Chapter 126: C9 Feels Like Their Keyboard is Spraying Milk!

September 13, 2018, Thursday.

The weather in London was sunny, and after Xu Beifang divined it, he found that today was VP's lucky day.

The rest time after the qualifiers passed quickly, and they moved from a relaxed state into a tense schedule.

The group stage of the Major—the Legends Stage—officially started on September 12, which was yesterday!

The group stage—that is, the Legends Stage matches—began with a confrontation between the new and old legends in the first round.

These 8 teams that fought their way out of the qualifiers were, nominally, the new legends.

And the members of the Champions Stage of the previous Boston Major, which were the top 8 teams, were the old legends.

The new and old legends would face off on the first day, and then enter different groups to screen for confrontations based on the situation of the first day.

Why was today their lucky day? Because today their opponent was the champion of the previous Boston Major, the team that had made the likes of Karrigan and rain wake up from nightmares countless times—Cloud9.

However, although they looked powerful, C9's lineup had dispersed after winning the Major, with core members Stewie2K and tarik leaving, forcing the championship lineup to be rebuilt.

Their current situation was very similar to Gambit's state after the Krakow Major, with their overall level declining significantly.

VP had reviewed the matches during their rest days and seriously compared the strength of their opponents; C9 could be said to be among the weakest batch of teams.

So being able to run into them on the first day was definitely very good news.

But VP wouldn't choose to pop champagne just because they got a good group, because the fact that they were able to break into the Legends Stage itself had a bit of an upset nature to it, and they were very clear about the consequences of not respecting the match.

And to be honest, C9 was just in the pain of changing players, and the individual strength of the players wasn't weak.

The trio from the Boston Major championship lineup: Skadoodle, RUSH, and autimatic.

golden, who transferred from fnatic, and STYKO from mousesports—although in the later stages of mousesports, he had always been called the only "soft egg" of mousesports.

This group of people were all very famous players in the professional circle; once there was any slighting, they might make you pay a painful price.

So after VP entered the match, everyone was on high alert.

C9's first map pick: after a quick BP, Mirage was left as the map for the BO1.

"Speaking of which, everyone seems to especially like playing Mirage this time," Xu Beifang remarked.

In this Major official match, except for the match against BIG where their Mirage was actively banned, other teams would leave Mirage.

Could it be that they thought their Mirage was very weak?

"Don't know," pasha shook his head. "But doesn't this just happen to align with our thoughts?"

"Since they dare to pick it, we naturally aren't afraid."

BP map selection ended, and everyone bumped fists.

"Let's go, let's go! Let's get a good result on the first day!"

Both sides entered the server.

Map: Mirage

T: STYKO, autimatic, RUSH, Skadoodle, golden

CT: pashabiceps, nice, neo, michu, byali

The match entered the preparation time, and neo also started issuing defensive instructions for the pistol round.

"Nice, are you okay alone in CT Spawn? I want to gamble on a 4B heavy defense," neo turned his head to ask.

Generally speaking, the single-A method was for byali to play, but he was a bit worried that his old friend's operation might have some "illness."

So after consideration, he still wanted Xu Beifang to play in CT Spawn; after all, Nice's individual ability was stronger, and his on-the-spot handling was also better.

"No problem," Xu Beifang replied. "You arrange the tactics; generally, if I have any ideas, I'll tell you directly."

He found that neo was referring to his attitude too much during the match.

This wasn't good.

Compared to being a "team tyrant," Xu Beifang wanted to be a part of the team more.

His special status now was just formed because of the special environment within the team; he didn't want to fight for power.

The countdown ended, Xu Beifang bought a half-armor, and according to the opening plan, he went directly to CT Spawn to hold the angle.

"The second day of the London Major Legends Stage, VP vs C9, I am the commentator Ai Hua!"

The "Big Smart" of Shiquan Road Street, the designated only mage of CNCS, the "Jinx" Immortal greeted the netizens in the live stream.

Then he continued: "In the qualifiers, our young Chinese player Nice performed quite outstandingly, achieving the 5th rating in the qualifier stage. In the group stage, he is still worth looking forward to."

"Okay, let's look at the configuration of both sides in the pistol round. C9 has two smoke grenades, two flashbangs, and one HE grenade."

"VP only has one person defending in CT Spawn. So this wave of Nice defending alone, CT Spawn is in trouble!"

"A site is directly given a Jump Platform smoke and an Archway smoke, planning to rush CT Spawn! As long as the terrorists spread out their formation, Nice in CT Spawn will have no angle to hold. This gamble by VP is not ideal!"

The opponent's A site bomb execution unfolded, and Xu Beifang, after being half-blinded, directly gave up the CT Spawn angle.

"Opponent rushing A, ten thousand people! Return quickly!"

After quickly reporting the position in the voice chat, Xu Beifang stood at the back of CT Spawn to hold the angle, protecting the Phone Booth area.

A terrorist strafed out, and Xu Beifang carried his USP, pointing and positioning.

"Puff, puff, pop!"

【Nice used USP to headshot kill STYKO】

"CT Spawn is in the back, we rushed him!!" STYKO didn't win the duel and quickly reported the position to his teammates.

Their tactic this time was to seal off the Jump Platform side, then rush CT Spawn to gain control, protecting the bomb site and fighting from CT Spawn.

So no matter what, CT Spawn had to be secured.

RUSH also knew the severity of the problem and immediately rushed into CT Spawn with autimatic.

Xu Beifang controlled his position by relying on cover, making himself only visible to one person as much as possible.

"Nice is fighting while retreating, but this wave of two people chasing him, it's going to be over!!"

"A flashbang blinds Nice completely, what!! Nice killed autimatic while blinded?"

"RUSH finally made up the shot, but the situation is not ideal for them. Although they took CT Spawn and planted the bomb, VP has spread out to retake."

What was left for VP to retake was a 4v3 clutch.

"Nice played well, was there still one person left in CT Spawn just now?" neo praised and asked about the situation.

Xu Beifang added: "Not very clear, my second kill was made while blinded; there was at least one in CT Spawn."

So now CT Spawn was confirmed to have at least one, there was one near the Long Box at the bomb site, and one information was unknown.

"Can wait for michu, no need to rush, I have a defuse kit, this round can be played slowly," neo reminded.

He and pasha were retaking from B Small to Archway, while michu had directly pushed forward to circle around the back, and was already near A1.

"Pop!"

【michu used USP to headshot kill golden】

michu, who had pushed to A1, caught that mysterious guy in that position and took him out with one shot.

With this, the situation became clear; only one was left at the Long Box and one in CT Spawn.

After the positions were determined, VP pushed forward across the board.

The remaining RUSH and Skadoodle simply couldn't stop them!

The score reached 1:0.

autimatic was a bit speechless: "Even being fully blinded could get headshot by him, too unlucky."

His position in the team was the main carry position, a position that frequently roamed and harvested, so he rarely encountered the unlucky problems that entry fraggers encountered.

If Electronic knew—that he was complaining just because he was headshot once by a fully blinded opponent, he would definitely despise him!

Where is this even at!

Although they lost the pistol round due to Nice in CT Spawn, successfully planting the bomb allowed them to have around 2200 in economy this round.

After consideration, RUSH made a decision: "You guys go out with Glocks this round, I'll drop a Desert Eagle without armor, and we'll play long guns next round."

As a commander, RUSH was very rational; the duel distance on this map was medium, but it still wasn't suitable for short guns to perform.

With sufficient economy, transitioning quickly to long guns was the best choice.

As for dropping a Desert Eagle without armor, it was to let autimatic and Skadoodle find an opportunity.

autimatic had a good feel for the game, and with teammates pulling the gun line for him, he used the Desert Eagle without armor to take out two VP members.

Although they eventually lost, trading 700 for two weapons, no matter how you look at it, was a profit.

Wait... RUSH calculated again, byali and pasha took 4 with MP9s.

It seemed they were at a huge loss!

RUSH chose to skip this terrible thought in his mind and started arranging tactics for the long gun round.

Thanks to the previous economy accumulation, they directly bought full armor, AK-47s, and utility, it's just that the utility wasn't that abundant.

Under these circumstances, generally, there were two best choices for the attacking side.

One was to perform a bomb execution speed-up at the start.

The second was to do a default hold until the last moment, using all utility to launch an attack.

RUSH chose the first one, just like his name: "Give a VIP smoke and an Archway inner smoke at the start, we'll directly play a fast A rush."

"autimatic, you go to Mid alone to harass, trick the opponent into thinking there are many people in Mid. If you find the situation is not right, you can also push up directly from Archway."

The preparation time ended, and according to the opening tactical plan, they directly gave a VIP smoke and an Archway inner smoke, then headed toward their tactical area.

RUSH led the team to A1, and the first thing he saw was that A1 fire.

He had long since grabbed a smoke grenade, directly throwing it to extinguish the fire; the opponent's incendiary grenade didn't even cause him any damage.

Xu Beifang didn't expect this incendiary grenade to have too much effect; being able to make the opponent give information in advance was already not bad.

"byali, give me a flashbang, throw it to A1 or over my head, either is fine."

There were many footsteps in A1, and the opponent's desire to attack was very strong; Xu Beifang couldn't let them continue like this.

"Given!" byali, standing in CT Spawn, heard this and threw a flashbang toward A1.

"Ding!"

The flashbang exploded, and Xu Beifang, who was ready, strafed out from behind the Short Box.

In his field of vision, he saw two fully blinded terrorists.

"Da da da..."

【Nice used M4A4 to headshot kill RUSH】

Successfully securing the first kill with a counter-push, but Xu Beifang wasn't satisfied, because he clearly saw someone jump back to A1 while blinded.

"byali, give another flashbang into A1, there was someone in A1 just now, I've cleared the inside!"

"Wait a second..." byali knew Xu Beifang wanted a pop-flash, walked a few steps forward to the Long Box, and got ready.

Seeing Xu Beifang's position was ready, he started to act.

The flashbang left the Long Box, drew a beautiful trajectory in the air, and finally exploded on the left side of the A1 exit.

STYKO jumped back with blinded eyes, just sighing that his movements were fast, and then said to Skadoodle behind him: "Can you throw a Lamp Post flash? Wait for this smoke to dissipate and I'll clear the near point."

The first wave of attack rhythm was interrupted, and they would have to slowly bring it back to life later.

But before Skadoodle could reply, suddenly with a "ding" sound, the screen shone brightly!

"Da da da..."

【Nice used M4A4 to kill STYKO】

"A1 counter-pushed!! Make up the shot quickly!!" STYKO was dumbfounded and hurriedly shouted to remind his teammates.

He didn't expect that after the opponent secured the first kill with one wave of counter-push, there would be a second wave of even more aggressive counter-push.

After securing the kill, Xu Beifang jumped and hopped back to A1.

Then, he went silent again, sticking to the right side of the A1 smoke, and silently returned to the position against the wall on the right side of A1.

"Awesome!" Ai Hua praised. "This wave of A1 chain counter-pushes directly destroyed C9's attacking formation."

"And Nice's playstyle is still aggressive; he hasn't even left yet—I might be able to understand his thoughts. This wave has already taken out two, and he hasn't lost a single drop of blood, so he might as well be more aggressive and liberate the entire A1."

"But what about Skadoodle? As a top player, he will definitely clear this position! This wave depends on aim."

Then they saw Skadoodle do a surface clear, and he was directly taken away by Xu Beifang in two shots.

Ai Hua's commentary rhythm instantly choked.

"Oops, sorry, Skadoodle, I'm sorry! I spoke too soon."

【Haha, Sister Hua's milk is getting stronger and stronger】

【Mage casting spells on site, Skadoodle originally intended to clear the left, don't know why his vision was all sucked to the front】

【Really awesome, apart from Huang Xu Dong, I only recognize Ai Hua】

【Hahaha, already started laughing】

Skadoodle heard footsteps and dared to come out, intending to throw a one-way smoke at A1 to play around.

Giving enough pressure to let autimatic find an opportunity in Mid.

But he never expected Nice to dare to play like this.

They had watched the qualifier matches and knew Nice liked to push forward to find duels.

But they were still dumbfounded by this kind of aggression! Which player would continuously push forward three times aggressively! And all in one round.

This was purely a psychological game that had messed up their A1 trio.

At the same time, autimatic, who was roaming in Mid, killed michu in B Small.

However, just as he wanted to push toward the B Small channel, pasha in VIP strafed out and took him out with one shot from the AWP.

During the rest day, although pasha and neo had been "air force" members for two days, his basic training had never been dropped.

Another teammate was killed, and the remaining golden stood in the Sewer, directly crouched into the B2 Floor kitchen, and started saving his weapon.

A 1v4 clutch, although the opponent didn't see the bomb, there wasn't much room for operation.

Rather than sending another AK-47 to the opponent, it was better to preserve effective strength and provide autimatic with a "Hero AK."

With little economy, VP didn't mean to surrender their guns at all; they came to A1, changed into those AK-47s, and steadily won this point.

And the AK-47 that C9 saved didn't play a crucial role in the following.

The scales of victory were tilting frantically toward VP, and they were trying very hard to score.

But they were repeatedly frustrated in their attacks, and pasha seemed to have found his form, continuously using that AWP in Mid to reduce their numbers.

The attack on A site was even more uncomfortable; they couldn't even determine Nice's specific position. He had performed well in A2 Floor, Short Box, Long Box, and even Sandwich.

The score reached 8:0.

C9 finally couldn't withstand the pressure and called for the first tactical timeout of the match.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 127 =====