NiKo: "I don't know if I could come back into the game if I didn't smash the table"

The Bosnian rifler was in high spirits after G2's win against Vitality.

G2 have been a constant playoff presence since the summer break, but have so far remained without a title to their name.

Another solid showing at the BLAST Fall Final might be about to change that, however, as Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company have made the grand final after a win against Vitality, with their arch-nemesis Natus Vincere a possible grand final opponent.

After their semi-final win, NiKo spoke to HLTV about the match, his frustrations about losing the 1v5, and the upcoming final.

If you cannot see the SoundCloud embed above, listen to the interview here.

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Congrats on the win, it was quite an intense series. Walk me through your feelings about the win?

Yeah, this win was very important for us. We haven't played Vitality this season and they have been one of the best teams in the world. They had a good streak of matches, so we took this match very, very, very seriously.

The only team we have been losing [to] was NAVI and then maybe MOUZ one time, so it was very important to see where we stand, and I'm happy that we could come to the top today.

To ask about your 1v5 attempt. I hope your finger is all right, but talk me through that round. Did you believe that this is your round to win after you killed four?

When I killed four, I knew I should win it, and that's why I got frustrated because the round was there. It was in my hands, and I think I even played well in the end, I just whiffed on apEX, and that's why the frustration came out. Obviously, there was a lot of pressure, it's not easy to handle it when you have a 1v5.

I don't even know if I could come back into the game if I didn't smash the table, it was important for me to let the frustrations out. Obviously, I didn't want to destroy the table on purpose, but I was just very sad and frustrated that I didn't win the clutch.

It was a very important round, we could have broken their economy and momentum, and there were just a lot of things in place that led me to smash the table.

You talk about releasing the frustration, and you clutched the 1v3 later on for match point. Did you feel vindicated after losing that 1v5?

At that moment, I didn't even know what happened before, I totally forgot about that [1v5] round. In the present, I was sad when I saw my teammates dying because we knew where they were going.

But I'm happy that I managed to win another clutch, and I think that clutch was very important for the team as well. So I was relieved after that round.

Tomorrow, in the grand final, you might face NAVI again. Do you want to face them and finally break the streak, or would you rather avoid them?

Honestly, it would probably feel better if we face NAVI and win versus them. But I don't mind if we have to face FaZe and beat them because, for us, that's something that we cannot control. But NAVI is the best team in the world right now, and it would feel better if we beat them.