The Bosnian star also told us his hand is fine despite the already iconic table smash.
Nikola "NiKo" Kovač helped G2 win their second CS2 trophy in 2024 as they defeated NAVI in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 this Sunday, Sept. 29.
It's fair to say G2 couldn't have won the BLAST Premier Fall Final without NiKo as he hard-carried them in several matches, most notably in the already famous semifinals against Vitality, in which he slammed the desk so hard that he literally bled throughout the rest of the match.
As soon as G2 lifted the BLAST Premier Fall Final trophy, esports.gg got a hold of NiKo to get his thoughts on winning the tournament, how his hand is at the moment, the expectations for the Perfect World Shanghai Major, and more.
Post-match interview with G2 NiKo after BLAST Premier Fall Final grand finals
NiKo, congratulations. BLAST Premier Fall Final champions, how does it feel?
"It feels amazing. It's been a very very tough event, we beat the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the world, and No. 3 or 4, I don't know what Spirit is right now. But, I'm super happy with how we played, and how composed we were after losing Mirage as well. The feeling is amazing, we're still a young team and we already managed to lift a trophy and have a couple of deep runs. [I'm] super happy."
I want to ask about Mirage. NAVI pulled off a late comeback, how difficult it was to keep a level head during that moment? And did you ever perhaps lose faith that it was going to be such an easy win?
"The thing is, when we started on Mirage we were not thinking as it was the map three, we just treated it as we did the first two maps. Obviously, we started very well on the CT-side and we threw some rounds in the end of that CT half. Then on the T-side, obviously, you need to understand that NAVI are the best team in the world on Mirage.
They have the best CT-side as well and I think we didn't play as badly as it seems. I think NAVI have been playing well, especially on this map and it was just very hard to play against them. But it didn't matter, they had the first two map picks and we knew that going to Inferno it is our map pick, and I'm just happy we could close out on Inferno."
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Yesterday you obviously stole the show with your table smash and as a result, it felt like the crowd was really on your side today. I'm just wondering if you could feel that energy in the room, if you can hear the chanting, and how much does that help you guys to pull off a performance as impressive as you did today?
"The crowd has been amazing, honestly. My heart was full of joy both yesterday and today. Even on the first day against Spirit, it has been an amazing three days playing in this arena. And I'm just happy to see that the crowd is on our side and supporting us. I think we also delivered some of the most entertaining CS as well, so I'm super happy with how everything played out. It was one of the best experiences I've had in an arena, and happy we could top it off with the trophy."
Does winning the trophy make up for slightly injuring your hand?
"Oh, 100%. I didn't really care about the arm. Even yesterday after the game I was like 'whatever happened, happened'. But the hand is fine, the finger is ok, and there's no difficulty.
Finally, it's not that long now until you head to Shanghai for the next Major. How are you guys feeling? Are you feeling confident? Do you think you can go back-to-back?
We still have three or two events before that and the RMR. So, I can't tell how are we going to feel until the end of the year, but obviously, the ultimate goal for us and I speak for any other team is the Major. The Major is always the most important and all I can say is that we will do everything in our power to be as ready as possible for that event.
This ends our interview with NiKo. However, there's plenty of BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 content for you to explore like the video below, in which the pros tested their Counter-Strike knowledge.
That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 content.
