Rising CS:GO star nexa: Overshadowed and underrated

While many have their eyes on Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač and his cousin Nemanja ‘huNter’ Kovač as the biggest CS:GO stars of the Balkan region, there’s another player who shouldn’t be slept on in the least bit. 

The Balkan Region is home to one of the greatest players to ever grace the game of Counter-Strike in NiKo, which shouldn’t be news nor arguable. Following in his footsteps is his older cousin huNter, who has received increasing levels of praise and hype from the community as of late. 

As I wrote recently, it is only a matter of time before huNter is freed of his large buyout and shows how impactful he can be. The talent doesn’t end there though, in fact there is another Serbian player on the path to stardom: Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković.

You don’t have to look far for nexa because he plays alongside huNter, often providing the second half of their 1-2 punch in the server. This analogy rings true for just about anyone that plays with a Kovač, too. 

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No matter how well nexa might play, huNter will remain as the main talking point. The similar effect has existed around NiKo for years. Nexa doesn’t let that affect him, though, and those close to him reinforced that point when asked about it. Instead, he is quietly and happily bulking his resume as one of the most consistent players in Europe.

You’ll be hard pressed to find an event that nexa didn’t play well at in the last year of play, even prior to joining Valiance. 

While the sample size against top tier competition is limited, he has a history of showing up time and time again. There is no actual statistic that predicts how good a player can be if recruited to a top team, but if there was, nexa would place amongst the highest. 

The only blemish in his playing history was a brief stint with Renegades when the team was struggling. He just didn’t fit in stylistically nor was he put in comfortable positions to succeed. Outside of that, he has provided everything you could ever ask for if you are looking for consistency and impact.

The level of confidence nexa instills in his teammates is one of his greatest qualities. As a site anchor on CT side, he routinely gets two kills while defending a bombsite or if he doesn’t, he stays alive far longer than he should. 

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One of his more unique roles is doing damage on T side pistol, where he often has a p250 and wins rounds single-handedly. As a journalist, I hear complaints about almost every player in the world in one way or another. Nexa isn’t one of those though, everyone has nothing but fantastic things to say about him as a player and a person.

It is easy to say that any player with good stats is a potential star, but nexa has something more. He isn’t streaky and is a hell of a teammate. These intangible assets are what separates him from his peers. 

If he isn’t on a short list of potential recruitments for top European and North American teams, then those teams need new management.