NiKo: "We will definitely be tested more in playoffs"

NiKo is not getting carried away with the sublime form G2 showed to storm to an IEM Cologne playoff berth.

G2 have been revitalized since the additions of Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa and Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski, kicking their season off with a run to the final of Esports World Cup, breezing through BLAST Fall Groups, and now making the playoffs of IEM Cologne. During this run, they have racked up a 19-7 map record.

After opening their campaign in Germany with a shock defeat at the hands of SAW, G2 came roaring back with a vengeance, battering world No. 2 Spirit, handily dispatching Astralis, and walking over paiN to secure a playoff berth. In all bar one map, G2 limited their opposition to six rounds or less.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač has been a key component of G2's resurgent showing in Cologne, such that he now sits atop the rating leaderboard for the tournament, sporting a 1.44 rating over nine maps.

With a quarter-final bout against MOUZ on the horizon, NiKo sat down with HLTV to discuss G2's potential route to the final, their recent rivalry with Natus Vincere, and how the new signings have revitalized the team.

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You are through to the playoffs, but you have a very difficult route to the trophy. You are now facing MOUZ, then if you win that match you will face NAVI. What are your opinions on your chances?

We definitely have tough opponents. Obviously you can't expect to have easy opponents in the playoffs, right? So it doesn't really matter, we are confident. We just have to do what we did in the group stage, and with MOUZ I think we have the upper hand to be honest, I think we will be favorites in that matchup.

When it comes to NAVI, maybe it's a good thing we will be facing them in the semi-finals and not the final, maybe it will change something. They are definitely the hardest opponent for us, but we have to beat them at some point, so hopefully it will be this time.

It has only been a couple of months since you brought in Snax and malbsMd. How do you think they are getting on with the team, and did you think that things would be this smooth right away?

Things are great obviously, we are playing great and the results are there. Did I think it was going to be like this? Probably not. I don't think we are necessarily playing this good only because we brought them in, but the combination of having malbsMd's firepower and then me and huNter stepping up at the same time, I think those are the key reasons why we are smashing some opponents.

Overall they brought a lot to our team, both Snax and malbsMd, and I just feel like we are having a really good time together on the server. We are enjoying playing together, we have a couple of things always ready, and we are not trying to complicate too much. Things are very smooth right now and hopefully we can build up on this and become even better.

When malbsMd was brought in, there were some questions about roles. Do you think people were making it a bigger deal than it actually is?

People will always talk shit, especially if they don't like the move, everyone jumps on the train and wants to hate as soon as possible. You just have to do your job and then win a couple of games, maybe an event, and they will shut up. That's pretty normal, the same happened when we brought Stewie2K in as a stand-in, everyone was talking shit and no one believed, we went out there and we won. No one said that they were wrong, but whatever. That is pretty normal in our community I would say.

You've had some very good games here in Cologne. Looking at the opposition, you faced SAW, you faced a Spirit in crisis, you faced Astralis and now paiN. Are you worried that you haven't faced a top ten team [besides Spirit], a team that can give you a proper test?

Definitely we will be tested, this will not go on all the time. We have obviously faced top ten teams, but I don't think it's any more them having a bad day, I think it's more us actually being very strong. I don't think it can be a coincidence it happens three days in a row, right? We will definitely be tested more in playoffs, hopefully not (laughs), but we are ready and we are talking about it all the time.

I mentioned yesterday on the desk that the loss to Astralis was super important for us, there was a lot to take away from that game. We are ready, as I said we keep talking about it, if things go wrong how do we react to it, so we are ready.

You mentioned yesterday on the broadcast that you decided not to become an IGL because you still think that you are an elite-level player. Can you walk me through that period, after you decided to move away from HooXi. Was it something you considered during that time?

No, honestly it never crossed my mind. I was asked but from the very beginning I said that I didn't want to be IGL, it was very clear for me the way I want to continue my career, it was not the right time. As I said, I saw progress in my game, I knew what I could do, and I'm just very happy that it's showing right now.

If you beat MOUZ, you are going to face NAVI. Are you looking forward to the chance to get back at them for what happened as Esports World Cup?

Yeah, but it's one game at a time, MOUZ is a very important game for us. With NAVI it's not just the Riyadh match, there have been a couple of games we have lost to them that have been super important, at the Major for example. They can't keep beating us forever, it's going to stop. As I said it's tough, I think they're definitely playing the best Counter-Strike right now in the scene, they have the best structure and their players are stepping up as well, it's always someone else who is playing very well. They are a hard team to beat. We were very close a couple of times but we always messed up some things, so I look forward to getting another shot to play against them. If we get another shot, one thing is for sure, it's going to be a very cool game that everyone should enjoy.

Do you think, looking at the bracket, that NAVI are the toughest team you can get in this tournament?

Personally for us, definitely. I think if we overcome NAVI, I don't see a tougher opponent for us.

What would it mean for you to win Cologne once again after doing it last year?

I think it would be cool, I don't have too many of those prestigious trophies so I really want to start winning those. It would be very cool to win another one.