Chapter 267: Since We've Already Made the Finals

"Regarding last night's post-match interview, why did you say before the match that we could win the championship?"

"Exactly, we still need to respect the competition; you can't just go around making flags before a match."

Inside the backstage lounge of Baoshan Gymnasium, Zeus and Edward, two veterans, were earnestly sharing their experiences with the younger players.

With only one hour left until the match starts, the final performance match before the finals is currently taking place on the stage at Baoshan Gymnasium to build up the atmosphere for the finals.

Therefore, they can rest and adjust backstage for the time being to prepare for the upcoming bo5.

But chatting about s1mple's post-match interview yesterday, the two old men still felt that s1mple spoke a bit too arrogantly.

Whether one can win the championship or not, that kind of thing should be kept to oneself, but s1mple insisted on putting it out there before the match.

As veterans who walked through the CS1.6 era, Zeus and Edward have seen too many examples of being reset due to arrogance.

The most impressive one has to be that "fatherly love" moment when VP played against North.

Magisk paid a very heavy price for his arrogance.

If it weren't for later twists of fate, he might have already left this industry by now.

They feel that whether one has confidence or not should be kept in one's heart, but s1mple was prompted by the interview host and let it all out; it was truly irrational.

s1mple couldn't really listen anymore and patted the two Dages on the shoulders:

"What are you afraid of? I can say this because I naturally have the confidence."

He looked at the other members in the room, his words full of pride:

"Although we once lost to Vitality at the Major before, everyone's form was very poor at that time, but recently everyone's form is excellent. FlameZ and Zeus, your stats have been great lately, and FlameZ even feels like he's returned to his peak."

"With our entire team performing like this, why can't I have thoughts about the championship?"

The older generation of esports players, perhaps because they have experienced too many victories and defeats, have an inexplicable sense of awe toward matches.

But s1mple believes that since they have already made it to the finals, the final goal must be the championship, so why can't he just say what he thinks?

Afraid of being held accountable after losing?

He already has enough haters; he's not afraid of a few more.

Besides, s1mple doesn't think he will lose to Vitality. While nice and Zywoo are performing excellently, he is the player with the best stats in this StarSeries, with an average rating already reaching 1.42.

And the average stats of Vitality's twin stars are hovering around 1.3.

Under these circumstances, why shouldn't s1mple be confident?

Why should he think Vitality can snatch this championship from his hands?

After hearing s1mple finish, Dian Ge nodded from the side: "I also believe we can win the championship. After being dormant for over half a year, we have been hovering in the Playoffs; this championship Trophy should be our turn."

"And the audience here is very enthusiastic; it hasn't become Vitality's home court because of nice. We just need to win the head-to-head battle, and that will be enough."

Hearing Dian Ge say this, the two veterans finally closed their eyes, and the anxiety in their hearts slowly dissipated.

It is indeed as the "unlucky one" said; coming to Huaxia to compete, the CS: GO atmosphere here is exceptionally excellent, even if the ability to host tournaments is still lacking a bit.

The enthusiasm of the audience is just exaggerated; a few days ago at a media day, Zeus signed IDs for a full 2 hours, signing until his hands went numb.

Fortunately, this enthusiasm does not all belong to the half-home team, Vitality.

The audience here is very tolerant, and their fan base is also very large. When listening to the live audience shouting "NAVI" during the match last night, he couldn't have been happier.

Competing in a venue with this kind of atmosphere is a pleasure for them.

"Of course, don't look down on Vitality too much," Zeus finally reminded them, "The resilience of this team is exaggerated. Don't forget how they defeated NRG."

Hearing Zeus's serious expression, s1mple originally intended to talk back, but after looking at those biceps that were bigger than his own head, he swallowed his words.

……

The sound of the audience cheering came from inside the venue, and even though they were in the lounge, it still made the members of Vitality feel their blood boiling.

Today is the last day of the StarSeries, and also the day to put a period on this tournament. The live audience is already packed, and even the extra seats are full; all in all, there are over 7,000 people in the venue.

The sound vaguely coming from the scene made them feel a bit restless; they couldn't wait to get on stage.

You have to know that what is on the stage right now is just a performance match.

Zywoo took a sip of milk tea and looked at Xu Beifang: "It seems you won't be able to achieve a three-peat in performance matches."

Major performance match champion—this has always been Xu Beifang's self-deprecating joke, and the Vitality members sometimes bring this meme out to play.

Xu Beifang shrugged, looking indifferent: "It's fine, having a two-peat in Major performance matches is enough."

He doesn't intend to play around in the performance match every time there is a Major.

Although that is a kind of ability and a manifestation of popularity.

But if he enters the Major performance match, that means he was already eliminated before the finals.

Compared to messing around and playing, Xu Beifang still prefers to reap more honors and win more awards.

The performance match is just for fun; it's a temporary rest.

But ultimately climbing to the peak is Xu Beifang's goal.

He leaned back on the Sofa and added: "Besides, this StarSeries isn't a Major performance match... word on the street is that today is a China vs. World exhibition match, and they're bringing out Vertigo to play again; it's definitely going to be boring."

He was also speechless; the domestic tournament organizers always like to organize one team of local players and one team of European players for an exhibition match every time they host a performance match.

This kind of team configuration naturally makes the players take it seriously.

In the end, when they compete, they end up getting too heated.

But this completely loses the entertainment meaning of a performance match.

This is also why Xu Beifang's antics in the London Major and Katowice Major performance matches received praise from the audience.

Because most players really love to watch that.

They like to see Professional Players relax and mess around and have fun just like an ordinary player.

Sometimes a brief relief allows them to better appreciate the serious competition that follows.

Head Coach xtqzzz reminded: "Don't look down on it just because it's not a Major; we don't have many serious tournament honors yet."

This is also a point that makes him very anxious; the previous few tournaments have proven that Vitality's future is promising.

The combination of nice and Zywoo will certainly be able to achieve results.

But if there are no results, the subsequent investment from that guy neo might be even stingier than it is now.

Compared to them, neo is more of a businessman; what he values is results.

Xu Beifang revealed a mischievous smile on his face at this moment and said to Jackz beside him, "I think we can definitely win the championship. Before entering this stadium, I even posted on my social media account saying that we would definitely win the title."

"Ah, this!" Jackz was stunned upon hearing this, and the others also didn't understand what Xu Beifang was trying to do with this move.

"Why do it like this? Don't you know that popping champagne at halftime is easy to get reset?" apEX was slightly critical of Xu Beifang's recklessness.

Xu Beifang rested his head on his palms, leaning back against the sofa, and said casually with a smile:

"I know, of course I know... but do you think a pre-match flag leading to a reset is actually accurate?"

apEX was stunned for a moment, pondered slightly, then shook his head, his expression calming down: "It's not really that accurate, actually."

Over these years in the CS: GO circle, they have seen too many moments of people setting flags before matches.

But if the flag is set successfully, the result is naturally a successful championship win and victory, and everyone is full of praise after the match.

And if the flag fails, because of the huge contrast, it is instead easy to leave a deep impression, which is what led to the meme of popping champagne at halftime.

Xu Beifang himself also has a very deep impression of the concept of popping champagne on the battlefield.

Last year in the neighboring LPL, there was the classic RNG laughter that was born after RNG drew G2 in the S-Tournament.

The first lesson that the old VP players taught themselves was also to respect their opponents.

He would not forget those fragments.

Xu Beifang saying the words "preparing to win the championship" was naturally not out of contempt for his opponents.

NaVi is a very strong team; even if he often jokes about the "unlucky guy" meme regarding electronic, that is also because while electronic is unlucky, he also has outrageous performances.

s1mple, as the current top 1 player, even has the nickname of USB Boy.

In FPS games, this kind of nickname is almost the highest form of praise.

And in terms of calling, although Zeus's overall gunplay has declined significantly, he is still within the scope of the World No. 1 caller.

Happy's calling is quite good, but he is not as good as Zeus.

So Xu Beifang will not, and cannot, look down on this team.

He posted that update more to leave himself with no way out.

To make himself carry the conviction of certain victory to defeat NaVi, and to convince himself through actions and words that they can indeed defeat NaVi tonight!

This is a form of psychological suggestion, and also the attitude he is expressing.

However, his teammates did not blame Xu Beifang too much; Zywoo chimed in from the side, saying: "I think we can definitely defeat NaVi tonight too. Since we have already entered the finals, there is no reason to stand still."

"That's right, we've already reached the finals, so are we supposed to want to lose now? Let's just crush NaVi today and lift our first Trophy!"

shox, Jackz, and the others also had very firm gazes.

Perhaps when they first participated in this StarSeries, they didn't intend to achieve such great results.

But now that they have walked onto the stage of the StarSeries finals, as long as they climb one step higher, they will be able to lift that fascinating Trophy.

shox and Jackz transferred over from G2; to put it nicely, it was a transfer, but to put it bluntly, shox was kicked out, and Jackz was basically sold as an add-on.

During their time at G2, the two of them gained nothing, and couldn't even play a few decent major tournaments.

Now that they finally have a chance to lift the championship and get the first result after their transfer, they naturally want to give it their all.

They want to let G2 see that they are excellent players, and the fundamental reason for the poor results was that G2 wasn't good enough!

xtqzzz nodded with great satisfaction upon seeing the performance of the team members in the room:

"I understand all your thoughts, and I don't mean to blame Beifang. I wanted to chat with you earlier just to talk about the match and to cheer you up, but looking at the situation now, everyone's state is already very hot, so I don't seem to need to..."

"Hahaha."

Everyone in the room laughed happily, using it to cover up their slightly nervous emotions.

This is the First Time xtqzzz has served as a Head Coach for a tier-one team since coming to Vitality.

Of course, this tier-one team is one they built themselves.

If it were last year when Vitality was just established, he would have been very panicked and would have had the thought that "entering the finals is already a great success."

But having come all this way, he has led this group of young people through big and small scenes.

His expectations for the team's future are greater, and he speaks with more confidence.

He was wearing a white Vitality Jersey jacket, the zipper pulled all the way to the top, and he looked around the room with his hands behind his back.

Those eagle-like eyes seemed to be able to see into the hearts of all the members, and his seriousness made the others nervous.

Only then did he smile:

"Beifang is right. Since we have already entered the finals, then our next goal—is in this damn StarSeries!"

"On nice's home turf, lift our first S-Tier Tournament Trophy!"

shox shouted loudly: "Kill NaVi!!!"

"Lift the cup and become champions!!"

Howls echoed one after another in the lounge.

The debut of Vertigo made everyone feel very novel at first, and many people also mourned the departure of Cache.

This map, Cache, recorded an era of CS: GO, and it carried too many memories for the audience.

NiKo used the Desert Eagle on this map, Cache, to create famous scenes in both A Site and B Site, and the title of World No. 1 Desert Eagle also started from this map.

rain's breakout battle was back in his G2 days, when he pulled off a classic 1v5 Clutch reset against EnvyUs.

s1mple also once completed the classic 'Blind Sniper Angel' on this map with a Sniper Rifle.

Although it had been rumored that this map would be modified and removed from the active duty map pool, when this moment truly arrived, many viewers were still a bit reluctant to let go.

However, this matter was just a small interlude.

Right now, CS: GO fans are even more focused on this upcoming final.

The showdown between two of the four major high-traffic teams, Vitality and NAVI, has many people curious about who the final winner will be.

And s1mple asserted in the post-semifinal interview that NAVI would win.

Xu Beifang's remarks before the final, "The plan has changed, preparing to win the championship!", have made the pre-match atmosphere even more tense.

Many countrymen believe that this move by Xu Beifang has a distinct flavor of "popping champagne at halftime."

But many also believe that it is precisely this kind of confidence that gives one hope of winning the championship.

Xu Beifang's fan base is entirely domestic, and his outstanding playstyle often leads fans to compare him with other excellent players.

His match statistics over the last six months have been excellent, but unfortunately, as it is only his first year as a Professional Player, he is still inferior to other top-tier Riflemen in terms of honors.

This leads to his fans always feeling a bit lacking in confidence when arguing with the fans of other players.

Although honors cannot represent everything, in the CS: GO professional scene, it is absolutely impossible to succeed without honors.

Now, they are only one step away from lifting this major Trophy, and they are all very much looking forward to that scene.

……

Xu Nanfang was covered in sweat; he was anxiously debugging the equipment, but the projection screen still showed no image.

"Brother-in-law, let me!" Wang Teng, the brother-in-law who had returned home for the holidays, operated the projector a few times, and soon the live broadcast of the StarSeries appeared on the screen.

A month ago, he told Xu Beifang that he wanted to start an internet cafe.

But after looking into it, he found that opening a new one was quite troublesome, so he took over a second-hand internet cafe.

The previous owner had made a lot of money from streaming, but now, finding this internet cafe time-consuming and laborious, he transferred it out.

Xu Nanfang found that this internet cafe was actually quite good; the entire place had 150 computers and some rooms set up as three-player or five-player squad rooms, and the overall setup was very good, so he bought it.

The new decorations were still being arranged, so Xu Nanfang was setting things up with the internet cafe in its original state for now.

However, after taking over this internet cafe, Xu Nanfang also hung photos of his younger brother winning the ZOTAC Cup, as well as photos of him holding MVP medals from several series of tournaments, on the wall.

Just as Xu Beifang said, he used his fame to draw some traffic to this internet cafe.

Sure enough, among a small portion of students from nearby schools, everyone knew that the owner of this internet cafe had a younger brother who was a professional player.

Xu Nanfang knew his brother was playing in the final tonight; although he didn't have time to go to the venue to cheer for him, he still set up a projector in the internet cafe to feel the atmosphere of the venue.

The previous owner used that projector to host the LOL City Championship, and now it was just right for him to watch Beifang play in his spare time.

"Why hasn't Beifang appeared yet?" Xu Nanfang asked his brother-in-law, feeling very puzzled.

"Don't be anxious, it's not time for the final yet. Just wait until this Performance Match is over. Whoa! Xiaogui is really cunning this time."

The gaming area of the internet cafe soon became lively, especially with so many people sitting there and the match playing on the screen; many people who had just entered the internet cafe would crowd over to take a look.

"What is everyone watching?"

"A CS: GO match. The internet cafe owner's brother is a pro, and he's about to go up against foreigners."

"Good heavens, is it that exciting?"

"Beizige is going to lift the Trophy in Shanghai today!"

"Is he that strong?"

Through the explanations of many of Xu Beifang's fans, the passersby were very surprised; one must know that the number of professional esports players is even smaller than the number of students at Tsinghua or Peking University.

Let alone a top-tier player of this caliber.

Wang Teng urged at this moment: "Brother-in-law, why don't you video call Beifang-ge? Anyway, his match hasn't started yet, let's give him some encouragement."

Then he said to the many Xu Beifang fans in the gaming area: "Shall we cheer for Beizige together in a moment?"

"Sure!"

"No problem!!"

The crowd gathered around said all at once.

This made Xu Nanfang feel troubled even if he wanted to refuse; he was a bit worried about disturbing his brother, but in his heart, he also wanted to cheer for him.

After deliberating for a while, "How about... I send a message to ask him first?"

……

"Get ready to move! Get ready to move!"

Hearing the news that they were about to enter the arena, jackz was very excited and bounced around the lounge; he jumped to each of his teammates' sides and gave them a big hug, which, in his words, was to pass on his strength and deepen the bond between teammates.

Xu Beifang, on the other hand, feigned an expression of disgust: "You cunning old Southern boy!"

jackz wasn't angry either, but continued to bounce over to hug the next person.

shox carried his peripheral bag and said to Xu Beifang: "We should go over and prepare in advance, so we don't have to be in a rush later."

Xu Beifang stood up: "No rush, but going early is fine too."

There were 15 minutes left until entry, and there was still time for them to take care of their physiological needs before the match.

Just then, Xu Beifang heard the notification sound of a WeChat message.

He opened it and found it was a message from his older brother.

Older Brother: Beifang, are you free now? Xu Beifang replied: Haven't entered the arena yet, I have to hand in my phone in a while, what's up?

The next second, a WeChat video call came through.

Xu Beifang didn't even think about it and clicked to answer directly.

That face, which was 40% similar to his own, soon appeared on the phone screen.

"Beifang, there's nothing special, I mainly just wanted to cheer you on." Xu Nanfang held the phone and stretched it out, "Look, everyone here is watching your match. I put your match on in our internet cafe, keep up the good work later!"

Xu Beifang soon saw the exclamations of the group of college students in the distance through the phone camera:

"Hey! My god, it's the real Beizige!!"

"He's handsome in person!"

"Go Beizige, you must win the championship today!"

"Beizige, I've spent money at your internet cafe today, can you call me a handsome guy?"

Zywoo saw Xu Beifang on a video call and came over to peek at it.

"Good heavens, a French fatty!"

"What French fatty, you fake fan, his name is Zywoo!"

The voices of passersby and spectators clamoring could be heard from the other end of the video; everyone hadn't expected Xu Nanfang to actually go for real and show Xu Beifang himself on video.

Xu Beifang also happily gave feedback: "Hey, that person who said I'm handsome, don't run, can you say it a few more times!"

The crowd inside the internet cafe burst into laughter instantly; at this moment, in their eyes, Xu Beifang became real.

"Thanks everyone, I will definitely work hard!"

At this moment, a college student nearly 1.9 meters tall shouted:

"The plan remains unchanged, win the championship immediately!"

"Alright, watch my performance!" Xu Beifang also responded with a smile.

At this time, Xu Nanfang took the phone, walked to the side, and looked slightly self-reproachful: "Beifang, it was all agreed upon that I would go to the venue to cheer for you."

"Sigh, what are you talking about, aren't you also working hard for your own career?" Xu Beifang said, "Besides, aren't you watching my match at the internet cafe just the same?"

"Alright, I'm hanging up, the referee is coming to collect the phones."

"Alright, play well!"

Xu Beifang hung up the video call; Zywoo saw him smiling very happily and leaned over to ask: "Who were you on the phone with?"

"My brother sent me pre-match blessings earlier too."

"With my brother, he just sent me pre-match blessings, telling us to play well." Xu Beifang was quite proud.

Seeing both young players showing off their brothers, shox hummed, "My fiancée and my son also sent me blessings, do you guys have that?"

This heavy blow to the single dogs could be called a lethal strike to the heart!

jackz jumped onto Xu Beifang's back from behind, "Still chatting, it's time to enter the arena!!"

At this moment, the host's loud shout rang out inside the venue: "Next, let us welcome, Vitality!!!!"

Amidst the cheers of the live audience, the Vitality members were ready, walking from the dim player tunnel toward the light, striding forward toward that stage that belonged to them!

……

Bright lights shone down from the dome, and the Vitality members walked toward the stage amidst the explosive cheers of the audience.

The audience next to the player tunnel stretched out their hands as much as they could, wanting to shake hands with the competing players.

Xu Beifang also satisfied their wishes, stretching out his arms to bump hands with the audience members he passed by.

Finally arriving at the end of the stage, there were two proactive audience members holding a Vitality team flag.

Xu Beifang raised an eyebrow, took the team flag from the fan's hand, and stood directly inside the venue waving it.

The clamor inside the venue rose again, and the audience responded excitedly.

Vitality also slowly walked onto the stage.

The NaVi players were already standing on the stage, casting scrutinizing gazes at them at this moment.

The host came to the center of the stage and began to constantly stir up the audience's emotions.

Making the audience shout continuously, creating more passion for the upcoming match.

The host pointed out Xu Beifang and s1mple at this time; he knew these two were the most aggressive guys.

"Come on, send a word to your opponent."

s1mple smiled and raised the microphone: "nice, don't have pressure, but if you don't perform, your team is bye-bye."

Xu Beifang took the microphone: "There is only one Goddess of Luck, and I think the unlucky one will only be NaVi!"

Electronic's face turned dark on the side.

You guy, you really are my number one hater, aren't you.

Are you crazy, picking on me every day!

The audience Under Platform burst into laughter, and the group of players began to enter the match room to start debugging their equipment.

Both sides' players were quickly adjusting their states; Xu Beifang was quickly Positioning on the Aim Botz map, warming up his hands as soon as possible.

Zywoo was listening to familiar music on his computer, which allowed him to enter his state as quickly as possible.

jackz was quickly hitting targets on a fixed-point map, maintaining the stability of his aim.

shox was flipping through the tactical paper distributed by Coach today, familiarizing himself with the tactics to be played in today's match.

This novel scene quickly led the director to give a close-up shot.

shox saw the camera filming over and very playfully put away the tactical paper, as if it were some kind of tactical secret.

【What is that??】

【How come there's even a tactical notebook?】

【Vitality is so professional now】

【A powerful Entry Fragger, a stable Sniper, a Lurker hidden in the shadows, and a studious Coach; how could this Vitality not win the championship?】

【Full of rhymes, are you taking a postgraduate entrance exam!】

【Has the European CSGO system evolved to this extent?】

The live stream chat was flying, and everyone expressed great surprise at the appearance of this Vitality tactical paper.

Because of the appearance of the tactical paper, things that were originally just game confrontations became very professionalized.

They didn't look like they were here to play games; if they put on handsome suits, saying they were the Wolves of Wall Street wouldn't seem wrong at all—focusing on being a professional team!

While the audience was discussing, the match was proceeding in an orderly manner.

The bald Coach came to the middle of the stage and entered a coin toss with NaVi's Coach kane to win the side selection.

The bald Coach chose the side with the design, while kane chose the side without the design.

When the referee moved his palm away, Kane couldn't help but feel a surge of joy in his heart.

The "no-word" finally worked for once; NaVi had obtained the priority to choose sides in this match.

In a BO5 confrontation, the priority to choose sides is still quite important.

Returning to their respective player booths, the BP phase officially began.

"NaVi bans a map first. As expected, they are still using their classic ban, directly removing Cache," Ma Xixi said.

Wanjiqi nodded: "That's right. In that case, Vitality has already gained some advantages at the start of this map ban phase."

NaVi is a classic example of political correctness; as a Ukrainian club, they have expressed serious protests against this map, which was created based on the prototype of Chernobyl.

This results in the NaVi team having to discard this map for competition.

In reality, the NaVi members' skill level on this map is not bad; s1mple, Electronic, and Edward have all delivered very brilliant performances on this map before.

"Vitality also has no hesitation here, directly removing Train," Ma Xixi said with a smile on his face.

This first round of map bans is a huge advantage for Vitality.

Because Vitality's skill level on the map Cache is also not high; they just lost to Renegades yesterday.

But NaVi still doesn't dare to leave it in. First, because of the club's requirements, and second, because they haven't practiced this map for far too long. Once it's picked, it's basically a freebie.

The two maps banned in the first round are both maps that Vitality is not very proficient in, which already counts as an advantage.

Coming to the first round of map picks.

NaVi took the initiative to choose Nuke.

Seeing this scene from the stands, NiKo frowned; he was reminded of that match at Katowice again.

Back then, Vitality had ambushed them with Nuke. Although he relied on an individual form explosion to trade blows with Vitality, he still lost in the end.

This NaVi, could they have hidden such a trick as well?

"Nuke?"

Everyone on Vitality was somewhat surprised. They thought NaVi would pick Mirage, Inferno, or even Dust II for the first map; they really didn't expect the first map to be Nuke.

Although NaVi has the iconic NaVi One-Line Smoke and the classic NaVi A Site execute on this map, their win rate in the first half of the year was only 45%.

Perhaps NaVi has a mysterious confidence in this map, or perhaps they have hidden some ultimate move. Xu Beifang and his group couldn't figure it out, but now they could only see the truth in the confrontation.

"Then what about Map 2?"

XTQZZZ said: "Lock in Inferno directly."

Although it seems that the BP is already over after the BO5 map bans, the order in which the subsequent maps appear is still very important.

Because a BO5 match is a best-of-five series, not all confrontations are played out.

Different map sides will lead to different results. Just like the map Nuke, if NaVi picks it, Vitality can play the first 15 rounds as the CT, which is a huge advantage.

Vitality didn't hesitate here and locked in Inferno directly; this map is their strongest, so there's no reason not to bring it out early.

"Vitality has taken Inferno, while NaVi has chosen Dust II as Map 3. NaVi has an incredibly high win rate on Dust II in this StarSeries, and s1mple has also produced quite a few classic moments," Ma Xixi said.

Next, it was Vitality's turn to make a choice between Mirage and Overpass.

After consideration, Vitality chose to lock in Mirage.

With that, the final map pool for this StarSeries S7 finals was set:

Map 1: Nuke

Map 2: Inferno

Map 3: Dust II

Map 4: Mirage

Map 5: Overpass

With the competition maps confirmed, Wanjiqi examined the map list, "I feel like this battle today will definitely drag on to the second half of the BO5."

The first map doesn't reveal much about either side, but the ones that follow are the famous "old three," and both Vitality and NaVi are teams very proficient in these maps. It will definitely be very intense, and both sides will surely start a tug-of-war.

Wanjiqi even had a feeling that this confrontation would only end at Map 5.

The players from both sides began to enter the server for Map 1, and the big bald head gave his final instructions before the match:

"Don't be nervous at all. Just play according to what we discussed before. The main thing is to center the defensive points around Nice, and use his playstyle to adjust the entire game." He turned his head to look at Zywoo, "Also, you need to be more proactive. If you have any ideas, communicate them in time."

Xu Beifang's performance is certainly excellent, but as a Sniper, Zywoo must stand up and perform in this level of confrontation.

"Don't worry, in this level of confrontation, even if Shushu wants to go invisible, the opponents won't give him the chance!" Xu Beifang laughed.

Officially arriving at Map 1, Nuke, the members of Vitality bumped fists with each other.

"Dou Dou needs to step up today, try to suppress NaVi's momentum in Map 1," JACKZ said, very excited.

Shox, who always likes to tease people, also nodded and shouted in the voice chat: "Let's go, let's go!"

When the match footage appeared on the scene, the audience waved their cheering sticks. Amidst this intense noise, both sides officially entered the match.

The Pistol Round began.

Vitality is the CT. At the start, apEX set up the tactics: "For the pistol round, let's buy two sets of utility. Defend Zhengmen and Iron Plate heavily. If NaVi plays a fast A Site execute, we'll rely on utility and Defuse Kits to retake."

apEX directly gave a defensive setup for A Site because he knew Zeus is a man who especially likes to gamble on sites.

Facing Zeus, sometimes you have to concentrate your forces.

In this playstyle, Xu Beifang is responsible for Map Control Outside.

So when the countdown ended, he went straight to the side of the Warehouse, while Zywoo hid under the stairs from CT Spawn to A Door.

This is a very tricky, unconventional position. Standing here to hold an angle, the opponent can only see a tiny bit of his head, but he can get vision of the cross at Outside.

(Zywoo's position is next to the Crosshair)

"You watch the cross at the Red Box Outside, I'll take care of the area near Zhengmen for now," Xu Beifang said to communicate the details with Zywoo, ensuring there wouldn't be any oversights.

Xu Beifang stood next to the Blue Box outside the Warehouse, holding an angle on the Water Tank Outside at the start.

But after holding for a while, he didn't find any traces of enemies on the Water Tank.

"NaVi only bought one smoke, one flash, and one P250." Seeing this situation, Wanjiqi understood the upcoming play, "NaVi's strategy is to throw the Main Entrance Smoke, then instantly speed up to pinch A Site from the Main Entrance. Now it all depends on how s1mple handles this."

s1mple immediately took his P250 and went straight to the Red Box at Outside, not rushing to push.

Because in this A Site pinch tactic, s1mple acted as the bait.

Even with a P250 in hand, he was still responsible for creating fake information Outside to draw the opponent's attention.

? ttkΛn? co

The moment his teammate's Flashbang popped, s1mple controlled his positioning, took a look inside the Warehouse, saw no enemies, and quickly pulled back.

Under his cover, Zeus began to hug the Main Entrance and slowly creep forward.

This Main Entrance Smoke had spread a little, allowing him to successfully turn into the Main Entrance under the cover of the Smoke Grenade.

But Zeus's Positioning Control was not that ideal.

Perhaps due to years of working out, Zeus's perky butt was exposed from the edge of the Smoke Grenade.

Seeing this, Xu Beifang quickly Tap-fired.

"Nice, he even saw that? USP firing wildly, Zeus was tapped to death!" Ma Xixi laughed, "His Smoke Grenade helmet is still as outstanding as ever."

"Nice gets the Entry Kill at the start, but the Terrorist army has already pressed in, rushing directly into A Bomb Site. s1mple locked onto Nice's position, but the first shot missed, exposing his own position instead."

Xu Beifang jumped directly to the right side of the Blue Box; s1mple's Reaction was very fast, but he still failed to kill him.

Information from apex had already come in, knowing the opponent's main force was Outside.

"Beifang, don't rush. I'm creeping up from K1. You help me bait him; my position is very mysterious," shox said very rationally.

At the start, there was no pressure on Iron Plate, so shox walked all the way from the bottom to Outside.

He had now reached the K1 entrance and was silently creeping toward Outside.

If the two of them could coordinate to kill s1mple, the subsequent 5-on-3 Retake would be very easy.

Hearing this, Xu Beifang kept peeking at the Blue Box, trying to pull s1mple's attention.

Just as s1mple fired a few shots at him and then retreated, Xu Beifang was about to warn shox to be careful when he heard the P250 gunshot from the Red Box again.

"Bang!"

【s1mple used P250 to Headshot shox】

"s1mple flicked his little hand and took shox away directly; he realized the danger from the side!" Ma Xixi sped up his speech, "s1mple is still alive Outside, which makes Vitality very uncomfortable. Nice has already moved to the right side of the Warehouse."

Wanjiqi took over: "s1mple still wants to find someone to fight, but we see him constantly Pre-aiming the Warehouse. But Zywoo is standing in the awkward spot under Sanlou. Can Zywoo one-tap s1mple? What!! He even reacted to that? This s1mple is really Locking; Zywoo only exposed the top of his head!"

The arena was instantly filled with noise; s1mple's instant P250 kill on Zywoo showed everyone what a star player's aiming ability looks like.

"But Nice confirmed the position and came straight for him, also a one-tap; he didn't give him any chance to react at all. Is the quality of duels this high right from the start of the finals?"

Finally, s1mple Outside was dealt with, and the kill count for both sides barely returned to 3-on-3.

Xu Beifang communicated quickly in voice chat; he would go through the Main Entrance, while apex and jackz would go through Sanlou to perform this Retake together.

"A 3-on-3 frontal Retake, but too much time was wasted by s1mple; this Retake is not easy to play."

"And NaVi's discipline is very high today; everyone is outside the Bomb Site, not holding the first angle at all."

"Flashbang thrown, apex and jackz rush in together. Electronic's Glock instantly kills one, jackz gets a Trade Kill on another, Nice pushes forward from the Main Entrance, but is taken out by Flamie from the Iron Door with one shot!"

"Instantly, only jackz is left! A 1-on-2 Clutch, and NaVi is hiding, refusing to show their heads!"

jackz stood on the edge of Sanlou, holding the Yellow Room directly, while his peripheral vision was also watching near the Iron Door.

But NaVi had no intention of showing their heads at all.

He calculated the time; even if he killed two NaVi players, there would be no time left to Defuse.

After considering it, he ran straight to CT Spawn, saving the Defuse Kit on his body.

The moment the C4 exploded, shox said: "This s1mple's Consciousness is good; he could actually proactively check K1."

NaVi winning this Pistol Round was half thanks to s1mple.

He used the P250 to instantly kill two Outside and stalled a lot of Vitality's Retake time, allowing the Terrorists at A Site to hold their angles. Under these circumstances, Vitality's Retake was too difficult.

At the very beginning of the finals, s1mple started turning up the intensity on them with his exaggerated aiming.

……