Redbull Instalock is due to take place in London on April 20th – 21st. We got the chance to talk with Petra “Petra” Stoker of G2 Esports about the brand new VALORANT agent, unique tournaments the future of women’s esports.

Sophie McCarthy: So I wanted to start just talking a little bit about the new agent, Clove.

Have you had a chance to try playing them yet?

Petra: No, I haven’t. It’s not really my role, but of course I should try it. But it’s getting insta locked everywhere. I think they’re pretty strong and, yeah, it’s a good agent to use on some maps. Not all of them.

Sophie: Oh really? Which maps wouldn’t you use them on?

Petra: I think on Lotus and Ascent, maybe. Maybe Split.

Sophie: So has anybody else on the team tried them out at all?

Petra: Yeah, yeah, we have one in the team who’s very good at fragging, and she’s our smoker, so it fits her pretty well.

Sophie: I was wondering, actually, because I’d heard that Clove isn’t going to be used in VCT because of a bug. Do you know if you’ll be able to play them in Instalock?

Petra: I think so, but I’m not sure.

Sophie: Ok, great! I did, of course, want to ask a bit about Instalock. It has unique format that encourages aggressive plays.

How does that affect your preparation going into a tournament?

Petra: Well, of course, people have to play a role they never played before or maybe ranked, but I think it’s pretty exciting for us because we have some people being comfortable on an aggressive role. So, yeah, I’m not saying it’s going to be a lot of preparation, but we’re definitely going to prep some things. Yeah, we’re going to have a lot of fun.

Sophie: And maybe we’ll see some strategies we haven’t seen before?

Petra: Yes, of course. You have to, right?

Who are you most looking forward to playing against?

Petra: Maybe our biggest rivals, the champions from last year. So, yeah, that’s going to be pretty exciting to play them again. And on a different format too.

Sophie: Do you think you guys will have the edge this time?

Petra: Oh, I’m not sure. Maybe. I hope so.

Sophie: So just to talk a little more about this style of tournament and how it impacts the ecosystem of women’s esports.

How much value would you say a tournament like Redbull Instalock has?

Petra: Well, of course it has a lot of value. It puts our names out there and it gives the female scene a good PR to say it like that. It’s not like a usual format. Of course, it’s being taken seriously but it’s different to a very serious competition with normal comms and stuff. But I definitely think it’s super important to create a platform for everyone.

How do you feel you can use that platform to increase the exposure for women’s esports?

Petra: Exactly like this, right? Like, create tournaments, make everyone feel welcome and promote it. So show everyone it’s super fun and just show off your talents as well, right?

How does your experience with a tournament like this compare to VCT?

Petra: You, of course, prepare way differently than for a tournament like this. Right? So it’s more different because the Red Bull one is a little bit more relaxed and more fun. And I don’t know the exact words for this, but it just feels a bit more relaxed and it’s super fun. Both of the tournaments are very exciting all the time though. I don’t know, I’m just really ready to have some fun.

Sophie: And maybe you get to have some more experimental plays too?

Petra: Yeah, we’re going to experiment a lot, especially with the three duelist comp. Imagine it works out super well, then we’re taking it to VCT.

Sophie: So you’ve been working with G2 for some time now.

How has your experience been working with G2?

Petra: I’ve been with them for some years now and I think it’s the best organization I’ve worked for. They’re super organized and supportive. They will do everything for us to reach our goals, and that’s the support we needed. We feel taken seriously. Yeah, what can I say? They give us all the things we need.

How does that work with tournament prep? Do you bootcamp together?

Petra: Yeah, they provide us boot camps, so for every tournament the group stages, we play from home. For Playoffs, we go to bootcamp together. And I think that’s very important for us because everyone knows there is a bootcamp. So, yeah, having these opportunities, I think it’s great, and I’m very grateful for that.

Sophie: It’s great to hear that they’re investing so much. It hasn’t always been like that for women’s esports.

Is your experience now different to when you started out?

Petra: Yeah, so I’ve been playing for quite some years now, since the beginning of competitive gaming. It changed big time. There’s more teams, more organizations. We didn’t have bootcamps back in the day, you know? It happened here and there but not as serious as here and to see the scene grow and everything around it is just amazing. So it’s definitely a better experience than a few years ago.