G2H Caltys on Game Changers Rising: “I hope it’s not a one-season thing.”

Ahead of the grand final of the Equal eSports Cup 2025, where they have been on an extremely dominant run, G2 HEL AD Carry Maya "Caltys" Henckel spoke to esports.gg. As a mainstay of female League of Legends Esports, she shared her thoughts on the upcoming WASD controls, the Game Changers Rising league, G2 HEL's performance and growth over the past year, and more.

Caltys: I think it's more of an issue in competitive because you generally see the same three to five champions across every role. And, especially for AD Carry, I feel like it's also a thing in solo queue. You can't really experiment as much as in other roles, and it gets a bit boring. When I play competitively, it's easier to focus on other things, like team play or setup. But, when playing solo queue, [especially] after ten years, it gets a bit boring playing every game.

Caltys: I have not tried it, but I'm excited to see how they've actually programmed it into a game that's not actually designed for WASD. Yeah, I can't say too much about it until I see how they've done it. Because maybe it's OP, maybe it has other functions that you can't use if you have a mouse or the other way around. And I will adapt.

Caltys: I mean, I will see how it works, and then I will judge. For now, I'm just thinking about where you're going to put your [other] keys. Because your keyboard is going to be so filled with just inputs that it's going to be really hard to use other functions. And League has so many inputs that you will, for sure, lose some other aspects by putting everything on WASD.

Caltys: I mean, we've for sure been very dominant. We set up some goals before the tournament. Not, like, “Yo, let's just win everything”. Because it's given, of course, we want to win. But one of the goals was to play as a team together and make plays together. And I think that shows, especially on our game time. Because our average game time is below 30 minutes, which no other team has. So I'm quite happy about that. It's like a mini achievement for us. But yeah, we can always get better, I guess.

We lost one game in the group stage, I remember. It was a very stressful day for us. We had a lot of technical issues for several players. But other than that, for pretty much every other game, it has been pretty hard to identify issues that we need to work on. I think when we were playing [Las Divinas], it was a lot easier because the competition had more variety and a higher level, in some teams, at least. So I kind of miss playing against those teams as well.

Caltys: I know some players get individual coaching, and they bring what they learn from that to the team. Other than that, I know Shiina (Marta Mesas Garrido, G2H jungler), for example, watches a lot of pro play. Colomblbl (Ève Monvoisin, G2H support) also started co-casting a bit, and I think they are able to give a lot of ideas, from watching LEC or LPL and LCK, to sort of put into the team.

Caltys: I think we have strong individuals in every role. But on top of that, I feel like our macro is just better than every other team. And that helps a lot.

Caltys: I think last year we had a lot of non-synchronized team dynamics. We also didn't have the same structure in shotcalling that we have now. So the biggest part that's improved is player dynamics. Like mid-jungle, for example, it's a very important dynamic in the game. And also shotcalling. Now, we have me and Shiina pretty much doing all of the macro shotcalling. Zeniv (Mina, G2H top) and rym (Rym Salloum, G2H mid) are trying to get a bit more used to shotcalling, lane assignments, and very solo lane-specific calls.

Caltys: I think it definitely helped us. Just having more competition is always helpful. And I mean, it's not the first time we play mixed tournaments, but it is the first time we play through qualification and actually get there on our own, which definitely played a big part in just learning from the start. If you compare it to when we played NLC, we were sort of thrown in there, and it became very difficult very fast.

Caltys: I think it's only natural that it's going in that direction because when you look at competitive play, the players that are interesting to watch are players that you follow and that you are a fan of. It's not as much about the team name as it used to be — at least I feel that way. Even in LEC, you have to be interested in the players to really cheer for a team nowadays. Player identity is becoming more important everywhere. At the same time, you still have to win to be liked. So when you're looking at the content teams, like Los Ratones, they're very popular, but they're also playing very well. So it's a two-way combo.

Caltys: They're so used to exposure that I think they're kind of used to it, but I can't really judge.

Caltys: Game Changers has been sort of a rumor in our scene since I joined G2, I think. It's always been like "maybe it will happen." I found out it was 100% confirmed one day before the announcement. I was very excited. Started grinding again, and I took Grandmaster very quickly. So it's a motivation boost, for sure.

Caltys: I think we're just happy and excited. If it doesn't happen right now, it's not going to happen. And then it happens.

Caltys: I can only hope that it continues. First of all, that it's not just a one-season thing, and then it stops. But yeah, otherwise I'll just have to see how it plays out, and after that, I can have some complaints or not. The more games, the better, and I can only hope that there will be more support in the ERL circuit, thanks to this. Yeah, I want to play.

Caltys: I need to get my rematch against the Korean team from 2019, so I need to face the Asian teams, I think.

Caltys: Three years is a long time. I think I've opened up a bit more, perhaps. Maybe on social media, for example. If anything, I keep learning about working more with other people. You're constantly forced to socialize with your teammates and staff. People come and go, and you always have to know how to handle different people. And it's a valuable trait to have, I suppose.

Caltys: I've been on Twitter for six years. I started using Twitter because I wanted to make a Looking for Team post when I got a high enough rank. So the source of my Twitter has always been for esports and for League of Legends. Seeing that sort of reward in a way, it feels pretty good, and it's fun to interact with fans and post funny ideas.

Caltys: The most memorable fan interactions are usually at the League events themselves. I like to attend as many as I can, sometimes with G2, sometimes in my private time. Those fans that you meet there are always super kind and supportive. It really helps you put a face to the comments that you see on social media. That makes you think of it a bit differently.

I remember one. I think I was at MSI or an LEC final; I was sitting next to a fan, and he started talking to me about how he can really tell just from online that I'm putting a lot of effort, and he likes following my career. That was really motivating and heartwarming to hear.

Caltys: I'm not going to pretend like I'm an expert on economics, but I think the entire world is a bit of a mess right now. It's only natural that esports is also taking a hit. I hope it will change.

Caltys: In-game, it's always been pretty solid. Sometimes some ups and some downs. On a personal level, I wouldn't say we talk every day and we're best friends, but we definitely get along. I think we have a nice contrast. She's tall with her heels, and I'm like a goblin. It's pretty fun to do content together. Yeah, she's funny.

Caltys: Knowing which players work well together is definitely a big advantage when building a roster. If you're going to take five new players together that you never worked with and never spoke with, it's very difficult to know that they will get along in-game and out of game. So yeah, that's definitely an advantage of at least having maybe a pair or a trio. If you know they're good and they can behave. I think [Colomblbl and I] have been pretty solid and pretty consistent for a long time. I'm glad that G2 has kept us.

Caltys: It's been very inconsistent. I was fortunate enough that when I started, when I was 16, 15, I was picked up by the only organization that had a salary. I was able to keep competing and really focus on esports. After that, there were not really any tournaments for a very long time, and very few teams until G2 came and set the standard. After that, I think a lot more organizations followed. It went up when G2 came, then it went down again because we didn't get more tournaments, unfortunately. I think now with Game Changers, it can once again go up, even though a lot of orgs that joined back when G2 came have dropped out by now. Maybe they will come back.

Caltys: Thank you very much. Please follow me on Twitch and Twitter and Instagram. We appreciate you very much.

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