The Japanese team ZETA DIVISION, which holds a spot in the Valorant partnership league, showed rather mediocre results throughout 2024. This prompted the club's management to make changes. One of the most significant changes was the addition of a new head coach, the well-known Ukrainian coach and former CS player, Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov.
Johnta's career in Valorant
Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov is a 37-year-old Ukrainian coach who began his journey in Valorant at the end of 2020. During this time, he has worked with several teams, the most notable being Team Heretics and FunPlus Phoenix. For the past two years, he has been with the Japanese tier-2 team FENNEL, where he helped the players secure many trophies. Among them: a victory at VALORANT Challengers 2023: Japan Split 1, 3rd place at VALORANT Challengers 2023: Japan Split 2, and another 1st place at VALORANT Challengers 2024 Japan: Split 1. Interestingly, his team took 2nd place in the second stage and did not qualify for the main tournament of the year, Ascension Pacific, where they would have fought for a spot in the VCT.
Despite this, the coach and his team will still get a chance to compete on the tier-1 stage, as his transition to ZETA DIVISION was officially announced yesterday.
Johnta’s transfer and part of his team
This decision was shared by ZETA DIVISION representatives on their official social media channels yesterday. Interestingly, along with the Ukrainian coach, three of his former players also joined the Japanese team: Shota "SyouTa" Aoki, Yuto "Xdll" Mizomori, and Hikaru "CLZ" Mizutan, who previously played under his leadership in FENNEL.
These changes directly reflect the professionalism of both the players and the coach, as their excellent work was recognized by the representatives of a tier-1 team. Now, the Ukrainian coach will need to prove his skills and improve ZETA DIVISION's performance on the Japanese and international stages.
It is worth noting that in just two days, the revamped roster will start competing in the RBHG #5 - APAC Play-In qualifiers. We'll be keeping an eye on the team to see if the new additions strengthen ZETA DIVISION's position on the Japanese Valorant scene.
Comments