G2 Esports announces new all-female League of Legends team
Set to rain Hel.
G2 Esports has announced a brand new all-female League of Legends team, one of the first of its kind.
The team, called Hel, is named after Norse mythology's goddess of death and includes the elite players Olivia "Olizia" Nnenna Calistus, Agnė "Karina" Ivaškevičiūtė, Alena "TIFA" Maurer, Maya "Caltys" Henckel and Ève "Colomblbl" Monvoisin.
It follows the similarly all-female Valorant team G2 Gozen formed last year and proves G2's commitment to boosting the visibility of women in esports and to eventually empower men and women to compete together in future.
Henckel holds the title for the highest ELO League of Legends woman player in EUW and has the most experience in the team with mixed rosters.
"It's no secret that women are extremely underrepresented in esports and gaming in general," she said.
"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."
Maurer is one of the most well-known players in Europe and advocates for the visibility of women in League of Legends esports.
"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," she said.
"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."
G2 Esports founder and CEO Carlos 'Ocelote' Rodriguez also 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."