G2 Gozen benches Valorant player Petra

The esports scene may look like all sunshine and roses from the outside, with many thinking it’s everyone’s dream job since all they have to do is play video games. However, that isn’t really the case. It’s very easy to find yourself stressed and overworked, trying to be better than the competition.

With the Valorant tournament Game Changers EMEA Stage 2 on the horizon, G2 Gozen made the difficult decision to bench one of its founding players. While the decision comes as a surprise to many players, it also makes sense when looking at things from an outside perspective.

Here’s why G2 Gozen benched Petra, and what’s next for the team.

Why did G2 Gozen bench Petra?

The announcement that Petra “Petra” Stoker would be moved to the bench after nearly four years of competing for G2 Gozen was made on April 29, 2025, just some days before the start of the Red Bull Instalock tournament.

Petra was a former Counter-Strike athlete and part of G2 Gozen’s founding roster. The player was even there when the team became a dominating force in the Game Changers scene and even won the championship in 2022. However, after that, the team seemed to fall off, never securing another international trophy.

According to G2 Gozen’s team manager, Thibault “Tibal” Pulcini, G2 Gozen was looking to change things up by swapping some roles. The controller player Aleyna “Vania” Keskin was to go back to her initial role, requiring Petra to fill the role of duelist. However, the issue is that Petra doesn’t have prior professional duelist experience, requiring her to join trial runs for the position.

Petra decided to reject the trial runs, forcing the team manager to say the following:

“I know some people will consider the decision of putting Petra on trials an injustice. Especially considering everything she has done for the team for almost four years. These people don’t understand that it is our job to make sure this team performs at the highest level all the time, which sometimes requires hard decisions like this one.”

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What does Mimi think about Petra leaving?

With Petra getting benched from G2 Gozen, that leaves only Michaela “mimi” Lintrup from the initial starting roster. The in-game team leader had some words to say about her teammate leaving the team. She made the following statement on her social media ^[1]:

“This is, without a doubt, the hardest decision I've ever been a part of, but when you're part of a team, you learn that the right decision isn't always the easiest, especially when it's made with the bigger picture in mind.”

With expectations through the roof for the team, it makes sense that its members want to perform to their maximum capacity. However, the news of Petra getting benched caused many long-time fans to get upset, especially considering she was with Gozen from the start.

References

1. [1] "Mimi's social media post". x.com. Retrieved April 29, 2025