NiKo
| NiKo | |
|---|---|
| File:NiKo.jpg NiKo competing at an ESL event in 2018 | |
| Current team | |
| Team | FaZe Clan |
| Role | Rifler, Captain |
| Games | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive |
| Status | Active |
| Personal information | |
| Name | Nikola Kovač |
| Nickname(s) | NiKo, huNter's Cousin |
| Born | 16 February 1997 |
| Nationality | Bosnian |
| Team history | |
| 2010–2013 | Team Refuse |
| 2012–2013 | iNation |
| 2013–2014 | GamePub |
| 2014–2015 | aimface |
| 2015 | iNation |
| 2015 | mousesports |
| 2015 | mousesports (backup) |
| 2015–2017 | mousesports |
| 2017–present | FaZe Clan |
Nikola Kovač (born 16 February 1997), better known by his in-game alias NiKo, is a Bosnian professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player and captain for FaZe Clan. He is considered by many to be one of the best CSGO players in the world.[1]
NiKo first gained notoriety across Europe after being picked up by the team iNation. His impressive performances led to interest from mousesports, who signed him in March 2015.[2] In February 2017, thanks to his impressive performance, he was recruited by FaZe Clan to garner together a star-player team. He is the cousin of another professional CS:GO player, Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač.[3]
Achievements
NiKo's first big tournament win was at StarLadder i-League StarSeries Season 3, followed by a winless period of five months with a near miss at Esports Championship Series Season 3. Following a re-shuffle of the FaZe roster, bringing in the two best players of 2015; Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson and Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács,[4][5] FaZe was rejuvenated and managed back-to-back flawless victories at ESL One: New York 2017 and ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017. Following this, the team went two months without a win before taking the Esports Championship Series Season 4 trophy over mousesports at the end of the year. Falling just short in ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, the first Major of 2018,[6] the team then entered another lull, this time with Richard "Xizt" Landström standing in for olofmeister, until they managed to take home Intel Extreme Masters XIII - Sydney, and shortly after, managing to win ESL One: Belo Horizonte 2018 trophies at the beginning of the summer with Jørgen "cromen" Robertsen as a stand-in. In October 2018, FaZe came first place in the EPICENTER 2018 event in Moscow, Russia, making this his seventh first place victory at a premier event with FaZe Clan. At the end of 2019, this trophy count had gone up to ten as FaZe had won BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen.
Awards & Recognition
- Was voted the 11th best player of 2016 by HLTV.[7]
- Was voted the 2nd best player of 2017 by HLTV.[8]
- Was voted the 3rd best player of 2018 by HLTV.[9]
- Was voted the 11th best player of 2019 by HLTV.[7]
- Was voted the MVP of 6 different tournaments.[10]
References
- ^ "Top 20 players of 2018: NiKo (1)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ "mousesports pick up NiKo". HLTV.org. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
- ^ "NiKo".
- ^ "Olofmeister joins FaZe, replaces kioShiMa".
- ^ "GuardiaN replaces allu in FaZe".
- ^ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive".
- ^ a b Švejda, Milan. "Top 20 players of 2019: NiKo (11)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Top 20 players of 2017: NiKo (2)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- ^ "Top 20 players of 2018: NiKo (3)". HLTV.org. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
- ^ "Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač".