In other e-sports titles, there is a dedicated league and professional setup for women and marginalized genders. At League of Legends, this does not exist. The European perennial champion G2 established its own team for women with G2 Hel and competed with them in 2024 in the NLC 2nd Division, a league in the Tier 3 category. However, the team could not maintain its position in the league.
What kind of team is this? G2 is essentially a Spanish e-sports organization headquartered in Berlin.
Since 2016, G2 has dominated the European LEC league, having already been crowned champions 16 times. G2 Hel is the sister team that exclusively fields women. Currently, the roster consists of 2 Swedish players, 2 French players, and 1 Spanish player. The German mid-laner Alena “Tifa” Maurer left the team in December 2023.
The team G2 Hel was founded in 2022 and participated frequently in competitions specifically for women playing LoL in recent years. In 2024, G2 has now registered them for a “normal league.”
We reported on the team G2 Hel on MeinMMO in January 2023 when a Bulgarian LoL player made an inappropriate comment towards one of the players.
G2 Hel wins women’s tournaments
This is how the team performed in 2024 in women’s tournaments: The team was able to win several tournaments where women participated:
- Tournaments like “Coupe des Étoiles 2024,” a French tournament for women and marginalized genders.
- Or the tournament “Storm Takeover 2024,” also a French tournament for women and marginalized genders.
€5,000 was awarded for winning the Coupe des Étoiles 2024:
Team starts in the 3rd division, relegates twice
This is how it went in the league: But things did not go well for G2 Hel in the league. They started the year in the Spring Split in the NCL 2nd Division, thus in the 2nd Nordic League, and only won 2 games against 16 losses.
The team was relegated to the 1st Swedish Regional League, in Tier 4.
In the Swedish Regional League, G2 Hel was allowed to compete only under a special rule, as teams usually have to field 3 Swedes. However, for G2 Hel, which only has 2 Swedish players, Riot Games made an exception (via rigas).
But even in this league, they could not maintain their position and finished last. In a relegation tournament, they competed against 5 other teams and were unable to assert themselves here either. In 2025, the team will compete in the 2nd Swedish Regional League (via rigas), if they decide to play.
As posts on X (formerly Twitter) indicate, all 5 players are still under contract with G2, but they are free to look for a new team.
How is this being discussed? On reddit, people following the team say that G2 Hel has the problem that only the two players on the bot lane perform at the level and can keep up with “the dudes.” On the top lane, in the jungle, and the mid lane, the players do not have the necessary skill level.
Others point out that it is already embarrassing for Riot Games: There is a dedicated e-sports scene for women thriving in Valorant, which is not the case in LoL.
Moreover, female players in LoL often only play female champions and thus have a disadvantage.
As a potential reason for the few women who play LoL at a high level, an e-sports journalist points out that there are many reasons for this. The most commonly mentioned is that girls are socialized differently for video games than boys.
While there are role models as e-sports players for boys today and a life as an e-sports pro is perceived as a possible career option, there are no such female role models in e-sports.
We reported on the death of player Remilia on MeinMMO in December 2019. She was the first female player to reach the professional league in the USA, in the LCS: The first female professional player of the LoL league LCS died at the age of 24
