CS:GO and VALORANT player Zainab “zAAz” Turkie is retiring from competitive gaming after 17 years. Her departure from G2 Gozen will see Maryam “Mary” Maher filling her spot on the highly successful VALORANT roster.
“With a competitive career spanning 17 years, [zAAz] has continuously proven to be one of the best FPS players to ever enter the scene, and we’d like to thank her for competing with us throughout 2021 and 2022,” G2 said.
ZAAz’s career is one of the longest in women’s esports. She started in Counter-Strike, went on to play CS:GO, and finally, VALORANT. She’s played on a plethora of teams including Team Secret, XSET, and G2 Gozen.
The announcement of zAAz’s retirement comes just after another win for G2 in the VCT Game Changers circuit. They have won the EMEA Game Changers tournaments three times in a row, beating Guild Esports every time.
Fans of zAAz won’t have to go long without hearing from her, though. Her next steps include educating Sweden’s young esports hopefuls about the games and her experience within esports.
Along with the news that zAAz is retiring, G2 announced that Mary will be taking her place. At just 16 years old, she is making her tier-one debut with the full support of zAAz and G2. In her TwitLonger, zAAz called her a talent to watch out for.
Although G2 are experiencing a roster change, they are still expected to be a team to beat, especially since they have a three-peat under their belts. They’ll be looking for a fourth win in the next EMEA Game Changers.
G2 will also attempt to leave their mark on esports history by making it to the first international VCT tournament that is set to take place later this year. As long as they place well in the next EMEA VCT Game Changers, it is likely that G2 will be one of the biggest teams to look out for in that tournament.
