NiKo on Faze Clan: “We have similar map pools, we have similar strong maps, so we’ll see”

G2 are making another run at an IEM Katowice title in 2024. We got the chance to speak with NiKo about their upcoming series with Faze Clan and who he would choose to play in the finals.

Sophie McCarthy: First of all, nice to meet you and congratulations for making this far in the tournament.

How are you feeling about it so far?

NiKo: Nice to meet you too and thank you. Feeling good, always feeling good. It’s nice to get to the playoffs so yeah, everything is going in the right way.

Sophie McCarthy: It’s been a bit of a different run from this time last year when you guys basically 2-0’d everybody until the grand finals and now you have arguably the more difficult opponent in the quarterfinal.

So how do you prep for a series against Faze Clan?

NiKo: Yeah, I mean last year we were definitely in a better form as a team. But I still believe that even with what we have shown so far in group stage, I still think that we can go deeper into play-offs and potentially win the event. It’s probably even better if we manage to grind it through.

To talk about the Faze, usually the game is always very exciting. We play a similar style and I think it’s always a nice game to watch. So yeah, I’m looking forward to getting to the Spodek and play versus them.

It’s also going to be cool to have TaZ behind us. They have NEO and I think the crowd has got wild as well, so I can’t wait for the match.

Sophie McCarthy: And your series against Faze tend to be pretty long, we usually get some over times. You’ve been playing a lot of Nuke this tournament and so have Faze as well.

Do you think you’d be able to take them out on Nuke?

NiKo: I haven’t talked too much about the veto, but both teams feel pretty good on Nuke. I think it’s going to be in the map pool but I don’t know if it’ll be the decider or if one of us is going to pick it. As I said, I’m not too involved with it.

I don’t think we have talked yet about it because we finished late last night and then we started early with media. I think we have similar map pools. And I think we have similar strong maps, so we’ll see.

Sophie McCarthy: So I wanted to ask a lot of the players that we’ve talked to have said that they would actually prefer to play the play-ins instead of coming in at groups.

How do you feel about playing play ins vs groups?

NiKo: I think there is pros and cons definitely. I think if you play in and you go all the way and you make it through the group stage as well, it is good because you get more games under your belt and you feel more prepared, I would say in a way. But obviously if you fail in the play in, it’s not the best feeling.

But it just has a big both pros and cons obviously if you’re not playing it, you have more time to practice and more time to relax as well. But if you need more games under your belt, I think it’s good that you run it through as well and you keep improving throughout each game.

Sophie McCarthy: So we’ve got three teams in the upper bracket at the moment.

If you could choose one to face in the finals, who would you pick and why?

NiKo: I mean, if I could choose one team to play in the final, I think it would be cool to play ENCE in the final because of the crowds. And I think they’re in my opinion probably the least favorite to make it through the final.

But I think it would be cool to play with them. I think Spirit would be the hardest opponent to play against. But I have Falcons going into the final. I think that pull through due to their experience, yeah.

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