The 2023 NA VALORANT Challengers season was highlighted by the prolific entry of two creator-backed organizations, and in the second and final split of the year, the performances of the two teams couldn’t have been any different.
In the final week of the second split, the Moist Moguls team supported by YouTube duo MoistCr1TiKaL and Ludwig finished the split with a perfect 5-0 record, securing a first-place finish. The team of thief, aproto, brawk, flyuh, and sym was absolutely dominant during the second group stage of the year, putting up a map score of 10-2, and a round differential of +60. The highlights of the season include a decisive comeback against G2, a big win against a top team in The Guard, and dominant victories against both MAD Lions and OREsports.
But in the other group, Disguised Toast’s team ended up on the complete opposite end of the standings, despite an all-star acquisition. Prior to the start of the split, Toast made a splash with the pickup of former OpTic/Cloud9 star yay, and all eyes were on Disguised to make some noise in their group to secure a playoff spot. During the split, fans certainly weren’t able to look away, even if they wanted to.
It was a brutal split for Disguised, who went 0-5 after bringing on yay, ensuring a last or next-to-last result for the split. The performance in the split all but guarantees that Toast’s team will have to fight for survival in the relegation tournament in June. They will need to finish top two in the four-team double-elimination relegation bracket just to make it back to Challengers next year without having to go through open qualifiers again.
As for the Moist Moguls, they have secured a spot in the Challengers playoffs and can make it to the Americas Ascension tournament with a top-two spot, meaning a potential promotion to VCT Americas is certainly a possibility for MoistCr1TiKaL and Ludwig.
The presence of the two creator teams has done well for the league’s viewership, and fans have enjoyed watching the creators react to their teams’ triumphs and heartbreaks in real-time. There’s still a chance that both teams will be back in the league next year, and just maybe we’ll finally get to see Moist Moguls and Disguised go head-to-head on a VALORANT server.
