NiKo on kicking k3: k3 can't handle pressure and ignores teammate feedback, while karrigan is willing to sacrifice and can bring out his players' potential

NiKo appeared on a podcast, where the host brought up the part about winning the Major and kicking kyxsan. It was a massive reveal, so let’s take a look at what NiKo had to say.

Q: Okay, since we’ve already touched on IGLs and that kind of thing, I’m not trying to put you on the spot. You mentioned in your previous answer that there are several factors, several things that make up an IGL — not just calling tactics, reading opponents, and so on, but also the work outside the server. Again, I’m not trying to get you to reveal any scandal, but I would say maybe that was one of the things kyxsan was missing, and part of why he was replaced? For a young IGL like him, leading m0NESY, NiKo... maybe that was not exactly an enviable position. As you said, huge names, huge expectations, and an organization that wants to win every event. Maybe at that point, having him as the IGL wasn’t realistic. Now, I don’t know whether you see it that way as well, or... what the reason was. Of course, the results weren’t bad, but there weren’t many trophies.

NiKo: Yes, the results weren't bad. I mean, I'm sorry things ended the way they did. kyxsan is a good IGL. He has a strong understanding of the game, and individually, he's one of the best IGLs out there right now. He has a lot of strengths. Of course, I also told him there are a lot of areas where I think he needs to improve, but... just looking at those results, we were in a period where Team Vitality were extremely, extremely strong. Beating them was very difficult, and we came very close several times. If we had beaten them once or twice, maybe he would still be here — if we had beaten them at ESL Challenger Melbourne.

Q: That was on Nuke, right?

NiKo: Yes. If we had beaten them on that Nuke... who knows what would have happened. Maybe Maxim "Kyousuke" Kuzmin wouldn’t be here now. Maybe the team would still look similar to the Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski period. A lot of things could have gone differently. With kyxsan, overall, I think we as a team started handling pressure in a really poor way.And as the IGL/captain, the way he handled all the players wasn’t quite right. He kept ignoring the feedback he was getting instead of trying to take it all into account. We should have tried to build a better style, one that made everyone feel better. Made us all more comfortable when defaulting, maybe with a bit less set-piece-heavy calling... Sometimes we would watch matches together and analyze them. We would say we felt we lost a match for a certain reason, but he would see it differently, and it was hard to find that middle ground together. I think that was one of the reasons Team Falcons decided to replace him.Bringing in karrigan — he is very different from kyxsan. And what we were missing at the time... one of the reasons karrigan came in as a stand-in was:we needed someone willing to sacrifice. Someone who would move around more and create space for Kyousuke...We had a lot of firepower, but we couldn’t make use of it — for example, getting all five of us playing well at the same time.We needed someone willing to go first and sacrifice himself. When he needed to push through a smoke, he did it. We found that in karrigan, so that’s why we chose him.

So a lot of things came down to that... It wasn’t just about kyxsan; it was simply a matter of his traits as a player and an IGL. We just felt that karrigan was a better fit for us as a team.

Q: Since we've already gone deep on the IGL topic, let's stay on it a bit longer. karrigan is coming in, and you two are teaming up again after six years, right?

NiKo: No, it was more like eight years.

Q: Eight years. It’s been eight years now, and at this point I don’t think there’s any need to go into detail about what happened back then or all the speculation around it. What I’m interested in is this: after eight years, how different is karrigan as an IGL? In terms of the game itself, or as a person outside the server, how much has he changed? And how much do you think you yourself have changed and adapted? Simply put, are you different people now? In what ways?

NiKo: Yes, I think both of us have changed a lot. Even back then, we complemented each other really well, but we were immature. Especially me, of course—I was more immature, and I was much younger when I was on that team.I used to have an issue where I didn't really know how to speak in the right way. Sometimes I was too honest, maybe too direct with criticism, and at times that could hurt his confidence. I realized that, and I put a lot of work into it. I think I've largely fixed that problem. As for karrigan, I think... let's put it this way: the problems we had at FaZe back then were, in my view, more because we didn't have a strong coach—someone who could speak up and had authority.Robban was more of a mental coach; he wasn't that involved in the game itself. That side was always missing with him—the ability to see from the outside what was happening in-game and how we should tweak the way we played. And... I mean, the decision was made at that moment, in 2018, and... I think it worked out really well for karrigan (referring to 'karrigan is out'), maybe even better for him than for me. He went to MOUZ afterward, found success there, then returned to FaZe, where of course he won the Major, the ESL Grand Slam, and a lot of events. I think the things I told him also touched him in some way.He heard them, and I think everything that happened helped him a bit.There was never any bad blood between us. We never argued, there was no backstabbing, and I never spoke badly about him. Like, you wouldn't see me go into an interview and start trashing him. That never happened. Things between us weren't bad, but at certain points, when we were playing, we weren't really on the same page in rounds.Of course, that has changed a lot now, and I've understood some things myself. I think we're doing much better now, and our dynamic is much better. Now, I try to complement his calling, let's say. I try to contribute something, throw utility, go in first...If he's on one side of the map, I'll organize the other side, instead of over-suggesting things like, 'you do this, we'll do that'... basically, helping him more with those micro things. And it's been going great... so far, it's been great!The results this season haven't been the best, but... they'll get better.

Q: Quick-fire question: who is the greatest IGL of all time in your eyes, and why?

NiKo: The Best in History?

Q: Yeah... I mean, we can talk about the people you've worked with... because I guess he'd say... alright, but maybe he sees it differently, so I'll leave that door open. But the important thing is... what makes him stand out?

NiKo: I said after the Major, maybe even in your interview, or maybe... I'm not sure where, but... I think if you put any other IGL in his place at that Major, we wouldn’t have won. I... I’m not completely sure we would have won the Major, you know?

What I mean is, no one has that ability to adapt to a team so quickly and find a way to get 100% out of every player. He is very good at giving every player space, letting everyone have a voice, and allowing anyone to say what they want to do at any moment, while he builds the whole round around it and plays out the script. I think that is his best quality. One of his best qualities. His second-best quality is how he communicates with players in the middle of a match.Overall, with all the experience he has built up over the years, I think his wife has also helped a lot. And the way he talks to players before matches, before big games... I don’t know if you’ve watched the Player Profiles? But he really does give players a lot of trust and confidence before big matches. Those are his best qualities. And he knows how to give... at halftime, that... yeah, exactly, during the pre-game hype circle (team huddle), he is really good at that.

Q: No, no, that’s not what I meant. It was like... that was the halftime break at the Major, you were playing who... on Dust. I remember Dust, because there was that... that cinematic shot, and then he started imitating, what was his name... Bruce Buffer. When he says, “In the red corner,” or whatever...

NiKo: Wait, was that at the Major?

Q: I think it was... yeah, that was at the Major. That was at the Major, I think. If I remember right, the third... you were playing against Gizmy, but Gizmy was on Monte at the time.

NiKo: Yeah, yeah, you're right. — That was back then, and now... when that happened, if you were just a regular viewer, it really did look a bit, I'd even use this word, almost unbelievable, but, awkward.

But maybe if you look at the bigger picture, you know what that dynamic is and what it affects.

Q: Do you believe it will help in the end?

NiKo: Yes, I forgot to mention it, but that was another important thing we highlighted when we were considering karrigan. We needed someone who could lift the mood—not by acting like a clown, but by making us smile during matches. Someone who could help us relax a bit, crack a joke now and then, and shout a few words at the opponent. We were always extremely serious when we played, always trying to win, but someone had to ease that atmosphere a little.

Q: You could have called me — I’ve got everything you mentioned! You know, next time, I’ve got all of that covered!

NiKo: I believe that’s a very important quality you need to have. And it worked.

Q: Put a full stop on it—you won the Major. Taking everything into account, piece the fragments together in hindsight.

NiKo: A very special person, yeah.

Q: You've said in several interviews that, when it comes to karrigan, the biggest mistake was that you should never have split up. Like you're saying now... Robban was there at the time, if I remember correctly, and karrigan said back then that he didn't need a coach. He felt having Robban in the team was fine, but that he could handle things himself. Now zonic is there, and the two of them briefly worked together before at TSM, right?

NiKo: No, no, not at TSM. I think they were at Astralis. They were definitely at Astralis.

Q: Yeah, it was only for a very short time. How does it work now?

NiKo: I think if you asked karrigan who the best coach he has worked with is, he would say zonic. From what I have seen so far in terms of how the two of them operate and what their dynamic is like, I think... I mean, I know for myself that zonic is definitely the best coach I have ever worked with.

Russian media meme on Coach of the Year: Nice ilia

But on the thing you mentioned, at the time he didn't want us to have a coach who was more vocal. I think that was more about the game itself, but what we needed was maybe someone closer to a performance coach. Someone to get us all sitting around the table and say what was bothering us. What issues do you have with him, what bothers you about him, what is he doing... getting each of us to say a thing or two... because there was always a lot of tension in the team. Someone was always being passive-aggressive or whatever, and I think that was what FaZe were missing during that period. I think karrigan learned all of those lessons himself, and... I think he feels better handling it on his own. When he feels it's time to talk, he'll come over and say, boys, let's talk about this and figure out what's wrong here. What do we need to fix? Tell me what you expect from me. Or he'll say, you can't act like that, you have to do this, this and this.