The making of NiKo: my FaZe Clan regrets
CS:GO veteran Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač has had a turbulent career, but he is still full of ambition and determination to be the best in Counter-Strike history.
In this exclusive interview, NiKo discusses his deep roots within Counter-Strike, his difficult path as a member of FaZe Clan, as well as the goals for his future with G2 Esports.
NiKo’s journey with FaZe Clan
Joining FaZe’s roster in 2017, NiKo described it as his “final step into his career”, seeing him finally consistently make it to major events, and ultimately take him strides closer to his biggest goal of fighting to winning titles against the world’s best.
However, after falling short at their major appearances against teams such as Cloud9 and Fnatic, NiKo and his teammates were left deflated and demotivated, and faced a huge struggle to adapt to their competition, resulting in a decision to step away from the game completely for a week.
NiKo with FaZe ClanThe struggles didn’t stop there, with the team continuing to fail in dethroning their competitors, and fellow rifler “Olofmeister” revealing that he would be taking a hiatus from professional Counter-Strike; NiKo announced in October 2020, after three and a half years as a member of FaZe Clan, that he would be leaving FaZe and transferring to European organization G2 Esports.
Looking to the future…
Discussing his future in CS:GO, NiKo has made his goals very clear, stating he aspires to finally win a major or grand slam, whilst also continuing to play alongside his teammate and cousin “huNter”.
When discussing his competitive ability, NiKo commented: “I’m super proud that I can achieve not the same numbers like s1mple or ZywOo, but I can put decent numbers on the table and be close to them.”
Adding, “I would like to do something that dev1ce did for example, where he was a top 5 for 5 years, 6 years, maybe even more. I would like to achieve something like that. I’m really gonna try to push the limits and see for how many more years I can stay on that list.”
NiKo in his G2 jersey, following the announcement of his transfer.With Niko’s future at G2 looking bright, there is no doubt that he will continue to fight for his goals, and grow his competitive ability.