Valkyrae Talks Ludwig Rivalry and the Future of Wine About It
Rachell ‘Valkyrae’ Hofstetter is having a standout year. Between an appearance on the gaming competition show Gamerhood, a renewed podcasting career as the new co-host of Wine About It, an exclusive Webtoon release from Hihi Media and participation in Ludwig’s Streamer Games, she’s booked and busy. Valkyrae has also caught fans’ attention in the esports sphere for her Pokémon Nuzlocke tournament win, and continues to play a major role in 100 Thieves as its co-owner.
This week, the streamer, who has over 4 million YouTube subscribers, sat down with Esports on SI to offer some thoughts about what fans can expect in upcoming weeks. Why should viewers tune in to Gamerhood? What’s next in the Ludwig vs Valkyrae rivalry? What does it really take to win one of the largest Nuzlocke tournaments of all time?
Sponsored by State Farm, Gamerhood is a competitive reality show focusing on the internet’s most famous gaming streamers. Valkyrae is starring in its 2025 season, with a special episode releasing on Friday, August 15.
This is a new experience for Valkyrae as a content creator, and its challenges are very different from the in-game missions she’s used to: “I haven’t done a lot of game shows before, so it was really fun to go on as a special guest. I loved it so much.”
She notes that fans can expect further tournament involvement, referencing Ludwig’s Streamer Games. “It actually encouraged me to be brave and do more game shows like this in the future. For example, Ludwig has the streamer games. A lot of my friends have events that they throw, and I feel less shy to do them now since I did this with State Farm.”
Related Article: Ludwig’s 2025 Streamer Games is Here! All Players, Captains, and Full Schedule
“I think it’s always fun seeing the dynamic between your favorite creators,” Valkyrae says. “I’m a little biased, but I got one special episode, so I’d love all my fans to tune in and watch it.”
After all this, one question remains: why should viewers tune in to Gamerhood? Well, it turns out the show may add a new dimension to one of Twitch’s most famous rivalries: Ludwig and Valkyrae will meet again on the Gamerhood set, with an unlikely alliance.
“It’s interesting, because I have this banter with Ludwig and we’re usually rivals, but in this show we’re actually allies. It’s interesting seeing us work together for once. I think people are really going to see us work together as a family.”
Valkyrae also chatted about her 1v1 battles with Ludwig: “We’re competing [against] each other 1v1 in 10 different games. So, we’re just constantly battling it out.”
Another unexpected development has added fresh factors to the Ludwig vs. Valkyrae lore. In July 2025, Rae joined Wine About It, a podcast Ludwig’s partner QTCinderella hosts. She calls the situation “extra funny,” saying, “I joined his girlfriend’s podcast as a co-host, so technically I even feel like I got his girl.”
Valkyrae says there is “a lot to argue about” in her friendship with Ludwig. However, “at the end of the day, the fans love it because we have a sister-brother rivalry.” “It’s been fun,” she laughed, “but I’m not sure if we’ll ever make peace.”
Why Did ‘Press ESC’ End?
While Rae’s interactions with Ludwig aren’t always smooth sailing, she and QTCinderella have taken to their podcast partnership like fish to water. Before Wine About it, Valkyrae hosted a podcast called ‘Press Esc’ with co-host Alythuh. This was largely a self-made effort, as the two grew the podcast from the ground up before parting ways in 2025.
Rae always planned to expand into other avenues and diversify her efforts from gaming, though she clarifies, “I feel like I’m going to be streaming for the rest of my life. I’m going to be a 90-year-old granny playing GTA.” She “always wanted to have a podcast… I’ve been in this gaming industry for 10 years streaming, and I’ve been gaming my whole life, so I […] wanted to find other outlets to do other creative things.”
“Doing a podcast seems like something I could do forever […] I did the ‘Press ESC’ podcast with my co-host for six months, but it got a little difficult because she was long-distance, so it was hard with commuting, finding time and backlogging episodes. We decided to end it after 5 months.”
“It just so happened that QT and Maya, her ex-cohost and best friend, were also parting [when Press ESC ended],” Valkyrae says. “QT’s had Wine About it for 3 years. It just worked out that we merged together, and I’m just so happy to join an already successful and ongoing podcast. I learn a lot from her, seeing how she runs it and speaks on topics; it’s been very inspirational. I’m very happy with it.”
As Valkyrae and QT continue working together, a friendship has blossomed between them. Valkyrae finds inspiration from her co-host’s confidence and entrepreneurial initiatives — QT hosts the Streamer Awards and is very active in the content creation and esports communities — and enjoys discussing business ideas with her.
“She’s just such a businesswoman, which is what I love about her. She inspires me as well. She does a ton of hosting, events and other stuff. I co-own 100 Thieves, I’ve got Hihi Studios […], a bunch of things business-wise, but separately. It’s really cool to just bounce ideas off each other and get closer. I see her at least once a week now – forever, hopefully! It’s great.”
On August 4 2025, Valkyrae proved her Pokémon skills transcend casual play after she won a high-stakes Nuzlocke Invitational tournament. With the help of her coach, Kya, she recovered from a loser’s run and became its champion.
How did Rae deal with the mental strain of the tournament? “I’m not joking,” she says, “I did quite a few competitions, but this one was probably the most mentally stressful.”
“I was very new to it […] this tournament was interesting because it’s Pokémon Nuzlocke. What that means is, in Nuzlocke, everything in the game is randomly generated. What you catch, what items you find, abilities, stats, all of it. And my team ended up being the most cracked, jacked team of all time, so my team was just expected to win. But of course, you have to know how to play it well and not make mistakes, which I did a lot in the final tournament. Whatever team you beat the Nuzlocke with is what you go into the in-person tournament with, and you fight all the other competitors.”
“I was so stressed, so I made a lot of mistakes, but I kept winning barely, and I ended up winning the whole thing overall because of the practice I put in. I’m just glad. It was a lose-lose situation, though. I’m expected to win because my team is the best, but if I lose, it’s like, how do I throw?”
In her first fight against Slimecicle, Valkyrae was caught unaware. Slime had secretly used another website to prepare, making it difficult for Nuzlocke participants to scout and find information about his team.
Related Article: Valkyrae Completes Legendary Loser’s Run to Win Pokémon Nuzlocke Invitational
“He instantly wins, shoots me down into the losers’ bracket, and I was going on this crazy losers bracket run all the way back to the finals where I fight him again,” Valkyrae said. “It was very close, but I beat him. It’s funny, because now we were drafted on Jacksepticeye’s team for Ludwig’s Streamer Games, so now Slimecicle and I can work together.”
After her win, Valkyrae “was relieved that it was over […] After I kept winning, I was like, “Oh, is there another match after this?” It was 8 hours of back-to-back matches, and I felt like my brain was leaking the last of my brain cells. I had to really predict, are they gonna use shield here? Are they gonna use this move? Are they gonna go first? I had a whole stack of notes. It just was quite a learning experience. Ludwig and I are actually playing chess today, and it’s reminding me of the tournament. It’s so stressful. It’s a lot of strategy.”
link
