Whereas in previous years Hi-Rez would host the “Challenger Cup” for teams looking to go pro, this year Hi-Rez is hosting the Challenger Circuit for amateur teams. This new program boasts a revamped format and collaboration with Tiermonster.

The Challenger circuit is going to be six weeks long with four teams from each region. It will feature a mid-split where the top teams will face off against the teams at the bottom.

The Challenger Circuit will start February 18th and end March 26th. Every team will play each other once within three weeks and first relegations will be on March 11th and 12th. The top two teams during relegations will earn the right to prove themselves in the Challenger Circuit.

After first relegations, every team will play each other in the following two weeks. After that is second relegations on April 1st and April 2nd. Once again the top two teams will join for the Summer Challenger circuit.

This is a huge change in format from the challenger cup. In the past the Challenger Cup was a series of soft seeded, single elimination tournaments that would take place over the course of five weeks. Two tournaments would run every week; one for NA and one for EU. These tournaments will determine the seeding into the next stage.

During the tournaments, North American games were required to be played on North American servers and likewise European games were required to be played on European servers.

After the tournaments, the Round Robin Group Stage would be played over the next two weeks. During this stage each team will be playing three games a day every day. These games determined who will advance to the finals.

Every game would have the following settings setup; the pick method would be draft with six bans total. Party sizes were 5 v 5. Spectators were allowed with recording. Spawn lane minions. Starting level:1. Starting gold 1500.

The tournaments were always single elimination except for the Grand Finals which were best of three. No game was allowed to end in a tie. In cases of “game breaking” bugs additional rulings could be made on the fly. Intentionally using bugs to one’s advantage resulted in immediate disqualification. Teams would receive compensation based on their placement.

Of course the Challenger Circuit seems to be much less complex, but as of now it seems as though we just don’t have as much information (although the game setups will likely be the same.) But I think it’s good that they’re changing this. Afterall it makes it easier to get into the Circuit as long as the team’s good. It makes this whole section more competitive and makes the Smite scene as a whole more competitive.