NiKo: "I don't think we're at a level where we can say right now we're aiming for a trophy"

Despite the late arrival of kyousuke, Falcons have managed to make it out of the group stage at BLAST Open Rotterdam; something that wasn’t necessarily a given with their recent form.

Fortunately, that means we get to see the stars perform on the big stage where they belong. Even more fortunately, that means we got to speak to NiKo about his team’s struggles, what they’re doing to fix them, his role, and his thoughts on the newest update.

So to start off, zonic did an interview around Cluj talking about how he's trying to be harsher now. We're now an event and a half further down the line, have there been any notable changes behind the scenes?

I'm not sure about the interview you just mentioned, but we're definitely focused on being a better team in general. Having better team play, kind of changing the way work as well. We are just focusing more on discussing more as a team rather than just playing, you know.

We had a lot of players that were working hard, we all like to play a lot. But some players didn't really like to talk too much about the game. So that's something we have tried to focus on a lot, that we just kind of talk out the scenarios so we have better synergy when we play. And then, just a bit more discipline as well we try to focus on.

To go into that, this is a different role for you, how do you balance your position and the resources that go into you when you have these young stars on your team?

Yeah, it's been difficult. For myself it's been different, it took time adjusting and getting used to the roles I have right now. Even to this day, I'm not fully comfortable with it. Because there are just games where I kind of feel that I am not contributing to the team that much. That I'm kind of starting slow, and that it's hard to get into the zone.

I think this is the biggest struggle I have right now.

Obviously I have games where I pop off and I play very good, but as I said there's also games where I feel like I'm not doing anything on the map. I think that's also part of being a lurker in a way, where there's not much action on your side. Especially when you have aggressive players like we do, it's kind of a lot of resources put into them.

So, it's just about finding what works for me, and being consistent with it.

But apart from that, I'm happy with how I started this year, I've been quite consistent. I think this event has been a bit shaky, but I think it's because of everything going around with Maksim [kyousuke] not being here and then him coming. So yeah, it's a work in progress and hopefully it will get better as well.

Does that mean there might be some roles slightly adjusted, or is it entirely repeating it now?

I think the roles are going to remain the same, it's just about me figuring out when to use the space that I'm given and when not to use the space that I'm not given. So, it's just about connecting with the rest of the team as well.

Does this in hindsight give you any new found appreciation for the lurkers and hard supports that you played with over your career?

I mean, I always had an appreciation for every role on the team. Every role on the team is equally important, at least from a player perspective.

I just think that it's been harder to lurk in CS2 than in CSGO for example. I was a bit of a lurk in CSGO as well, and it just felt easier to clear angles, and stuff like this and take timings. Whilst in CS2 it's a bit more difficult to get in the zone I would say.

But yeah, I obviously have a lot of respect for these players. I think the first one that comes to my mind is obviously ropz, what he has done in these roles is super impressive and the way he's super consistent.

If you guys were to lift the trophy on Sunday, what would Falcons have to show us that they haven't so far?

I think I mentioned in an earlier interview that I don't think we're at a level where we can say right now we're aiming for a trophy. I think our level hasn't been that great from the start of the year.

I think obviously our goals have to shift a little bit. We weren't even really close to winning a trophy, we lost in quarter-finals and in group stage, and the first event I don't really count because we had a stand in. So it definitely shifted a lot, I think for us it's about taking it one game at a time.

If we beat PARIVISION then we should face the two best teams right now I would say. Which is NAVI, and then I'm counting on Vitality making it to the final. Which is going to be a hard route.

It's going to take for us that we bring our A-game. I don't think we can win against these teams with someone not feeling well on the server, or with us doing a mistake here and there. Because usually when we do those mistakes this is where we lose a map. It's going to be a lot about discipline and the mindset we want to bring in.

As I said, it's very important for us to take it one game at a time, and with PARIVISION being first we want to take revenge to start with.

To end it, I wanted to hear your opinion on the new Ammo Update. Have you had time to play it, and what are your thoughts?

Yeah, we had to practice on the new update because we couldn't practice on the old one. I haven't felt a huge difference, I've never ran out of bullets so far. Maybe the AWPers have to think a bit more?

The only thing is not wasting your bullets, like shooting a vent and then reloading straight up or shooting 5 bullets through the smoke and then reloading. These are the only things you kind of have to think about. But I still haven't had a situation where I ran out of bullets.

I did have a situation where I picked up a gun from players where they had no bullets. I think the update sounded bigger than it is.

Do you think it will fix the smoke spam on Inferno, or do you think we'll still see that?

I don't think so, I don't think it will fix much to be honest.

You still have a lot of bullets, and it's just about how you manage them I would say. You just have to be a bit more careful that as I said, you don't shoot 5 bullets and then you reload. I think we'll see more players pick up the M4A4, where you can actually spam 10 bullets and then you still have 20 for example.

Apart from that, I don't see a big change.

Falcons will be seeking their revenge against PARIVISION on Thursday March the 27th, at 18:30. Tune in to BLAST to see if they succeed, or if Jame has the last laugh.