G2 Esports announced this Friday, July 18, that Nathan "leaf" Orf will not be playing in the opening matches of VCT Americas Stage 2 due to medical reasons. Already sidelined for the Esports World Cup, the American Sentinel might not return until Champions this coming September. In the meantime, he will be replaced by Andrej "babybay" Francisty, a former FaZe Clan player who hasn’t competed in an official match since mid-October 2023.

Currently the first and only team qualified for the 2025 Champions in Paris, G2 can afford to rest their Sentinel and bring in a stand-in for a few matches without much concern. After finishing first in both the Kickoff and Stage 1 events and delivering strong performances at the Masters, the European club is by far the most dominant in the Americas. Their second-place finish in Bangkok and fourth in Toronto also confirm that the team is running smoothly on the international stage, and the Samurai can already start looking ahead to Paris and the World Championship.

A surprising choice

It’s hard to believe G2 is entirely serious about this pickup, given that babybay hasn’t played competitively for quite some time, although he has remained active around the VALORANT scene. He recently worked as an analyst on the EWC desk, and since stepping back from his playing career in 2023, he has also been casting VCT Americas. He notably commentated Champions 2024 and the Masters Shanghai, and has been closely involved with the North American Game Changers scene.

He now steps in for leaf, one of G2’s key players in securing qualification for Champions Paris, who will continue to rest. G2 had already announced his absence from the EWC just before the tournament in Saudi Arabia, following advice from his doctor. He was replaced last-minute by Peter "shhhack" Belej, the team’s assistant coach.