On June 4, 2025, in an interview for BLAST, Team Falcons star player Nikola “NiKo” Kovac shared his thoughts on the team's form, preparations for BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 2, and confidence in victory over Team Vitality in the BO3 format. The team, which is striving to win the coveted Major, is preparing for the decisive competition, and NiKo elaborated on several key aspects of their preparation and performance.

Assessment of the current year and readiness for the Major

With the BLAST.tv Austin Major approaching in Texas, NiKo talked about how the Falcons have performed in 2025. He emphasized that the start was promising, as well as reaching several grand finals, which gave the team confidence in their abilities. However, at major LAN events such as IEM Katowice and PGL Bucharest, the team struggled, failing to realize its potential at crucial moments.

The year started off a lot better than it currently is. We got a win in the Frost & Fire tournament online, and I thought we were progressing well. In our two biggest tournaments in Katowice and Bucharest, we were very close to achieving our goals, but we came up short by just a few rounds.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

The impact of m0NESY and the team's changing goals

As Team Falcons seeks to strengthen its roster, NiKo explained how the arrival of m0NESY after replacing degster was a significant boost for the team. He detailed how the integration of the new player changed the dynamics and raised the topic of the new ambitious goals that the team is now setting for itself.

When you get a player of a caliber like that, it's a great boost of confidence for every player in the team. I knew it wouldn't be hard to implement him into our system, just by knowing how well-rounded of a player he is. I'm not surprised that we've had such a good start since he joined. Maybe the others didn't expect it to go this way, this fast, but I had high hopes because I knew what we were getting. Ever since he joined, our goals have shifted. We really want to be a title contender team, and we think we have the team for that now. We've shown that across the past couple of events.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

Working on strategies during boot camp with m0NESY

Given the importance of preparing for the Major, NiKo talked about how the team is improving their game during boot camp with m0NESY. He emphasized the details and strategies that are helping the team grow, given their strong start.

It's very hard to point at one thing, but we're trying to add a lot of small details when it comes to the game, having more set rounds, removing some of the ones we had before. We're just trying to go more in depth with our playbook with m0NESY, because even when we had degster we still didn't get to go through everything because it was still such a new team. There's still a lot of work to do.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

Avoiding distractions due to rumors about the team's future

In the context of rumors about the future of the roster, NiKo explained how the team avoids distractions by focusing exclusively on the Major. He elaborated on how important it is to stay focused on current goals despite external factors.

I can only speak for myself, but when it comes to the Major, you don't care about what's happening outside of the game. Everyone's highest priority is the Major. We can't control what will happen afterwards, it's not really in our hands, so everyone is fully focused on this Major and trying to make sure we're as ready as we can be. I can't tell any difference in the team now compared to two months ago before the reports, nothing has really changed especially because the Major is the final event of the season.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

Assessment of kyxsan's work as IGL

Analyzing team coordination, NiKo explained how he works with kyxsan on the CT side, describing his role in strategies. He talked in detail about how this interaction affects the overall game.

I think it works this way for a lot of teams with IGLs who are playing anchor roles, it's hard for them to have a proper picture of the map and what you want to do, so they're not really in control. When it comes to myself, I wouldn't call myself an IGL, but I do kind of have the final say on the CT side. Everyone can chime in with things they want to do, if someone wants to make a specific setup on Inferno or something, people are free to call what they want to do in the freeze time, but if it's something more set or we want to gamble, then it will be me saying it.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac

Advantages of the BO3 final against Vitality

Discussing strategies against Vitality, NiKo explained how the BO3 format could affect the outcome, given the team's current preparation. He elaborated on how the team is preparing for this challenge.

I definitely think we had a higher chance to take them in Dallas in a BO3, we still haven't put enough work in on certain maps that we could play in a BO5. But I don't really believe in that, because I think if we're a better team on that day, we can beat them in both a BO3 or BO5.

Nikola “NiKo” Kovac