huNter-: "If we can find consistency, then I think we can be the best in the world again"

The Bosnian rifler spoke to HLTV shortly after G2's 2-0 win over Astralis in the IEM Cologne semi-final.

G2 came into the fall season as one of few teams not to make roster moves, a decision which came even in spite of their shortcomings towards the end of the spring season.

Regardless, confidence in the Rasmus "⁠HooXi⁠" Nielsen-led roster is paying off at IEM Cologne, where G2 have put up a flawless tournament record so far. Their latest victim was Astralis, a team they beat in two clean maps — even ending the Danes' seven-map win streak on Ancient — to advance to the IEM Cologne grand final.

It's a considerable uptick in form by the G2 side after a poor showing at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups, and one that has subsequently boosted the confidence within the international cohort.

"[The doubts and worries] are behind us and we don't think about [the poor results] in the past anymore. We are playing really good now; the group stage we did really good, today we did really good. Hopefully we'll do the same tomorrow," Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač told HLTV's Lucas Aznar Miles in the LANXESS Arena's mixed zone shortly after eliminating the Danes.

"Everything that is behind us, is behind us. When we won Katowice, when we won BLAST World Final, when we were failing in a lot of events, that's all behind us. We need to look into the future and see what we can do."

Despite G2 looking near-unstoppable so far in the $1 million tournament, huNter- is more focused on the squad being able to find some form of consistency so that their upward trajectory has some longevity.

"Before, when we were good, we didn't keep up really hard work and now we need to find consistency," he said. "I would like us to be as consistent as much as we can instead of having really high ups and really low downs, you know?

"If we can find consistency, then I think we can be the best in the world again. That's our goal and that's why we all trusted this lineup. Peca [Marković, G2's general manager] said it in the HLTV Confirmed podcast before the playoffs. We all believed in each other, we are really good in the team, and we have good chemistry inside of the game and outside of the game."

A key reason for G2's undefeated run in Cologne is huNter-'s boost in personal performance. The Bosnian rifler is among the top-five highest-rated players at IEM Cologne — joined by his teammates Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov and Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač — and it's something he attributes to his past hard work finally paying dividends.

"I feel really good this event. I think so far I have been doing pretty well, and that's important to me for my own confidence. I know that I am important for this team, and when I play good, we have two consistent players who are NiKo and m0NESY.

"Justin [jks] is doing his job and if HooXi is calling good, nothing can go wrong. I am happy because of that, and when I worked the most, I was kind of the worst for this part of the year. It was around IEM Dallas, but every work will pay off sooner or later, so I need to be patient and I need to keep the good work going."

Even with G2 looking like their old IEM Katowice-winning selves, huNter- is aware that this grand final is by no means a done deal. The international squad are set to face off versus ENCE, who are also yet to lose a game in Cologne and whose individuals, namely Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García and Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz, have been tearing up the competition in Germany.

"ENCE, lately, are doing a pretty good job. They won IEM Dallas, they didn't lose a single game this event like us, so they've been doing really good and they have really good individuals, as well."

There's more to this grand final bout than meets the eye for huNter-, and that's the fact that he'll be playing against a fellow player from the Balkan region, Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković.

"We talk a lot [Maden and I]. NiKo and he are playing FACEIT a lot and sometimes I play with them, but we talk and we want the best for each other. When ENCE are playing, we cheer for Maden, when we are playing, he cheers for us — hopefully!

"We talk to each other a lot and maybe one day we will make a team together, who knows? I just wanna tell him good luck, but I will tell him at breakfast tomorrow in our language."

Date	Matches
IEM Cologne 2023
06/08/2023	ENCE 16:00 G2	Match