NiKo about NAVI: "They are the most difficult opponent for us"

Nikola "NiKo" Kovac, a member of G2's roster, shared his expectations for the final stage of the IEM Cologne 2024 Championship in Germany. In an interview with HLTV, the Bosnian esports player stated that he considers his team the favourite in the upcoming match against MOUZ for a spot in the top 4 of the tournament.

"We have strong opponents. Obviously, in the playoffs, you can't expect easy competition, right? So it doesn't matter; we are confident. We just need to keep doing what we did in the group stage, and with MOUZ, to be honest, I think we have the upper hand. I believe we will be the favourites in this match.

Speaking about NAVI, NiKo suggested that meeting them in the semi-finals rather than the finals might be beneficial. "They are our toughest opponents, but we have to beat them at some point, so hopefully, it will happen now."

NiKo also commented on how Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa have integrated into the team. He admitted that he did not expect G2 to start delivering strong results so soon.

"Overall, everything is fantastic; we're playing great, and the results speak for themselves. Did I expect it to be like this? Probably not. I don't think we're playing this well just because we added them to the team, but the combination of malbsMd's firepower and the fact that both huNter and I are performing at a high level simultaneously – I believe those are the key reasons why we're ‘crushing’ some of our opponents.

In general, both Snax and malbsMd have brought a lot to our team. And I just feel like we're enjoying our time together on the server. We have fun playing together, we always have a few strats prepared, and we’re not trying to overcomplicate things. Right now, everything is going smoothly, and we hope we can build on this and get even better."

Kovac finished the group stage of IEM Cologne 2024 with the highest rating among all participants – 1.44 across 9 maps. Mihai "iM" Ivan from NAVI secured second place with a close rating.