Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #18 qiutiaN Bijan Moeinzadeh (慕英毕强) OBONE Chen Yijie (陈怡洁) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GREEN Qiu Jianzhi (邱建智) GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) swagzor Mikhail Vaniushin has completed its midseason roster rebuild following a disappointing China Kickoff, signing Russian Duelist player Mikhail "swagzor" Vaniushin and a new head coach in the German Alexander "alexRr" Frisch.

alexRr began his coaching career in the 2024 season with Disguised Disguised Inactive JA John Timothy Arone Vera Rodman Yap STYRON Tidus Goh crazyguy Ngô Công Anh wayne Wayne Chang , and coached Enterprise Esports Enterprise Esports Europe Rank #1 MAGNUM Martin Penkov iluri Ilari Puranen Lime Jacob Foster Proxh Yusuf Emre Tunc kozzy Denis Stefan Aionitoaei the following season. Prior to stepping into the coaching booth, he played for cowana Gaming cowana Gaming Inactive CALVIN S Calvin Shendy stavros Dimitrios Smoilis , Bloodh0nd Gang Bloodh0nd Gang Inactive Ayzee Spocki Benedikt Rank ParTyy , and BIG BIG Inactive . Last year with Enterprise, he guided the Czech Republic-based squad to a dominant trophy-winning run at Challengers NORTH//EAST Stage 3, but departed before the team participated in EMEA Stage 3 and eventually EMEA Ascension.

swagzor makes the jump over to VCT China after competing for Enterprise as a stand-in to start 2026. He competed for several teams in the offseason while looking for a permanent roster, with his last permanent position coming with NOVO Esports NOVO Esports Europe Rank #90 etnaa Albert Kolosov sunfloweR NoHelp Smirnov Evgeniy Vitie Viktor Kukushkin ANXiOS Victor Troshkin moner Kirill Matsanov in the Spanish Challengers circuit. The 2008-born swagzor, who turned 18 in February and, in turn, became eligible to compete in VCT competitions, made his debut in 2024 with Team Occupy Team Occupy Inactive Black Aly Ahmed Getoxic tellfeenzo Artem Pashkov Electus .

Nova becomes the latest Chinese team to add a European player from the Challengers circuit as an import player. In this most recent wave of roster changes, FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix China Rank #12 BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) AAAAY Zhang Yang (张杨) Ben1Ley Shi Benyu KovaQ Blendi Kovaci Setrod Ou Taigeng (欧泰赓) added KovaQ , formerly of CGN Esports CGN Esports Inactive Kixer Leon Kixmüller Rand reyvn Robin-Lee Maier Varlas Luca Di Benedetto Wanted Giuliano Sotgiu Mimori Mihael Lazarin and Team Vitality Team Vitality Europe Rank #10 Jamppi Elias Olkkonen PROFEK Dawid Święć Derke Nikita Sirmitev Chronicle Timofey Khromov Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu , while All Gamers All Gamers China Rank #4 Septem7 Liu Zhening (刘哲宁) Shr1mp Yang Yong (杨勇) Youze K1ra Huang Zhihao (黄志豪) f4ngeer Roman Smirnov iamgrq Gao Ruiqi (高锐琦) added KCORP Blue Stars KCORP Blue Stars Inactive standout f4ngeer in the offseason. Going back further, vo0kashu joined Dragon Ranger Gaming Dragon Ranger Gaming China Rank #8 Flex1n Lo Rui (罗瑞) Life Qu Donghao (瞿东豪) vo0kashu Ilya Ushakov Akeman Zhang Haoran (张浩然) Nicc Shao Yi-qun (邵逸群) SpiritZ1 Lin Dingyu (林定宇) in 2023 following three years of play in Europe.

Since finishing 11th-12th at Kickoff, Nova has also added former Wolves Esports Wolves Esports China Rank #19 glacier Liang Zhekai (梁哲恺) SiuFatBB Pong Gaa Hei (庞加曦) jowa Jordan Wang yosemite Wang Lei (王磊) Spring Liu Jiunting (刘俊霆) player qiutiaN , meaning swagzor's addition expands the team's active roster size to six, with GREEN , who took on Duelist duties in Kickoff, expected to be a substitute in Stage 1.

Nova kicks off its Stage 1 in three days, taking on EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #2 ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) Jieni7 Zhang Juntai (张君泰) in its opening match. Nova has been dealt a tough hand in Group Omega. Of the seven Chinese teams to qualify for an international event since the start of last season, five are Nova's groupmates, with EDG, Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #1 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) , DRG, Wolves, and Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #9 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) Xlele Zhao Yanbo (赵炎博) Abo Han Bohao (韩博皓) Viva Lifan Ran (冉立凡) deLb Delbert Tanoto set to take them on in the group stage.

Nova Esports Nova Esports China Rank #18 qiutiaN Bijan Moeinzadeh (慕英毕强) OBONE Chen Yijie (陈怡洁) Ezeir Zhao Zejun (赵泽骏) GREEN Qiu Jianzhi (邱建智) GuanG Guang Honglin (光洪霖) swagzor Mikhail Vaniushin 's full roster is now:

  • Bijan "qiutiaN" Moeinzadeh (慕英毕强)
  • Chen "OBONE" Yijie (陈怡洁)
  • Zhao "Ezeir" Zejun (赵泽骏)
  • Qiu "GREEN" Jianzhi (邱建智)
  • Guang "GuanG" Honglin (光洪霖)
  • Mikhail "swagzor" Vaniushin
  • Alexander "alexRr" Frisch (Head coach)
  • Kim "OnbusH" Taek-soo (김택수) (Coach)