Chapter 223: 227. Chapter 223: Why is there a Niko on Vitality!

227. Chapter 223: Why is there a Niko on Vitality! (

The fifth round begins.

apex starts calling the shots.

"We'll still fight for control of Mid at the start. Rpk and Zywoo, give me VIP Fast Smoke and Overpass Smoke. I'll rush Mid directly."

"Nice, you just hang around the perimeter of A Site. We'll go up through Archway later; you just follow up and synchronize the attack."

This time, apex placed his main force in Mid, preparing for a 4-man Archway push to A.

With sufficient frontal combat power, there was no need for Nice to join them.

He needed Xu Beifang to find a timing on the flank to synchronize his push.

When frontal firepower is not lacking, the flank also requires a keen sense of smell to avoid being caught and killed early, which would expose their tactical intent.

Judging from the previous confrontations, Liquid has been playing quite aggressively on this map.

"Got it."

Xu Beifang had no issues with that; he just followed apex's train of thought.

apex is not among the best callers currently, but Xu Beifang is becoming increasingly familiar with his command style, and he is playing more and more comfortably.

"Hando" knows when to turn him into a role player, and he also knows when to let Xu Beifang go out to find opportunities on his own; this point is excellent.

As a Gunner, Xu Beifang doesn't need to think throughout the entire round; that really affects his aiming.

But he also doesn't need to be restricted to a fixed playstyle like a role player.

The countdown ends. This time, Xu Beifang changes his approach and is the first to arrive at the Jump Platform inside A1, holding A1 to guard against a potential Liquid push.

He had roughly figured out Liquid's intentions.

Although Liquid was blown out by him on Map 1, they still didn't want him to play recklessly. Therefore, they were playing very proactively within his Default area, wanting to use changes in fast and slow pacing to make Xu Beifang become very cautious.

However, this was just Xu Beifang's simple thinking; Map 3 had only just begun, and Liquid's strategy hadn't fully unfolded yet.

Xu Beifang was playing his Default here with peace of mind, noticing that Mid control had already been taken by his teammates.

Under apex's command, they performed a retake inside the Black Room.

But the result was not ideal—

【Elige used M4A4 to headshot kill apex】

"He headshot me twice while blinded!!" apex only felt that this guy was possessed by electronic-god this round; it was quite unlucky.

Having already obtained the information that there was someone in the Black Room, they still held control of Mid.

After considering it, they performed a second retake.

This time they still used Flashbangs, and then Zywoo and Rpk went in together to catch them.

【Elige used M4A4 to kill Rpk】

【Zywoo used AK47 to headshot kill Elige】

The firefight in the Black Room ended in a one-for-one trade. Elige's rich tournament experience allowed him to turn away from the flash and pre-fire, and Rpk couldn't react in time. Vitality could barely accept this result.

But before they could be happy for long, they heard the sound of a Sniper Rifle from A Site.

—Bang!

【Stewie2k used AWP to kill Zywoo】

The trade in the Black Room, plus the opportunity Stewie2k caught on the flank, brought Vitality's numbers down to a 2v4.

After considering, Xu Beifang also actively looked for opportunities from A Site.

He stood below the A1 Slope, holding a Headshot Position while looking toward the Jump Platform.

Not long after, he saw a Smoke Grenade fly from under the Jump Platform toward the Bomb Site. Xu Beifang knew that Smoke Grenade was to cover A2.

He braced himself, his Crosshair holding the Jump Platform.

A few seconds later, a CT appeared in his Crosshair.

"Bang!"

【Nice used SG553 to headshot kill Twistzz】

"Nice's angle holding is very detailed. Seeing Twistzz throwing smoke to cover A2, he knew the CT on the Jump Platform might come to peek at A1. While only exposing his head, he headshot Twistzz."

"Today's barber shop master can't beat our sexy college student," Xiao Bo teased.

After getting the kill, the numbers were 2v3. Xu Beifang knew there was still a Sniper Rifle on A Site.

But the Sniper Rifle being on A also meant there was a high probability that the opponent only had one person on A.

So after considering, he pulled NBK to perform a pinch on A.

"Naf and Nitr0 are rotating back to A. This is a 2v1 on A Site. Nice fires through the wall toward CT Spawn, worried about someone hiding behind the Phone Booth, but Stewie2k is standing behind the Fake Door. This position is too tricky!"

"Nice is taken out with one shot, and NBK tries to Trade Kill but his line of fire is dodged. Stewie2k peeks with the Sniper Rifle again and takes NBK's head too!"

Xiao Bo summarized this round: "In the first Full Buy Round clash, Ji Ge played well in the Black Room, forcing a one-for-two trade, which also bought Stewie2k the opportunity to hit them from the side."

"Stewie2k is also very interesting here; he took the Sniper Rifle and actively chose a wide-angle position. This was somewhat beyond everyone's expectations."

Xu Beifang also didn't expect Stewie2k to make a play like a Big-Silver.

In professional thinking, the use of a Sniper Rifle is generally to utilize cover, relying on cover to hold a sliver of an angle to fight.

Firstly, it's because of confidence in one's own Reaction, believing that one can kill the opponent the moment they appear in the field of view.

Secondly, even if the shot misses, one can retreat behind cover.

This is also why the Sniper Rifle has such a huge advantage in tournaments—Niko's sniping is widely criticized, and one of the reasons is that he is too confident and likes to hold wide angles to gamble on his reaction, which often prevents the Sniper Rifle's advantage from being realized.

Niko's case is due to his own playstyle, but Xu Beifang didn't expect Stewie2k to actively put himself in a dangerous situation just to buy a split second of reaction time.

"Deserving of being the mudslide in professional playstyles," he muttered.

However, the root cause of losing this round was still the struggle in the Black Room.

Apex being counter-killed by a blinded Ji Ge in the first wave dragged their entire tempo down, making their offense somewhat sluggish, which was why Stewie2k found the opportunity.

"It's fine, it's fine, we still have one Full Buy Round we can play. Next, we'll execute a fast A Site take. At the start, throw the Connector Smoke and Jump Platform Smoke, and we'll fly down directly from A2."

Dou Dou still favored his A2 tactics just as much as ever.

No one on Vitality questioned the IGL's decisions. If the IGL made any mistakes during a match, others might have some thoughts, but Vitality would ultimately prioritize the IGL's ideas.

The countdown ended, and they launched their attack according to apex's tactics.

Xu Beifang's entry fragging was as reliable as always; he instantly headshot the player holding an angle from A2 at the start, opening up the situation for the team.

However, the offensive intent was too obvious, allowing the rest of Liquid to rotate and trade very quickly.

Stewie2k at CT Spawn seized a timing, peeked out directly, and took Xu Beifang down.

Elige in Connector also threw a Flashbang himself and pushed out aggressively, spraying and transferring to take down two.

Stewie2k seized the opportunity to instantly kill apex, Zywoo seized the opportunity to trade kill Stewie2k, and then sprayed down Elige who had moved to Long Box.

But just as he was preparing to plant the bomb at Long Box and slowly play out this Clutch, an Incendiary Grenade was shoved directly into his mouth, and Zywoo was toasted on the spot.

With two consecutive rounds of failed attacks, Liquid recovered the score they had lost due to being reset after a Force Buy.

Vitality bumped fists to encourage each other, hoping for a good performance in the following rounds.

But they discovered that these two round victories seemed to have warmed up Liquid's touch.

They were still attacking very hard, but in the following rounds, they couldn't even secure a single point; Liquid went on a scoring streak, pressing them until they couldn't catch their breath.

Unknowingly, the first half had already reached its end.

……

3:9

Looking at the 3x score gap overhead, the Vitality team was somewhat silent.

Moreover, losing the previous Full Buy Round meant their economy wasn't very good, so they could only go for Half Armor Desert Eagle to adjust their economy this round.

Even though his own mood wasn't very good, apex still took the initiative to comfort his teammates: "Everyone adjust, we have to communicate if we want any chance of a comeback."

"There are 3 rounds left in the first half. As long as we can take 1 point, we'll have 4 points to start the second half, giving us room for error to chase the score, so everyone cheer up!"

apex wore a smile, trying hard to encourage his teammates.

NBK shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Dou Dou, sometimes I really admire you; no matter the environment, you can still remain optimistic."

Dou Dou just smiled slightly, "I just like to release all my emotions onto my opponents."

Recalling those scenes of apex standing up and shouting, the members of Vitality couldn't help but smile knowingly.

"Next, brothers, I'll give you a top-tier tactic!" apex said mysteriously, and everyone pricked up their ears, ready to hear his answer.

"That is, when in doubt! Rush B!"

……

Xiao Bo's brows were tightly furrowed. Looking at the huge score gap overhead, he said with a hint of worry:

"Losing several consecutive Full Buy Rounds in Clutches is really frustrating. Although Liquid's economy isn't great either because of the Clutches, this 3:9 score is truly a bit ugly."

Being behind in score isn't a big problem; the problem is being behind by too much!

A 6-point gap was created in the first half, and looking at the paper difference of this point, Vitality still has to keep losing, and the gap might continue to widen!

"Even though nice had a god-like performance on Inferno, coming to Mirage, Ji Ge might not be that kind of highlight-reel player, but his stable performance still gives Vitality a huge headache."

"Now we can only see how Vitality's attack unfolds in the next Full Buy Round. If they play well, there's still a possibility of getting 4 or 5 points; if the attack doesn't go smoothly, they might just stay at 3 points."

The countdown ended, and according to apex's tactics, everyone arrived at the B Site perimeter.

Because it was an eco round, they didn't buy many utilities; only apex bought two Flashbangs and one Smoke Grenade, preparing to explode onto B Site directly, trading as many as possible.

Xu Beifang held a Desert Eagle, following behind rpk, ready to trade at any time.

As the first set of utilities on B Site ended, rpk slowly probed forward, and Xu Beifang also moved forward while crouching, but his crosshair was always held on the edge of the White Car.

An Incendiary Grenade flew toward them from the right side of the White Car. rpk in front let go of his pace, and Xu Beifang stood up and peeked for a second, seeing half a scalp on the right side of the White Car.

The crosshair adjusted slightly to the right, and Xu Beifang's strongest Positioning Ability exerted a powerful effect at this moment.

"Bang!"

【nice used Desert Eagle to headshot kill nitr0】

After nitr0 finished throwing the grenade, he originally just wanted to get some information on B2 Floor, but he didn't expect to be instantly headshot.

He immediately shouted on voice comms: "Lots of people at B2 Floor, the opponents are rushing B directly!!"

Naf, who was on the B Site perimeter, saw this situation and hurriedly pulled out an Incendiary Grenade, throwing it toward B2 Floor in an attempt to delay the rhythm of the attack.

After Xu Beifang got the kill, several teammates beside him immediately launched an offensive, wanting to seize this hard-won opportunity.

He himself was blocked by the flames and could only watch his teammates operate from behind, feeling anxious.

【naf used AK47 to headshot kill Zywoo】

【naf used AK47 to headshot kill rpk】

【naf used AK47 to kill NBK】

Watching his teammates die one after another, Xu Beifang, carrying the bomb, turned and left. The first wave of the B Site attack failed to enter, so now they could only look for opportunities again.

However, at the same time, the unarmored apex actually killed Stewie2k, who was rushing back to retake.

It's just that the Sniper Rifle dropped at B Small, and there was no way to pick it up to replenish their combat power.

"I'm turning back, let's try hitting A."

The two Vitality members probed toward A Site again. Xiao Bo, who was casting this match, had his brows tightly furrowed:

"A 2v3 Clutch, but Vitality only has two Desert Eagles, and apex is still on an unarmored Desert Eagle; it's really too poor."

"And the director is very smart this round, moving directly into A2 Floor, giving A Site to you, and Naf is simply holding CT Spawn, not giving any chance for a head-on duel... Is Liquid being too respectful?"

The audience watched Liquid's positioning; Naf was in the Wanjiqi position on B Site, a very 'old six' spot—not asking for many kills, but at least able to trade one.

And Ji Ge was holding Dog Hole on the box to the side of the VIP entrance, guarding against enemies who might come to touch Supermarket or CT Spawn.

The director on A Site even pressed into A2 Floor, not giving even a single chance.

They saw absolutely no hope for a Reset.

Under the tutelage of Astralis, if Liquid wanted to become steady, their discipline would absolutely be a terrifying existence.

……

No one at A Site?

Xu Beifang pursed his lips; he had dry-peeked all the way from A1 into the Bomb Site, carefully clearing A Site with half-body peeks, yet he hadn't seen a single defensive player at A Site at all.

Just as he finished clearing the Bomb Site, bad news came from the top right corner.

【elige killed apex with ak47】

"Holding a straight angle at the Dog Hole exit." apex reported the position quickly, then said nothing more.

There were still 40 seconds left, enough time for nice to try, but... the opportunities were truly scarce.

His reason told him that letting nice go plant the bomb to earn money now was the most logical choice.

But the images from the past in his mind gave him unrealistic expectations for the Clutch.

Vitality's voice comms became quiet again; Xu Beifang confirmed that elige, who had been playing Archway and B Small, was at the Dog Hole, so the other player, Twistzz, was either at CT Spawn or had pushed up into A2.

Xu Beifang adjusted his breathing and controlled his character to start pushing toward CT Spawn.

He cleared the far point of CT Spawn with half-body peeks bit by bit, then checked under the Phone Booth, and checked behind the Trash Can on the right.

After a series of fluid movements and clearing angles, he confirmed there were no enemies at the close point of CT Spawn.

With less than 30 seconds left on the clock, it urged Xu Beifang to make a decision.

If the Terrorist failed to Plant the bomb or died before the countdown, his loss bonus for the next round would be $0.

Xu Beifang patiently peeked toward CT Spawn bit by bit, and finally saw a retreating head.

And the moment he saw him, that head was turning toward his angle!

"Bang!"

【nice killed elige with Desert Eagle Headshot】

Good timing allowed Xu Beifang to secure this kill.

With only 20 seconds left, there was no extra time for him to pick up a gun; Xu Beifang could only run toward A Bomb Site with the Desert Eagle.

"Twistzz should be in A2," Zywoo reminded him considerately.

Xu Beifang said "Mm," indicating he knew.

He ran with full footsteps, and seeing that Twistzz still hadn't come out, he pulled out the bomb, "tapped" it, and instantly switched back to the Desert Eagle.

"Bang!"

"Da-da..."

The two exchanged fire rapidly, but it was a brief encounter.

The moment Twistzz peeked out and saw Xu Beifang holding the Desert Eagle, he felt slightly panicked.

Everyone in the voice comms was excitedly reminding him that time was running out, so Twistzz shifted his goal from "getting a kill" to "stalling for time."

After holding A2 for a few more seconds and confirming Twistzz didn't intend to come out, Xu Beifang knew he had to plant the bomb.

He switched to the bomb and moved quickly toward the Short Box.

Facing the Short Box to plant a CT Spawn bomb was the only solution when there was an enemy at A2.

During the process, he checked B Small in detail and spotted naf.

After Xu Beifang got into position, he planted the bomb directly.

Hearing the ticking of the C4, Twistzz subconsciously peeked out, wanting to catch Xu Beifang.

But not seeing Xu Beifang immediately, he knew he was behind the Short Box.

Twistzz didn't rush; he moved quietly toward A1, wanting to catch the timing of nice standing up to get information.

As the bomb was planted, the red timer on the top finally changed to the C4 icon.

But Xu Beifang remained in a state of high tension; he heard the footsteps of Twistzz peeking out, and even if it was only for an instant, he was very certain.

Therefore, the Platform at A2 in front of him would be a dangerous area.

Twistzz was posing a threat from the front, and naf, whom he had just seen at B Small, wouldn't let him stay safely in place either.

Xu Beifang understood clearly—he had to take the initiative!

He actively peeked and jiggled to the right, immediately seeing Twistzz on A2.

He instantly pressed the A key, pulling his whole body back.

But he wasn't afraid of dying; he locked onto the opponent's position, peeked out again, and flicked the Desert Eagle toward where Twistzz was.

"Bang!"

"nice faked the bomb plant; he knew there was a Twistzz at A2, and someone had come from B Small and Archway. He had to take down Twistzz first for this Clutch to have any chance of being played! But Twistzz has already pushed out, in an unconventional position. Twistzz didn't manage to get the kill in the first wave, and both sides' positions are exposed..."

"nice one-tapped Twistzz!"

The observer for the Katowice Major was quite capable, keeping the perspective on Xu Beifang the entire time.

So for this play, from Xu Beifang peeking, pulling back, and repeeking to one-tap Twistzz, he saw the whole thing.

Xu Beifang taking down two in a row with the Desert Eagle in the Clutch sparked a glimmer of expectation in Xiao Bo's heart.

【This Desert Eagle!】

【Could there really be a chance?】

【Is nice actually going to pull this off?】

The viewers in the livestream were discussing it fervently; the 1v3 Clutch had been reduced by two kills by Xu Beifang, and by planting the bomb, he had taken the initiative, making it seem like there was some possibility to play out this Clutch.

"A 1v1 head-on, but nice still has nowhere to resupply, and naf's Retake speed is fast; he's already at the Jump Platform. The North American Clutch Master facing a Clutch against the world's number one, what will happen here?"

After taking down Twistzz, Xu Beifang instantly turned his head toward the Archway.

He couldn't calculate exactly where the opponent was, but he could roughly infer they were around the Archway or Jump Platform.

Failing to see anyone at first, he immediately moved toward the Long Box, wanting to expand his operational space.

Yet he didn't expect that just after stepping out two body-lengths, he would see someone poke their head out at the Jump Platform.

There was no time for excessive thought; massive amounts of training had already turned aiming into an instinct.

Before Xu Beifang's brain had even processed how to handle it, his wrist had already subconsciously performed a Flick.

In an instant, the Crosshair appeared on the head of that Vitality player on the Jump Platform as if it had teleported.

"Bang!"

【nice used a Desert Eagle to get a Headshot kill on naf】

"My god!!! Holy crab!!! What was that Flick?! Brothers, we've just seen God! What is going on with this Desert Eagle? How did a niko pop out of Vitality in a Clutch? This is too accurate!" Xiao Bo held his head in his hands, unable to believe the scene he was seeing.

In an eco round, a solo 1v3 with a Desert Eagle is already quite rare.

But to pull off a 1v3 Reset in a situation where the opponents gave absolutely no chances, relying on his own understanding and aiming ability, is simply too terrifying.

When the Desert Eagle flicked and killed naf with one shot, Xu Beifang only then reacted to what had happened.

Qi and blood surged, adrenaline was constantly spiking, and he felt an invisible force rush from the soles of his feet straight to his crown.

The eyes of the entire Vitality team turned toward Xu Beifang.

They were stunned; this Flick was so sudden that it left them without any preparation at all.

"Are you kidding me?" The usually serious rpk was shaking his head constantly, "You really are like Locking, brother, you are just too terrifying."

If the previous duels relied on experience and delicate handling, then this final reflex shot was truly somewhat exaggerated.

At the time, Xu Beifang was still adjusting his Crosshair, intending to peek the Archway from the left side of the Long Box.

But the moment he saw naf appear, he pulled his aim in a single frame and instantly flicked it onto naf's head.

The information for this Clutch was clear; rpk could see very clearly that Liquid was playing very steadily, and their discipline was maxed out.

Yet it was forcefully broken by nice using a Desert Eagle to win the Clutch.

apex could no longer wait; the successive failures had caused a lot of negative emotions to build up inside him, and at this moment, he finally couldn't hold back, pushed his microphone up, and shouted loudly toward the next room: "Desert Eagle 1v3!!! 1v3!!!"

xtqzzz rushed to Xu Beifang's side and excitedly performed a fist bump with him:

"Well played, kid, this round of yours was too critical; you've brought out our momentum!"

Xu Beifang also borrowed the emotions brought by the Reset and shouted excitedly: "Brothers, let's go! My feel for the game is here, the next rounds are ours!"

Soon he noticed the camera on the side filming over, and Xu Beifang faced the camera with a confident smile, then paid tribute to his old captain.

He rolled up his sleeves, revealing the explosive arm muscles beneath his short sleeves.

Having just harvested a spectacular Clutch, the combination with those beautiful muscle lines made his hormones go off the charts.

【Holy crap! Isn't little Xu a beanpole? Look at these muscles!】

【The direct disciple of pasha, what did you expect?】

【Damn, just how many players is nice a direct disciple of!】

【I have no choice but to love him now.】

【I feel like he could actually solo stewie2k offline.】

【Little Xu, be my man!!】

【Heaven-defying...】

While the live stream chat was discussing it frantically, hearing the shouts of "1v3!" coming from the next room.

stewie2k shouted somewhat angrily: "apex, shut up!"

Anyone with eyes could see they had taken a huge hit, so nitr0 quickly called for a timeout; they urgently needed to adjust themselves.

I don't know how to use the new features yet, so just bear with it.