G2 Gozen speaks on Waylay, initiators, and aiming for the VCT

G2 Gozen is about to participate in the Red Bull Instalock tournament, and expectations are high despite the team’s recent losses.

Two of the team’s star players, Amy “amy” Lai and Aleyna “Vania” Keskin, sat down with jaxon.gg to answer some questions related to the team’s expectations going into the upcoming tournament, its relation with the other G2 Valorant division, and aspirations to someday compete in the game’s biggest tournaments including the VCT.

jaxon.gg: What are your thoughts on the newest agent in Valorant, Waylay? What do you think about her abilities, and how do you see her fitting into the game competitively?

amy: I think the agent needs a lot of support. Kind of like agents helping her and building a plan around her to make her shine, because on her own, Waylay can’t do a lot, I think.

If it’s played properly, I think it’s super annoying to play against, but I also don’t think it’s valuable on all the maps. Sometimes, there are things that a Jett can do instead of a Waylay if someone is not comfortable with Waylay. Like, Waylay itself isn’t like Neon, who can just do crazy stuff on their own. I think Waylay needs a bit more help with that, kind of like a Jett.

So Waylay’s abilities require more support to take advantage of?

amy: Yup.

Vania: I agree with amy because, especially on the attack side, for [Waylay] it’s really hard to entry from site because she needs really good support from the other agents, which makes it hard for her to play if she doesn’t have that support. Otherwise, she’s very quick and fast, so I think she’s strong, but the only thing [she needs] support. And I agree with amy about the maps. I think she cannot play the old maps right now, but she’s strong [on the right maps] if you play well.

The agent meta in Valorant is constantly changing. When you’re deciding your agent picks, do you prefer to prioritize the current meta, or to go for comfort picks?

amy: A mix of both. I think both are really important. Like, you can try to run Yoru on every map, but if your duelist player isn’t comfortable on Yoru, then it’s really hard to make it work because Yoru needs a lot of skill and experience on the agent. If someone just isn’t comfortable, you can’t force them to play Yoru.

But of course, we take the meta into consideration. Like, if you don’t run Tejo or Breach, you’re basically just losing because of the utility difference most of the time.

Recent agent compositions in pro play, especially at Game Changers, were more initiator-heavy, and you mentioned Tejo and Breach. Do you think initiators have the most important role in the game right now? 

amy: I think everyone is important. I think a good initiator can change the game, but it’s the same. Like, if you have a duelist that can play well with the initial utility, then it can change the game, and it’s the same thing with a really good sentinel. If a sentinel is finding all the timings, the gaps, it can change the game. So I think it’s really hard to say [which is most important].

Vania: I think you need initiators, usually because, for example, you can play a map without a sentinel, and you can also play a map without entry if you play well and you just adapt to it. But I think initiators are a priority right now, because they’re really strong, especially Tejo. I feel it’s much stronger than the other roles because there’s a lot of utility right now in Valorant, and you need utility just to do something, so I think the role’s very necessary.

amy: Yeah, I think you can feel a big difference, like when you’re playing with a very good initiator. For example, when we played the mixed tournament, the spotlight tournament, when we were playing with like JonahP and trent on initiator, the game felt so different because they were just supporting you so much, they’re so smart in the game that it just makes the game easier to play.

Considering Red Bull Instalock has a unique three-duelist requirement, would it be safe to assume that at least one of the non-duelist picks will be an initiator?

amy: I think so. I mean, I think it also depends on how you want to play… I don’t want to leak [our strategy], you know?

That makes sense! Your team is coming off consecutive losses to Karmine Corps and GIANTX. As a team, what do you do to bounce back from tough losses or low points in play?

amy: I think it comes with being a competitor. Like, the first day [after a loss] really sucks. Not even the first day, but the first week. You’re just fully depressed, and it’s super sad, but as time goes on, you’re a competitor, and you want to be better and you want to win, so it’s just… I don’t know, I don’t really have a thing that I do because it just comes [naturally]. For me, at least.

Vania: I’m sad in the first week and really upset about the loss. But after that, time is going on and you need to play because there are different tournaments too, stage 2, stage 3. And if we just talk about stage 1, then we’re ready to fight again, because what can we do? It wasn’t that hard for us to come back.

The G2 Esports men’s team recently finished second at Masters Bangkok. Do you have any relationship with the players on that team? Do you trade any tactical insights or discuss strategies?

amy: We don’t discuss it personally, but I think that whenever we have a question, we can ask Josh or the assistant coach, shhhack, and they’ll always give us feedback. Like, we have a pretty good relationship between the guys, and I think if I have a question about something, I can always message them and they’ll help.

But I also don’t want to ask them too much, because they’re competing for themselves too. We don’t want to have them waste their own time just to help us.

Does the other division’s performance affect your team at all? Do you feel motivated or even pressured to perform better when the other team is performing so well and is considered one of the world’s top Valorant teams?

Vania: I’m really happy for them if they win a tournament. I think we’re all happy for them, and I don’t think we feel any pressure about it.

Considering there are some changes in the list of participating teams compared to last year, who do you expect to be your biggest competition for the trophy?

amy: I think all of them could be, like everyone has insane aim and good players, so I think it could be anyone. I’m really excited to play against FlyQuest because I’ve never played against [them] in my whole career. I think playing against Falcons will be really fun too.

The last question we have is, does your team have aspirations of one day qualifying for the VCT, or is your full focus currently on continuing in Game Changers and related events?

Vania: Our full focus is not [just] on Game Changers right now. I think all of the players want to improve and play in male tournaments as well. I can say that Game Changers isn’t our only goal, and we want to play in the highest-level tournaments too, if we can.

amy: Yeah, I think it’s [that way] for everyone on the team. Right now, we’re playing premier to qualify for the promotional tournament to VCL, and premier is just a step to VCL. Then, from there, we can talk about VCT. But I think we need to focus on a smaller scale first and think about premier, and then VCL.

Before we end, your team and Red Bull Instalock have made great strides toward increasing global visibility for women in esports. Do you have any advice for those aspiring female young gamers who one day want to follow in your footsteps?

amy: Try to ignore all the people you meet in ranked that are really mean to you, and just try to find your group of people. Find some girls you can play with, duo with, maybe five-stacks, just so you can improve. Don’t get distracted or made sad by people who are sexist in ranked.

Vania: I think they need to believe in themselves, and they just need to fight for their dreams.

G2 Gozen aims for Red Bull Instalock success

G2 Gozen participated in the VCT 2025: Game Changers EMEA Stage 1 tournament mid-March, but was eliminated after losing to Karmine Corp GC and GIANTX in succession. Expectations for the team are still high as Red Bull Instalock approaches, especially considering the side’s win at the event last year.

More consistent performance in Game Changers and similar tournaments will likely set the pace for G2 Gozen, bettering the team’s chances to grow, improve, and potentially participate in even bigger tournaments. With the team’s aspirations kept high, fans could potentially see their favorite players from G2 Gozen in the VCL soon.