Play Like NiKo! Shooting Training Tips from the World’s Best Aimer!
Nikola Kovač is one of the most consistent players in the world, maintaining phenomenal form since the start of his career. For the past eight years, since 2016, he has regularly been in the top 20 of the HLTV rankings, never dropping below 11th place. Such an achievement would be impossible without high-quality training, and no one understands this better than NiKo. In this article, we will share the main tricks used by the best shooter in Counter-Strike history.
NiKo’s Gaming Setup and Devices:
To fully immerse yourself in NiKo’s training process, let’s get acquainted with his tools. While device choice can be very personal, we can see that NiKo uses a relatively low sensitivity when it comes to mouse settings:
Devices:
- Mouse: Razer Viper V3 Pro White
- Keyboard: Razer Huntsman V3 Pro TKL White (with the SnapTap function)
- Mousepad: Artisan Type 99 Matcha
Mouse and Crosshair Settings:
- Crosshair: CSGO-OFKZZ-mZp9n-KXx4x-2SmEp-jcYHK
- DPI: 400
- In-game sensitivity: 1.5
Pre-game Warm-up on AIM Botz
Most professional players use this map for warm-up, and NiKo is no exception. Nikola has a series of shooting training methods he considers most effective and recommends using at any level. The first and main tip is always to check if your mouse sensitivity is set correctly. Never change your sensitivity and don’t start training without checking this parameter. Ideally, you should do this by feel, knowing in advance where your cursor should be when attempting a 180-degree turn.
After checking his sensitivity, Nikola starts shooting at bots, making many strafes and performing flicks across a quarter or even half of the screen. Such shots in motion may seem random from the outside, but this greatly helps to feel the mouse, creating difficult conditions for a successful kill. NiKo advises keeping the crosshair in a slightly unnatural position and making the task more difficult by quickly switching the crosshair from one bot to another. In this format, he suggests killing at least 100, preferably 1000 bots, depending on your available time.
Deathmatch
According to the younger Kovač, this is his favorite type of warm-up, which he can spend a significant amount of hours on. For him, it’s akin to meditation, an immersion in oneself, when you turn on your favorite tracks, join a server, and focus only on the crosshair and the appearing models.
During Deathmatch training, you should decide what exactly you need to train. For example, single shots, spray, or bursts. It doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in: close duel, long distance, or facing multiple enemies at once. Don’t join the server for statistics; it’s important to hone a specific game skill and focus specifically on it.
Refrag and Pre-Aims Maps
Everyone knows that NiKo is one of the best in headshot kills, with his percentage never dropping below 50. He always tries to fire 1-2 shots and aim precisely at the opponent’s head. To train this skill, he often visits HS Deathmatch servers, where damage is only counted for headshots. However, with the transition to CS2, the G2 rifler has introduced Refrag and Pre-Aims maps into his training process.
On these maps, bots are placed in various positions, helping you learn to position the crosshair correctly for an instant kill with one shot and to learn all the advantageous angles. The advantage of peeking in the new version of the game has made this aspect even more effective, so it’s important not to ignore training on these maps, especially if NiKo himself recommends them. According to him, here you can catch the focus, gain the right mindset, and spend your time effectively.
Main Tips from NiKo:
- Don’t start training without a specific goal. Determine what to focus on and what requires the most practice. Mindless shooting won’t benefit you or sharpen your technical skills. For example, even if you are just playing Faceit, set a goal to train playing a specific position or try out a certain setup in action.
- NiKo is a firm believer in headshots only, and even the dynamic model movement in CS2 hasn’t convinced him to change his principles. NiKo advises training precisely this aspect, which will help you achieve more multikills. When in a disadvantageous position or just a difficult shot, it’s better to shoot one bullet at a time. According to the best shooter in the world, spray is much harder to control and, in his opinion, is even a riskier, less reliable shooting method.