Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #19 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) FKEY deLb Delbert Tanoto has announced that in-game leader Lifan "Viva" Ran (冉立凡) will be moving to the coaching booth, seemingly marking an end to his playing career.

Viva, an Initiator player throughout most of his career, was midway through his first season with Trace. He joined at the end of the 2025 season as part of a shift for the organization that moved away from the core centered around heybay .

Viva competing with XLG at Masters Toronto. Viva competing with XLG at Masters Toronto. (Photo by Riot Games)

Before entering Valorant in 2023 with Rare Atom Rare Atom China Rank #7 Potter Sutthichai Promsrikaew Guran Zhou Minyan (周铭言) nnono Croudy Ben1Ley Shi Benyu Z1yan Liu Zihan (刘紫涵) , Viva enjoyed a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive career that lasted six years. Since making the move over, Viva has played for JDG Esports JDG Esports China Rank #13 jkuro Yong Haochong (杨浩聪) zhe Niu Zhe (牛哲) Yuicaw Huang Yung-chieh (黃湧傑) crownfisher Li Ao (李翱) BerLIN Zhang Bolin (張柏霖) , Xi Lai Gaming Xi Lai Gaming China Rank #2 WsLeo Huang Pinwei (黄品维) Sharks Qiu Ge (邱戈) Lysoar Liang Youhao (梁优好) NoMan James Man Rarga Arthur Churyumov happywei Deng Minwei (邓闵维) , and Trace. In 2023, he came up just short of ascending with RA, finishing second at China Ascension alongside stew , MarT1n , yoman , YiHao — four players who have all since competed on the VCT stage. Viva made his VCT debut when JDG acquired the RA roster the following offseason. He stayed with JDG through the 2024 season and joined the newly ascended XLG shortly after, reaching Masters Toronto and Champions Paris in his lone year with the squad.

Viva will step into a Trace coaching booth that has been led by destroyeR since 2023. Over the years, destroyeR has brought Trace up from one of China's middling teams to one of its strongest, entering Champions Seoul in strong form. The team left Korea 7th-8th, joining EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 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) and Bilibili Gaming Bilibili Gaming China Rank #5 whzy Wang Haozhe (王昊哲) rushia Wang Xiaojie (王晓杰) nephh Marcus Tan yilai Gu Yiming (顾依铭) Knight Liu Yuxiang (刘宇翔) bud Yang Renyu (杨韧余) FT Yan Shuaibo (闫帅博) as the only CN teams to make the Champions playoffs in a year that EDG became the first Chinese champions of the world. Trace remained one of the top Chinese teams to start 2025, qualifying for Masters Bangkok, but has failed to qualify for another international event since.

In its quest to return to being one of China's top teams, Trace has been in constant motion, making changes to its roster. Viva's signing was one of the first in the org's first this past offseason, joined with deLb 's addition and the departures of MarT1n and Biank . Viva's move into the coaching booth, paired with FengF 's return to play after a half-year spell on the sidelines, could see Trace return to a five-man roster, but also opens the door for a continued six-man roster. LuoK1ng , who also played during Kickoff, competed during the team's post-Stage 1 EVO Series matches alongside FengF, which may hint at what the team's roster come Stage 2 might look like.

At 26 years old, Viva could make a return to competitive play, but Trace Esports Trace Esports China Rank #19 LuoK1ng Zhang Zhanpeng (张展鹏) Kai Lu Zhinan (卢智楠) FengF Song Xuefeng (宋学锋) FKEY deLb Delbert Tanoto ' full roster is now:

  • Zhang "LuoK1ng" Zhanpeng (张展鹏)
  • Lu "Kai" Zhinan (卢智楠)
  • Zhao "Xlele" Yanbo (赵炎博)
  • Han "Abo" Bohao (韩博皓)
  • Delbert "deLb" Tanoto
  • Song "FengF" Xuefeng (宋学锋)
  • Zhou "KaKa" Wenxing (周文兴) (Manager)
  • Gu "destroyeR" Jiaming (顾佳鸣) (Head coach)
  • Zhang "Yiyee" Tianyuan (张天元) (Coach)
  • Lifan "Viva" Ran (冉立凡) (Coach)
  • "Draven" (Staff)