huNter-: "We tried to forget what happened in Rio and focus on what's in front of us"

The Bosnian player says the World Final will help his team know where it's standing before the Major.

G2 enter the BLAST World Final hoping to bounce back from a sub-par showing at IEM Rio, where they were sent home in last place following losses to HEROIC and Eternal Fire. Those results contrasted with their imperious form at the BLAST Fall Final, where they had taken down teams like Spirit, Vitality and Natus Vincere en route to the title.

With the Shanghai Major looming, Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač believes that the event in Singapore will be an important benchmark for his team. "It's very, very good for us that this event is coming before the Major, so we can see where we are standing," he told HLTV during media day, admitting that his team lost all the momentum they had built up in Copenhagen.

With the year about to come to an end, G2 have only two chances to add to the IEM Dallas and Fall Final trophies they have won this year. The rest of the season could help determine the make-up of the roster for 2025, with NiKo reportedly on his way to Falcons at the end of the year.

huNter- insisted that the team remains laser-focused despite all the speculation. "We don't talk about it at all," he noted. Questioned about his own future, he said his goal is to return to the level he played at in CS:GO. "I need to be better. This team needs me to be in my best shape."

Listen to this interview in the widget above or by clicking here.

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You guys come into this tournament after a disastrous showing in Rio, something that I guess no one expected after the Fall Final. What sort of conclusions did you come to after that event?

It's very hard to say because one week we are winning an event, then seven days later we are absolutely disappointing ourselves and everyone who is cheering for us and following CS. And it's very tough to say where we are standing right now. It's very, very good for us that this event is coming before the Major, so we can see where we are standing. We had a small bootcamp, a five-day bootcamp before coming here. I think we did a lot of things as a team to become a better team.

And yeah, from winning the trophy to disappointing everyone, coming to this event, I would say no expectations. We'll try our best to see where we're standing after the bootcamp. And take these two weeks before going to China to make it even better, if we can.

What do you think that led to such a disappointing showing? Was it the fact that you didn't practice at all after the Fall Final? Looking back, do you think that was a mistake?

I don't know what to say about it because we had a very tough period before that. We had the Fall Final and before that we had Pro League. Two-three weeks, maybe more, non-stop playing. Traveling, practicing, playing, and it was very tough. We are all smart and of course we would say it was a mistake that we didn't practice for at least two days to keep ourselves in shape. Of course, we played individually, but practice is something different. I don't think that was the main reason why we lost.

And what was the mentality like? Were you trying to shake it off and be like, 'Let's forget about this. Let's focus on the next one? We have the World Final and the Major coming up.' What kind of discussions did you have?

After Rio, we had a day off there and we discussed for a couple of hours what was good and what was bad. Mostly bad, obviously. And we always try to make it better. And after that day, we said, 'Okay, let's do it.' We talked about it, we tried to figure out what we did badly and we tried to fix it for the next event. 'And let's try not to think about it'.

We obviously lost a lot of confidence because we lost all three maps that we played. We didn't play against bad teams. HEROIC showed good CS throughout the tournament, and Eternal Fire have shown up at almost every event they have played. But that's not an excuse. We are G2. We need to beat those kinds of teams, with full respect toward them. But yeah, we tried to forget what happened there. We tried to focus on what is in front of us. And the most important is coming up here.

It was also a terrible tournament individually for NiKo. Normally, he is playing very well, even when his team isn't. What happened there for him and what is his mindset for this tournament? Is he fired up to just show the good old NiKo??

He has a lot of experience, and a shit event happens to any player. That's just normal in this world, we have a lot of events throughout the year, and NiKo is just NiKo. I mean, he has been the best rifler in the world since ever, I would say, and for him it's just… The one event he failed, he was of course disappointed a bit, but he's really good at forgetting things, you know? 'Let's forget it, let's focus on the next one.' And he is a hard-working guy. He is always trying to be better, even when he is the best. I know he will do good in this event.

What can you say about the preparation for this event?

As I said before, we had a bootcamp and it was a five-day bootcamp. And we had like two or three days before that of online practice. But some people had visa appointments. We couldn't do it better than we did. But we worked a lot these five days as a team. And individually, we played a lot. I would say we are coming into this event with no expectations. We want to get a good start. But this is the World Final. Really good eight teams. Anyone can beat anyone, I would say. We go step by step.

How important is this event in the grand scheme of things, when you have the RMR and the Major coming up? Are you thinking about going all the way here and trying to win the title, or are you more focused on making sure the team is in top shape for the rest of the year?

We haven't discussed it too much. I would say after the bootcamp you always want to come to events with full power and you want to try your best, especially given what we showed in Rio. We cannot say, 'Okay, we are coming here just to see before the RMR if we are good or not.' No, of course not. We are trying to be good here to bring the confidence back that we had before Rio. And we will try to go all the way. If someone stops us, we won't have time to cry, and we will need to focus on the most important thing for all the teams. That's the Major, that's the RMR first.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier World Final 2024
30/10/2024	G2 11:45 Liquid	Match

You are now going to face Liquid, who are going through a rough patch. What are your expectations for this match-up?

They're kind of a new team, like us. Not like us, they're even newer, I would say, with a new IGL, with a lot of new players around. They have a lot of firepower, like us. It will be a very tough game for both teams. It will be a close game. Whoever shows up individually more will win the game, in my opinion.

There are a lot of rumors about the team's future, and it's been reported that NiKo is going to join Falcons at the end of the year. What can you say about your own future and the impact that this kind of uncertainty has on the team? Does it impact the team at all or is it just business as usual?

We actually don't know too much about it. We don't discuss it. We don't talk about it at all. We are mostly trying to focus on the game and what is in front of us. You don't try to think about the things you cannot control, obviously. About my future, I need to be better. This team needs me to be in my best shape, like I was in CS:GO. I have had some good events in CS2 but I'm not really happy with my performance overall, and I know I can do better.

I'm working very hard to be there and I hope this work will pay off. That's what I have always done in my career. I just need to keep going, to keep working, and I know everybody on this team is supporting me and they trust me even more than I trust myself, I would say, right now. So that's very important to me. I don't care about the other things, they don't matter. We are here now. We have this event, we have the RMR, we have the Major. And that's what is in front of us. What comes after that, we'll see.

What are your goals for the rest of the year, this tournament and beyond?

Our goal is to try to win as much as we can, to try to win every game, to try to focus on every opponent, and that's the main goal. This event now, we'll try, of course, to go all the way, and then it's the Major and the RMR. First of all, qualify for the Major. We didn't do it once and it was the worst feeling for sure for us in all our careers. And yeah, just step by step and try to go as far as possible.

If you look at this year, you have the Dallas and the Fall Final trophies, but not much more. Last year, you won Cologne and Katowice. How would you compare the two years and what do you think the team still needs to achieve to call 2024 a successful year?

I mean, 2023 was, like, of course we won Katowice and Cologne, two of the most prestigious events along with the Major, but we were, like, up and down a lot. So one event we are going to the final, we are winning, then next event we are losing, sometimes in the group stage or in the quarters or something like that. But this year we have been consistent, I would say, except for Rio. It was the only event where we lost in the group stage.

I don't count the BLAST in London, where we had a lot of issues. We played with TaZ, Ilya came last-minute to play the second game… I don't count that event. At all the other events, we secured playoffs. We were going until the semi-finals, I would say. We won two events. I would say we have been more consistent this year. We have won two trophies like last year, but less important ones, if you can say that.

I would say it's kind of similar, and we have two more events until the end of the year, two very important events. The World Final is the best that BLAST is having, and the Major is something that everyone wants to win. I would say that if we do well these last two events, this year will be better than last year.