Sources: Thinkii will be PCIFIC Esports Head Coach for VCT EMEA Stage 1, ZaeS set to join as assistant

Just days before the start of VCT EMEA Stage 1, PCIFIC Esports has reshaped its coaching staff. Following the departure of Kaan “Leader” Taşpınar after the Kickoff event, former assistant coach Manuel “thinkii” Martínez, who had stepped in on an interim basis, will now take on the head coach role for the remainder of the season. According to sources close from Sheep Esports, he will be joined by Dario “ZaeS” Gomez as assistant coach.

The two previously worked together within the coaching staff of BBL Esports last season, where ZaeS served as the team’s analyst. Having been without a team since his departure from the Turkish organization, the Spanish coach now returns to the VCT EMEA scene and reunites with a colleague he has already worked alongside.

This will not be thinkii’s first experience as a head coach. The Spanish coach previously held the role with UCAM Esports Club for around a year and a half, even earning the Best Coach award in VCL Spain 2023 Rising Split 1. After that stint, he joined BBL’s coaching staff as an assistant during a stage that ended with a third-place finish, before the roster later underwent significant changes and thinkii joined PCIFIC Esports. He now succeeds Leader, with whom he worked earlier this season before the latter stepped away from the team due to personal reasons during the Kickoff. PCIFIC went on to win one match before being eliminated in the following round.

Thinkii will form an all-Spanish coaching duo alongside ZaeS, another former member of BBL’s staff. Despite being only 22 years old, ZaeS has already worked with several organizations throughout his career, gaining experience in VCL Spain as well as in North America before joining the Turkish organization alongside thinkii.

While the roster itself remains unchanged, the new coaching duo will look to guide PCIFIC Esports toward better results than those achieved at Kickoff, where the team finished in 9th–10th place with one win and three losses. Their season will begin on April 3 with a matchup against BBL Esports.