Who Is Tarik? The Content King of Valorant

Tarik is a retired Counter-Strike Major winner who somehow became even more famous after he stopped playing professionally. Today, Tarik Çelik is the undisputed king of Valorant on Twitch. Signed to Sentinels, he sits in his room pulling in millions of followers just by being himself.

Tarik grew up in a Turkish-American household in New York that was not exactly thrilled about a career in video games. He ignored the skeptics, dropped out of college, and ground his way up through the rough early years of North American Counter-Strike, first building a name running popular deathmatch servers, then turning pro.

The peak came in January 2018. As captain of Cloud9, he won the ELEAGUE Major: Boston (similar to IEM Cologne), the first and still the only time a North American team has won a CS:GO Major. He was named the tournament MVP, and to this day he is the only American to be named MVP of a CS:GO Major.

On the back of that surging popularity, Tarik joined Sentinels as a content creator in August 2022, following his old Cloud9 teammate Shroud to the org. Part of the deal even lets him stand in for the pro roster if they are ever short a player, though he has stayed firmly on the content side.

Watch five minutes of his live streams, and you'll instantly get it. Tarik might be playing Valorant at the absolute highest rank, but his chat feels more like hanging out in a Discord call with your friends than a sweaty training camp. It's relaxed, packed with memes, and just completely chaotic.

If you've ever watched Tarik hold down a site and thought, what exactly is this guy running?, you're not alone. Players are constantly trying to copy his specs. Here is the actual breakdown of the gear and settings he uses to hit those shots.

The Valorant Settings

A quick heads-up: Pros change their crosshairs and sensitivity like they change their socks. If you want his exact code for today's stream, grab it from a live settings tracker, because it will probably change by next week.

Stepping away from pro play usually means fading into the background. Tarik did the exact opposite. With over 3.3 million Twitch followers and watch parties that consistently beat Riot's own streams, he proved that being genuinely entertaining is just as valuable as winning a Major. He walked away from the daily grind and ended up on top anyway.