Top-seeded LOUD cruised to victory Sunday to claim the grand final of the Valorant Champions Tour 2023 (Americas League) in Los Angeles.
LOUD, which went 8-1 in the eight-week regular-season runup, proved no match for NRG in the 3-0 decision.
With the victory, LOUD earned the $100,000 grand prize and NRG took home $65,000 for second place. The third-place team, Evil Geniuses, join LOUD and NRG in qualifying for both for Masters and Champions 2023 events.
NRG opened with a 7-3 lead on the first map (Ascent), but LOUD rallied to finish with a 10-2 run to finish with a 13-9 win. LOUD then battled to win the final two hotly contested maps, taking 13-11 decisions on both Bind and Fracture for the sweep.
Matias “saadhak” Delipetro of Argentina topped LOUD with 54 kills and a plus-9 kills-to-deaths differential. Sam “s0m” Oh of the United States also notched 54 kills to lead NRG.
Champions Tour 2023 prize pool:
1. LOUD — $100,000, Masters & Champions qualifier
2. NRG — $65,000, Masters & Champions qualifier
3. Evil Geniuses — $40,000, Masters & Champions qualifier
4. Cloud9 — $25,000, last-chance qualifier
5. Leviatan — $15,000, last-chance qualifier
6. FURIA Esports — $5,000, last-chance qualifier
7. Sentinels — No winnings, last-chance qualifier
8. 100 Thieves — No winnings, last-chance qualifier
9. MIBR — No winnings, last-chance qualifier
10. KRÜ Esports — No winnings, last-chance qualifier
–Field Level Media