The Guard wins Ludwig x Tarik Valorant Invitational: Final results

Declan Mclaughlin

Content creators Ludwig Ahgren and Tarik ‘tarik’ Celik just teamed up for a $50,000 Valorant invitational during the esport’s offseason period. While it was ultimately The Guard who took out the win after cruising through the upper bracket, here’s a full recap of how it all played out.

The Ludwig x Tarik Invitational was part of the official Riot Games offseason tournament calendar and served as the kick off for the 2023 Valorant esports season. The tournament’s initial announcement outlined how the invitational aimed to bring together the best Valorant teams and biggest creators in the space for a two-day LAN event.

With four pro teams and two teams of popular influencers battling it out, it’s safe to say the field was certainly stacked. Although it was The Guard who won the former side, besting TSM in the Grand Finals, and Team OfflineTV that proved unstoppable on the content creator side, we’ve got you covered below with a full recap of the event.

TSM wins $50K Ludwig x Tarik Invitational: Results

Despite fighting back from the lower bracket, sweeping both T1 and Sentinels on their way to the finals, TSM ultimately ran out of steam in the closing map against The Guard.

The Guard managed to cruise through Haven with a 13-1 round count, securing the trophy and the first-place prize in the process.

T$50K Ludwig x Tarik Invitational: Final Placements

Placement Team Prize Money (USD)
1 The Guard $30,000 
2 TSM $15,000
3 Sentinels $5,000
4 T1

Ludwig x Tarik invitational: Team OfflineTV wins showmatch

Ludwig x Tarik invitational: Streams

As you would expect from these two renowned figures, tarik and Ludwig both served as hosts throughout the event, broadcasting live on their respective platforms of Twitch and YouTube.

You can catch up on the final day of action below with the full vod from Ludwig’s perspective.

Ludwig x Tarik Invitational: Format and schedule

The tournament took place across January 14 and 15 in Los Angeles. The event featured a double-elimination bracket on the esports side, with all matches being best-of-three series, with the exception of the upper bracket final, which was a single-map affair. Meanwhile, on the influencer side, teams played just a single best-of-three showmatch.

The tournament was played in a more casual setting, similar to Beyond the Summit’s popular cs_summit events, though it still featured a $50,000 prize pool to spice things up.

The schedule for the event can be found below:

Day 1 (January 14)

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Upper Semis T1 1-2 The Guard 10 AM 1 PM 6 PM
Upper Semis Sentinels 2-0 TSM 1 PM 4 PM 9 PM
Upper Final The Guard 16-14 Sentinels 4 PM 7 PM 12 AM
Lower Round 1 T1 0-2 TSM 5 PM 8 PM 1 AM

Day 2 (January 15)

Stage Match PT ET GMT
Lower Final Sentinels 0-2 TSM 10 AM 1 PM 6 PM
Showmatch OfflineTV 2-1 Mogul Moves 1 PM 4 PM 9 PM
Grand Final The Guard 2-1 TSM 4 PM 7 PM 12 AM

Ludwig x Tarik Invitational: Teams

The Ludwig x Tarik Invitational featured four teams, including VCT Americas partner Sentinels and VCT Pacific side T1. Rounding out the roster were two NA Challengers invitees: The Guard, and TSM.

Sentinels and T1 made their first appearance after making multiple changes in the off-season. They used this tournament as preparation for the first major tournament of the year, VCT LOCK//IN Brazil.

Team Players
Sentinels TenZ, zekken, depph, Sacy, pANcada, SicK
T1 xeta, Munchkin, ban, Sayaplayer, Carpe, Beojum
The Guard valyn, neT, JonahP, trent, tex
TSM seven, corey, gMd, hazed, NaturE
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