NiKo on the VRS invite system: "It's definitely not optimal"

Jeffrey "Mnmzzz" Moore of Dust2.us caught up with Falcons star Nikola "NiKo" Kovač ahead of his team's first match in the BLAST.tv Major Austin second stage. The last time NiKo was in North America, he and FaZe dramatically fell to Cloud9, giving North America its first and only Major victory in CSGO.

NiKo spoke about Falcons' preparation for the NA Major, the VRS invite system, and donk's insane level of play.

The full interview can be found below on YouTube or in text form below. All questions and answers below have been slightly edited for length and clarity.

You're heading here right off of Dallas, where you had a fantastic final v. Vitality that you unfortunately lost. How are you feeling about the team coming into this Major?

We did a bootcamp after Dallas for around ten days and tried to implement some new things. Tried to expand our map pool a little and make sure we have more tools for when we go up against teams like Vitality and MOUZ. We are coming in more prepared this time, but obviously it's a Major. We are excited for this one. We have done everything we can to be as prepared as possible for this one.

I saw you were doing your bootcamp at the Vegas Falcons CDL franchise's location. What influenced your decision to stay in North America than perhaps going back to Europe?

The reason why we stayed here is because we only had ten days between events. If we were in Stage 3, we would have gone back to Europe and bootcamped there. Since we are in Stage 2, we didn't want to waste two days traveling and then take another day off traveling to rest. Also, we asked around to other teams that stayed about the practice here.

Once we got the information that we would be able to practice against the teams that played in Stage 1 and some European teams that stayed like FaZe and MongolZ were here as well. We made the decision not to waste our practice days. Since the Falcons have a facility here, it made our lives easier.

You mentioned the fact that Falcons are starting in Stage 2. Falcons would have been a Stage 3 team if the VRS were more recent. Is that frustrating for you that the Major invites went out before you hit your stride?

Yeah, it's definitely not optimal, I would say. If you look at Dallas, even, we had to qualify for that event back in February. I feel like sending the invites out so early is definitely not something that people like to have. I think it should be closer to the event. It would make it more balanced in a way.

It is what it is; we made our bed. We failed a couple of events before the invites went out, such as Pro League and BLAST Lisbon. That's on us, but I still feel like the invites should be sent out closer to the event so it's based on the forms of the teams. A lot can happen in two or three months.

Stage 2 can be a tricky part of the Major. There are different teams that you play against, a lot of underdogs. There's a lot of pressure on a top team like us or FaZe to pull through. It's on us to deal with. This is also one reason why we made sure to get through the bootcamp before the Major so we are as ready as possible. We have a couple of new things ready for these teams so we will see how it goes.

Someone asked you a few days ago who you think the best rifler in the world is right now, and you said donk instead of yourself. Could you explain why you think he's a bit ahead of you right now?

I think that's pretty easy to say why he's better. He's on another level when it comes to rifling right now. The impact he has on the server is unmatched by any other rifler. He's straight up winning games by himself most of the time. He's really good and he's found a good way to be consistent throughout all the maps and games he's played. He's in his prime right now. It's hard to compare any rifler to him right now.

You've been in your fair share of Major finals but I think the one that's most significant for us North Americans is the Boston final where FaZe lost to Cloud9. Being back in North America and having not won a Major since then, will you be satisfied with anything less than winning the Major this time around?

Not winning a Major is definitely not gonna feel right. It's something that no matter how I feel in the team and how the team feels, at this particular event you are always aiming to lift the trophy. This is what Majors are all about, you don't really care how ready you are, you want to go out there and give it your all no matter how you feel on that day.

Again, it all depends how we develop throughout the event. It depends on who we lose to and when we lose. I would definitely not be satisfied losing in Stage 3 or even the quarterfinals. We want to go for a deep run, since we did it for the past three or four events, I don't see why we can't do it here. We want to make sure if we go up against Vitality again that we try to win v. them. They are our biggest threat right now. We might play them first game in Stage 3 if we go through. Yeah, we are here to win.