Winstrike drop pipsoN, sign Johnta as coach

Ivan “Johnta” Shevtsov is the new coach for Winstrike, the organization announced today.

The veteran will replace Daniil “pipsoN” Mescheryakov, who has been Winstrike’s coach since last March.

Johnta is one of the most experienced coaches in CS:GO. He became a free agent in April after parting ways with TYLOO, the most successful team in China. Johnta helped them in the IEM Katowice Major in February 2019, when TYLOO almost earned Legend status but ended up going home with a 2-3 record.

Johnta spent more than two years training at Hellraisers from June 2016 to December 2018. Their best result was at FACEIT Major in September 2019, when they advanced to the quarterfinals of a Major tournament for the first time.

He’s excited to train with a CIS team again and said he always admired the Winstrike players. “I’m glad to return to my native region and work with Russian-language roster. Especially I’m happy to work with Winstrike,” Johnta said. “I always liked their passion about the game. I’m full of enthusiasm and can’t wait for the first practices and officials.”

Adalyat Mamedov, Winstrike’s head manager, thinks the team performance will improve under Johnta’s leadership. “Jonhta is the great specialist and I’m sure we will get better results in short period of time.”

Winstrike is preparing for the CIS Minor closed qualifier for the StarLadder Major in August 2019. The Minor qualifier starts on June 8 and Winstrike will compete against 15 other teams for a spot in the CIS Minor.