“Changes are coming from the young people in the scene”: G2 Hel’s Caltys on the state of League of Legends esports

September marks the start of the inaugural League of Legends Game Changers (LGC) 2025 Rising split. As Riot’s first League of Legends league for women and other marginalised genders, LGC aims to spearhead gender inclusion within the game’s esports ecosystem.

G2 Hel, who has been competing within the League of Legends women’s scene since 2022, has already qualified for the inaugural LGC edition thanks to its ongoing run at the Equal eSports Cup.

Ahead of the historic league kickoff on September 13th, Esports Insider spoke with G2 Hel’s Maya ‘Caltys’ Henckel to delve into the state of women’s League of Legends esports and her team’s achievements.

Caltys is one of the longest-standing players of G2 Hel, alongside support player Ève ‘Colomblbl’ Monvoisin. Since its creation, the team has been a dominant force in the women’s League of Legends esports scene, placing high at the Equal eSports Cup and winning last year’s Coupe des Étoiles.

The bot-laner herself has been competing in League since 2019, starting with the European organisation Out of the Blue Team. In early 2022, she also briefly played for the mixed team Valiance.

Although Game Changers Rising represents a major milestone for women in League of Legends esports, G2 Hel already made history earlier this year. On May 6th, the team became the first women’s roster to qualify for the Liga Nexo, which is part of the second division of the European Regional League (ERL).

Despite feeling confident after a successful Group Stage, G2 Hel was eliminated by its first Playoffs opponent, Falke Esports.

Caltys described her experience playing in the Liga Nexo for the first time: “I’ve never played in the Spanish circuit before, so I didn’t really know the level of the league, but I don’t think you should ever go into a game and expect to lose because that will impact your performance.

“So I always go into the game and know that it’s going to be winnable and that’s just kind of how I rolled in the whole league or split.”

She also commented that ‘all [their] games felt winnable, no team felt unbeatable.’

While Catlys was uncertain about the immediate impact G2 Hel’s achievements could have on inclusion in esports, she still believes that young players might feel inspired by seeing women compete.

“It’s hard to say if it’s really going to change a lot in the like broad view right now because it’s just one incident, and people are very easy to brush things off,” shared Catlys. “But I think the important changes are coming from the young people that are entering the scene, and that’s what matters the most.”

When asked about her view on women’s versus mixed-gender tournaments, Caltys explained that she was more focused on playing the game than competing against a specific gender at the start of her career.

“I suppose the more you play and realize that not everyone feels that way, the more you understand that women’s tournaments are actually needed to help introduce more women to esports,” continued the League of Legends player.

“Of course, the hope is that in the future, this will open up the be a bridge for women to enter a mixed environment. But for now, I think the cases where that happens are very rare or very specific.”

Caltys added that being the first player or team to advance to a mixed circuit can come with a lot of pressure, as well. These players are often under heavy scrutiny by the broader esports community, and their performance might be misinterpreted to represent the skill ceiling of an entire minority within a specific game.

With its Liga Nexo run completed, G2 Hel is looking towards the inaugural League of Legends Game Changers Rising split. From September 13th until October 30th, eight teams will fight through a Group Stage and Playoffs bracket.

So far, only G2 Hel and fellow Equal eSports Cup contender Solary Académie have secured a spot at the event. The remaining slots will be allocated based on invites, an Open Qualifier and the final Equal eSports Cup results.

Riot’s decision to invest in a dedicated women’s league for League is reminiscent of its VALORANT Game Changers ecosystem, which has provided global competitive opportunities since its launch in 2021. With 464,695 peak viewers, its 2024 Championship is the second-most watched women’s esports tournament to date.