Chapter 137

"VP proactively called a timeout; they really needed to," Wanjiqi said, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "These last few rounds have been too passive. NaVi has run three slow Mid-to-B splits. Many times, Nice, who was inside the Archway, could trade kills effectively, but it didn't amount to much."

"Because on the B site, either Michu gives it away, or Neo at B Small doesn't play well."

"I can understand the defensive pressure on B, but you can't fail to trade a single kill every round! The opponent is targeting you heavily, but the problem is that VP just can't defend right now! Going from a 4:3 score to 5:8, they really need to adjust, otherwise, it's a waste of how well they played early on."

Machine felt a sense of frustration in the live stream.

They hadn't held high expectations for this match to begin with.

But after winning the pistol round and taking three consecutive points, and then seeing Xiao Xu put on an outstanding performance in the second full-buy round, they felt VP had a chance to put up a fight against NaVi.

But good times didn't last; Zeus secured a triple kill during an A-site attack, pulling the momentum back.

Immediately after, they started the continuous Mid-to-B tactics, which Neo and Michu couldn't handle at all.

Only in one round, where Xu Beifang took out 2.9 people in Mid, did Byali and Pasha manage to clean up the clutch and win a point.

Now, after losing consecutive points and finally saving up enough economy for a full buy, if they lose this round, the first half score will likely be locked at 5:10.

The pressure on everyone in VP is immense right now.

"How about we start 3B 2A and play A conservatively?" Neo's calling was passable today, but their front-line gunplay couldn't hold up—what else was there to say?

Xu Beifang was silent for a long time before finally speaking to Neo: "Can someone coordinate with me to push A1? I feel we need extra map control and information."

Without waiting for Neo's answer, he continued to explain his idea:

"I want to push up to A1 to proactively gather information, freeing up the entire A site so you guys can form a heavy B defense."

"Otherwise, if we keep playing by the book like this, what chance do we have left?"

Under such high pressure, Neo didn't dare to make overly dangerous decisions.

Years of professional habits couldn't be completely changed in half a year.

But since Xu Beifang had brought it up, he had no reason to refuse.

"Then let's try it; put your ideas into action!" Neo said. "Start 3A 2B. Byali, you push up with him. If map control goes smoothly, you rotate to cover the Archway."

"When I ran into him on Faceit, why didn't I feel he was this strong?"

After entering the timeout, s1mple said with some curiosity.

"I told you back then that guy was strong, but you didn't believe me," Flamie said, turning on his mic with a laugh. "He was grinding rank with over 100 ping. Imagine how terrifying he'd be without ping. Plus, Nice was already suppressing the Smooya you speak so highly of during the qualifiers; his level is quite high."

At the time, after being crushed in that Faceit match, s1mple mostly attributed it to his own poor form, which had dragged down Ropz and Flamie.

Because he maintained such good form year-round, that one bad game left a deep impression.

His impression of Nice back then was just a reckless brute who didn't know anything and just dry-peeked randomly.

But once they entered the official match, he discovered the opponent was a ruthless player too!

Once they engaged in a frontal firefight, it was either death or injury.

His AWP had been torn apart by Nice twice already; the opponent's excellent performance earned his respect.

"It's fine. Since he's in good form, we'll just avoid him for now," Zeus said confidently. "We just need to make sure he can't perform."

This top-tier strategy was something they had learned from Astralis, used specifically to counter s1mple.

After reviewing that match, s1mple had expressed great annoyance at Astralis's avoidance tactics, but this precisely proved that this approach was correct.

Even though NaVi wasn't afraid of Nice's frontal firepower, as an IGL, Zeus needed to find the opponent's weak defensive areas and attack there.

Attacking the opponent's shortcomings instead of pointlessly looking for their star player to fight head-on—that was his duty as an IGL.

However, they had run the Mid-to-B split three times in a row; VP should have made some special arrangements by now... Zeus stroked his chin, lost in thought.

"Let's stick to the previous idea: control Mid first, then for this point, fake a B-hit, and finally execute a Mid-to-A split."

Although Mid-to-B splits were easy to score with, they couldn't keep doing it, especially after the opponent called a timeout.

Attacking two different areas constantly was the only way to keep the opposing IGL from figuring out their offensive strategy.

The countdown ended, and they immediately threw a VIP smoke in Mid and started moving out to spread across Mid.

Xu Beifang walked out of CT Spawn, immediately threw a fire deep into A1, hid behind cover, and waited to ensure no one stepped through the fire to dry-peek before silently pushing forward.

"Flash for a counter-push??" Byali asked about Xu Beifang's plan.

Xu Beifang shook his head: "Stay close to me. Just dry-peek and trade for me."

He reached A1, then started adjusting his pre-aim, jiggling half a body at a time, ensuring he wouldn't be too passive while avoiding making footstep sounds.

He searched the entire A1 area without seeing any enemies.

"Alright, Byali, you go directly to the Archway to help," Xu Beifang said.

He had reached a familiar position, but since he didn't have much information on the opponent yet, he didn't dare to push further.

Standing at A1 was already enough to gather plenty of information.

Byali rotated to the Archway, jiggled to confirm it was safe, and immediately threw an Archway smoke.

Although the opponent hadn't put any pressure on the Archway, Pasha had rotated back to B site in the second timing, so the pressure on the Archway was still quite high.

Defending 3B in the second timing, Pasha started to step out with his AWP to make plays.

Arriving at the B Small corner, Neo threw a flashbang to help contest the Mid angle.

Pasha jiggled to look toward the L-position and the B Small close angle in Mid, finding no trace of enemies.

Edward in the Sewer heard the B Small flashbang pop and jumped up, wanting to get a look at the situation at B Small.

Pasha saw a Terrorist suddenly jump up and instinctively scoped in and flicked.

—Bang!

【pashabiceps killed edward with AWP】

"Oh!!" Wanjiqi's eyes widened instantly. "The speed of that flick shot—if I didn't see the ID, I'd really think it was kennyS! Pasha's form is suddenly warming up; could it be that things are looking up?"

"Pasha's shot was truly invincible. Edward just wanted to jump up to confirm information and got air-picked! The explosive power of a veteran!"

Edward was numb; today he felt like he'd been infected by Electronic, having the worst luck imaginable.

He heard the B Small flashbang pop and just wanted to jump up to confirm the opponent's position to prevent anyone from sneaking into the Black Room.

He never expected that one extra look would lead to his explosion!

Looking at his 2/9 K/D, he just felt mentally exhausted.

Edward giving away the first kill made Zeus frown.

In a 4v5 situation, organizing the next play would be difficult.

"Electronic, you guys prepare to dry-peek forward at A1. I'll throw an Archway smoke, and then you guys throw a flashbang to send us in to counter-push Jungle."

Zeus was thinking deeply, or perhaps a bit greedily.

While attacking, occupying the Jungle and VIP area could effectively limit the opponent's retake, helping them turn around this disadvantageous clutch.

However, this playstyle also required A1 to take some risks; after all, if there was someone in CT Spawn, dry-peeking A1 was quite dangerous.

Hearing Zeus's order, Electronic and Flamie started to dry-peek toward A1.

Then they reached the A1 close point, and Electronic peeked to clear the angle.

Xu Beifang's eyes instantly became clear, unable to believe what he heard.

"Tat-tat-tat!"

【nice killed electronic with M4A4 headshot】

"A1 push!! Flamie, trade him!!!"

Hearing the gunfire, Flamie initially thought the opponent had pushed to the close point and wanted to step back to give up the angle.

But he realized the opponent had no intention of pushing out, so he jiggled toward A1 to find Xu Beifang.

But after Xu Beifang took one out, he had already heard Flamie's retreating footsteps.

Worried that Flamie might run away, he chased him down.

Neither of them expected the other to proactively push forward, so they could only stop and engage in a firefight.

"Tat-tat-tat!!"

Gunfire erupted at A1, and blood stained the walls and ground of A1 red.

The corpses and shell casings on the ground further illustrated the intensity of the firefight; one could almost smell the scent of blood in the air.

【nice killed flamie with M4A4 headshot】

He glanced at the UI in the bottom left—HP: 9.

Xu Beifang's good aiming habits successfully allowed him to survive this hasty encounter.

Electronic and Flamie lay peacefully together, their hands even touching.

"No follow-up trade at A1!! Watch the Archway and A2... just watch the Archway, I haven't heard any sound from A2 yet." Xu Beifang didn't have time to catch his breath and quickly reminded his teammates.

Byali in Jungle heard the call and quickly retreated from a few angles, arriving inside VIP to hold a direct angle on the Jump Platform.

Zeus, hiding in the Archway smoke, had intended to jump through the smoke, but saw the top right corner constantly scrolling with kills; his teammates were mostly dead.

—Bang!

s1mple, holding the AWP, seized the opportunity and sniped Pasha, who had come out from B Small to find an opening.

"Let's proactively find people to fight." s1mple frowned.

Although he successfully took out Pasha, it was still a 4v2, and with less than 30 seconds left on the clock, they were in a very passive position.

Zeus nodded; their economy was sufficient for the next round, so they didn't need to save their weapons.

He threw a smoke grenade toward Jungle and then walked toward the bomb site. "Watch CT Spawn for me."

He kept his eyes on A1 the whole time, wanting to deal with that Nice who was pushing up.

But before he could enter the bomb site, M4 bullets sprayed continuously from behind that Jungle smoke.

【byali killed zues through smoke with M4A4】

"Nice's smoke-mixing has become contagious!! Byali just mixed a full-HP Zeus to death. It's 4v1 now, only s1mple is left. Oh!!! s1mple sniped Byali behind the smoke with one shot!!"

"A 1v3 clutch, what does s1mple say??"

s1mple still wanted to make a play, dropping down from the Jump Platform with his AWP, then scoping in to hold A1.

The time above had turned red; he had no utility left and could only engage in a psychological battle with the opponent.

With 6 seconds left, s1mple unscoped, intending to jump into the Short Box.

But the moment he unscoped, he saw that guy from A1 jiggle out!!

Damn timing!! s1mple already knew his fate.

"Tat-tat-tat..."

【nice killed s1mple with AK47】

"Bang!"

s1mple slammed the table in anger, the whole table shaking.

In this clutch, the person he worried about most was that guy at A1, because in the short term, he was the biggest threat.

As long as he could get into the Short Box and plant the bomb, he could gradually break down this 1v3, using his personal skill and the AWP's advantage to fight back.

But it must be said, the feelings of strong players are always connected.

What he was worried about, Xu Beifang had also thought of.

Xu Beifang knew his position had long been exposed, so even after getting a frontal kill, he still didn't show himself.

He had been waiting for the opponent to plant the bomb.

And with about 6 seconds left, when the opponent still hadn't made a sound and his two teammates had arrived at CT Spawn and the Archway respectively, he could proactively step out to gather information.

Even if he were killed, Neo at CT Spawn and Michu at the Archway could finish the clutch, because the time no longer allowed s1mple to make a play.

So in this clutch, Xu Beifang seemed to have just caught a timing, but in reality, many follow-up plans had already been considered.

Only then did he manage to take down s1mple and secure the point for his side.

"Nice!! I told you we could play more crazily," Xu Beifang said, conveying his thoughts to his teammates. "We are the challengers now; we can make more dangerous plays. Once our score gets close to theirs, it's NaVi who should be nervous, not us!!"

"So Neo, we need to play to our strengths; we can't just play by the book and play Mid map control with them."

Neo had actually discovered this problem long ago, but deep down, he didn't dare to play that big.

But his teammates kept using their stats to tell him that this playstyle was feasible, which made Neo make up his mind.

VP was discussing how to solve the problem.

While NaVi had fallen into an argument.

The moment s1mple lost the clutch and slammed the table, Electronic couldn't help but question Flamie: "Why did you sell me out!! I was in front helping you pull the gun line and gather information; why did you retreat!!"

He was truly dumbfounded; entry fraggers actually hate this feeling the most.

Because most entry fraggers have to go to the front to gather information, and eating utility is just a small matter.

But after engaging in a firefight and losing, having your teammate suddenly shrink back is really disheartening.

Flamie quickly explained: "It's not that I didn't want to trade; I misjudged the situation at first. I thought he had pushed forward earlier, and I wanted to retreat to an angle to hold him."

Electronic clutched his head, his face already burning.

He felt like he didn't know how to play this game anymore.

Finally, Zeus proactively called a timeout to mediate; otherwise, he felt that if the match didn't finish today, NaVi would start fighting internally.

With Coach Kane and Zeus proactively soothing them, Electronic's emotions gradually stabilized, and NaVi refocused on the match.

But this time, at the start, VP pushed up at A2 and A1 simultaneously, catching NaVi, who were preparing for an A-site explosive bomb attack, off guard.

Both sides engaged in an intense firefight.

s1mple in Mid and Edward in the Sewer watched the screen showing 1 minute and 20 seconds left, not knowing how to retrieve the bomb dropped inside A1 in this 2v3 clutch.

They tried hard to push toward A1, but VP had already set up a net, and someone was even waiting in the back with a flashbang to counter-push them.

Only s1mple managed to take out one, Nice, before losing the final round of the first half.

The score was locked at 7:8; the first half ended, and they were only leading VP by one point!

(End of chapter)