FunPlus Phoenix announce Johnta as head coach

After a search for a head coach that has taken them through several different candidates, FunPlus Phoenix have made their selection in former Hellraisers Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coach Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov.

Johnta has been coaching in CS:GO since 2015, and has been through teams such as Winstrike and CR4ZY. His most famous tenure was with Hellraisers throughout 2016-2018, when he worked with Kirill "ANGE1" Karasiow to bring the team success such as a semi-final finish at Starladder i-League StarSeries Season 3 and a 5th/6th finish worldwide in ESL Pro League Season 6. As ANGE1 was also a big part of those teams, it’s certain he had a huge hand in bringing his former coach into the VALORANT scene.

This will be FunPlus Phoenix’s third try at coaching, and the first one officially announced. Andrey “fragon” Katz worked with the team throughout September, and former FABRIKEN coach Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren is currently working as an analyst with the team.

Only time will tell if this new, solid coaching staff will help FunPlus Phoenix finally reach the top of European VALORANT. The team’s official debut with Johnta’s coaching will be at the First Strike Europe Regional Final this weekend.

FunPlus Phoenix are:

Tobias “ShadoW” Flodström Kirill “ANGE1” Karasiow Pontus “Zyppan” Eek Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky Johan “Meddo” Lundborg

Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov (Head Coach) Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren (Analyst)