Chapter 247

252. Chapter 247 NRG: "Vitality isn't even a strong team!"

April 3, 2019, Wednesday.

Electronic sports tournaments are always cruel. The group stage of this StarSeries had already reached the fifth round, and teams with insufficient strength or slightly worse luck had long since been eliminated.

One thing that made domestic viewers quite happy was that not only did Vitality survive to the fifth round, but Tyloo had actually defeated BIG yesterday, successfully reaching the final round before the playoffs.

But in today's first round of matchups, Tyloo faced NiP to compete for a playoff spot.

In this match, Danking blasted out 82 kills across three maps, but in the end, he couldn't beat Rez, who had drawn the "God" card.

Many players expressed regret in the live stream chat regarding this. Many of them were Tyloo fans, and some had bought tickets wanting to cheer for Tyloo offline, but now Tyloo hadn't even made it to the offline stage, which was disheartening.

But they could see that Danking had already tried his best, so they could only use the phrase "honorable defeat" to encourage Tyloo.

Only 15 minutes left until the match.

Inside the NRG lounge.

Tarik had been under a lot of pressure since yesterday, his brows tightly furrowed.

Brehze leaned over and patted his shoulder: "What the hell? I've felt your state has been a bit off since yesterday."

Tarik pursed his lips: "It's nothing major... just that we're facing Vitality today, and the pressure is a bit high."

Ethan, standing to the side, asked with some confusion: "Are they very strong?"

NRG had easily defeated Vitality in the Katowice Challenger Stage and hadn't felt that Vitality had any particularly strong power at all.

Vitality had a deep impression on them, but who would keep remembering a defeated opponent?

Not strong?

Memories began to flash back in Tarik's mind.

He only had one encounter with Vitality, but why did he feel such immense pressure? The most important reason was that ID on the other side—Nice.

The first time he faced Nice was at the ZOTAC Cup in Hong Kong, Huaxia.

At that time, they were full of confidence and had assembled a Brazilian and North American hybrid Galaxy Battleship.

Back then, they were in high spirits, fighting all the way to the top four, feeling that once they beat VP, the subsequent Team Kinguin would be theirs to handle as they pleased.

But no one expected that this MIBR, which had been pinned with high hopes by fans, would actually lose to VP.

As a member of MIBR, Tarik had a deep impression of that match.

They were led by the nose by Nice almost the entire time, getting instantly killed in various head-on duels.

That young man's aggressive playstyle directly tore through their defensive line; it could be said that he defeated the MIBR of that time single-handedly.

"I'm a bit worried about Nice's performance; that guy's explosive power is too strong," Tarik voiced his concerns.

Brehze just smiled and patted Tarik's shoulder: "That's normal. Back when you were in MIBR, the form of FalleN and fer was already declining, and Stewie2k was playing poorly, so it's normal that you felt Nice was very strong."

"But we've faced Nice a few times, and we feel he's just like that, nothing special."

Ethan nodded: "In last year's HLTV ranking, we all felt it was unbelievable. How did this guy get Top 9?"

They believed their own performances were no worse than Nice's, but they themselves hadn't achieved any outstanding rankings in 2018, which aroused their hostility.

At the time, they all thought HLTV might have only chosen that result for the sake of the Huaxia CSGO market.

Last year in Shanghai, they had already defeated Nice, and they believed that today—

It would only be the same result!

Sitting at the player station, the members of Vitality began to adjust their equipment and proceeded with their warm-up routines one by one.

Xu Beifang warmed up while thinking about the upcoming match.

Even though he was confident in his ability to play the duel segments well, he had to admit in his heart—NRG was a very strong team.

Among all the Tier-1 teams, they might not be the most unique or the strongest team.

But they were definitely the backbone of Tier-1 teams; concise explosive grenade tactics combined with decent head-on gunplay allowed them to establish a firm foothold among Tier-1 teams.

Back when Xu Beifang was at VP, although he performed well, the level of Pasha and the others was already very poor at that time, and he was truly unable to hold up the team alone.

At Katowice, their proficiency on Nuke wasn't high, and they were targeted by NRG.

But this time, Xu Beifang believed he still had a chance. In terms of teammates, he had Zywoo, Jackz, Shox, and Apex by his side.

As for the map, Nuke could now be considered trained up; the proficiency might still not be very high, but they at least had the strength to fight.

However, by comparison, there was still a big difference in the tactical focus between Vitality and NRG.

This time, Vitality's training accounts on the 5E platform were helped by Tyloo.

As for NRG, they liked to use tactics to spread out and then rely on the team members' rapid trade kills to play.

For Vitality to win this match, it would depend on whether they found more opportunities or if NRG's tactical deployment went more smoothly.

While he was lost in thought, the BP segment for this match also began.

Vitality banned first, directly removing Train.

NRG said Vitality wasn't a strong team, but they were very respectful in the BP, directly removing Inferno.

Among Tier-1 teams, NRG was one of the very few teams that practiced all seven maps.

While putting in a lot of training, it allowed them to master the entire map pool, which meant they could target their opponents' maps.

In their last BO3, they seized the pain point that Vitality couldn't play Nuke to target them.

But after research, they found that Vitality's Nuke had received a certain amount of training, so picking it again wouldn't have as much significance. Therefore, directly removing Vitality's strongest map was a more reasonable choice.

"But your record is already 1-2 now, if you lose one more, you're done for," danking said, chewing on something, muttering.

Usually, if Vitality could pick, they would directly take Inferno.

But if Inferno was banned, the choices for the other maps were relatively more numerous.

"It should be Mirage."

However, he guessed wrong.

"Vitality chose Dust II! It's also a good choice. Although the Bulgarian Sniper is very strong, the last sniper of France is equally not weak, and Nice's sniper rifle is also played very well. He can exist as a secondary sniper on this map, so they aren't afraid of NRG."

This was something Vitality had considered beforehand.

Before the match, they had studied NRG's BP style and knew they definitely wouldn't let Inferno appear.

And for Mirage, another map they were good at, NRG's win rate was also quite high, so picking it actively would still be at a disadvantage.

On the contrary, if Dust II was brought out, the result might be very good.

The subsequent map pick by NRG was indeed as they had expected.

Vitality didn't pick Mirage, so they actively confirmed it themselves.

NRG's strongest map was actually Train, but Train was removed as soon as it came up, so they could only settle for the next best thing.

Mirage's win rate in the past year was as high as 70%, and they felt good about it themselves, so they were definitely going to pick it actively.

There was another reason why Vitality dared to play like this: although NRG was working very hard on full-map training, their Cache was really no different from the Frenchmen's Cache.

The win rate was heading below 40%.

If they played Cache against Tyloo, they really might not be able to win.

However, after the second round of BP for both sides, Cache was left over, leaving the BO3 to luck.

Ma Xixi almost laughed when he saw this scene.

The viewers in the live stream were amused.

【If this goes to Map 3, it'll really be a free-for-all】

【If it really goes to Map 3, can they call Tyloo up to fight a round? Tyloo's Cache is really quite strong】

【Leaving the result to luck, they really know how to play】

Xu Beifang also didn't expect NRG to actually bring out Cache in the end.

"They don't really think their 40% win rate Cache can beat us, do they?"

The Frenchmen's Cache was relatively poor, but that didn't mean Xu Beifang's Cache was poor.

Back when he was at VP, he hadn't lost a single map when playing Cache.

XTQZZZ paced behind the players and said: "Let's still try our best to play the first two maps well, let's not let the game go to Map 3, okay?"

Compared to Xu Beifang's confidence, he was still somewhat worried.

This map was truly the Frenchmen's "freebie" map; whether it was Vitality or G2, their level on Cache was very poor.

However, the opponent's level on this map wouldn't be too high either.

Xu Beifang and his teammates bumped fists and officially began entering the server for Map 1.

Vitality vs NRG

Map: Dust II

T: Nice, Apex, Jackz, Zywoo, Shox

CT: Brehze, Ethan, Tarik, Cerq, Daps

Pistol round begins.

Xu Beifang clearly felt that everyone's state was a bit different.

Just like the netizens joked, yesterday's match only bought them a breath of life; whether they could defy the heavens and change their fate depended on this BO3 today.

If this BO3 wasn't won, they would fall at the final hurdle before entering the big stage.

That would be too regrettable.

Everyone's mood was clearly a bit heavier.

Xu Beifang smiled: "Brothers, liven up, you guys are putting so much pressure on me."

Hearing Xu Beifang tease like this, the others also smiled, and their moods slowly relaxed a bit.

"Indeed, we can't have too much pressure, we'll just play normally according to our tactics," Apex began to arrange the pistol round tactics. "I'll drop two P250s, Nice and Zywoo take one each."

"Nice, just get info around the T Spawn later, don't let them push up Mid. The others follow and enter B2 Floor to open the train, then group up all the way to A Short."

Apex's tactics were still as simple as ever; he didn't plan to play any fancy tricks in the pistol round, just grouping up to trade kills was enough.

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang picked up a P250.

He didn't aim directly at the Mid Doors at first, but waited behind the T Spawn cover for a bit, then peeked out to take a look at 1:50.

If anyone was pushing up, they should be at the side moving towards B1 at this time, and he could catch the opportunity of them being exposed.

However, when he peeked out at the right time, he didn't see any CTs pushing Mid.

NRG's early-game playstyle was still relatively steady.

"Nice is getting info at the far point, the other four have snuck directly to B Site. Judging by the movement, they are preparing to rush directly to B1 Floor," Ma Xixi glanced at the mini-map. "NRG is starting with a 3-1-1 setup, but Brehze is scouting B1 Floor from Short."

Xu Beifang wasn't at the front of the main force, so Old Jackz became the entry fragger.

Knowing the team was grouping up to move together, Old Jackz was also very decisive; he didn't care about getting kills at all and jumped directly from B2 Floor into B1 Floor.

The CTs at A Short saw the situation wasn't right and didn't dare to stay long, rapidly fleeing backwards.

Jackz quickly led the team to take the Mid Doors area.

"Daps at the Sand Pit has retreated to the B entrance, playing very steadily," Old Handsome watched the mini-map, gradually explaining the movements of both sides. "The attacking side has pushed forward directly at A Short. Nice is hiding alone in A Door, but Short is directly forcing a push. Will the difficulty be too high? This is a 3-A setup."

Mo pointed out the key: "This wave depends on when Nice at A Long makes his move. Whether he can provide pressure from the side is very important."

This wave, NRG was in a 3-A setup, and all three of their gun barrels were facing A Short.

Wanting to force a push from the front was still quite difficult.

From the god's-eye view, the best solution was for Nice to sneak out from A Door and provide pressure from the side.

After getting info at A Short in the first wave, Brehze didn't retreat but hid in the A Short sniper position.

He only peeked out to fire two shots after hearing footsteps, but unfortunately, he didn't get a kill.

"Saw 3 at A Short, help me hold!" Brehze shouted in the voice chat.

The difficulty of 1v4 is already very high, but if the opponent plays recklessly, he can still use his individual ability to recover.

Gunshots rang out at A Short, and Xu Beifang at A Long didn't hide in the back playing like a "rat."

He carried his P250 and rushed out of A Door at a rapid speed.

He couldn't hide in this situation no matter what; even if he was killed the moment he rushed out of A Long, he could still obtain info on the A Site positioning for his teammates and play a certain role.

Walking out of A Door, he carried his P250 and quickly cleared the spots where people might be hiding.

But he keenly heard his teammates reporting the bomb site.

"One at the bomb site!"

"One at the Blue Car too!"

Added to the "jumped under the platform" reported in the previous communication, Xu Beifang understood that the positioning info of the three people at A Site was clear.

After a brief thought, he heard gunshots from the Blue Car; that was in the very corner, and it would take a certain amount of time to clear that Blue Car spot.

So Xu Beifang decisively walked to the right side of A Long and soon saw the CT at the bomb site.

P250 aimed, fire!

"Pop! Pop!" 【Nice used P250 to headshot kill Cerq】

"Bomb site is down!!" Xu Beifang immediately spoke to remind his teammates after getting the kill.

Steady Zywoo breathed a sigh of relief. NRG's A Site positioning was very solid, and Ethan at the bomb site had also caused them a lot of trouble.

His jiggle-peek angle at the head-peek spot was too small, not causing them much damage, but he kept outputting damage, dragging them on the path from A Short to the Ninja spot.

They became living targets on this path without cover.

Although there were still two CTs at A Site, with the person at the bomb site down, they could lean towards the Ninja spot area and rapidly push to the bomb site to duel.

"Ethan at the bomb site was picked off by Nice from A Long, and Ethan at the Blue Car wanted to turn his head to defend A Long, but just as he turned, he was caught by Zywoo, who instantly killed him with two consecutive headshots."

"Brehze at the platform managed to tap one down, but was quickly traded by Shox. Vitality's coordination between A Long and A Short this time was very smooth. This 4v2 is very difficult!"

"The remaining two CTs chose to start retaking from CT Spawn, but a 2v4 clutch is still too difficult."

"Tarik chose to sneak forward from below, but was discovered by Jackz at the slope and instantly killed with one shot. Daps wanted to trade, but Shox jumped down directly from A Short and killed him face-to-face."

No surprises, this pistol round was successfully taken.

Zywoo looked at Xu Beifang happily: "That kill at A Long was key, otherwise we would have been jiggled by Ethan until next year."

"The front also played very well; not losing anyone in the first round of duels was very comfortable," Xu Beifang said.

He certainly caught the timing from the side well, but it was also thanks to no one dying at the front, which gave him the opportunity to operate.

The score reached 1:0.

During the round's preparation time, Apex looked at everyone's positioning and fell into deep thought.

"Like this, Nice, you still go and fight for A Long this round. Zywoo and Jackz help him throw the A Long line smoke, Shox help throw a flash, and send him in alone."

"If we successfully take control of A Long, Nice, you jump into the Pit and fire a few shots, then we'll rotate back and play an explosive grenade push from A Short."

The tactic was slightly complicated, but Apex had many considerations.

He was worried that the opponent would just sell grenades to bomb A Door, and he also felt that the possibility of NRG force-buying with this economy was higher.

He wanted to give false info first, making the opponent think there were many people at A Long, then group up to play a fast push at A Short and rely on trade kills to take A Site.

Xu Beifang carried an SG 553 and rushed into A Door after the countdown ended. Under the cover of a flashbang, he successfully took control of A Long.

The A Long line smoke Apex mentioned was used in conjunction with the A Long corner smoke, making the bomb site lose all vision of the Pit.

If anyone came to contest A Long, they would be very passive.

This was a new invention of Vitality's recently, although it wouldn't be used very widely.

"Control of A Long was successfully taken, but B Site pushed out at the second timing. Apex was holding the crossing point at the Back Garden this round and didn't know the info had already been taken."

"Brehze is holding the near point at Mid; NRG's positioning is still a relatively aggressive one."

Ma Xixi fell into deep thought: "In terms of formation, NRG can actually gain some advantages, but what about Vitality grouping up to walk through Short at the second timing?"

After taking control of A Long, Xu Beifang retreated and followed the main force to walk backwards.

Shox filled in the Xbox smoke, and the group started sneaking into A Short.

Near the Short, with a necessary flashbang, everyone started to accelerate.

But just as they intended to make a move, an incendiary grenade flew from the A Platform, blocking their path forward.

Xu Beifang immediately took out a smoke grenade to extinguish the fire. According to Apex's plan, this wave was meant to accelerate and seize the timing; otherwise, if they were dragged down, A Short would be very uncomfortable.

But just as he finished extinguishing the fire, he heard Shox's loud shout in the voice chat: "Someone snuck up behind us!"

Xu Beifang hurriedly turned around to trade, but the opponent carried a Five-SeveN and moved left and right, instantly killing him with one headshot and one body shot.

"Vitality is deploying explosive grenades at A Short, but Brehze at Mid caught a top-tier timing!" Ma Xixi said. "Is anyone watching the rear? Shox is holding, but just as he took out his utility, Brehze already rushed out!"

"One down, Nice wanted to trade but was also instantly killed. Apex came back to trade and finally traded Brehze."

"But he couldn't have imagined that a second person had already snuck onto the Xbox box. As the smoke grenade dissipated, Apex was backstabbed."

"Zywoo was instantly killed by Ethan's scout on the way to push Short, leaving only Jackz facing this 1v4 clutch. Jackz pre-aimed and wide-peeked to kill Ethan, but Tarik's Desert Eagle taught him a lesson with one shot."

Old Handsome summarized: "This round was played with big problems. Brehze's timing was one issue, and another point was because they didn't get info on B Site."

"Apex was holding the B crossing point at the Back Garden, but he didn't know Ethan had already taken the info on B2 Floor. This was also the reason why Brehze was so bold to push forward in the mid-game."

Ma Xixi added: "But NRG also played well, playing very actively in the force-buy round. The opportunity was given to them, and they grasped it."

"How could someone come from behind?"

Everyone in Vitality was a bit puzzled.

"They must have been at Mid very early. The moment we were dragged down at A Short, they pushed up," Shox did a brief review.

The opponent's ability to seize opportunities was stronger than they had imagined.

Apex looked at the economy and said: "Then let's just force-buy."

Zywoo didn't get a kill in the previous round and only had $1400 in economy.

Saving money wasn't necessary.

Apex thought for a moment: "We'll buy half-armor pistols this round. Ethan's scout probably won't be changed. I'll seize an opportunity to play a Mid-to-B split and take him out."

Xu Beifang added from the side: "We don't have to be in a hurry. Cerq's sniper likes to stay at A Platform. He might play at Mid for a while at the start, but he'll probably be in a 3-0-2 setup at the second timing."

For outstanding players on the market, Xu Beifang had done a certain amount of research on them.

Cerq, this Bulgarian genius sniper, usually engaged in duels at A Platform and the A Slope area.

He would only look for an opportunity at the Sand Pit at the start, and after that, he would be like a tree at A Platform, letting Brehze go out to find opportunities.

"Is the info accurate?" Shox's personality was relatively steady, so he asked one more question.

Apex didn't doubt it and directly explained the tactics: "Then let's continue to open the train at B Pass, sneak into Mid at the second timing, and then play a Mid-to-B split."

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang bought a half-armor Desert Eagle... well, he was out of money.

Shox and the others still preferred the CZ, and after buying half-armor, they could still buy quite a bit of utility to use for the attack later.

After arriving at B1 Floor, Xu Beifang acted as a boost for Zywoo, using a double-boost to peek at A Short.

Although NRG's default formation was mostly played that way, they still had to be wary of NRG suddenly having a whim to play fancy tricks.

After confirming no one was at A Short, Xu Beifang moved close to the Mid Doors, clearing the Sand Pit and the near point of Mid Doors bit by bit.

"They snuck out directly at Mid, but Brehze also returned to CT Spawn at the second timing and is now standing under the CT Spawn box holding a direct angle."

Ma Xixi said: "This position is a bit desperate. Now it depends on how many they can take."

Xu Beifang slowly snuck into the Mid Doors, and Zywoo helped him watch the Sand Pit on the right side of the Mid Doors, allowing him to clear CT Spawn with peace of mind.

He did a pre-aim bit by bit towards the right, but just as he finished clearing one spot and was about to pull to the right, he saw someone crouch and fire a spray.

Xu Beifang instantly counter-strafed, and his crosshair flicked over.

"Bang!"

Amidst the muzzle flash of the bullets, Xu Beifang clearly saw the Desert Eagle bullet strike the opponent's head.

【Nice used Desert Eagle to headshot kill Brehze】

"Although Nice didn't expect Brehze to be standing in that position, he still flicked and killed him with one shot," Ma Xixi laughed. "This positioning is really like an aim-bot."

With the entry kill, Vitality didn't hide their offensive intent.

Apex quickly said in the voice chat: "Smoke CT Spawn, accelerate directly at Sand Pit, Shox, you can provide pressure on your side too!"

As the IGL, Apex was very clear that even with this kill, there should still be two members inside B Site.

They were playing short guns against long guns and had to stretch the defense.

Once the CT Spawn smoke exploded, the low-HP Xu Beifang directly led the charge, starting to pull the gun line.

Shox wasn't idle at B Pass either. He threw the B Pass crossing smoke and then frantically threw flashbangs into B Site, just to attract the opponent's attention.

There should be two CTs inside B Site. As long as he attracted the gaze of one CT, the task would be considered complete.

"Ethan jiggle-peeked twice at the B entrance, didn't dare to stay long, and directly used utility to delay time... threw smoke at B entrance, retreated to the bomb site, and then threw fire at the Dog Hole."

Ma Xixi's tone was a bit skeptical: "But with Vitality's offensive speed, can they really hold them off?"

Tarik stood under the B Pass box with an MP9, feeling very anxious in his heart.

Now the Terrorists outside B were already face-to-face, and someone was constantly harassing at B Pass, forcing them to face two angles.

He keenly heard the sound of a jump at the near point of B Pass; the opponent must have jumped onto the B Pass box.

"Someone is mixing in the one-way smoke at B Pass!"

Tarik shouted, his train of thought very clear.

He stood to the right of the B Pass box, making it very difficult to exert pressure on B Pass.

But the teammate at the bomb site used a rifle to spray a magazine to suppress from the front.

Standing at the White Car, he could barely form a crossfire for his teammate with the MP9.

After communicating quickly, a Terrorist instantly jiggle-peeked into view.

Tarik carried the MP9 and immediately opened fire.

Xu Beifang didn't have the thought of rushing in directly. Being low-HP, he mainly played a "hook" to maximize info.

The moment he entered, Xu Beifang pulled back, judged the position from the gunshots, and adjusted his pre-aim in the process.

Positioning the moment he got vision.

"The last terrorist is still trying, he touched all the way to the long pipe, shox has also changed positions and arrived at the long pipe, the bomb dropped at B site, the other few brothers came over to B site wanting to pick up the guns."

【Nice used Desert Eagle to headshot kill Tarik】

High-level positioning ability allowed him to pull his crosshair onto the opponent at a very fast speed when facing this situation.

Plus, Xu Beifang always had the habit of deliberately aiming for the head, so his Desert Eagle was actually playing quite well now.

"Shox was mixed into low HP by Ethan's spray at the bomb site, but Nice rushed in and killed Tarik with one shot. Zywoo pushed face-to-face and also took out Daps. B Site was directly taken by Vitality, another comeback!"

Old Handsome was delighted: "Next, we are about to enter the 'whoever eco is a puppy' segment; both sides' spirits have been brought out!"

As commentators, they quite liked this kind of fast-paced playstyle of mutual gun-fighting.

However, Old Handsome also believed: "NRG should still buy guns next round, but Vitality shouldn't make any mistakes."

As a veteran CSGO commentator, Old Handsome still understood the game very well; he wasn't as "toxic" as Ma Xixi.

In the next round, Vitality originally planned to pick a soft persimmon to squeeze, going to find trouble with Tarik and Daps at B Site.

One of these two was a joker, and the other was NRG's IGL; their gunplay was generally not good.

The first wave indeed allowed them to find an opportunity, but they failed to produce a kill.

Apex called the opponent to a halt at this time and rotated back to counter-clear A Long.

Apex's idea was very successful. They pushed in one wave and even took the A Platform and planted an A Long bomb without a scratch.

It's just that when facing the retake, Vitality didn't handle it well. Brehze and his teammate double-boosted under the platform, seized an opportunity, and instantly killed Xu Beifang and Jackz.

Shox was also wallbanged to death by Ethan while trading.

But immediately after, Zywoo grazed the edge of the smoke and managed to kill three enemies who were almost simultaneously strafing out, instantly turning the tide of the battle.

Apex also pushed up and got the last head, taking this round without any danger.

Inside the NRG battle room, Daps, as the IGL, said: "I'll buy a smoke grenade, and then everyone just group up and push Mid."

This meant the gun-fighting ended here.

They were still feeling a bit uncomfortable.

After losing the pistol round, they originally relied on the opportunity Brehze seized to successfully turn the game around, thinking they could directly pull away the score.

But Vitality chose to force-buy and fight, playing a Mid-to-B split, and Nice used one Desert Eagle and two bullets to tear through their defensive line.

If they didn't think much of Vitality before the match, then all the restlessness in their hearts was gone now.

After all, the side that was behind was NRG, not Vitality.

These few rounds of exchanges allowed them to figure out Vitality's playstyle after the lineup change.

The synchronized coordination of this team was now jaw-dropping; these people seemed to have entered the honeymoon period of the new lineup.

It's a bit tricky... Daps said:

"Let's quickly enter the long-gun round; it'll be easier to play if Cerq buys a big sniper."

The score quickly reached 4:1.

The first long-gun round of the first half was about to begin.