Why Has NiKo Been So Unsuccessful?

For years, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač has been one of the best players in the world. Under FaZe Clan, he has won numerous tournaments, but his trophy room isn’t nearly as big has his individual prowess might lead you to think. So why has NiKo not won a single Major in his career?

NiKo’s history begins with mousesports. Prior to that, he had some good results in iNation, but only when he joined the German organization, he started to show his true self. After an unsuccessful month with the team, he was benched, but the departure of Timo “Spiidi” Richter gave him a way back onto the roster.

There, he quickly made a name for himself. He managed to mold mousesports into a competitive roster. The team suddenly started playing overtimes versus the likes of fnatic. Even though it wasn’t enough to secure any trophies, mousesports had made a huge leap forward.

WHY NIKO WAS NEVER SUCCESSFUL WITH MOUSESPORTS

NiKo played under the mouz banner for about 15 months. Their greatest success was at the Acer Predator Masters in Krefeld, Germany, after they beat FlipSid3 Tactics in a 3-0 Grand Finals. But in an international context, this tournament was worth next to nothing. Teams like TSM or G2 Esports actually pulled out early on and no top team was present.

During this time, NiKo was the only bright side for the team. His colleagues could barely keep up and the Bosnian was the sole reason as to why they at least sometimes pulled off Quarter- or Semi-Finals finishes. His skill level was more than just a cut above the rest, which was painfully obvious to fans and analysts alike. They only waited for him to finally join a stacked roster of players.

NIKO TO FAZE CLAN

This eventually happened in February of 2017. FaZe Clan handed Philip “aizy” Aistrup over to North and filled the vacancy with NiKo, so that he could finally prosper under the leadership of Finn “karrigan” Andersen. He did, and the first few months were marked by trophies and deep runs into top tier tournaments.

StarSeries Season 3, ESL One: New York, ELEAGUE Premier, ECS Season 4… FaZe managed to secure quite a few solid victories, in which NiKo either was the MVP or at least delivered an MVP-worthy performance. In New York, he even managed to pull off a 1.70 rating for the entire event!

Without question, NiKo was the leading figure for FaZe and undoubtedly, the team was successful for the time being. But they still didn’t get that big fish. During the PGL Krakow Major, FaZe Clan exited in last place, following losses to BIG, mousesports, and FlipSid3 Tactics.

FAZE AT THE ELEAGUE BOSTON MAJOR

Their luck soon turned around. In the Boston Major at the start of 2018, the team managed to sweep through the Group Stage. Once in the playoffs, they secured one-sided victories over mousesports and Natus Vincere, landing them a Grand Finals spot. Finally, NiKo got the opportunity to add a Major trophy to his collection. Cloud9 were barely an opponent to worry about.

So the analysts thought – and FaZe likely did so too. But they were quickly proven wrong. As Cloud9 secured the overtime win on the last map, they started cheering alongside their home crowd. NiKo and his colleagues had to accept that they just had let their biggest shot at a Major trophy slip by.

Not only that, the Bosnian also finished this Grand Finals affair on an embarassing 0.88 rating. Aside from karrigan, every other played on the server had performed better. This choke certainly took a toll on NiKo and FaZe were never the same again.

WHY NIKO WAS SO UNSUCCESSFUL WITH FAZE CLAN

In December, the organization made a decision that had huge implications for the team. They put karrigan on the bench and thus gave away the best in-game-leader they had ever had. But this wasn’t even the worst part, as they didn’t sign a new IGL in his place. Instead, they cycled through some replacement players, until they settled for Helvijs “broky” Saukants. The Latvian is now a vital part of the roster, but the position for a dedicated shotcaller has still been left vacant.

NiKo took over as the in-game-leader, having had some experience doing this from his mousesports days. This team wasn’t particularly successful, unless one were to call two BLAST Pro Series wins a ‘success’. However, it is a fact that the team had never been farther away from a Major trophy.

All throughout NiKo’s career, the pieces never seemed to fit perfectly. Under mousesports, he could roam freely, but didn’t have enough support from similarly capable teammates. In FaZe Clan, he was accompanied by star players, but had to do the shotcalling. This took a toll on both his individual and the team’s performance alike.

NiKo won’t be one of the best CS:GO players forever. Fresh talent like Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut is turning up the pressure and slowly replacing the old guard. In October of 2020, NiKo ended his cooperation with the team and transitioned to G2 Esports.

In an interview with HLTV.org, the player gave some very personal insight into this decision: “There were a couple of reports regarding ALEX, which was my priority before leaving FaZe. I wanted to get an IGL in the team, but that deal didn’t go through, which I was really not happy with. It was the biggest opportunity for us to get an IGL, and a really good one that could lead our team, and we just kind of missed out on that move. […] I was done with being the IGL even before I decided to leave FaZe. I just couldn’t take it anymore.“

WHAT ARE NIKO’S CHANCES WITH G2 ESPORTS?

G2 could finally give him the structure he so desperately needs. Nemanja “nexa” Kovač is a fantastic in-game-leader and NiKo’s cousin, Nemanja “huNter-” Isaković, is also a talented fragger. Finally, all the pieces fit together: NiKo is surrounded by star talent and gets the opportunity to 100% focus on his game. Early results are really looking promising.

G2 managed to kick things off with a first-place finish in BLAST Premier: Fall Series Group C. On top of that, they actually beat Astralis in a 2-0 Finals, for which NiKo was awarded a 1.51 rating. In half of his matches under the G2 banner so far, he has been the top fragger. So he and his team are definitely on the right track.

The coming months will show how much performance nexa can squeeze out of NiKo. Should the Bosnian really get back to the form he displayed back then alongside karrigan, the other teams should really start to worry about their trophies.