Teams competing in grassroots Valorant esports series Beacon Split 2 will now be able to promote directly to Polaris, the Valorant Regional League (VRL) for Northern Europe.
This means for the first time in the UK and Nordics region, there will be a direct link between a grassroots VRC (Valorant Regional Circuit) and a higher-tier VRL.
Teams competing in the Beacon circuit will get the chance to reach Polaris through an end-of-split tournament called the Division 1 Circuit Finals.
Beacon Split 2 will be separated into three distinct tournament circuits – the Majors, the Minors, and community events. Teams will be able to accumulate circuit points through competing in both Majors and Minors, with the top eight teams qualifying for the Division 1 Circuit Finals.
A win at a Major event will award the first placed team 1,000 circuit points, whilst a win at a Minor will award 350 points.
Minor tournaments will also be held in specific countries within the region, providing fresh teams with a level playing ground to get involved in competitive Valorant.
Community events will be run throughout the split with approved partners. Those interested in hosting a community-run tournament within Beacon Split 2 can apply via Riot’s official community tournament website.
“Beacon Split 2 will not only provide more opportunities for budding Valorant teams of different skill levels to compete but will also provide a clear grassroots path to pro for players and teams, with a now visible player journey through the ecosystem in Northern Europe.”
Will Attwood, Riot Games
The news comes as the Beacon Split 1 Finals are set to conclude this weekend across three divisions. These do not progress teams to Polaris, but teams are instead competing for prize money (€10,000 between all divisions).
Circuit events will start from this month (August 2022) and run until 4th December 2022. Teams will be able to compete in as many tournaments as they can within this time period, however, points earnt from LAN tournaments will not stack, and only the highest point finish across all Beacon Split 2 LAN events will count towards the team’s total points.
The Division 1 Circuit Finals will feature eight teams that accumulated the most points throughout the split, as well as the two lowest placed teams from the previous VRL Polaris Split. The top two teams from the Division 1 Circuit Finals will then lock in their place for the forthcoming 2023 Polaris Split, due to start early next year.
Valorant grassroots esports series Beacon first launched for players in UK, Ireland and Nordics earlier this year, and the Regional League in Valorant for Northern Europe (Polaris) was announced in late 2021. It’s run by UK-based service provider Promod.
Will Attwood, competitive experiences manager at Riot Games, said: “We’re excited to be taking the next step with our Valorant Regional Circuit in Northern Europe. Beacon Split 2 will not only provide more opportunities for budding Valorant teams of different skill levels to compete but will also provide a clear grassroots path to pro for players and teams, with a now visible player journey through the ecosystem in Northern Europe.”
Broadcasted events throughout the split can be found on the local tournament organisers’ Twitch channels.
There’s more info on the Valorant Regional Circuit: Beacon Split 2 on the Valorant Beacon website and Valorant Beacon Discord.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
