G2 Leaf: “This Was The Hardest Road And The Hardest Americas Title We’ve Had Overall” – VCT Americas Stage 1 Interview – Hotspawn

After playing 13 maps across three days, dropping a BO3 to Leviatán in the upper final, bouncing back to beat NRG and winning the grand final rematch with LEV, Hotspawn sat down with Nathan “leaf†Orf to talk through how G2 finally cracked the Neon merchants, what 13 maps of endurance really feels like, and which players he is most excited to face.

Hotspawn: You have been around the block for a while.

How does it feel to lift yet another trophy?

Leaf: Feels good. We are always aiming for the international trophies, but it is good to know that we still got it in domestic matchups. And I feel like this was the hardest road and the hardest one that we have had overall. So I am glad that we were able to persevere and push through.

Hotspawn: This was the first time this year you guys beat Leviatán. You mentioned post-match about beating the Neon merchants.

How has that road been, especially since you play so many dynamic roles?

Leaf: I mean, my Phoenix personally has a lot of work to do compared to someone like Sato. I am still getting used to it on some maps and it is hard because it is split up, so I do not get that mastery. But overall the play patterns are getting more defined, just how to beat the Neon and the Phoenix and stuff like that.

And as we played them more, we kind of realised more and more what kind of owns them. So that was a good thing. Obviously they had double map bans so we had to play at a bit of a disadvantage in that regard. But we knew that if we do not mess these things up, we will be strong.

Hotspawn: Valyn mentioned yesterday that the double ban on Lotus and Breeze was going to be a challenge. Despite that you guys seemed super well prepared.

Was that the coaching staff behind the scenes?

Leaf: Yeah, I would say the coaching staff. I was the one that presented the comp because their playstyle and the agents they play on that map, Sage kind of owns it. They want to play that set retake style, that flood style. So having an agent to just literally put a wall up in front of them, they are going to be like, “Oh, what do I do?†But the coaches were the ones that figured out the game plan, figured out how we are going to approach this and what we are going to counter.

And even though we have been banning it and have not shown it this stage, it is not like we have never played the map before as a team. I mean, I don’t think we played it with babybay obviously, but last year it was in the map pool for Stage 1 and for Bangkok. We have a very good understanding of the map, we are just a little rusty. So picking something that is kind of simple was the key.

Hotspawn: This is your first trophy with babybay. Last year he was doing analysis on your matches, and now he is here in real time.

How does it feel to lift this one with him?

Leaf: I think it is awesome. Drej (babybay) is just insane. You would never think, if you looked at him as a player, you would never think about his age and stuff like that. He has a lot of life experience, obviously, so getting him that trophy and just getting him that feeling, maybe it will be really good for us heading into London.

Hotspawn: Everybody on the team has mentioned fitness and health this year.

How has it helped you personally?

Leaf: We have been a lot more on track in terms of adjusting our bodies to the new time zones we are going to be playing in. Santiago was only four or five hours ahead, so that was not too terrible. But London is a little bit more. So just getting that adjustment before we fly, making sure our sleep is good when we first get there so that the jet lag feeling is not as long. And then also just making sure we do more fitness nowadays, just to get the heart flowing, get that stress limit up more basically.

And when we are there in London, it is good to tell our body that this is going to be normal now, this is the adjustment we are going to make. I think it has worked out great. There are obviously some days where we are bad at it, but that is just stuff that happens with the schedule we have. We try to make the most of it.

Hotspawn: You have clinched the playoffs advantage for VALORANT Masters London as the Americas first seed. With the Neon and shotgun nerfs hitting before London,

How do you think the Americas teams are looking?

Leaf: I think NRG is kind of finding their stride throughout Stage 1. They lean more into keiko on the Phoenix and the Jett, which was really good for them. Lev, obviously they are kind of the masters of their own comps. They are playing Phoenix on literally almost every map and they are really strong at the micro of that. And then we are always kind of changing our stuff around a little bit, but we just have our formula of playing and we try to adapt and think ahead.

I feel like Americas is all really good heading into London. Everybody kind of has their unique flair. And having the break is nice because we played a lot of games. If we had to go through this five-map best of five and lost at the finish line, that would have been 13 maps played this weekend. And then we would have had to head into EWC qualifiers, fly out, play group stage, play playoffs.

So this is like the one time where it is kind of a huge sigh of relief. That would have been very overwhelming, to be consistently good for that long.

LEAF STOPS THE ACE CLUTCH BY DOING NOTHING 🗣ï¸ðŸ—£ï¸ðŸ—£ï¸ pic.twitter.com/VnHEefEAWe

— VALORANT Esports NA (@valesportsna) May 25, 2026

Hotspawn: Leviatan’s spikeziN took so many first kills in the series today.

Do you think the Neon nerf is going to affect teams like Lev more adversely heading into London, especially since they have to play group stage too?

Leaf: I think every team is going to be kind of like that because everyone is playing Neon on some map. There is not a set team that is really avoiding it completely. We play it too, just not on that many maps. I think spikeziN will be fine. I think Koshmaras on Heretics will be fine too. They play a very unique style where they do not rely on the jump as much.

But I feel like the agent will be easier to play against in general, combined with the shotgun nerfs. They are still going to be really good. Lev, they are going to figure it out. They are pretty good at that.

Hotspawn: You lost to Lev in the upper final on Friday, then beat NRG in one best of five and Lev again in the Grand Final, both going the distance.

How did you guys manage to recover and do that back to back?

Leaf: A lot of just endurance. You cannot go a five-map best of five without a little bit of endurance and willpower and experience. I feel like the experience played a key part. We were just determined. We did not want to give in to just playing sloppy because we are tired, because that is just a sad way to go out.

We know we are better than that. We played so many of these best of fives together that we needed to capitalise on one of them in the end. We ended up playing literally all seven maps in two days and some of them multiple times, which was just kind of crazy.

Hotspawn: Did playing those maps multiple times help or hurt, having Lev see more of your stuff?

Leaf: Against Lev it does not matter that much. They kind of just do their own stuff and you just have to be able to beat them. But against NRG and stuff, that does kind of hurt a little because it is just like they get more things to look at.

Hotspawn: Yesterday was also the first time NRG managed to take maps off of you.

How much have they improved?

Leaf: Like I said, they are finding their stride with keiko on duelist and they obviously made it to London, so that is an achievement in and of itself. But I think the gap between us is a lot smaller now. I feel like in Kickoff even the gap was pretty small, but we kind of busted out a new style that they were not really ready for, some new comps and stuff like that. They are a team where if they can prep against you, they are going to do well. They have always kind of been like that. So it was not surprising that it was that close, to be honest.

Hotspawn: Which teams and players are you most excited to face at London?

Leaf: I think Vitality would be fun. It would be kind of similar to Bangkok last year when we played them and they were known as a super team, and that is kind of the title they are getting now. They have shown a lot of improvement throughout the stage. So it would be fun to play them. Obviously they are first seed but it would still be really fun. GE obviously.

And honestly I feel like Full Sense would be fun to play against just in terms of playing new APAC styles. I feel like we have played DRX and PRX so many times, obviously PRX so many times, but all these APAC teams kind of have their own identity. Like right now PRX is just owning on Jett, Phoenix, and Waylay and so it would be really fun to play against compared to, you know, Dambi Neon or jinggg Raze and stuff like that. Something new for sure.

And my boy benjyfishy is at London, so he would be fun to play against too. That would be fun. He is just a fun guy in general and he is fun on stage too.