Europan esports giant G2 Esports have announced the signing of their new women’s League of Legends team, known as ‘Hel’.
Esports News UK had heard G2 may have been signing the roster, known as Burger Flippers, two months ago, and today the official announcement was made.
The roster are the winners of the GirlGamer Oradea Festival EU LoL tournament and will head to women’s world championship finals later this year.
The team comprises some of the most successful and prominent female esports talent within the industry. The team roster includes Olivia “Olizia” Nnenna Calistus (20), Agnė “Karina” Ivaškevičiūtė (22), Alena “TIFA” Maurer (28), Maya “Caltys” Henckel (20) (who has played with UK top-laner Rifty on Valiance) and Ève “Colomblbl” Monvoisin (23).
The name ‘Hel’ is a tribute to the mythical figure, Hel, the daughter of Loki. She is the goddess of death and lord of the underworld kingdom. It comes on the back of G2’s new team naming system – which is based on the names of female warriors or from female mythological figures, no matter when and where they are from, that represent G2’s brand values.
G2 say it’s part of their goal to ’empower men and women to compete alongside each other in mixed leagues in the near future’, and that they strive to hire the best gamers irrespective of gender identity.
Last year, G2 announced their G2 Gozen Valorant women’s team, who have won three VCT Game Changers tournaments in a row.
However, unlike Valorant, League of Legends does not have an official women’s tournament series, despite calls from the community for one. So, why have G2 made this move, and why now?
Esports News UK has asked G2 what other tournaments the team will be taking part in and what the plan is after the GirlGamer finals.
A G2 rep said:
- G2 Hel will exist to dominate a competitive scene that is female League of Legends
- G2 seeks to give the same professional opportunity to those players as others already have so they can prove their skills and capabilities
- G2 is aiming to create new role models into the space
- In the future, the goal for G2 is to see mixed teams where male and female players are competing for side by side
- There is no official circuit from the publisher publicly announced yet so is a big leap of faith from G2.
Update: Riot to add an official women’s League of Legends esports circuit – sources
‘As a young girl I didn’t have any female role models within the gaming space to look up to’ – Caltys
Team member Maya “Caltys” Henckel said: “It’s no secret that women are extremely underrepresented in esports and gaming in general. As a young girl I didn’t have any female role models within the gaming space to look up to and aspire to be, which was hard. Coupled with the fact that as a woman, I’ve had my fair share of negative experiences in championships ranging from gender inequity slurs thrown at me by competition to negative online groups made about me during official matches.
“While the female scene in League of Legends is still relatively small, G2 are taking a leap in picking up our roster and paving the way for more to follow. Having G2, one of the biggest Esport organisations in the world, invest in the scene helps show the world that there are women that play the game on a competitive level.
“I hope that this will open more opportunities for women to enter esports and inspire more young girls to start playing competitively.”
Caltys, G2 Hel
Caltys holds the title for the highest elo League of Legends woman player on the EU West server. She also has the most experience in mixed rosters. Calty’s long term goal is to eventually play in mixed rosters at the highest level.
Team member, Alena “TIFA” Maurer, added: “Joining G2 is literally my childhood dream come true. And I get to do it with the best teammates and staff I could ask for. This is a huge milestone that breaks stereotypes, full of opportunity and possibility for female gamers and the esports sector in general – one we’ve all been hoping and waiting for for a long time.
“This simultaneously encourages the next generation of female gamers to embrace their dreams without restrictions or limits which will hopefully see more and more female pro gamers coming through.”
TIFA is one of the most well-known players in Europe. She has been very active in the professional League of Legends days since Season 2 and has been a heavy advocate for enhancing the opportunities for female players in the League of Legends ecosystem.
Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriguez, founder and CEO of G2 Esports, commented: “We took Valorant by storm with the G2 Gozen team which includes five of the most gifted and entertaining players who happen to be females. You should expect nothing less from G2 Hel. We will dominate competitively, all while having fun the G2 way.”
Resolve and LDN UTD withdraw from women’s League of Legends
The announcement comes as UK esports organisations LDN UTD and Resolve announced they are withdrawing from women’s League of Legends due to a lack of developer support and tournaments.
Resolve operations director Jeff Simpkins said: “A dissapointing decision to have to make. Such a lack of support by Riot and TO’s generally for the women’s scene in League of Legends right now.”
LDN UTD CEO Olly Weingarten added:
Related article: How NUEL’s Women and Non-Binary university tournaments are making esports more inclusive in the UK
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
