Riot Games has unveiled the official qualification path Premier teams need to follow to reach VALORANT Challengers through its Path to Champions programme.
The 2026 season will feature a total of 14 Challenger Leagues across the Pacific, Americas, and EMEA regions. However, the biggest news is the removal of Challengers Oceania.
Keep Reading
- Riot Games unveils full VCT 2026 schedule and format
- FURIA announces VCT 2026 roster
- ULF Esports issues statement addressing unpaid salary allegations
From the Challenger Leagues, the top teams will advance directly to the VCT Stage 2 Playoffs, where they will compete for a place at Champions Shanghai.
Below is the promotional system Premier teams in each region will go through to qualify for their respective Challengers Leagues.
Pacific
Teams will begin their journey across six gamepods (sub-zones) with top-performing squads advancing into their respective zones.
From there, the strongest rosters will qualify for their regional Challengers League — except for Oceania, following the closure of its Challengers League.
After competing through their respective zones, the top teams will enter the Pacific Challengers League circuit, which is split into Japan, South Korea, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Why Was Challengers Oceania Removed?
According to Riot Games, the decision to sunset the Challengers League Oceania was made after extensive internal review.
The publisher stated that while the intent was to build a ‘long term, sustainable local ecosystem,’ the region did not achieve the expected growth in terms of player participation or viewership. As a result, operational demands eventually outweighed the level of interest.
“With that said, we still see potential in Oceania and want to ensure that there remains a path-to-pro for aspiring VALORANT players in the region,” Riot shared.
Despite the league’s removal, Oceania players will still be able to participate in Path to Champions through VALORANT Challengers’ Pacific LCQ for a chance to compete for a Stage 2 Playoffs spot and ultimately Champions 2026.
Americas
VALORANT’s Premier ecosystem in the Americas will feature the highest number of gamepods, spread across five zones. These are US East, US West, LATAM North, LATAM South, and Brazil. The top-ranked teams from each zone will move on to one of four Challenger leagues, North America, LATAM North, LATAM South and Brazil.
EMEA
Participating Premier teams will be placed across eight gamepods in EMEA, with the next stage taking place at the zone level. The best teams will then proceed to the Challengers Leagues, as shown in the image below.
EMEA will have the highest number of Challenger Leagues, including DACH, North/East Europe, Spain, France, Türkiye, and MENA.
As of right now, Riot Games has not yet confirmed how many teams will qualify from gamepods to zones, and subsequently to the Challengers Leagues.
In addition to this, details for the China region will be announced at a later date.
Source: https://esportsinsider.com/
