Trace Esports sign former XLG player Viva

Trace Esports has officially signed in-game leader Ran "Viva" Lifan ahead of the VCT China 2026 season following his time with XLG Esports this year.

Trace Esports were one of the biggest mysteries of VCT China throughout the 2025 season. Following a strong 5th-8th place finish at VCT 2024 - Champions 2024, Trace continued to maintain their position at the top of VCT China in 2025 by qualifying for VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Bangkok 2025.

Afterwards, though, the team struggled throughout the remainder of the 2025 season following their 7th-8th place finish in Bangkok. They then finished in 5th-6th place in VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - China Stage 1 before dropping down again to 7th-8th place at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - China Stage 2. As a result, the team looked to completely change their lineup, with Viva representing one of the first changes to the longtime Trace Esports core.

Who is Viva?

Viva will be joining Trace Esports following a successful season with XLG Esports in the VCT 2025 season. After joining XLG at the start of the year, Viva played an integral part in helping XLG win Stage 1 in China, which auto-qualified the team for the playoffs at VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Masters Toronto 2025. While they were unable to translate their domestic success to the international stage, their performance throughout 2025 was enough to help the team qualify for VALORANT Champions Tour 2025 - Valorant Champions.

It will be interesting to see how XLG Esports moves forward without Viva in their lineup as they enter the VCT 2026 season. Due to their 9th-11th place finish at VALORANT Champions 2025, XLG automatically qualified to the VCT China 2026 season. They will aim to build on their domestic success from 2025 and help China regain its footing internationally.

Be sure to follow THESPIKE.GG for more VALORANT offseason news like this as we inch closer to the VCT 2026 season.

Cover photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games