LEGIJA has joined FunPlus Phoenix as the team’s new head coach, according to the VCT Global Contract Database.
CHINA – FunPlus Phoenix have named Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić as their new head coach, as confirmed by the VCT Global Contract Database. He takes over from Yao “York” Kun, who now returns to his assistant coach role after stepping up to lead the team following Deng “NaThanD” Senqiao’s departure in February.
LEGIJA arrives in the VCT CN league after a successful run in Challengers EMEA, where he helped Enterprise Esports claim the 2025 Challengers NORTH/EAST Stage 2 title.
However, he remains best known for his impactful three-year stint with Bleed Esports from 2022 to 2024. Under his leadership, BLEED dominated the MY/SG Challengers circuit in 2023 and went on to win VCT Ascension Pacific, becoming the first team promoted to the Pacific league in the partnership era.
Despite a very underwhelming 2024 season in the tier-one VCT Pacific league, managing only one win against DetonatioN FocusMe, BLEED’s rise under LEGIJA’s influence still left a lasting impression on the region’s tier-two scene and set a benchmark for future ascension teams.
Outside of VALORANT, LEGIJA brings more than a decade of experience in Counter-Strike as both a player and coach. His career includes stints with mousesports (now MOUZ), Team Kinguin, NRG Esports, Envy, and BIG. With BIG, he helped the team break into the world’s top ten by the end of 2018 and helped solidify their status as Germany’s highest-caliber squad since their founding in 2017. That first year, he stood behind the team at the PGL Major Krakow, where they secured a 5th–8th place finish.
In VCT CN, LEGIJA will compete in Shanghai alongside familiar faces from his BLEED days, with Marcus “nephh” Tan playing for Bilibili Gaming and Tyler “juicy” Aeria representing Wolves Esports, joined by analyst Sushant “Ominous” Jha.
His new challenge with FPX will be a demanding one. The team is coming off a lackluster Stage 1 finish at 9th–10th place and has yet to recapture the international form that saw them reach the finals of Kickoff, Stage 1, and Stage 2 in 2024.
With Stage 2 on the horizon and a spot at VALORANT Champions Paris still within reach, LEGIJA will be tasked with reviving FPX’s form and leading the team back into the title conversation, starting with their opening match against Wolves Esports on Saturday, July 5th at 19:00 GMT+8.
With the appointment of LEGIJA, FunPlus Phoenix are now:
- Zhang “AAAAY” Yang
- Kale “autumn” Dunne
- Qu “Life” Donghao
- Wang “yosemite” Lei
- Zhang “BerLIN” Bo-lin
- Chen “XII” Yen-hsiang
- Nikola “LEGIJA” Ninić (Head coach)
- Yao “York” Kun (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of VCT Pacific
