FPX have signed yet another player.
CHINA – FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) have welcomed another new face to their roster, signing Chen “XII” Yen-hsiang. The former Night Wings Gaming and Bilibili Academy player becomes FPX’s second signing this month, following the arrival of Yang “Shr1mp” Yong. However, it remains unclear whether XII will join the starting five or take on a substitute/sixth-man role.
This move marks XII’s first appearance in the tier-one VCT CN League. He began his career in the HK/TW circuit in 2021, competing with Five Ace eSports and Griffin E-Sports—two of the region’s top teams at the time. In 2023, he also played alongside 2024 world champion Hsieh “S1Mon” Meng-hsun (now with EDward Gaming) in The Major Six, a domestic tournament.
In late 2022, XII had a brief stint with Japan-based Good 8 Squad before transitioning to the Chinese circuit with Night Wings Gaming. During his time with NWG with the likes of Teng “happywei” Min-wei and Savva “Kr1stal” Fedorov, XII played in the 2023 China Evolution Series, a series of events that served as a pathway to the VCT CN Ascension event.
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The following year, XII joined Temperature X, a team competing in China National Competition Season 2, which served as China’s version of the Challengers Finals in other regions. However, Temperature X struggled against other tier-two contenders, finishing last in the tournament. This result, unfortunately, dashed XII’s hopes of making it to Ascension CN for the second year in a row.
FunPlus Phoenix are currently competing in 2025 VCT CN Stage 1, where they have started strong with victories over Titan Esports Club and TYLOO—though their match against TYLOO was a much closer contest than expected. A major question now is how FPX plan to integrate XII into their system, especially considering his primary role as a duelist.
At present, the team’s in-game leadership (IGL) duties are shared between Wang “yosemite” Lei and Kale “autumn” Dunne, a detail also revealed by CN caster Gai “Alan” Yandahan during Episode 9 of the YAP2ASIA podcast.
Up next, FunPlus Phoenix will face Nova Esports, Dragon Ranger Gaming, and EDward Gaming, whcih will determine whether they secure a spot in the Mid-Season Playoffs.
FunPlus Phoenix now have:
- Zhang “AAAAY” Yang
- Kale “autumn” Dunne
- Qu “Life” Donghao
- Wang “yosemite” Lei
- Yang “Shr1mp” Yong
- Chen “XII” Yen-hsiang
- Yao “York” Kun (Coach)
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Cover photo courtesy of FPX
