After more than seven weeks away from the intense VCT grind, G2 Esports’ sentinel main leaf has returned from his health break, ready to compete in VALORANT once again.
In an X (formerly Twitter) post on Aug. 23, leaf shared that he had been in and out of the hospital for about two weeks but is now “hopefully” past the worst of his health struggles. He revealed that he’s lived with Crohn’s disease since childhood, but recently suffered one of his worst flare-ups since he was nine due to complications with ankylosing spondylitis and sacroiliitis after VCT Masters Toronto in June. The condition left him with little energy, severe pain, and difficulty eating or drinking.
Leaf also took a moment to thank fans for the countless messages of support he’s received over the past few months. “I know a lot of people have DM’ed me on here/Discord and given support, and I’ve seen all of it,” he wrote. “Just wanted to say thank you, even if I didn’t take the time to respond.” He went on to shout out his long-term teammates—and Babybay, who has been standing in for him in VCT Americas Stage two—for keeping the team strong and making sure nobody takes G2 VALORANT down undeservedly.
After a strong group stage run and two back-to-back playoff wins, G2 VALORANT is now set to face Sentinels in the upper final of VCT Americas Stage 2 on Aug. 29. Even without leaf, the team has held firm, with Babybay slotting in seamlessly to preserve their original synergy.
Now that he’s back, leaf is optimistic about finishing the year strong, eyeing a “3peat” for the VCT 2025 season with a prestigious VALORANT Champions win. In the meantime, Babybay is expected to continue filling in through the rest of Stage 2—and possibly even some of the early Champions matches—until leaf is officially ready to return to the competitive VALORANT server.
