Chapter 218

222. Chapter 218: Boss at Full Firepower! (5500-word big chapter)

The rain in Katowice still hadn't stopped.

Upon learning who their opponent was today, Xu Beifang's mood was also a bit heavy.

As one of the social butterflies in the European GO scene, he had a very good relationship with several players on Team Liquid, and they would often schedule FPL matches together.

Even if he didn't like the player Stewie2k, Xu Beifang had to admit—the current Liquid was in its peak period.

In his past life, Liquid officially began its rise this year.

The Hundred Days Dynasty would become an indelible memory point in the hearts of CSGO fans.

As long as they didn't run into Astralis, Liquid at this point in time was invincible!

In this team, perhaps there were no T0-tier players like S1mple or NiKo.

They weren't the five strongest players in Liquid's history, but the 2019 Liquid was definitely the strongest Liquid!

……

"How to sell Luosifen? Just go to Taobao and search for Sakurajima Mai's snack shop."

After briefly explaining to the bullet screen, Xiao Bo turned his gaze back to the match; the official stream already had visuals.

He was just about to chat a bit about the inside story of the match when he saw a bullet screen float by.

【Vitality is so unlucky; this Legends Stage grouping is too bad.】

"It's really not a matter of luck."

As a former professional player, Xiao Bo was clear about the ins and outs, and he explained: "In the Legends Stage matches, Vitality met BIG on the first day; the two teams were evenly matched, so the luck was actually not bad."

"Besides the first round having luck, the subsequent ones were more about grouping based on strength. The second round could barely be considered bad luck, after all, they faced NaVi, but in the BO1 match, they still withstood the pressure and won."

"But now it's already 2-0; what kind of people are the opponents at this time?"

Xiao Bo directly pulled up the records from the past two days.

There were four teams in the 2-0 group: Vitality, Liquid, Astralis, and Renegades.

"Among these three teams, the worst result is running into Astralis; the remaining ones, whether it's Renegades or Liquid, are about the same result."

Even as spectators, they could feel Astralis's dominance.

Liquid's paper strength was stronger, and their tournament results in the past few months were very outstanding.

And on Renegades' side, starting from the Challengers Stage matches, they hadn't lost a single game, and by now they were already on a five-game winning streak; their form was terrifyingly scary.

Xiao Bo thought that running into Liquid was actually a relatively better result.

Renegades, as the "Anti-China Heroes," might have terrifying explosive power when facing Xu Beifang.

As a top-tier European lucky dog in the CSGO circle, Xiao Bo believed in these metaphysical things very much.

"Swiss-system matches are like this; the difficulty of qualifying is very high." Xiao Bo pondered for a few seconds and added, "But it's not without a chance. As long as Xiao Xu can explode on one map, and Zywoo explodes on another map, wouldn't this BO3 match be won?"

【Seems quite simple, sigh!】

【The script for the match has been planned out clearly!】

【Xiao Bo has already been controlling the match from behind!】

【……】

Most of the viewers in the stream were just memeing, but a small portion of Vitality's new fans had expectations in their hearts.

But most rational fans knew that the difficulty of winning this match was still very high.

Vitality's explosive power was indeed strong; in yesterday's match, they even defeated NaVi.

But a BO3 match required too much of a team's comprehensive level.

Vitality had already exposed their weak map levels on Train, Overpass, and Nuke in this Major.

Like Tyloo last year, they could have countless expectations in a BO1, but in a BO3 match, they would give away a map at the start, and the pressure would be too great.

It wasn't that there was no chance at all; even if they gave away one map, if they played well on the other two, they could still win.

……

The BP process for both sides was very rapid.

Vitality banned first, and they directly removed Train.

The only good news about facing Liquid was that Liquid, like them, didn't play Train, so they wouldn't be targeted on too many maps.

Coming to Vitality's own map pick, they directly took Inferno.

Although they played Mirage in the BO1s the past two days, Vitality was more confident in their own Inferno.

Xu Beifang still had full confidence in Banana, and Apex could finally come to his long-awaited "Flying Second Floor" segment.

After consideration, Liquid finally chose Dust II.

Their map-picking logic was the same: prioritize their own strong maps rather than targeting the opponent.

In the minds of these strong teams, they default to believing their strong maps are definitely playable before the match.

Liquid then banned Overpass; this map was a weak link for them, with a relatively low win rate among all maps.

After Overpass was banned, Nuke and Mirage were left for Vitality to choose from.

After consideration, Vitality chose to leave Mirage.

The BP segment ended, and all ten players entered the warm-up stage, starting their final pre-match preparations.

Xu Beifang quickly shot bots to get his hands warmed up.

At this moment, he noticed RPK next to him constantly wiping hand sweat with his clothes.

The air conditioning temperature in the venue was just right, not yet reaching the point of being drenched in sweat.

Xu Beifang realized that being only one victory away from the Top Eight had brought everyone some pressure, more or less.

After thinking for a while, he clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention.

"Brothers, don't be silent; you're making me very nervous by doing this!"

Xu Beifang looked at his teammates on the left and right with a smile on his face, "This is our third match in the Legends Stage. Actually, everyone has seen it; our strength isn't as bad as imagined. Regardless of the situation before, we ultimately won two matches."

"Liquid's strength is indeed good, but today's BP didn't have any maps given away at the start; everyone can play the old three maps."

"We have to be optimistic; just like our team name, we have to maintain vitality!!"

"As long as our defensive details are in place and our offensive explosive grenades are decisive, we can win this match!!"

"If you feel pressured, just mute Liquid directly; that way, it'll be a ladder red match (laughs)."

"……"

RPK and the others just watched this young man on the team speaking passionately, with a vision of victory on his face, which made their minds wander for a moment.

"Good lad, looks like I have to pay you a salary today." The bald coach laughed.

Xu Beifang's pre-match encouragement had done all his work for him.

But he didn't feel that it was usurping the host's role; a team should have this atmosphere of encouraging and supporting each other to move forward.

And it was simply great that a young man was willing to stand up and boost morale to twist the rope!

Apex, who was an extremely emotional player, was already boiling with blood upon hearing Xu Beifang's pre-match encouragement and shouted: "Let's go!!"

Xu Beifang clenched his fist and said seriously: "Let's pour Liquid into the place that belongs to them!"

After saying this, he reached out and pulled the monitor directly to his face.

In a BO3 match, the first map is particularly critical. Xu Beifang intended to go all out on Map 1, helping the team take the first map as much as possible to boost everyone's confidence.

Seeing this action from Xu Beifang, the other members of Vitality immediately had relieved smiles on their faces.

……

Vitality vs Liquid

Map 1: Inferno

T: Zywoo, Nice, Apex, NBK, RPK

CT: Twistzz, NAF, Stewie2k, EliGE, nitr0

The pistol round officially began.

"RPK, buy smoke, flash, and HE with me. Later, jump to the left and right sides of Banana to hide, and then explode the Yellow Wall corner together at the second timing." Apex continued, "Everyone else just defaults at the T Spawn; if there are no surprises, we'll hit B directly."

Apex also hoped that the early match would go according to his script, but according to Liquid's habits, step-by-step defense wasn't their style.

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang and Zywoo held Glocks at the T Spawn, watching the crossing.

"Stewie2k's playstyle is very ferocious; they don't want to let Vitality play tactics and directly pushed down from Mid. Nice is holding the second gun position and didn't scout the Mid information; this might be trouble." Xiao Bo's tone was full of worry.

"Stewie2k saw Apex's back, but Banana, what are you doing?! You missed two shots at his back!"

Hearing the sound at the Mid T Spawn, Xu Beifang didn't expect the opponent to be so bold, directly seizing the opportunity to sneak down.

Fortunately, no major mistake was made; he quickly pulled his angle to the left to find trouble for this CT who had pushed up.

Xu Beifang peeked out and discovered that someone was actually holding the T Spawn directly above the Sewer.

He immediately crouched to dodge the opponent's pre-aim, and then his Glock fired rapidly.

"Nice came over and traded NAF, Zywoo also took down Stewie2k; Liquid's Mid push had some mistakes and was instead counter-killed by Vitality's twin stars."

Xu Beifang came to NAF's corpse and picked up that USP.

In the gap of switching guns, a policeman peeked out from the Connector side; Xu Beifang moved rapidly within a small range, making it impossible for the opponent to aim too easily.

Twistzz at the Connector didn't get greedy; after getting the Mid information, he ran away directly.

The opponent didn't pursue, which was the best thing for Xu Beifang.

After eating the two policemen who pushed up, they already had a numerical advantage. Next, it was 5 vs 3, and they still had two smokes and two flashes in hand. Apex had everyone gather and began exploding grenades at B Site.

"Vitality grouped up and hit B Site directly; only nitr0 is at B Site. With two smokes sealed, there's no environment to duel, and he has no choice."

With two smoke grenades given, Xu Beifang followed the main force to quickly clear the bomb site.

Xu Beifang reminded in the voice chat: "5 vs 3, don't give them a chance."

Apex, who intended to take information actively, became steady upon hearing this. Several people found their gun positions at B Site, not giving Liquid any chance to perform.

This round was won without any surprises.

But before they could be happy for long, in the next Banana defense and offense, Liquid bled them with an HE grenade, and then nitr0, whose retake timing was just right, helped the team counter-clear with a flash under the platform, disrupting Vitality's offense.

Immediately after, Stewie2k, who pushed up from the back, took an original Desert Eagle and instantly killed two.

Although the bomb was planted, the clutch was lost very quickly.

The score came to 1:1.

The match had just begun, and Vitality already felt the pressure from Liquid.

Apex looked at the team's economy and quickly made a decision: "NBK, drop an AK-47, and use the remaining money to buy two pieces of utility, spending all the money."

"RPK, don't spend money. If we don't win this round, you buy a Hero Galil next round."

On this map, Apex was very superstitious about the performance of the twin stars on the team and was willing to invest the economy in them.

Xu Beifang was in a rear position, and the AK-47 was in Zywoo's hands first, but Zywoo didn't decline.

In such high-quality matches, they had to take scoring as their primary task.

Zywoo arrived at the Banana entrance first, threw a fire at the Barrel, and then took a few steps back, worried about taking utility damage.

Xu Beifang held a Desert Eagle, holding Mid to prevent the opponent from pushing up as a "special forces soldier."

"The opponent's T Spawn smoke was a mistake; can Nice follow me? I'll see if I can grab an opportunity." Zywoo said.

Xu Beifang immediately followed to look ahead; Liquid's T Spawn smoke was thrown as a middle-Banana smoke for some reason.

Seeing this scene, he also clearly knew that this would be an opportunity.

"How do you want to play? I'll pull for you?"

"You throw a pop-flash, send NBK over to get information, and I'll trade in the back." Zywoo quickly explained his idea.

In this round, NBK was a no-armor Glock, so using him as a human flashbang was no problem.

The three communicated quickly, and Xu Beifang threw a flashbang.

RPK and Zywoo moved directly!

"A pop-flash blinded Stewie2k completely, but NAF had already turned away in the back, instantly trading NBK with a spray, and Zywoo, who pulled out to trade, was also instantly killed by NAF! Who else wants to challenge Banana? Sloth didn't even lose a drop of blood; this is Liquid's frontal ability!"

Xiao Bo was also a bit stunned; this current Liquid, all five people's frontal ability, whoever you take out, is at the level of a gunner; their frontal aim is a bit too hard.

"The situation is a bit bad, a 3 vs 5 clutch; RPK didn't buy anything, meaning there are only two sets of utility; you can try, or you can save the guns."

……

"Keep hitting B? Or try A?" RPK asked in the voice chat.

B Tunnel had already been sealed with smoke; after getting the numerical advantage, Liquid became very steady, not giving them a chance to duel frontally.

Apex thought for a moment: "Just hit a B Site explosive grenade wave; Nice, you go last, we two go to the front to get information for you; you decide whether to save the guns or keep playing based on the situation."

A full-armor AK-47 is worth 3700, which is much more expensive than the round-loss bonus; saving it is also a good choice.

Two smoke grenades were given; the meaning was already very clear.

"Vitality still intends to go all the way; a B-hit flash, pushing directly forward!" Xiao Bo started to speed up his speaking rate, "RPK jumps and searches points quickly, confirming that there's no one on the Flower Bed and One Box, but didn't notice someone under One Box, and was directly taken away by Stewie2k's Mac-10!"

"Apex was completely blinded by nitr0's retake flash, crouching under the platform waiting for an opportunity, but was still blown away by Banana!"

"In an instant, only Nice's 1v5 clutch remains!"

Teammates died one after another, but Xu Beifang also got all the information on B Site during the intense exchange of fire.

Someone was wall-banging at the Coffin, there was a Mac-10 behind One Box, and a flashbang was thrown back from CT Spawn.

Information on three positions had already been read by him, but it was really hard to handle in a short time.

He was thinking about how to attack, but Liquid didn't intend to give him a chance to breathe.

"Banana, pull together, solve Nice!"

Following nitr0's order, Xu Beifang, who was on the One Box steps, immediately heard footsteps on his left.

AK-47 held One Box, and he fired the moment he saw someone.

"Da da da……"

A spray instantly took down Stewie2k, but he also saw a policeman pulling out horizontally from the CT Spawn smoke in his field of vision.

The mouse instantly pulled horizontally to the right, controlling the AK-47 to press the spray down.

"Da da da……"

【Nice used AK-47 to kill Stewie2k】

【Nice used AK-47 headshot to kill nitr0】

"Two teammates were killed, a 1 vs 5 clutch; Nice can directly go back to save the gun."

"But nitr0's positioning, he doesn't want to let Nice save this AK, directly a wave of double-peeking, done... Holy Crab!!!" Xiao Bo's eyes widened instantly, "Nice instantly fired left and right, instantly killing everyone who double-peeked!"

1 vs 5 became 1 vs 3; could it be that there's still a chance?

Quickly killing two members of the opponent, Xu Beifang fired another spray of pre-fire at the Coffin.

He knew there was still one hiding in that area.

NAF, who intended to rush through the smoke to trade, was scared into a cold sweat by this spray of bullets and hurriedly retreated a few positions.

Nice's terrifying operation made him a bit worried that he would be taken down again; if that happened, this round might really be turned around.

Xu Beifang glanced at the mini-map and roughly predicted the A Site retake position.

45 seconds wasn't enough for him to go back and play mind games with the opponent; if he wanted to win, he could only plant the bomb at B Site.

Xu Beifang came under the platform, picked up nitr0's M4, and then came directly near the Two Box, starting to fake plant.

"Beep……"

As the sound of the bomb plant rang out, gunfire instantly came from the Coffin.

Xu Beifang looked at the tracer position and fired a short burst.

No kill feed popped up in the top right corner; the opponent's movement was very fast.

Before Xu Beifang could think further, the CT Spawn smoke grenade dissipated!

As the smoke dissipated, the CT Spawn field of vision appeared on the screen; next to the cover on the left side of the Long Corridor, a CT was holding this side.

Xu Beifang's crosshair instantly pulled onto him, and the M4 fired in a spray.

"Da da da……"

【Nice used M4A4 to kill EliGE】

"Damn this young man! Nice used M4 to instantly kill the retaking Stewie2k from a long distance! NAF behind the Coffin smoke heard the gunfire and continued to mix, but Nice turned his muzzle and counter-mixed NAF to death!"

"Twistzz has already arrived for the retake; he caught Nice's side, oh my, there's no way for this wave!" Xiao Bo's face was full of regret.

If Xiao Xu had won this wave, it would have left an extremely brilliant highlight in the entire history of CSGO.

【It was really just a little bit off, this is too regrettable】

【Liquid's timing is too great; this clutch basically didn't give a chance, double-peeking, several side-shots】

【Damn this young man, I have goosebumps】

【Is this match so exciting just at the start?】

【……】

Xu Beifang's face was painful, and he wanted to smash the mouse down.

This wave was just a little bit off!!

He took down 4 in a frontal 1 vs 5 clutch; he was just a little bit away from completing the feat of a solo 1v5.

Apex was already prepared to cheer, and at this moment, he raised his hand and reached to the left, "It's already very strong; this wave is too regrettable, otherwise it would definitely be on the annual highlight reel."

NBK on the side shook his head and sighed: "This wave is too scary; if you had won it, Nice, you'd really have to go for a urine test."

Although the initial idea was to let Nice play the clutch, no one was traded frontally, and everyone thought they were going to start saving guns.

But facing Liquid's frontal encirclement, their teammate fired left and right, almost turning it up with parameters maxed out, making them feel scalp-numb.

They couldn't believe what Liquid's mood would be if this turnaround had succeeded.

You have to know this is a 1v5; in CSGO tournaments, it's hard to see one in a year.

Even the "Three Gods of Clutches" who have over 700 1vn wins, Shox has never had a 1v5 in his career, Xyp9x has one 1v5 from a ninja defuse, and Snax has 2 1v5s.

You can imagine how exaggerated the difficulty of a 1v5 clutch is.

……

After Twistzz finished trading, he heard several people in the voice chat sigh with relief.

"It shouldn't be like this!" He joked, wanting to ease the atmosphere within the team.

nitr0 extended his fist to Twistzz and bumped it, saying to him: "Brother, this wave of yours was too critical, otherwise being 1v5ed by Nice, the mentality for Map 1 would have directly exploded."

As Liquid's IGL, he considered that no one on the team had made a mistake in this clutch.

They confirmed the position and double-peeked, only to be instantly killed by a spray transfer.

NAF harassed behind the smoke, letting the retaking Stewie2k trade, but Stewie2k was instantly killed by one headshot and one body shot.

NAF wanted to repeat the old trick but was killed through the smoke; if Twistzz hadn't arrived just in time for the retake and caught Nice's side, this round would really have been turned around.

"That Nice on the opposite side doesn't even look like a human; I didn't feel he was this strong during the London Major!"

Half a year's time, is the speed of progress this terrifying... nitr0 was still a bit confused.

……