NiKo wants G2 to bring their confidence into the European RMR.
G2 and Nikola "NiKo" Kovač won BLAST Premier World Final 2024 after a quick 3-0 victory against Team Spirit on Nov. 3.
This win will only fuel the theory that G2 know how to counter Spirit as NiKo and. co had already defeated the Russians once in the group stage. G2 also eliminated Spirit from BLAST Premier Fall Final, IEM Cologne, and EWC earlier this year.
NiKo isn't entirely sure why G2 have such an edge over Spirit. He told esports.gg reporter Nicholas Taifalos that G2 simply played their own game and came up with good reads.
"I don't really know what we have over them. We just played our game and we have good reads over them. I don't know, maybe it's a bit about their mental. I don't know what's happening in their heads, but we just played our game and obviously with everything that we get, we get more and more confident.
It's not like we're entering the game and it's not been easy. We know how to play against them. We just seem to have a good fit against them, I would say."
We also asked NiKo what this victory means heading to the Perfect World Shanghai Major European RMR, his thoughts on CS2 after one year of competition, and more.
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Interview with NiKo after G2 won BLAST Premier World Final 2024
NiKo and G2, champions of Singapore — that's got to have a nice ring to it! Talk us through that match because that can't have been the result you guys thought was going to happen.
"Yeah, I mean we played very good, very composed. We had control pretty much all the time over them. Maybe the first half of Mirage was a bit tense until we got our comms up and a bit warmed up as well. We played super well and I'm super proud of everyone. They showed up today, when it mattered, and everyone did their job perfectly."
On an individual level, the Dust 2 map wasn't ideal for you, but nevertheless the team pulled through. Are you happy with how you played individually for the event?
"Am I happy fully? I think I can do better. I was happy how I played the first two maps, especially on Anubis. Obviously Dust 2 was pretty bad by me, or terrible I would say, but the team still played amazing. We cannot all play and drop insane ratings so we have very good individuals on the team, but I definitely can improve my game. I was not so consistent at this event, and I can see a lot of improvements. Hopefully I can reach my peak for the Major which is my goal."
We spoke after IEM Sydney last year and got your thoughts about MR12 and CS2 in general. Back then you said that it wasn't quite so optimal. What are your thoughts about the game a year on?
"We all have to get used to it. There is no time to complain, that doesn't do good to anyone. We just have to get used to it and need to play more careful — you cannot throw rounds away, you cannot throw guns away. Every round matters and pistol rounds are super important. We are putting a lot of effort in pistols as well, I think we're one of the best teams when it comes to pistol rounds.
We are taking MR12 very seriously or as serious as we can. There are still some rounds where we throw away but we try to minimize it as much as we can and yeah it's just something you have to accept and move on."
There's been a lot of talk about your future and the future of the lineup after the season ends. How special does this win make it for you and the team and how much confidence does this build heading into the Major?
"I mean this is a great sign for the Major for us. We put a lot of work after we went for a bootcamp and it's just nice to see that it paid off. Now we just have to be smart and get back to home and keep working, keep changing some small things and we just need to carry on our confidence into the RMRs.
RMRs are always difficult so we just need to stay grounded and keep our head low, keep working and also bring the same energy that we did for every game here."
That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more CS2 news and interviews.
