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Gaming squad goals: superstar NiKo signs to G2 Esports
NiKo has joined G2 Esports in a shock move, but once you dig further it makes complete sense for everyone involved. Here’s what you need to know about this seismic signing.
Nikola ‘NiKo’ Kovač is one of the biggest superstars in the world of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Despite being just 23 years old he has already been playing at the very top level of CS for over five years, and during that time he has won more trophies than would fit in even the biggest of cabinets. If he were to retire tomorrow he would go down as one of the best to ever play the game, but in actual fact, he has just started another chapter in his career by joining G2 Esports.
Within days of the signing being finalized NiKo is already playing alongside the core G2 Esports lineup of Kenny ‘kennyS’ Schrub, François ‘AmaNEk’ Delaunay, Nemanja ‘nexa’ Isaković and Nemanja ‘huNter-’ Kovač in the BLAST Premier tournament and the early signs are good, with some really impressive performances against big-name teams. But if you want to know more about the new G2 star and why he matters, we’ve got you covered.
One of the best in the world
NiKo joins a G2 roster already stuffed with some of the best talents in the world but will no doubt become the star player of the team in no time. When it comes to in-game skill there are few that can even come close to him, and ever since he hit the big time back in 2015 players have been watching his play and trying to learn just how he took them down.
In fact, NiKo was one of five players to be named in the CS:GO Dream Team picked by the best players in the world, with many mentioning his incredible aim and fundamentals as a reason why he would be an instant pick.
Some of the rounds NiKo has clutched are quite frankly ridiculous, and more times than not whenever things were looking bad for his team he would be the one to inspire a comeback with a big performance.
Simply too good at CS:GO
© G2 Esports
The stats don’t lie
It is, of course, easy to say how good a player is, but if they don’t back it up with results then clearly something is going wrong. Fortunately for NiKo the only trophy missing from his collection is that of a Major, having won pretty much everything else there is to win in the world of CS:GO, including ELEAGUE, ESL One and multiple BLAST events. Esports earnings calculates his winnings at $750,925.13, putting him as the 24th highest earner in CS:GO history and one of highest players on that list to never have won a major.
But it’s not just NiKo’s winnings that have been impressive: since joining FaZe Clan back in early 2017 he has only had four events with a HLTV rating below 1.0, which is certainly impressive. To be that consistent for that long is something few other players can do.
Family ties
With so much success you might be questioning why NiKo decided it was time for a change and moved across to G2. While there are a lot of reasons and positives for the Boznian player there is one that stands out above the rest, and that is Nemanja ‘huNter-’ Kovač, the G2 player whose last name is not a mere coincidence.
“Our official relationship is being cousins, but to me, he’s just like a brother, we basically were growing up till some point of our lives together and we have been going through a lot together in our lives,” says NiKo of huNter-. “So to me, as I say, [he’s] just like a brother, like it doesn't really sound to anyone like [it’s] that way, but to me, I see it that way. We are really, very, super close.”
The future looks bright
With the bond that he has with his cousin, and the pure skill of the rest of the G2 team the future looks incredibly bright for Niko and the rest of the squad. Already they are competing with top teams such as Astralis and pushing them to the limits, and with some more time together big wins will no doubt be coming their way.
But for NiKo this is not a short term move, and he will certainly not be looking to change things if it takes a while to truly get going. For him, this is the perfect situation. Playing alongside his cousin in a truly top tier lineup has always been the goal for him, and now that he has achieved it he has no intentions of changing it.
“To be honest, I don't really see us going separate ways,” says NiKo when talking about the partnership with his cousin. “Now that we actually came to play together I don’t see us taking different paths in our careers anymore. So we are definitely going to be sticking together for like, probably till the end of our careers. That was our goal since the beginning, [since] he started going professional. So yeah, I see us just like playing together and hopefully, we both can achieve the same team goals that we have, [and] that's obviously like being the best in the world.”
Every player in the world says their goal is to be the best in the world, but with this lineup, it really is a possibility. Every player on the team is one of the best in the world, and the chemistry already seems to be there. It has been a long time since a lineup this exciting has been built in CS:GO, and you will not want to miss any of their matches, as this lineup has the potential to play the best CS we’ve seen yet.
