G2 Esports has officially launched its third all-women roster with the G2 Oya CS:GO team, captained by reigning VALORANT Game Changers champion Julia “Juliano” Kiran, who returns to her “homeground” in Counter-Strike after nearly two years away.
Juliano will team up once again with her longtime duo in Zainab “zAAz” Turkie on G2 Oya. The two spent years playing Counter-Strike together before switching to VALORANT and signing with XSET in 2021. The duo eventually made their way to G2, forming the original G2 Gozen roster. And while zAAz was not on the active roster when the team won the Game Changers Championship in 2022, she still celebrated on stage with the team after their triumph.
The duo of Juliano and zAAz will be joined by a roster of young talent: Anastasiya “kr4sy” Khlobystina, Oleksandra “manka” Kruspe, and Aleksandra “kyossa” Tychanska. The group will “mainly compete in ESL Impact League” but will likely compete across various open qualifiers events as well, according to the org’s announcement. Jimmy “Jumpy” Berndtsson will coach the team, having coached Fnatic and North in the past.
Alongside G2 Gozen and the G2’s all-women League of Legends team G2 Hel, the all-women’s CS:GO roster competing as G2 Oya will represent the organization’s third all-women team. The players currently have a spot in the ESL Impact League season three European division, having qualified via the open qualifier under the name WeRunThisPlace
How G2 Gozen will now address the roster vacancy and the in-game leadership role on the VALORANT roster remains to be determined. The EMEA Game Changers series is set to start in April 2023.
