NiKo on punching a hole in the table: Probably an overreaction, but it helped me in the end

📍Pley.gg at BLAST Premier Fall Final in Forum Arena, Copenhagen.

The semifinal clash between G2 and Vitality delivered a thrilling series, culminating in an intense overtime showdown on Mirage. G2 ultimately emerged victorious after a remarkable comeback, overcoming match points to secure their spot in the Grand Final at BLAST Premier Fall Final.

One of the most dramatic moments of the match came when Nikola “NiKo” Kovač nearly pulled off an incredible 1v5 clutch. Falling just short, NiKo’s frustration boiled over, resulting in a literal hole in the table. You can see the clutch and the moment of frustration in the clip below.

After the game, we caught up with NiKo to discuss his reaction, the high-pressure moments, and the upcoming Grand Final.

Crazy match and crazy ending. Talk to me about that ending!

- Honestly, I can’t remember much from the ending. I’m not sure what the result were at the end, but it was just very important for us to climb back. Once we got to overtime, we felt like we were in control, and we had some time to breathe out, especially me because I was under a lot of stress due to the clutches. But we just kept fighting and kept believing.

Walk me through that 1v5 clutch and put some words on your reaction as well.

- Obviously, I had some great kills in that round, but I was so frustrated because I knew how important that round was. If I had won that round over apEX, Vitality’s money would have been done. That duel I failed against apEX frustrated me a lot because it was a free kill. Yeah, probably an overreaction by me [smashing the table], but it helped me in the end, in a way. Maybe I would have kept thinking: “What if I didn’t smash the table, who knows?”. For me, it was just like a reset so I could come back to the game and help close out the game.

How was the communication in team speak after that round and during the medical break, due to your bleeding?

- Half of the team didn’t even know what was going on. It was only m0NESY who saw it. But everyone was there for me and saying “It’s fine, let’s make this comeback now”. And then we did it.

Vitality was on map point, one round away from taking the match. Describe the mental side of it with you guys coming back from that?

- Honestly, I have no idea. I didn’t think about the result or anything, I just played the rounds. We didn’t think about [being one round away from losing], we just played the game and thought “Whatever happens, happens."

You’re now in the Grand Final after a couple of close attempts going out in the quarterfinal and semifinal exits. How important is that in the way you see yourselves?

- As I said yesterday, today’s game against Vitality was very important to see where we stand and to see if we’re better than these top teams. Obviously, Vitality has been in good form, so now NAVI can see that we’re capable of beating Vitality.

With your track record against NAVI, do you hope to meet NAVI in the final tomorrow so you can get revenge? Or do you hope to meet FaZe?

- For us, it doesn’t really matter who we face. But let’s say FaZe wins and we beat them tomorrow, we still don’t feel we’re up there among the best because we didn’t beat NAVI. So yeah, beating NAVI would feel better, but taking down FaZe would also feel really great, obviously.

NiKo and G2 are set to play the Grand Final at BLAST Premier Fall Final tomorrow at 17:00 (CET). Here they will take on the winner of the NAVI vs FaZe match.