“This is a team that can achieve a lot”: NiKo discusses Team Falcons and role changes

Group Falcons participant Nikola ‘NiKo‘ Kovač believes that the organisation’s Counter-Strike 2 roster has but to achieve its peak following a powerful second half of 2025.

In an hour-long interview with esports interviewer Freya Spiers on NiKo’s channel, the Bosnian participant said that he expects his group to be contending for a number of event victories all through 2026.

In the course of the interview, NiKo sheds gentle on a variety of matters, together with his departure from G2 Esports in January 2025. He reveals that the organisation started negotiations previous to IEM Sydney 2023, earlier than deciding to hitch over a yr later, following the Shanghai Main.

“I feel at first I stated sure as a result of it felt like G2 didn’t present a lot curiosity in protecting me on the group. That sort of harm me and pushed me into saying sure to Falcons,” revealed NiKo within the interview.

In April 2025, NiKo reunited with former G2 Esports teammate Ilya ‘m0NESY‘ Osipov, whereas Maxim ‘kyousuke’ Lukin arrived from Group Spirit‘s academy roster in June. The signing of kyousuke led to a change of roles inside the Group Falcons line-up, with NiKo transitioning to a extra supportive function to accommodate kyousuke’s high-impact model of play.

“I’ll do the whole lot I can for the group to succeed,” continued NiKo. “This was the one motive I made a decision to step away and provides it to Maksim, as a result of I really feel it will give us a better probability to win trophies.”

All through the 2025 season, Group Falcons got here near lifting the trophy at high-profile occasions, ending second at 5 Tier 1 tournaments. The group managed to win one title during the last 12 months, securing victory at PGL Bucharest 2025.

Having narrowly missed out on victory on a number of events in the course of the second half of 2025, Group Falcons has cemented its place as one in every of a number of groups able to contending for victory at any given second.

“I might say that is the group that may obtain so much,” concluded NiKo. “I feel we’ve got been making good progress since IEM Cologne. Now we have been displaying some constant and high quality CS. Now it’s about taking it to the following stage.”

Group Falcons begins its 2026 marketing campaign at BLAST Bounty Season 1, the place it takes on ECSTATIC within the spherical of 32.