Chapter 138

After the first half ended, there were two things VP took very seriously.

One was that they were trailing by one point.

The other was that they were only trailing by one point!

"One point!!"

The keyboards that had been busy finally got some rest, and their owners above were in high spirits.

The tournament group's silence spell finally wore off, and the coach standing behind them clenched his fists and walked to each player's side.

"The first half performance was very good; we have a chance to turn this around."

"Nice played great. Actually, we just need to be bolder. If we lose, at worst we play the Bo3 tomorrow; if we win, then we aren't the ones playing the Bo3."

Finally able to speak, Kuben seemed very excited, his chattering making it hard not to suspect he'd been stifled.

"Is this a bit like opening champagne at halftime?"

Xu Beifang muttered, then picked up his water cup from the floor and took a sip to moisten his parched throat.

The last few rounds of the first half were very encouraging, but they also accelerated their communication frequency.

Entering halftime, he felt his mouth was dry.

"It doesn't count as opening champagne; after all, we aren't leading yet."

Just happening to hear his muttering, Pasha looked over and added simply.

As he spoke, he took his hands off the keyboard, then pushed his torso forward, bracing himself on the armrests of his gaming chair, and twisted left and right.

His spine and lower back emitted a satisfying sound, and a pleasant expression immediately appeared on his face.

As a 30-year-old veteran, even with muscles all over and a well-maintained physical state, the decline in various functions was inevitable.

It's like being 17 or 18, driven by passion in your heart, you can play in an internet cafe for days and nights without feeling tired.

But after working, even with your own computer, many times you feel exhausted after turning it on and playing a round or two.

This is the trouble brought by age; these older players, even with scientific training and maintenance,

still can't match the physical state of the youngsters.

However, Pasha's mental state was very full; although they were trailing in the first half, it had already exceeded their psychological expectations.

Now he even felt some anticipation; entering the second half, if they could maintain this performance,

then with the score constantly seesawing, would there be a chance to overtake??

The minds of the VP members immediately became active.

"Let's go, let's go!! I've figured it out; in terms of tactical gaming, we really can't beat Zeus; it's a bit of a headache." Neo frowned.

Since Neo said so, Pasha thought for a moment and said: "Neo, you make the call. As an IGL, you are the brain of the team. In specific situations, we can correct you, but the general strategy still has to be yours; you have to make the call."

He heard Neo's disappointment and wanted to comfort him, but Zeus was indeed one of the world's top two IGLs; there was no arguing that.

Neo actually doing this well in the first half was already quite good.

"Sigh!!" Pasha had a sudden inspiration. "Since we can't beat Zeus in tactical gaming, why don't we just play our own game!"

"Anyway, we are attacking in the second half, the proactive side. We play entirely according to our own ideas, throwing away the tactical gaming stuff—how about that?"

When Pasha said this, his overall tone was rising.

He had also been an IGL once, and he felt he had found a very good approach.

"Just play according to our own tactics?" Neo thought for a moment and added, "Seems like no problem, but I'm just a bit worried."

"Worried about what?"

"Worried that you'll give it away every round."

"You bastard..." While laughing and scolding, Pasha also breathed a sigh of relief; he had been worried Neo was under too much pressure.

Now that he was in the mood to joke with him, it meant he had already adjusted.

Amidst the laughter, the halftime break ended.

The two sides swapped camps, and VP came to the attacking side.

The second half officially began—

Neo threw a P250 to Xu Beifang and then started explaining their tactics.

"This round, we'll do a Mid-to-B split. Nice, you take the P250 and lead the team to B2 at the start."

"Then Byali and I will wait for the second timing, throw a Link smoke, and find a way to enter Jungle to execute a B-split with the teammates."

NaVi's previous tactic of smoking Link in the pistol round gave him some ideas, leading him to make an on-the-spot decision.

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang rushed toward B2 with the P250.

"Thanks to 6657's Niuzi for the plane..." The moment he finished thanking for the gift, Wanjiqi fell into silence. "How can someone still use such an ID? Let's just watch the match."

"Entering the second half, NaVi directly bought five half-armors; they aren't planning to let the opponent into the bomb site! No defuse kits or defuse smokes, not a single retake utility, just relying purely on individual gunplay."

"This round, VP is faking an A-hit, Neo carefully designed for NaVi... Wait! Zeus is pushing up directly at B2!! And he doesn't seem to have seen Pasha and Nice's positions!!"

Xu Beifang and Pasha both heard the footsteps at B2, and both became vigilant.

The opponent's uninhibited footsteps allowed Pasha to instantly kill him in one encounter.

"Zeus is too bold; pushing up with footsteps the whole way, this is just too disrespectful!!"

"Are you kidding me? Even Nice, that pushing monster, doesn't dare to play like you!"

"But there's still a Flamie holding an angle in the back. Pasha, who swung out, was instantly one-tapped. Both sides traded 1-for-1, and Nice came out of the Kitchen to trade, P250 one-tap headshot!!"

Two consecutive kills at B2, and the entire VP team instantly moved.

After throwing the smoke grenade, Neo and Byali successfully slipped into Jungle.

And the smooth attack on B site meant they didn't even need to risk helping with the split; just cutting off the opponent's retake in the VIP area was enough.

"Supermarket should have someone rotating, be careful when you plant." Byali reminded.

They knew there was someone in VIP when they were at the Archway earlier; this round, after throwing the utility, they had intended to catch that CT.

But after searching, they found no one in VIP, so it was highly probable the opponent was already retaking.

Michu planted the bomb, Xu Beifang stepped on his head to enter the bomb site and hold an angle on the old-six box, but as the bomb was planted, he didn't see anyone coming to trouble them.

"At the same time, s1mple jumped out from the Link smoke and was directly held by Neo! VP's tactic really has something to it!"

"Electronic walked out of the Supermarket; now in a 2v4 clutch, he wants to proactively find an opening, but he never expected someone to be standing on the bomb site box, and he was instantly taken away by Nice. This pistol is truly accurate!"

"The remaining Edward was also taken out by the retaking Byali."

"VP's tactics have something to them!!" Wanjiqi praised. "The tactics were played very well, and the gunplay also performed. That push at B2 earlier was too fatal for NaVi. Zeus was purely gambling that B2 was empty, wanting to run out to gather information. I can only say, as expected of Zeus, alright."

"This was basically a pure gift. The close point at B2 is all in Glock's kill range. His heavy footsteps were like beating a gong and drum, marching forward and telling you, 'Brothers, I'm coming to B2, get ready to hit me.' VP's members didn't let him down and took him away with one shot."

"After VP won the pistol round, NaVi can only try to force-buy to turn it around, but now they only have CZs, Desert Eagles, and SSG 08s, which basically spells out four words—'trash'."

With a sufficient economy, VP chose an Archway-to-A split tactic.

Except for Flamie, who pushed into A1 and caught them in a timing, the other NaVi members didn't have much impact, and they eventually took this point without any danger.

Entering the third round of the second half, VP chose a slow Mid-to-B split.

This time they ran into Zeus's gamble, but it was irrelevant; 4 unarmored pistols couldn't cause them any impact. Xu Beifang pushed all the way through, taking out three NaVi players, and coordinated with the team to easily take this point, without even planting the bomb.

The score on the big screen was 10:8; VP had achieved a comeback!

"This round is a full buy; NaVi's economy has been calculated, they should have enough for an AWP." Neo said.

Xu Beifang added: "They definitely have the economy for an AWP. I just calculated it; last round s1mple only bought an unarmored P250. If he buys half-armor this round, he might even have smoke, fire, and flash to use."

"That clear?" Neo was a bit surprised.

Xu Beifang replied: "Don't forget, my major in university was accounting! I'm too sensitive to numbers."

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't want to use his brain like this.

But if they wanted to win this match, they had to pay attention to details and consider every aspect.

"Then let's do this: at the start, Nice, you go to A1 to play solo."

"The others will group up in Mid, but don't go out at first. Just put utility pressure at first, and wait for the second timing to throw utility, then execute a fast Archway push. By then, Nice, you follow along and push in."

Xu Beifang reminded: "After you throw the Archway fire, you can directly throw a smoke to the right of the Archway to extinguish the fire. s1mple loves to use one-way smokes to pick people off."

Ever since the team needed him to become a secondary sniper, Xu Beifang had referenced many top snipers' playstyles.

These POVs regarding snipers were what Xu Beifang watched the most, specifically s1mple and device.

So he was extremely familiar with s1mple's playstyle; that man would definitely proactively come out to find opportunities.

That AWP would fire if there was an opportunity, and if there wasn't, he would create one.

Neo and the others nodded in understanding, then headed to Mid to control the map according to the early setup.

Start with VIP, B Small smoke, and then Neo aimed and threw an Archway fire.

But at the same time, the sound coming from Mid instantly made them vigilant.

"Someone in VIP threw a fire early!! Don't go out!!"

Immediately after, Byali also threw a smoke grenade toward the Archway fire.

Throwing a VIP fire at the start could disrupt the integrity of the VIP smoke; this playstyle was relatively niche but became well-known because of s1mple.

But this round, s1mple didn't intend to gather information in VIP; he walked directly toward the Archway after throwing the fire.

He wanted to make the opponent think he was in VIP, give them false information, and then use his AWP to get a first kill.

Seeing the opponent's Archway fire, he took out a smoke grenade and threw it, but at the same time, a smoke flew in from the T-spawn direction, extinguishing the fire early.

And the smoke grenade popped on the left side of the Archway, destroying his original one-way smoke.

"I'm back in VIP, Electronic, you watch the Archway." The opponent's series of actions shattered s1mple's plan, and he could only reconsider.

At the same time, Xu Beifang in A1 made the first move.

After thinking about several possible positions on A site, he mixed directly from the far right of the A1 smoke to the A1 Jump Platform.

"Nice mixed out directly from A1; could this be a timing?"

"But in the last second of entering the A1 Jump Platform, he was still seen by Flamie; now he's locked inside A1 instead."

Xu Beifang had reached A1 and signaled to his teammates in Mid that they could start moving.

Neo started giving orders, directly initiating the second wave of utility in Mid.

VIP fire plus Archway flash, sending them into the Sandbags.

s1mple in VIP heard someone in A1 and intended to return to CT Spawn to help and deal with the enemy at A1.

But the movement from Mid kept him there.

He considered whether to go out and take a shot in the last few seconds of the VIP fire, but a smoke grenade had already flown in, blocking the VIP vision.

"Can you help me throw an Archway smoke?" Electronic asked for help in the voice chat.

The opponent was fully active in Mid, and he had no utility left; the situation was a bit critical.

"I'll throw it for you." Edward at B Small heard this and quickly aimed.

Electronic felt relieved upon hearing this; as long as there was an Archway smoke to stall for time, they could organize a follow-up Mid counter-push.

But immediately after, his blood pressure spiked.

"Damn it! I messed up the smoke."

Electronic looked up and clearly saw a smoke grenade bounce a few times and pop at B Small.

Seeing this, he had no choice but to retreat toward Jungle.

This accident also restricted s1mple's position, forcing him to come and help Electronic out of the predicament.

And Xu Beifang saw that his four teammates were already grouped at the Archway, so he immediately launched an attack.

He took his AK47 and jumped directly from A1 to the Jump Platform.

Flamie had been wary of A1, but he never expected Xu Beifang to be so bold, instantly losing sight of him!!

"A1 jumped over directly!!"

Xu Beifang's reckless playstyle instantly threw NaVi's A-site defense into chaos.

Electronic in Jungle immediately turned to spray, but he was still half a beat slow.

Xu Beifang started spraying as soon as he landed on the Jump Platform!

After he gathered the information, gunfire erupted across the entire Archway.

【nice killed electronic with AK47】

【s1mple killed nice with AWP】

【byali killed s1mple with AK47 headshot】

"There's one more Flamie at CT Spawn, just eat him up, hold CT Spawn and this point is won!!" Xu Beifang shouted in the voice chat.

Although he only traded one in this wave, he had gathered information on everyone on the opponent's side.

Although s1mple traded him, he was holding an AWP and couldn't escape either.

Hearing Xu Beifang's command, the VP members quickly threw flashes toward CT Spawn and started rushing toward it.

Seeing this, Flamie didn't dare to stay at CT Spawn for long and quickly retreated to save his life.

But this retreat left NaVi with a 3v4 retake, losing all frontal angles—it was completely unplayable!

"Archway in position, Nice dry-peeks to gather information, all of NaVi's preparations have been disrupted!"

"Look at the coordination of this attack; everyone is in position at the Archway, and Nice, who was playing solo, isn't hiding anymore, jumping out directly to find people—it's all about being reckless!"

"But his recklessness gathered a lot of information for the team. It's called an A1 and Archway A-split, but after the action in Mid, s1mple originally intended to use his AWP to counter-peek the Archway and get a kill, but he didn't expect the A1 push to come faster."

"Many of s1mple's plays are very bold, and many times they can achieve very good results, but when the opponent has an even bolder player, many of his plays aren't so ideal!"

(End of chapter)