Manuel "thinkii" Martínez has reached a verbal agreement with BBL Esports to join as assistant coach in the VCT EMEA, according to Sheep Esports sources. The Spanish coach arrives from UCAM Esports in VALORANT Challengers Spain, which he joined in late 2023 as Head Coach, and with whom he reached the finals of the last split before competing in the VALORANT Challengers 2025 EMEA: Stage 2.

The last four coaches to come through UCAM have all gone on to join teams within the VCT circuit: Aska (GIANTX GC), Juankar (M8), Aer0z (formerly KOI), and now the most recent move continues that trend. It’s a pattern that highlights the role UCAM has played in recent years as a recurring stop in the path of coaches and players who now compete at the top level — including names like Kamyk, Filu, Grubinho, ara, Flickless and others.

A great rise for thinkii

At 30, the former Counter-Strike player turned VALORANT coach began his journey in 2022 with Arctic in Spain, before moving to Team Queso the following year. It was there that he experienced his first real breakthrough, reaching back-to-back finals—both times falling to Case Esports. Despite the losses, his performance during Split 1 earned him the title of Best Coach of the Split. Team Queso would later qualify for the Ascension tournament, where their run ended in the semifinals against S2G Esports.

Later that year, thinkii joined UCAM Esports, leading them to the final of the 2023 Crossfire Cup. In 2024, the team narrowly missed the podium in Split 1 before falling once again in the final of Split 2, this time to Barça eSports. The trend continued into 2025, with yet another finals appearance in Stage 2 of the Spanish league, though they were clean swept by KOI Fénix. Their participation in VALORANT Challengers EMEA proved equally disappointing, ending without the results they had hoped for.

A middling year, with the EWC on the horizon

thinkii will be joining Gregor "PAL" Morton, who became the head coach of BBL Esports in the VCT following the departure of Salih "marqnue" Onaran. The 2025 season began with a 5th-6th place finish at the VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff. The team had defeated GIANTX and Fnatic before suffering back-to-back losses to Team Heretics and Team Liquid in the lower bracket.

Stage 1 went slightly better, with BBL finishing second in Group Alpha. They took down NAVI before falling 2-0 to Team Heretics. They then eliminated FUT Esports in an all-Turkish showdown, but were knocked out by Team Liquid in the lower bracket semifinal. Their 4th place finish secured them a spot in Stage 2 of the Esports World Cup 2025: EMEA Qualifier. There, they faced Karmine Corp and won 2-0, then got their revenge against Team Liquid with a 3-1 victory. BBL will now represent the EMEA region at the Esports World Cup alongside Fnatic, Team Heretics, and Karmine Corp.