Ludwig and Moist Moguls narrowly win the VALORANT popularity contest vs. Disguised—for now

The two North American VALORANT teams backed by massive content creators never got to face each other during the 2023 Challengers season, but a rivalry was still formed on the back of good-natured trash talk between the two owners Ludwig and Disguised Toast.

While the Moist Moguls and Disguised VALORANT rosters effectively had polar opposite results by the end of the 2023 season, the race to win viewers was far closer. Moist Moguls just barely edged out Disguised for the top spot among NA VALORANT Challengers teams for average viewers, according to data from Esports Charts.

Moist Moguls averaged 68,952 viewers throughout their Challengers run, the most of any NA team, with Disguised sitting just behind them at 68,293. The teams had two very different years and thus ended up with very different viewership numbers across the different stages of the season.

During split one, Moist Moguls dominated with around 96,400 viewers, over 15,000 more than the next highest in Disguised, boosted by watch parties hosted by both Ludwig and Critical. This was the most average viewers of any team during any stage of NA Challengers in 2023. In split two, though, the prolific addition of yay pushed Disguised into the top spot, averaging 75,000 viewers during the first five matches with the former OpTic/Cloud9 star.

But as many are aware, the addition of yay did not translate to any competitive success for Disguised as the team went 0-5 in split two and were forced into the relegation bracket, while Moist Moguls finished in first place in split two and qualified for the playoffs. In the relegation matches, Disguised viewership dropped off significantly, falling to an average of roughly 48,700 viewers. In the playoffs, Moist Moguls rocketed back into the top viewership spot with a nice 69,500 average viewers, while the team itself just barely missed out on Ascension.

Related: VALORANT coach Sean Gares on Disguised relegation: ‘Some of the most disappointing games I’ve spectated’

While the two teams never got to play each other, it was without a doubt a more successful campaign for Ludwig and Moist Moguls. Disguised Toast parted ways with his roster after the unceremonious end to the season, and while he’s still supporting a Game Changers roster and an LCS Academy team, whether or not he returns to Challengers remains to be seen. But many fans likely hope a VALORANT streamer org derby is in the cards for 2024.