NiKo leaves FaZe Clan to join G2 Esports after months of speculation
G2 EsportsBosnian CSGO superstar Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovac is officially a G2 Esports player, having left FaZe Clan after over three years with the organization.
The former FaZe Clan star and IGL announced his transfer on Twitter in a humorous fashion, seemingly already familiar with the now renowned meme style of the G2 organization.
“One of the biggest signings in CS:GO History! Today, we’re ecstatic to welcome Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač to our Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Roster.” Read G2’s official announcement.
At the time of writing, it is not yet clear which member of G2 will leave or be benched to make space for NiKo. Rumors say he will be replacing one of François “AmaNEk” Delaunay or Audric “JaCkz” Jug.
StarLadder“With this signing, we’re taking a new direction with our team. Over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll be evaluating the team and it’s progress to determine the optimal line-up for each match. We will provide more information on this in the coming days.”
I'm really excited to announce that I will be joining @G2esports and I can't explain how happy I'm that I will be playing with @G2huNter and rest of the guys from now on. I'm coming to this lineup with the goal to bring them back to the top and make sure to stay there. #G2WIN https://t.co/2zbFWwsqOd
— NiKo (@G2NiKo) October 28, 2020
He will be joining his cousin Nemanja “huNter” Kovač in the French-Balkan lineup for the upcoming BLAST Premier Fall Series tournament.
G2 Esports’s next official match will be on Monday and will see them face off against the ultra-aggressive Brazilian team FURIA.
https://twitter.com/CarlosR/status/1321487031114076162
Rumors of NiKo’s departure from FaZe have been circulating around the scene since September, with constant reports from 1pv.fr and HLTV.org kept updating the situation. HLTV stated that NiKo was set to debut for his new team in BLAST Premier Fall Series 2020
Speculation was then fueled by a tweet made by the mother of FaZe player Marcelo ‘coldzera’ David asking NiKo to “rethink some decisions” -possibly referencing his rumored move to G2.
Only a few days ago images of FaZe practicing with Olof ‘olofmeister’ Kajbjer instead of NiKo started appearing on Reddit.
The transfer announcement confirms that olof will be playing for FaZe.
WE GOT HIM pic.twitter.com/z0AML7J8rR
— G2 Esports (@G2esports) October 28, 2020
G2 will rely on NiKo to replicate their early 2020 success which saw them skyrocket to the top of CSGO team rankings before going slumping and failing to deliver top results.
G2’s lineup for BLAST Fall Premier Fall 2020 will be:
- Nemanja “nexa” Isaković (IGL)
- Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
- Nikola “NiKo” Kovač
- Audric “JaCkz” Jug
- François “AmaNEk” Delaunay
- Nemanja “huNter-” Kovač
- Damien “maLeK” Marcel (coach)
Richard Lewis gave his thoughts on the move, arguing that NiKo wasn’t the answer to G2’s problems. We’ll have to wait to see who is proven right.