My career, my choices | 60-minute interview with Freya

Hello everybody, my name is Freya and today I'm joining you on Niko's YouTube channel for a very special video brought to you by AutoFull. We thought we'd take some time away from the bright lights, the big stages, the in-game talk, to reflect on Niko's journey. Not only as one of the most consistent players we have in Counter-Strike, but as a person who has dedicated over a decade of his life to the game we know and love. So without further ado, let's get into it. Absolute pleasure to get to do this with you, Niko. How has

life been treating you recently? Nice to have you here as well. Life is good, life is good so far, especially now that we Things are going in the right direction, I would say, for the team and for myself as well individually. But yeah, everything has been pretty well. So what made you decide that now was the right time to do this kind of video, having a little reflection upon your career and on your life? I mean, I have discussed a little bit with the team. I mean, there have been times where I wanted to do

even this before, or especially after I left G2 and joined Falcons, I wanted to make sort of a statement of why I made some Of the decisions that I have in my career, but never really found the time or the right moment to record one. So yeah, now we just felt it was the right time. And we also have now a couple of days off between the playoffs and the group stage. So yeah. Amazing. So let's start from the very beginning. You grew up in a small town in Bosnia. I've asked a lot of people

from the Balkans how to pronounce it, but can you give it to me properly? Because I'm going to butcher it. It is quite hard if you're not speaking the Bosnian or Serbian, it's hard to pronounce it. But the way you do it is Brčko. Brčko? Brčko, yeah. So the č is a difficult one. When you think of that place now, what kind of emotions does it bring to your mind? Well, I mean, obviously I don't live there anymore, but I visit quite often because my parents and my sisters and obviously all my family is still

there. So I don't really have, like, you know, the memories. I mean, I do have memories, but I'm not really, like, part of me is kind of still there. You know, every time I go there, it's like, you know, I always kind of do the same things that I was doing before as well. So, but yeah, obviously the hometown is always something that will stay with you forever. You always remember where you come from, what, like, I was born there. I, you know, grew up there, started my career and everything. So a lot of things

happened in that small city. When you were a kid, what kind of kid were you? Competitive, sporty, nerdy? Like, what was the vibe of baby Niko? Baby Niko was, I would say definitely not sporty, but my parents definitely tried to push me into the sporty direction. I think most of the parents do. They pushed me into, I don't know, football, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu. I tried a lot of different things, but I was not really talented in any of those. But yeah, I found the one talent that was Counter-Strike, obviously. So yeah, I would say I was

probably nerdy, if that makes sense, because I love spending time behind a computer. That was like the first love hobby that I had, I would Say, out of all of the things that I was doing when I was a kid. So I would say I was probably nerdy. Did your family love gaming as much as you loved gaming? Yeah, I think many people already know that my parents had a PC cafe a long time ago. First, it just started with, I think my parents were having, I don't even know how to say it in English,

but they were selling like the films, the movies, and DVDs and CDs back then. So it started from there. And then they, I think, got first some Playstations. Back then, it was PlayStation 1, I believe. So it started first with some games on just PlayStation. And then as their business was growing and everything, they started adding a little bit of PCs to the cafe. And then they were moving as well. As they were getting bigger, they had to find always a new place to put the PC and everything. And then, yeah, then a lot of

people were actually already playing Counter-Strike back then that I didn't even know that I met in the cafe. I was just, every time I come from school or before the school, after the school, I just come and I watch them play. And I didn't even know what was going on. I was just, you know, it was interesting to watch, you know, people interacting with each other. I was like four or five years. And then, you know, for me, competition back then was, it was new, you know, I didn't really understand much. So that's how I

got introduced with Counter-Strike. Basically, it was thanks to my parents. And if they were not in that business, I'm not even sure I would discover Counter-Strike at least that early. I don't think I would. Yeah, I think if you don't come from that place, I think it takes you a bit. I think it was a bit harder to get into the scene back then because there was no money. Parents usually, especially from the Balkans, I would say they, I don't think they believed that esports can grow into something, you know. And since my parents were

always into the gaming and everything, they kind of always believed that it can grow and they always kept following They were watching the events back then, so they knew what it was, what was happening. And they saw the growth constantly in the esports, especially when they were taking me to the events and everything. So, yeah, thanks to my parents and thanks to the cafe. I think it sped up my career in a way as well. So, yeah. Is the cafe still there? No, cafe got closed last year. Oh, wow. Yeah. I mean, I think for

a couple of years we just had it because of the good memories and everything. It was just, it was very related to me and my life and theirs, but the business was just slowly running low, especially after COVID hit. I think most of the people got PCs at home. There was not, like before you would go with like, you know, Five or six people to the cafe and they would just play some games together and it just kind of disappeared slowly over time after COVID. So the business was running very low and just made no

sense to keep it anymore. It was a hard decision for my father, but it was a good choice for them. Can you roll back the years to early days, kind of 1.6 in the Balkans, the LANs that you would have been to? Can you kind of give me any memories you have of attending those Yeah, I mean, that's the memories. I'm trying to think if something sticks out, but I mean, it Has been a lot of crazy, crazy stories. There was one event in Belgrade that sticks to my mind. Like usually there was always like

a schedule, you know, before the event, everyone knew like, okay, at what time you're going to play, but it was always delays. Like it was constant delays. And then we were playing like, I don't know, for like 12 hours, like, I don't know, we had six or seven games and then there was a lot of waiting time. And then we couldn't finish the event on time. So we had to switch from one side of the city to another, to go to another club to finish the semi-final and Final, I think, or just the final, I'm

not sure. So like the event lasted from, let's say 8am until the next day, 8am. So that was, I don't even know how like we managed to play at that time. Like now I have a hard time focusing in like one best of five, you know, but then I remember these times where you don't really sleep the whole night and then you have to play the final and, you know, like we were fighting for 100 euros, you know, prize money or something like that. And this could cover at least the cost that we had to

travel to the event. So those times, it was very exciting, at least. I think there was also one more story. It was in, I think, Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. It was also some crazy cafe in some weird neighborhood. I don't, I cannot even remember exactly like the neighborhood, how it was right now, but I know that we had some difficulties to finish the final. There was some things happening while we were playing. Police was there, some dogs as well around. We couldn't leave, we were locked in the cafe while we were playing in the

final. And it was weird times, but I appreciate those times a lot. And I think it made me who I am today. Made for some good stories as well, I'm sure. Who do you feel like was the first person who spotted your talent, who realized that you had something special? I mean, my father, definitely. I think he was the first one. Obviously, he was the first one to see me play. And he played CS before me. He was playing when I was a kid. So I was even playing with him for a couple of years.

We had, you know, playing in a team, playing some events together as well. But I had a couple of mentors back then that I played in a team that were always playing from the same cafe. Like, you know, we had a cafe of, I don't know, 20 PCs or start with 10, then it was 15, 20. But like, we all had our PCs kind of, you know, even though it was PC cafe, like everyone knew who is sitting there, you know, like you have your spot and that's it. And I had a couple of mentors

that were always kind of guiding me in CS and teaching me everything. So yeah, they also helped in my career a lot. And I still talk to them sometimes, even to this day, they also came at Fissure in Belgrade to support me as well. So I'm grateful for their support at the very beginning. Tough one, because you've been to so many events, played in so many stages in front of so many crowds. What's a funny or crazy story that maybe you can share from behind the scenes? That's a tough one. I think there was one

time when Janko tried to... Pause. We'd like to thank AutoFull for sponsoring this video. It really is the perfect wingman. Each chair has adjustable lumbar supports, integrated air conditioning, heating, massage modes and 360 armrests. The EU and US websites will be linked in the channel description. So head on over there if you want to check out any more information. But let's get back to the video. Okay, let's talk about your kind of first, I guess, notable LAN appearances when we've switched from 1.6, CSGO, things like Madcatz Vienna, Dreamhack Bucharest. Do you remember the pressure that

you experienced at those events? I mean, I definitely remember the events and the feeling, but the pressure... I think it was a different kind of pressure that we had back then, because, I mean, first of all, like, for Madcatz in Vienna, we were just happy that we could arrive and play there, Because we had difficulties getting to Vienna, because we had to support our trip ourselves. So we were taking trains, so we couldn't travel by plane, we didn't have money to buy plane tickets. So we had to travel with the train for like, I don't

know, 15, 20 hours. We had to switch trains and everything. So we were very happy that we managed to get to Vienna and just play the event. So that was the pressure, you know. But when we got there and we started playing, we just enjoyed every moment of it. It was, I would say, for my career, it was like the first big step, I think, when I got noticed, but also my team as well. I think the team was... I'm not sure if it was called iNation or something else, but it was a team with

Kassad, Janko, Emi and Kingor, I think. But yeah, it was a crazy event. As I said, the pressure was just different. It was not this type of pressure that I face now on a daily basis, pretty much. I still remember, like, you know, seeing all these big guys, you know, when I first got to that tournament. The guys from VP, the NIP was there as well. It was very... It was just crazy to me that we just had to play next to each other as well. It was like, back then it was kind of the

square. It was like four setups next to each other in a square. So you could literally see everyone playing at the same time and everyone shouting over each other. It was crazy. But it was definitely a great experience. And I felt like after that event, I just kept getting better and better. And yeah. And then that's when you go on to join Mousesports. And I feel like that's probably where you kind of got noticed as a single handedly being able to carry games. What was it like having that kind of notoriety so young? Yeah, I

mean, I had difficulties before I joined Mouz. I think I mentioned maybe in some interview, but I was very close to stop playing CS before I joined Mouz because it was not... It was very hard to succeed in a Balkan team back then. There was... I would say not to, you know, talk bad about my previous Teammates back then, but we didn't have enough good players to make a team to compete against some teams that were, you know, very good back then. And just felt like I was wasting my time playing the game when I

was very, very young. So I think I got invited in Mouz when I was 17, almost turning 18. And I think I didn't say to my parents that I got invited and I just declined. I was... I don't know. I just wasn't ready. I was scared. I didn't know how to speak English and I have to join, you know, international team. So I just declined. I didn't say to my parents. And then I think they invited me again. It was Legia I was playing back then in Mouz. And I think he was one of the

reasons that they approached me as well because he was... He's Serbian. So he kind of followed my career a little bit as well before inviting me. And then we were... I think actually Shev came once to my city because we were very close friends back then as well. And he's very close with my family. So Shev came at one point It was right before Mouz invited me again. And this is where I told my parents as well about the invite And my dad just said, like, we kept investing in you, you know, we kept taking

you to events and everything. And now you don't want to, you know, go out and receive a salary and play professionally. So he kind of forced me to, you know, take the risk And just get out of the comfort zone. And he is the reason why I made this first step in the career and joining Mouz, even though I was really scared. And I think in two months I had to travel to America and alone and I couldn't even speak English. And it was crazy times at the start of the career. But it was also

very... It was a nice experience as well. And it was a good challenge also. We had a great group of people in Mouz as well as long as I joined. We got very close as well. So yeah, that's how it all started. That's amazing because you hear so many stories of players' parents just being like, no, completely the other way, anti it, completely not encouraging. Was it as scary as you'd anticipated having to do all of that? Or were you really quickly snapping out of it? I can't recall how exactly it was, but I mean,

I declined because I was scared. So I think that tells enough already. But I was very scared traveling to America because I never traveled before in my life or like I never flew in a plane. So my first trip, I think it was actually to America and Me not speaking English properly and I have to travel alone to America I was, I don't know, I was just full scared. I couldn't, you know, and then even like traveling there, you have to check in the bag again when you make a stop in America somewhere. I was

like, okay, I'm going to get lost. My luggage is going to get lost. I don't know anything. I don't even know if I had a credit card with me. I think I had to just bring the cash with me as well. So it was crazy. But as I said, all of these things made me who I am today Just to wrap up the kind of duration of you being on Mousesports, considering, you know, this was what kind of put your name really on the map. I'm sure you having some incredibly consistent results in terms of

your own individual form, but then not being able to reach finals with them Was that ever kind of frustrating for you that you couldn't consistently make those placements? Yeah, definitely was very frustrating because I had higher ambitions back then as well. Even though I was young and it was my first year on team, I just felt like I could do more in my career. But I think the team that we had was okay. It was not, as you said, we never got the chance to fight for the titles or even make the playoffs in the

major. I think with Mouz, I think we played maybe three or four majors and I think we haven't made two single playoffs back then. But we were like consistent top 8, top 10 team back then. And we had some okay results at some of the other events, but we were not competitive. And I think Mouz back then was just kind of fine with the team that they had, you know, and I respect that, you know, they were okay with being top 8. They didn't want to invest much. There was not much money back then in

the organizations either. So I respect that. And, you know, as a player, I think you always want to do more. You always want to achieve more, but sometimes you can't get the things that you want. It's just not possible. It was not the right time. But I would say that this time in Mouz, I developed a lot as a player and as a person. You know, when I joined, I don't even know which role I had, but then slowly I even transitioned into IGL at some point. So I learned a lot faster how to work

and how to be a better teammate in that team. So it was a very, very good experience. And I think sometimes it can be hard if you immediately like jump to tier one and like you start winning and then you face difficulties later on in your career. Whilst for me, like I faced those difficulties before I jumped into tier one, you know, before I joined FaZe and then as soon as I joined FaZe, I was kind of ready to help them, you know, take it to the next step. So yeah. So fast forward to 2017,

you joined FaZe. A lot of years have passed since then. So I have to ask you, was it a one million dollar transfer No, I don't think it was one million. As far as I can remember, I think it was between 500 and 750k dollars with some bonuses from the majors and everything. I'm sorry I had to ask that. I hope I didn't make you sweat too much. Don't worry. This is why I have my AC here. Man of many tricks. OK, before we get into the kind of journey with FaZe, the ups and some

of the downs, unfortunately, let's do a little like Rating game. I'd like you to rate the best teammates you had in the following categories. So number one, in-game leader. Who's the best in-game leader you played under? The best in-game leader I've had? I mean, I have to say Karrigan. I think Finn, even though we had some difficulties together, I think he is definitely the... He was definitely the best IGL that I worked with. But Damjan is on a good track as well. And what about AWPer? Best AWPer? Ilya. I think that's easy. But obviously Guardian

in his prime as well was also a special AWPer and it was a very nice player to watch as well. Who had the best like raw game sense and understanding? Best raw game sense? I would say I would put Olof and Hunter in this. I think Olof was a great player and obviously the best player in the world at one point. So yeah, he was also one of my favorite teammates as well. And then Hunter as well. He has a great mind for CS and we saw the game very similar as well. What about communications?

Who had the best comms? The best comms? Rain. I think Rain had pretty good comms. I'm trying to remember if there's someone else. He seems like that kind of guy. He seems calm. Doesn't seem like he'd get too frazzled. Yeah, no, he was very consistent with comms. But sometimes what I don't like about people that are super calm and sometimes too calm is like a very crucial information can sound like very flat. Yeah, that's a good point. You don't get the urgency of it. They're not like panicking. Yeah, but I think he was the best

with the comms. And what about hardest worker? Who put in the most grind? Hardest worker? I would put Tesses. Okay, cool. Yeah, I think I would put him. Not just because he's my teammate right now, but I don't think I've ever seen anyone work as much as he does. And he's always open for work. He's always open for feedback. He's always available. He has a really good routine for himself as well. So I'll go with him. He seems like he doesn't have like too much of an ego, probably take on any kind of feedback that

would be given. Yeah, that's really cool. And then finally, no, sorry, penultimately, best under pressure. Who doesn't get phased? Pardon the pun. Best under pressure. I mean, Ilya is very good, but I felt like Guardian was also really good under the pressure. Yeah. I had a lot of teammates. That's a problem. It's like an encyclopedia in your brain. You've got to go through. Guardian's a good one. I can imagine like so experienced, been on those big stages. Vladdy was a good one. And he was also very funny. Yeah. Okay. Perfect segue. Funniest personality. Who's the

funniest person you played with? Uh, funniest? Jackz. That's kind of a given. Jackz was also a super nice teammate and he was very funny. He was, he was very beneficial for the team when I was in G2 So I'll go with him. Back to FaZe for the time being. Obviously, a lot of highs, but there is a notable low that I think everybody kind of references when they talk about your era on phase, which was the Boston Major versus Cloud9 in the grand final What do you remember the most vividly from that day? Yeah. That

major final was rough for the team's state, I would say in general. But when it comes to, you know, just that day that we have played and we have lost, it was already so long time ago, but I feel like when we, you know, people keep talking About it and you just kind of, you don't even realize how long ago it was. I can't actually even remember now how it was. I know that recently I rewatched the end of the Inferno when I was at home, just to kind of use it as a motivation in

a way that, you know, you don't want these things to ever happen again. But I would just say that we played poorly as a team and we definitely choked that final in the Inferno. I think we couldn't find the solutions that Cloud9 was constantly playing. I felt like they were playing it a bit of a different way back then, or at least it looked to us like that When we were playing against them. They were, I think, one of the first teams that started reading this utility on Inferno. So every time we came to the

site, we had to go through a smoke or through a molotov. Back then, the meta was not really, you know, to get out the utility out of the opponents as well. So they were having a very good approach in that final, especially on Inferno, but we had to, we still had to close out that final. But I remember one round, I think it was 15-12 maybe, when we were splitting A and I think Tarik was on site And he killed two or three guys from site. And I think Ladi had a clear shot on him

from short and he kind of missed him in the back with an AWP. And then we kind of, it was literally like 3v1 on the site and if we killed this guy, we would have won the Major But it was not meant to be, I guess, that day. But it was, like, after that event, we immediately had to take, I think we took like seven days off to reset and just kind of try. That was, I think, one of the first times where we had a Major at the start of the season. And then imagine

going after such an event, you know, to play The rest of the season. And like, you are, it's very hard to find the motivation and the focus and the drive to, you know, go back to practice and then you play for like a week or events. But yeah, we had Katowice, I think, almost right after. So it was, it was okay to find the drive and the motivation. But I think that loss in Boston broke the team in half and then the loss in Katowice broke the team fully and we just couldn't recover from it.

What did it take you, how long did it take you to rewatch that final? It took me a long time ago, a very long time ago. I don't even think if I ever rewatched it until now recently. Oh wow, okay. Are there any decisions that you made during your time in FaZe that you would go back and change now? Like during that game or in general? Just in general, yeah, in general, tenure on the team. It's, I mean, now that I'm smarter and have more experience, because that was my second Major, third with FaZe, second,

yeah, it was second Major. So it was, we were still a young team. I think now with how I worked in the past, let's say five years, you know, all of these performance coaches and everything, I think we were very poor at, you know, talking between each other, being open and receiving the feedback in a proper way. It felt like everyone was talking a bit in each other's backs, you know, and we were slowly losing confidence in each other. And I think if we managed to get it out in the room and speak about the

issues we have with each other, I think we could have changed the dynamics of the team a little bit And I think we could have sticked a little bit longer together. And it's not like we were a bad team, you know, when we decided to remove Finn and then make some more changes. We were still, I don't know, top two, top three team, but we were not satisfied with it. You wanted to win the Major, maybe create an era as well. So, yeah, the only thing I regret is that we didn't have enough resources in

the team to help us kind of rebuild the trust and everything between each other. And this is the only regret that I have. Particularly when you experience a loss like that, something that, as you said, people always keep on referencing. I'm sure it's something that is difficult to forget for you. A cliche that we always use on the desk is you learn more from a loss than you do from a win. Would you agree with that? Is it true? Definitely. You pay attention to mistakes more when you lose. When you win, yes, you still try

to have some takeaways, but the loss is what makes you kind of stronger in a way. And it kind of shapes you differently as a person as well. Obviously, it depends what type of loss you get, but I try to take every loss as a lesson. Obviously, there have been a lot of lessons in my career, but I'm human and everyone makes mistakes, but for me, no matter how much you lose, you never get used to that feeling. You never want to experience it. You always want to... It just never gets easier to lose, basically,

and it's always as hard as it was when I lost in Boston. Just to wrap up your time on FaZe, was there a particular moment you remember when you realised it was the right time to be leaving FaZe and joining G2? Obviously, that was during Covid. Very, very hard times for myself in general, but I think for a lot of players, it was tough. We didn't have the best results for quite some time in FaZe. Our team was also going through a lot of changes constantly. Olof leaving, getting a stand-in after, I think we had

like three stand-ins in one season or something. And I was IGL, so it was very hard mentally to kind of recover from it. Maybe for some, it was a kind of escape move from it, but I really tried everything I could to make the team work, and I always tried to be there for everyone. But I just, I don't know, I think the only reason, one of the reasons why I left was Covid, because I was stuck at home. We were playing 24/7. We couldn't leave the house, and then the pressure was constantly on me.

We were underperforming, and then, I don't know, we never had more officials than during the Covid. It was, I think, event after event constantly, and it was just getting too much, basically, for me, and I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't have, just felt like I didn't have the right solutions anymore in FaZe, and obviously the opportunity in G2 arised when they approached me, and it just felt like a good timing to change kind of dynamics in my career and try to go for new challenges. I think it was a really exciting move for a

lot of reasons, but not least, you finally got to be on a top-tier organisation with Hunter. Just looking back at when you guys were growing up, how close were you during childhood? Yeah, we were super close, almost our whole childhood. We didn't live particularly in the same city, but we were, like, there was a part in my life where we lived next to each other, but I was very young. Obviously, he was also very young. But yeah, we constantly were seeing each other, I think, every weekend, either we would have visited them or they would

visit us in our city So we constantly were playing with each other, and whether it was football or it was Counter-Strike, we always tried to do things together, and we were always on good terms. We always had a good relationship, we never really argued, or we never seen things differently as well. We had a very similar kind of mindset for everything, and I Think this is why we got along together very well for so many years And yeah, teaming up with him was a dream for both of us coming true in a way. We started

from very, very hard times in the cafes to playing together in, as you said, one of the best organisations in the world, playing the games that we love, travelling the world together, fighting for the titles together, losing together as well. Everything was kind of easier, everything that we went through made it easier because we were very close with each other. So it was a very nice experience to play together. I guess, yeah, kind of reflecting on what you said about your own kind of growth to the top, right, he went through a Similar thing, goes

through those regional leagues. I think for most people, kind of that crazy roster was something that really put his name on the map, then introduced you to now in-game leading as well. How do you kind of reflect upon his evolution into this point of his career? I think he was always meant to be IGL at one point. I think he always had the right mindset, but also kind of the work ethics for an IGL, I would say, and also the way he talks with people. He's a very calm guy, actually, and I think it's very

important for an IGL role to be calm in certain situations. But he always had the mind for the game as well, as I said. I mean, I value my game sense, so I value his as well, because we see it very, very similar. The way the team needs to function, we see it literally the same way. So I think he got hurt a little bit probably after CS2 came out, which was a bit sad to see, and just felt like that he never managed to recover his level that he had in CS:GO, and it was

hurting him a little bit, but he tried his absolute best to get out of it. And I think when he saw that it's not really going the Way that he would like to, I think this is when he decided to switch to the IGL. I also advised him before I left G2 that I think it's a good moment for him to slowly transition into the IGL, because I could see that the team can benefit more from him as an IGL rather than just the player at that moment. So yeah, I think he's doing a great

job so far at G2, already won one title with them. But now it's just about gaining experience as an IGL. I've got to ask, just because we obviously saw the game go down recently here at the Major, what were the conversations between you two after you beat him for the spot in the playoffs? Yeah, I mean, first words we exchanged was right after the game when we went over to their booth. I mean, from him, he congratulated me and obviously wished me best of luck for the playoffs, that he'll be cheering for me. And what

I told him is it was a great fight, I think the game could have gone either way. And I think that he did an amazing job in leading the team yesterday, because I think he was leading by example, especially on Ancient as well on T side. It just looked like that he decided not to play afraid and he decided to kind of take the team on his shoulders. And yeah, I think he did his best. Obviously I didn't talk this much, but to summarise it, yeah. Yeah, 100%. I mean, you obviously had a lot of

highs, as you mentioned on G2 with him. When we talk about legacy, like trophies you want to have is obviously a Major, but Cologne and Katowice as well. Being able to do that with Hunter within the same calendar year as well. What do you think that means for your legacy as a player? You know, I've been playing before we won, what, 2022, right? When we won 2023. 2023, yeah. Yeah, so I've been playing professionally for, what was it, seven years at that point, I think? Eight maybe? And we haven't won those. So it's just crazy

how one season or one year can change your career, the way you look at it. But yeah, it was amazing to achieve those things together, especially Katowice. It meant a lot to both of us, because it was the first actually big prestige event that we have won and we really went through a lot during that event as well. And yeah, it was amazing what we have achieved in such, like, we played together for four years and then we managed to kind Of achieve some of our dreams in like six months. So it was definitely the

best period of our careers in that moment. Now, there were kind of rumours, I don't know whether you can confirm or deny, that there were some initial negotiations with Falcons, then they fell through. Can you kind of just give us the honest truth of what happened in that, maybe why they fell through if that did happen and why you kind of went back to them? Yeah, I can definitely speak more about it. Yeah, I mean, first offer I got from Falcons was, it was 2024, was it? Yeah, no, I'm lost now. You won Kato, you

won Cologne, that was 23. And then beginning of 24? Was it in the same year as that? When did CS2 come out? CS2 came out October 2023. So it was, okay, it was 2023 then. So it was, it was before Melbourne. Yeah. Okay. The offer came before Melbourne. No, Sydney. Sydney, yeah. Sydney at that point. So the offer came from Falcons and I wasn't sure if I want to join or not, because G2 were the ones I think who also approached me about this. And my idea was that I play out the season until the

end and then I make a decision. And that for me was, that for me was the most realistic. And usually I would never leave a team in between the season or like while there's still events happening. So my initial idea was that we finish the season, then I kind of reflect and then I decide on what I want to do But then G2 was like, I'm not sure if it was G2 And then Falcons, but I know that as soon as we finished Melbourne, I had like five days to make a decision if I want

to, to join Falcons or not. Yeah, I think at first I said yes, solely because it felt like to me that G2 didn't show much interest in keeping me on the team. And that kind of hurt me and pushed me into kind of saying yes to Falcons. Okay. Sorry to interrupt you. How did you like, how did you find that out? Was it just like the lack of intuition in them keeping you? It was just like kind of interest from their side. They haven't really talked to me much. They're like, this is the offer. You

make a decision basically. And I was like, okay, give me some time. But then like this period, I don't think there was one time where someone came and asked me if I want to stay on the team or not, for example. So that kind of showed me that they're fine without me, I guess So I said yes to Falcons. They haven't even asked me like, you know, what would you like to, you know, what's the reason of you wanting to leave? Would you like to, I don't know, change something or whatever it is So yeah,

then I say yes to Falcons. But then in the last moment, I kind of changed my mind because we couldn't get the right team in Falcons to compete for the trophies basically. And G2 was just for me a better choice to stay in at that point if I wanted to fight for trophies and that is my only goal in my career. I want to always be competitive. So it just didn't feel like the right moment at that point for me to transition to Falcons. This might be really over the line to ask, but can you

Share like who they were potentially aiming to get alongside you in that first project? In Falcons? Yeah. If you're allowed to share that, if not. No, I am definitely, I think I am allowed at least. Editors will decide, yeah. I mean, that was one of the reasons why I actually said no, because it was not really possible to get anyone. Obviously Snappy was there. I think he joined before I even said yes or no. So he was the first one that committed to the project. Then I think Emil got on board very quickly as well

from Vitality. I mean, obviously we wanted to get Ilya back then, but it was out of the option. Was that just contract things? Yeah, G2 just didn't want to allow him to leave. Okay, so that makes sense why you felt that way. If it's like, no, no m0nesy, but Niko, whatever. Yeah, that's tough. We couldn't get a good team, basically. We couldn't, back then it was also the Louvre agreements as well. You had to be part of the partnership teams to play the Events as well. And we didn't have that either. So yeah, this is

the reason why I decided to skip. And I think it was a good kind of choice for both me and Falcons because they managed to get a core from ENCE and actually got all the events that they could play. Didn't turn out that good with the results for them, but yeah. In terms of that transition for Falcons, for you, and then obviously Ilya followed on shortly afterwards, how much were you chatting to him during that period? And what were the conversations like about, you know, clearly you're very close, he kind of idolizes you as well.

That's very obvious. So how much of a conversation was that between you two versus how much it was on him to make that decision for himself? I mean, I was obviously the first one to decide to join Falcons and me and Danny, we wanted to get the best team possible that we can get, basically. And it didn't look good at the start at all when I joined, because I joined when we didn't have a team, basically. I joined and it was only, there was no one, literally. Like anyone could be in and anyone could be

out of the team It was a team from scratch, except Emil, actually. Emil was going to stay on the team. But I mean, I just explained Ilya the reasons why I wanted to join Falcons. I shared my true feelings. I didn't want to, you know, lie to him and tell him just come, you know, trust me. I shared my feelings. I also explained what I think Falcons can offer to both of us in terms of the team and what we want to achieve together We share very similar mindset as well. And he was just kind

of happy to do it, basically. And I think after, he obviously decided to stay in G2 for a while. He didn't want to join immediately. And maybe G2 didn't even let him to do it from the very beginning. But he was also, one of the reasons why he wanted to stay in G2 was also because we wouldn't get to play the Tier 1 events either, right? So, and that was his primary goal as well. He wanted to make sure he doesn't miss on any events. But I think slowly after I left, he was feeling less

happy in G2 with the way they were playing. And I think G2 results helped him make a decision to join Falcons in a way. So that's basically how it all happened. Yeah, no, that makes sense. You can't like influence somebody in that kind of, you know, career-defining decision, ultimately. Looking at this iteration of Falcons right now, obviously depending on what happens at the major, now we've got Kiyosuke, it feels like there's more synergy between the team. Do you feel like this is the team? Like this is the Falcons? Yes, this is definitely the team that

we will keep together for a long time. Obviously, I can't see the future, how everything will be, but this team will get time. That team needs to grow together. It feels like we have more than enough firepower. I think we have also good core on the team as well now with Maxim, Ilya and Damjan as well. And then me and Rene are just kind of filling the shoes wherever, whatever needs to be filled. So I think we're covered, like we have a pretty good match when it comes to the roles. And I think now it's

just about developing ourselves as a team and also as players, especially for me and Rene in some of these new roles that we have. So yeah, I would say this is the team that can achieve a lot And I think we have been on a good progress ever since that Cologne event. We have been showing some consistent and quality CS. So now it's about taking it to the next step. And I expect to see our peak at the next season. In terms of like the sacrifices, you kind of touched upon it, that you've had to

make since Maxim's come into the team. What has been like the biggest learning that you've had from having to take a step back, having other people come in? I mean, I wouldn't do it for many players. I wouldn't give up my roles. And I just felt like Maxim is one of the players that I would do it for. Maybe the only one, maybe him and Donk, for example. But I don't think many other players are better in those roles than me. So I was, for me, my only interest is team results and team success. So

I would do everything I can in order for team to succeed, basically. And this was the only reason why I have decided to step away from it and give it to Maxim, because I feel like this will give us a higher chance to win trophies. And yeah, basically that's... What do you think past Niko would think of that decision? Do you think he'd understand? Past Niko? Yeah, I mean, you know, I want to respect him. You know, he's big as well. I think me and Maxim are a bit different players, even though we played similar

roles in terms of communication and initiative. You know, it seems like these maybe younger players, the reason why they're so good individually is because they focus a bit more on themselves than on the team, right? And myself, even though I was playing these roles, I was always focusing more on the team than on myself. And I think this is something that was hurting me a little bit, but I just couldn't get away from it. You know, I could not not think about what's best for the team and just, you know, put myself first, basically. And

in some of these situations I was hurting and I could see that, you know, my focus is kind of... It's not as it used to be when I was like really, really young, when I was just focused on the crosshair and I was just, you know, trying to kill as many as I can, no matter the circumstances and no matter what. So yeah, the past Niko would... He probably wouldn't give up these roles. Niko the player. So, storied, tenured career. If we were to put FaZe, G2, Falcons, which is the best version of Niko that

we've seen? The best version of Niko? I would say the best version of Niko was second part of season in 2021, I think. So it was this Stockholm period. When we got back to LANs Yes. Online was over. Okay. Like, was it the extra hunger to just be like, thank God we're back? Yeah. I mean, it was definitely extra hunger, but I don't know. I just felt very good in the team and I could just feel that I was feeling it. The team was, even though we had not the best team in G2, like in

terms of the players, you know, if you look at the paper compared to like Navi back then and some other teams, but we had very good synergy and we worked very hard and just, it felt like everyone knew their responsibilities on the team And that kind of just helped me play my best basically. And I was the highest priority on the team back then and it was just, it was nice to play and I was very comfortable So I would say that that season was one of my best ones. I also, 2017 in FaZe as

well, I think that Niko was also very strong, but I would say that Niko had the best aim, like raw aim 2017 in FaZe. On the flip side, who is the single toughest opponent you've played against and why? It has to be Motherf*cker FalleN. That's fair. Even to this day. Yeah, and he's still going. He's still going. How does he do it, man? I don't know. It was so hard. When I was in FaZe and we played against SK, we just couldn't beat them. We just couldn't beat them. We couldn't find solutions. It was, it

was impossible. I don't know why and what he has against me, but I don't know. And even now when I play against Furia, it's just, I don't know why it's so hard to play against his play style. Particularly, it's, yeah, but it's very cool to see him doing these things I saw some stats that he lost the LAN. He finally played, that was in... It was in Chengdu, right? Yeah, it was in Chengdu. Yeah, last IEM he played. It was like seven, eight years ago or something. That's crazy. It's pretty impressive, you know, that again,

just like six months can turn around your career completely. I think he was almost like close to, you know, retire and everything and now he's playing with the best team. Yeah, I remember we were like saying the last dance, everything like that. It is crazy. I have a lot of respect for him as a player, but also as a person. He's an amazing guy and what he has done for CS and the community in Brazil as well. It's amazing to see. Maybe the same answer to this question as well, but who's an opponent that you

played against that you wish you could have played With, something that you've never had the chance to have by your side A player I played against that I wish to play with? I never thought about it, to be honest. Maybe I would put s1mple, I think. I would like to, not because, you know, he was the best, but I just want to learn from him. I think he had one of the best instincts in the game. So I think I could learn a lot from him, basically, if I played alongside with him. Maybe we wouldn't

match well together, but at least I would learn a lot from him. Yeah, no, for sure. Anyway, let's get on to Niko, the person. Recently, you shared on stream that you have a pretty normal life outside of events, you know, just practicing CS, go to the gym, play some late night DM, hang out with your fiancee, obviously. Can you kind of separate the professional Niko from the real life Nikola Like, is it hard? Are you kind of one person? I mean, I think it's tough because we don't have time off, basically Even when we are

at home, we don't have time off. Like we constantly work, we constantly think about the game. So for me, even like my fiancee, she knows, especially like vacations can be very tiring because it's usually a transfer window and then, You know, it can be very stressful, especially the one that was now in December when I joined Falcons. But at home, I always try to kind of keep the same routine So even if I'm at home, I try to kind of work in the same way that I would do at events so that I don't really

feel a huge difference. When I come to event that I feel like, OK, you know, that now just because it's the event that I have more pressure and stuff like this. So like we always try to kind of work in a similar way, always try to set up similar routines as well. So that just helps me kind of with the structure. And then structure makes it a bit more comfortable for me, I would say. But yes, for me, it is very hard to kind of separate the professional Niko from the normal one because I've been

just doing this for way too long. And I always want to do better. I always want to get better in the game. And it just feels like you're always catching something or you're always behind and you always want to be as ready as possible. And even if that's not the case, you're never going to be as ready as possible. But you always at least try to chase after it. You've spoken a lot about sacrifices you've had to make along the way Most recently in Falcons with some role changes. Is there anything that you've had to

sacrifice or miss out on in your life outside of Counter-Strike? I think the only thing that you miss out is obviously the quality time with your close friends, the one that you love and care about. We travel more than half a year to the events, boot camps, preparations and everything. And even when we are at home, we are still practicing constantly. So the only thing that I maybe wish to have more time is just this time, more time with fiancé. But I actually don't think about the game or time with the family as well because

the older you get, the more you appreciate the time with everyone around because, I don't know. When you are getting older, you see people age as well and it can be like you miss more things. When I go for a longer period of time on a travel or to a tournament and I come back, I miss more things. I miss more my fiancé, parents, dogs, like all of these things you miss more. When I was younger, like seven, eight years ago, I just wanted to play and that made me just happy. Now there are other

things that make me happy in life. Yeah, tough question because gaming has been part of your life literally since birth it sounds like. But if you weren't a CS pro, what else do you think you'd be doing? What kind of job would you have? I have no idea because, as you said, I played this game ever since I kind of know myself. I would probably, back then, if I didn't transition to professional, I would probably be working in that PC cafe with my parents. There was a time that I was playing pool. I was pretty

good at it. Not sure if I was good enough to go professional but I Actually loved playing it and I think if you love something and you feel like you have talent, I think you can make it work And I feel like I could make it work in the pool. I still love to play to this day as well. But other than that, I didn't have any other kind of inspirations, I would say. You mentioned it, like the amount of travel that goes on and when you want to have kind of a balance with everything

in your life You've also obviously got a lot of sponsorships, partnerships with premier brands as well. Can you kind of just tell us how some of those came about, who you're working with right now? So yeah, right now I'm working with Razer, with AutoFull and also Zowie I'm really glad that I have the opportunity to work with them. I think I'm one of the few players, if not the only one, that kind of has this opportunity and this was also one of the reasons why I decided to join Falcons so I can expand my brand

as well. Shout out to all the sponsors that I'm working with and I hope we're going to keep growing together. Just to pick your brain a little bit on the Razer partnership. How did that come about? What were the initial conversations there? That all started right before I left G2, pretty much. So it was November, December last year. Yeah, Razer is the gear that I use the most in the past two or three years and I would never sign with someone that I don't feel comfortable with, that I just sign something that I don't believe

in. I would never do that. So the Razer is the gear for me that fits me the best and they are open to feedback. We kind of want to make the gear better together. They asked for my feedback. I was in Singapore as well doing some content but also kind of exploring how they make the gear because I've never really seen It in person. So it was very exciting to see all of this tech stuff. You know, I never knew it existed, for example, you know, so Razer is definitely, you know, I know Razer as

much as I know about CS, for example, right, you know, it's, they were also, I think, maybe 20 years old company, if I'm not mistaken, so I'm really glad I got a chance to work with them. Can you give us any insight onto maybe anything that's coming in the future from Razer or is that for a long time? I'm not sure I'm allowed. That's fine, I had to ask, I had to ask. But there are exciting things coming. Okay, very nice. We've obviously covered so much in this video, you have such a storied career, achieved

so many things. What keeps the motivation going? What keeps the drive going to keep achieving more? I think many people probably already seen a lot of others, athletes talk about it. I think motivation is temporary, you know, it all comes down to the discipline and everything. You know, you get a motivation, you know, for the major, but then after you don't have the motivation, but you have to, discipline is what makes the difference for everything in life, I would say. And CS is, yes, I love the game, but it's also my job, right? And I

want to be good at my job. And this is where discipline comes in. For me, it's also competition is one of my favorite things as well about the CS. And this is what keeps me going. The energy that I get from playing, especially in the arenas, and it's something that I could not replace with anything, I think. It's, I don't know, I just, when I remember the game from yesterday, for example, and my emotions and everything, it's just something like, I'm not sure I'm ever going to get bored of this, You know? So this is,

if you love doing something, it's very easy to kind of enjoy it and just keep going. That is awesome. I'd like to extend a massive shout out to AutoFull for making this interview possible. And thank you so much to you, Niko, for being so open and honest with the trip down memory lane. Thank you.