The Riot Games esports ecosystem is undeniably interconnected. Many VALORANT players are League of Legends fans, and the game has previously released LoL-themed collaboration bundles, including Sentinels of Light and Arcane. These interactions usually bolster esports viewership altogether, but as VALORANT Masters Bangkok 2025 closes out, League of Legends influencer Caedrel’s channel viewership has overshadowed it. Let’s examine everything we know.
Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont is a League of Legends commentator, caster, coach and influencer. As of November 2024, Caedrel is also the coach and founder of the esports team Los Ratones, which competes in the title’s European circuits.
Los Ratones’ roster includes Thebaus, Velja, Nemesis, Crownie and Rekkles. Before joining the org, Nemesis, Crownie and Rekkles were ex-pros, while Thebaus was primarily a content creator and Velja was one of the top European Challenger players. This unorthodox team composition attracted the League community’s attention, with many internet denizens questioning if Los Ratones was even a serious venture. Los Ratones also streams all its scrims, adding to its unorthodox content-focused approach. Even with public practices, the team is sweeping the EMEA region and even beat T1 in a showmatch. As of March 2 2025, Los Ratones has qualified for EMEA Masters Winter 2025 after emerging victorious from the Northern League of Legends Championship (NLC).
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VALORANT Masters Bangkok 2025 is the first major international VALORANT event of the year. It is especially significant as it is part of the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) circuit and rewards winners with Championship Points. These Championship Points assist teams in qualifying for VALORANT Champions, the title’s most prestigious tournament. Masters Bangkok 2025 occurred from February 20 to March 2 2025 in Bangkok, Thailand. The event featured eight top VALORANT teams, with two from each in-game region, and progressed through several bracket phases.
VALORANT Masters Bangkok’s Grand Finals occurred on March 2 2025. The match featured European team G2 and South Korean team T1 (also of League of Legends fame) and lasted for five games. It was one of the most intense Masters Grand Finals ever played, as the teams were often tied neck-and-neck and the final matchup on Pearl ended only after five overtime rounds.
In addition, the stakes were high for G2 and T1 in this event since both teams had previously placed in Masters tournaments without securing a victory. T1’s team included several previous DRX and Gen.G talents. G2 also boasted star player Jawgemo, a member of Evil Geniuses during their revolutionary 2023 Champions underdog win.
While the Masters Bangkok Grand Finals were taking place, another vital Grand Finals stream lurked on the horizon — Caedrel streamed his reaction to Los Ratones’ final NLC matchup against Nord Esports. According to sullygnome.com, Caedrel’s Twitch channel reached a March 2 peak of over 185,000 viewers, while VALORANT’s peaked at 94,000. Caedrel peaked at 121,000 viewers at 1 P.M. EST while Masters Bangkok was ongoing. VALORANT had a peak of about 56,000 viewers at the same time.
Notably, this places Caedrel’s daily peak on March 2 at almost double VALORANT’s on the day of an international Grand Final. The statistics also indicate that Caedrel’s viewership while Masters Bangkok was ongoing was more than double the event’s viewership.
While Caedrel’s channel outshined Masters Bangkok, the effect did not extend to overall game viewership. As a category, League of Legends had over 375,000 peak viewers during Masters Bangkok, while VALORANT had 449,000. Peak daily viewership on March 2 for VALORANT reached 649,000, and League of Legends reached a slightly higher 707,000.
It’s reasonable to assume that many Riot Games players overlap between games. VALORANT and League of Legends utilize the same Riot Games launcher, and Riot Games typically fosters healthy collaborations and easter eggs between the two. While a combined player base can boost both games’ presence, it also runs the risk of splitting attention during simultaneous events. Los Ratones’ NLC Grand Finals coincided with Masters Bangkok, likely dividing the two events’ audiences when many would have otherwise attended both streams.
Organizing parties could also have underestimated NLC Grand Finals viewership potential compared to Masters Bangkok. The NLC is a significant B-tier tournament but does not usually draw the same attention as higher-level League of Legends events. Los Ratones’ notoriety and quick EMEA circuit progression increased the event’s stakes, likely leading to increased involvement.
Los Ratones’ content model is certainly paying off. Since Caedrel’s stream performance strayed from general League of Legends category trends, most viewers likely tuned in specifically to keep track of the team’s progress. This influencer-focused approach may mean Los Ratones is bringing more viewers to the tournaments it enters, as opposed to relying on competitive performance alone for audience growth.
All viewership data is courtesy of sullygnome.com.
