G2 confirm NiKo signing

The Bosnian's anticipated move to G2 has been confirmed.

The Spanish organization has completed the signing of former FaZe superstar Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, a move that was in the works for close to two months after the two organizations first engaged in talks regarding a possible transfer of the Bosnian player in September.

Although François "⁠AMANEK⁠" Delaunay was expected to be the one on the chopping block, G2 have hinted at the possibility of following in the footsteps of other organizations and working with an extended roster: "Over the course of the next few weeks, we’ll be evaluating the team and its progress to determine the optimal line-up for each match."

The move sees NiKo end a three-and-a-half-year long tenure with FaZe. His addition from MOUZ in 2017, at the time reported as one of the most expensive transfers in CS:GO, was key in FaZe's evolution into a title contender and eventually the number one team in the world, a position the organization occupied for several weeks in late 2017-early 2018.

NiKo helped the European side clinch ten titles at LAN tournaments, earning the MVP award at six of them. He solidified himself as one of the best players in the game's history as he placed second, third, and eleventh in HLTV.org's Top 20 player rankings in 2017-2019 after first receiving the end-of-year accolade for eleventh place in 2016.

"With tears in my eyes, I have to say goodbye to everyone who was involved throughout my time in FaZe, all the players that I played with, all the staff behind that was always there for me and all the fans that have supported us throughout this period," NiKo said about leaving FaZe. "It was a wild run with a lot of ups and downs, so many good memories that I will cherish forever, it sucks that we couldn't bring a major trophy to such a legendary organization, but no one regrets it and is hurt more than me."

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The Bosnian will return to his roots with his move to G2, where he will play in a Balkan-majority squad for the first time since he left iNation for MOUZ in early 2015 and compete alongside his cousin Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač.

G2 will hope to turn their luck around with the new star player following a difficult period in the last two months, during which they failed to make it out of groups at three consecutive events: ESL Pro League Season 12, IEM New York, and DreamHack Open Fall. Their debut with the newest member will take place on Monday, when the French-Balkan side take on FURIA as they begin their campaign in Group C of BLAST Premier Fall Series.

G2 now boast the following lineup:

Kenny "⁠kennyS⁠" Schrub
Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug
François "⁠AMANEK⁠" Delaunay
Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković
Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač
Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač

Damien "⁠maLeK⁠" Marcel (coach)