NiKo: Falcons' post-Major confidence hurt more than it helped
Nikola "NiKo" Kovač told HLTV.org that Falcons failed to convert their Major victory into consistent results at BLAST Open Fall 2026, where they lost 0:2 to Spirit in the semifinals. He identified the team’s map pool as a primary weakness and argued that the confidence gained after the Major ultimately hurt the roster more than it helped.
Falcons reached the semifinals of BLAST Open Fall 2026 after an inconsistent start to the season. NiKo acknowledged positive moments, specifically praising the team’s approach and performance in their victory over G2. However, he remained dissatisfied with the overall fluctuation in quality, noting that the team alternated between strong and poor performances throughout the tournament.
“There are some positives, but also a lot of negatives. The whole tournament was very inconsistent for us: one game would be good, the next one terrible, and it kept going like that,” NiKo said. He also highlighted the team’s mental resilience during the semifinal against Spirit, stating that they stayed in the game and never gave up.
The map pool emerged as a central issue. NiKo stated that Falcons repeatedly lost their own map picks, making it significantly harder to win series. He noted that Dust2 is currently the only map where the team feels consistently confident, but they cannot always select it due to opponents’ strength. NiKo suggested that the team should rely less on practice results and focus more on their approach to important matches.
“Our map pool was terrible at this tournament. We kept losing our own picks. It’s very difficult to win a series when you lose your own map,” he explained. He added that Anubis felt worse in practice than Ancient and Nuke, implying a need to adjust their selection strategy.
NiKo also addressed the narrative that karrigan’s teams often peak in major matches while struggling in group stages. He rejected this explanation, emphasizing that the underperformance affects the entire roster. “It’s not only karrigan or me—the whole team is not at the right level at the moment,” he said. He believed the team handled the post-Major confidence poorly, which hindered their consistency.
Despite these struggles, NiKo does not believe Falcons have a problem performing in decisive matches. He pointed out that the team has already proven its ability to play at a high level in major arena settings. “If we can perform at this level in playoff matches in an arena, then we should also be able to do it during the group stage,” he stated.
Falcons will now take a break before their next tournament. The team plans to use this time to address map-pool issues and inconsistency ahead of ESL Pro League Season 24, which begins in early October with a $1,000,000 prize pool.
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