on one shot at Ascension. The new system creates numerous pathways for teams to earn their way onto the global stage.
