FaZe star Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač is the winner of the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award of EPICENTER 2018 by HLTV.org and betway.

The Bosnian talent edged out Na`Vi star Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev to the award after putting in a 1.48 rating in the grand final to help FaZe win their first Big Event in four months.

NiKo was the fourth-highest rated player of the group stage at 1.23, and he took his performance level up a notch in the playoffs, in which his incredible 1.41 rating went unmatched and saw him catch up with s1mple, who was leading the race for the MVP crown before the title decider.

NiKo scoops his fourth MVP medal

NiKo, who succeeds Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David, last year's EPICENTER MVP, featured in the top five in 13 stats leaderboards, leading in total headshots (110), kills (235) and opening frags (39). He had the second-highest rating (1.33) and damage per round ratio (91.0), and was ranked third for clutches (five) and percentage of rounds with at least one kill (52.5%).

This is the 21-year-old's fourth MVP medal, the second of 2018 after he also won the honour at ESL One Belo Horizonte. His previous medals had come at the StarSeries Season 3 Finals and ESL One New York 2017.

Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 23 Team: MIBR Rating 1.0: 1.21 Maps played: 907 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.60 FaZe #6 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 21 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 955 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.67 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.22 Maps played: 904 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.67