Danny “zonic” Sørensen is arguably the most decorated coach in Counter-Strike history, boasting five Major titles and a long list of big LAN trophies.
However, since joining Falcons in late 2023, success has been hard to come by.
His first year with the team has been messy, disappointing, and far from expectations, leading some to question zonic’s status as one of the best coaches in the game.
Now, his new star rifler, Nikola “NiKo” Kovač, has come to his defense.
“They have no clue”
In an interview with HLTV at PGL Cluj-Napoca, NiKo dismissed criticism aimed at zonic, stating that the “haters” have “no clue”.
– It’s been nice from the very beginning [working with zonic], I really like the way they want to build the team in a sense and how they approach things from the very beginning. This is something that I really like, and I think he’s very good with talking to players, and there’s obviously no doubt that he understands the game.
– He’s one of the best coaches, if not the best, out there, and so far it’s been a pleasure working with him. All the haters that are talking shit to him have no clue, but it doesn’t really matter what happened in the past. He’s very eager to prove to everyone again that he’s one of the best coaches, and I have full trust in him. I’m looking forward to more events under his coaching.”
NiKo and the rest of Falcons are currently competing at PGL Cluj-Napoca. Photo credit: PGL
Calling on CT
There’s no denying that NiKo is one of the most experienced and accomplished players in Counter-Strike. Beyond his world-class mechanics, he’s also known for his strong game sense and CS brain.
When speaking to HLTV, NiKo also discussed being responsible for calling on the CT side under zonic’s leadership.
– I wouldn’t say that I’m fully in charge, obviously Danny [zonic] is still doing a lot of work for our CT side. I’m the one calling when we are playing, but there’s a lot of input from the whole team. I believe that I gained a lot of experience over the years, which helps me do those things on the CT side, and this is the reason why I’m still doing it, NiKo said.
He continued:
– I think I’m still learning a lot from how he sees the game sometimes, even though it’s very similar, but maybe in certain situations I would react differently or I would do something differently, so it’s a all about learning. But I do enjoy it, I enjoy calling.
Great start in Romania
Yesterday, Falcons kicked off their campaign at the prominent PGL Cluj-Napoca in Romania. Here NiKo and company are off to a flying start after beating FlyQuest 2-0 in the opening round.
Their next matchup is against paiN later today, set to begin at 18:00 CET.
