VALORANT Premier Mode Could Introduce Map Bans to Competitive Play
Riot Games’ newest tournament game mode ‘Premier’ may bring a highly anticipated feature to VALORANT: map bans for competitive play.
Developed over several months, Premier is still a work in progress. However, it already includes a significant update: the introduction of map bans. Previously, map bans were limited to VALORANT Champions Tour matches, which are conducted in a tournament mode of custom matches. These matches typically follow a best-of-three or best-of-five format, allowing teams to select their preferred maps.
This feature has yet to be added to the regular competitive queue, denying players the option to select the maps they want to play in ranked matches. Comparable titles like Counter-Strike already offer this feature, allowing players to choose and eliminate unfamiliar maps. The addition of Premier game mode could potentially introduce map selection and banning to the competitive queues when it is officially released on live servers. Ideally, players would be able to choose a set of maps they feel confident playing on and exclude the ones they prefer to avoid.
One of the main concerns that had prevented the implementation of a map ban system in VALORANT was the limited number of maps available. Since its launch in 2020, VALORANT has gradually introduced new maps, usually with each Episode. As Riot continues to expand the map pool for VALORANT, there is an increasing need for a pick-and-ban system that can be utilized by regular players, not just professionals. The introduction of Premier game mode could bring VALORANT players one step closer to having map selection options in their regular games, outside of tournaments.
Related VALORANT, Premier game mode, map bans, competitive play, Riot Games