Chapter 326: May the Danes Hide a Ticket (Ten-Thousand-Character Chapter)

Having successfully fought their way out of the ESL Cologne group stage, the members of Vitality were quite happy.

After all, this was the last major tournament before the Major; if they could maintain their current form, they could start dreaming about their results at the Berlin Major.

In the group stage matchups, they had played quite well overall. Aside from a poor start on the first day, they had successfully won all their other encounters, which made them very happy.

In truth, they had been rather anxious before the tournament.

Analyst swani had joined them before ECS, and through the team's integration during the ECS tournament, Vitality had come to realize just how strong this guy's abilities were.

His exaggerated data analysis capabilities, his ability to track tactical errors, and his skill in processing opponent data—these were all capabilities Vitality had been severely lacking in order to take the next step.

swani's arrival helped them patch up many of their shortcomings, allowing the players to focus entirely on their own areas.

One must know that previously, Xu Beifang and apEX had to spend a lot of mental energy helping the coaching staff with pre-match preparations.

It wasn't that XTQZZZ lacked ability, but rather that the workload of handling all the pre-match and post-match tasks alone was simply too much; he was far too busy to keep up.

Especially after the poor state on the first day, where they suffered an upset loss to Heroic in a BO1, the pressure had been even greater.

"Hey guys!" NIKO's crisp voice rang out from the entrance of the training room. He walked behind Xu Beifang wearing a hoodie. "How's training going today?"

Their tactical library was too sparse—this wasn't swani's fault, but he was able to help Vitality review tactics and deduce new ones under their current conditions as best as possible.

"How else would it be? Just slowly getting into the groove," Xu Beifang replied nonchalantly. In the morning, most of Vitality's training was individual; they were just playing against bots to find their feel.

【Likes to shout, really turned into a clown】

After finishing the online fun, Xu Beifang turned his attention back to the screen.

The results Xu Beifang and Zywoo achieved in solo defense situations were often exaggerated.

Before the match against FURIA, Swani had already noticed the team's lack of offensive tactics on this map.

In fact, Vitality's coaching staff had someone in a similar role.

However, this heat map wasn't a kill heat map, but a death heat map.

After exercising in the morning, Xu Beifang browsed the forums for a while and found that Vitality fans were full of praise for their group stage performance.

swani's solution was also quite simple and brutal.

So, after a discussion, XTQZZZ had Xu Beifang invite his little buddies over.

【Last night's match was truly the end of the world for gamblers (laughs)】

As for the evaluation of Heroic, the comments from netizens on Wanjiqi's clips were very fair.

Furthermore, during training sessions, swani could also use his data analysis to help Vitality see the shortcomings in their tactics.

Especially the show effect created by blameF's taunting yesterday, which only intensified everyone's discussion about this match.

Once swani joined, they truly felt the power of a professional.

It is normal for deaths to be frequent due to map characteristics; for example, the corner at the Banana Road Slate is the boundary of control between the offensive and defensive sides, making disputes quite intense.

He had summarized the heat maps of Vitality's matchups in training and matches.

The other members also had room to do their own things.

Although there were only two days of rest between the group stage and the playoffs, whether or not there was high-intensity combat training during those two days had a significant impact on their subsequent form.

The members of both sides were old rivals, and since Xu Beifang had asked FaZe for a practice session after the match ended last night, the two sides didn't seem awkward at all.

The other FaZe members walked in one by one, and apEX and the others stood up one by one to greet them.

【Your girlfriend might not reply to you, but blameF is definitely waiting for you in the back】

【Don't smear him, he's an entry fragger when the opponent is on ECO】

Fortunately, subsequent facts proved that their change was not a problem; in fact, in most cases, they played with even more ease.

But if it wasn't due to map characteristics, and they were dying too much in certain positions, then they would have to train specifically for this issue to correct themselves and the team.

"If we die too frequently in one area, we must consider whether it's due to the characteristics of that area or because we don't understand how to play it ourselves," swani said.

The changes this method brought to Vitality were obvious.

The most obvious point was in pre-match preparation; the analysis and statistics of the opponent's tactics, and the pre-match data he organized, were on a completely different level from what XTQZZZ and the others had put together before.

And swani brought a lot of things to Vitality.

But swani was very different from the person in that role; swani often looked at the overall situation, using methods similar to big data to find where Vitality's problems currently lay.

In daily training, Xu Beifang and apEX were completely liberated; pre-match preparation was almost entirely handled by swani alone.

【The God of ECO in Ancient Greece is Vitality, but they don't have many ECOs for him to play】

On the first day, they invited FaZe for a practice session in the afternoon, and on the second day, they dragged Mouz for practice.

Not all changes are good, so before ESL started, they were still quite anxious inside.

The member who takes on this role is usually called a DEMO Analyst; generally, after a match, he will watch the DEMO of a match according to the logic of default defense.

【A beautiful day starts with your taunting and ends with you shutting up】

Vitality played the group stage in a trial state overall, and now that they had achieved results and advanced to the offline stage, it felt great.

Moreover, the 4-1 split tactic they had researched before was now spreading throughout the team, and in these few matchups, the overall effect achieved was quite good.

Speaking of which, it was a pity.

Mouz eliminated FaZe on the third day of the group stage, but in the final round, they still couldn't break out of the encirclement and eventually fell to NAVI.

His two little buddies eventually fell before the playoffs.

"But why did you come to find us this morning?" Xu Beifang asked, very surprised.

NIKO replied, "Can't I just come to see you guys when I have nothing to do?"

"Not a chance." Xu Beifang shook his head decisively.

According to his understanding, FaZe should have just woken up at this time; even if someone wanted to visit, they wouldn't come in such a group.

Xu Beifang's old captain, NEO, smiled from the side: "It's mainly because we just finished an interview downstairs at the hotel, and since we had nothing to do after, we came up."

Hearing NEO say this, XTQZZZ also shouted: "Right, I forgot to say, after we finish eating at two o'clock, we also have to participate in an interview, for Betway Esports."

"You guys are also being interviewed by Betway?" NEO raised an eyebrow. "He invites quite a lot of people."

Regarding this topic, the few of them glossed over it, and soon the content of the chat turned to the interesting things that happened in the recent group stage matchups.

Seeing that most of Vitality's morning training was completed, the FaZe group stayed for a while and chatted casually.

"Sigh, I really envy your state, still training hard for the upcoming matches," NIKO said with a self-deprecating smile. "We can only become spectators this time."

FaZe was currently in a period of integration, and with Guardian having thoughts of leaving, NIKO didn't know when the team would be able to achieve results; even if he stepped down from the commander position, he felt the burden on his shoulders was even heavier.

Xu Beifang had heard NEO mention it a couple of times, but he didn't have any good solutions for the problems existing in the FaZe team, so he could only comfort NIKO:

"Think on the bright side, watching us play matches from the audience, maybe you can find back your original fighting spirit."

He felt that FaZe was currently a bit slack inside, the desire to win the championship wasn't that strong, and the pace of everything was very slow.

The FaZe group left one after another, leaving only NEO to stay and chat with Xu Beifang for a while.

The big brother NEO looked at Xu Beifang, his whole body slumped down.

"Beifang, why do I feel like after retiring for half a year, the whole professional scene has changed?"

He was a bit pained; although he had always been criticized for holding the team back, his rating used to fluctuate around 1.

But now that he had become the commander of FaZe, his average rating in these few matches was even at 0.8, or even going lower.

He felt that it had only been a few months, but this bunch of tier-one teams were like they had eaten gunpowder; their frontal force was fierce as hell!

Xu Beifang rubbed his forehead and said helplessly: "There are some things I'm not easy to say. Although you retired for half a year, in this half year, the whole circle has been progressing at a high speed."

"All teams are absorbing the changes brought by Astralis's systematic playstyle. NEO, your state might not have actually declined, but not progressing is the biggest regression, which is why your recent data is so poor."

Xu Beifang had also watched a match of FaZe's recordings; to say that the opponent's gunplay had a huge gap with NEO's was absolutely impossible.

It was mainly NEO himself making mistakes.

His understanding of this default playstyle wasn't in place yet; various movements, positioning, and details of utility usage all had problems, often giving the opponent opportunities to operate without knowing it.

If he had transferred instead of resting after VP disbanded, maybe he wouldn't have had this problem.

But having been away from CSGO for a good while, Xu Beifang felt it was normal for NEO to encounter such problems.

He currently belonged to the category where his skills in commanding hadn't fallen, but his personal ability had declined too severely.

And the current FaZe couldn't achieve good results with a commander whose state was relatively lagging.

"What were you thinking back then?"

NEO scratched his head. "I never thought about coming back when I retired. Who could have imagined the professional scene would change so much?"

"Then why did you run back now?"

NEO glanced at Xu Beifang: "Isn't this your fault?"

Xu Beifang was sitting at home, and the pot fell from the sky.

"How is this my fault again?"

"I rested at home for several months, and when I had nothing to do, I wanted to see how you were playing recently, and then I brushed up on your highlights. At that time, my blood was boiling, and later I started playing again, and then there were professional teams contacting me, asking if I could go and try it out, so I thought, why not try it?" NEO's expression was very helpless.

The game CSGO seemed to have magic.

Even if you give it up temporarily, after going around in circles, you will eventually want to play it again.

NEO had experienced the charm of professional CSGO, and the flame of CSGO was rekindled in his heart, so naturally, he wanted to touch the stage again.

If he were a gunner, maybe this time it wouldn't have worked out.

But he was a commander, a commander worth a thousand gold.

Quite a few teams threw olive branches at him to let him try out.

It's just that different teams had different styles, and NEO needed to consider quite a few things when returning to the professional circle.

Other teams were choosing him, and he was also picking teams.

Time was consumed like this, and finally, he returned to the professional stage after more than half a year.

"Then is there any way now? To make my combat state better?" NEO asked. He knew Xu Beifang had many ideas.

Xu Beifang shook his head: "As a commander, the requirements for personal ability aren't high. You will practice your gunplay yourself. Now it's more that your thinking hasn't shifted over. You can only find problems by watching more recordings."

If you're bad, practice more.

For competitive games, it had instead become a truth.

NEO nodded, indicating that he would strive to adjust his state later.

Compared to retiring again, he personally really wanted to continue to have a second spring in the CSGO professional circle.

After NEO left, before it was time for lunch, Xu Beifang prepared to play some deathmatch until noon.

But the notification sound of a WeChat message rang, and Xu Beifang took a look and found it was a message from his big brother.

Xu Nanfang: Beifang, are you busy?

Xu Beifang typed a reply: No, morning training is about done, going to eat in a while.

After he sent the message, he saw his big brother call him on video.

Xu Beifang walked to the balcony, closed the window, and then connected the video.

"Hey, brother, what's up?"

The big brother on the other side of the video just smiled: "Nothing, just chatting with you on video when I have nothing to do."

Xu Beifang also smiled; when he saw his brother ask like that, he actually guessed it roughly.

"Is the playoffs tomorrow?"

"It doesn't start until tomorrow night, resting these few days."

Xu Nanfang said: "That's good, combine work and rest, then you will have more energy to prepare for the offline stage later."

"It's not that simple." Xu Beifang shook his head. "There's actually a lot of rest time, but this afternoon I have to accept an interview, then tomorrow morning I have to go to the scene to shoot a promotional video, which is the makeup photo we put on the offline screen, and then these two days to maintain the state, we also have to train, still very busy."

As long as you enter the schedule stage, there is no easy time.

After successfully defeating Heroic and advancing last night, when they were eating a late-night snack, shox complained very distressedly: "If we hadn't lost on the first day, we could have had two more days of vacation."

Compared to them, the first place in the group had many benefits.

Two more days of preparation time was the most obvious advantage.

"It's indeed quite busy after entering the competition." But immediately after, Xu Nanfang thought of himself, "But you at least have rest after a competition, I have to work all year round!"

Comparing people to people is enough to make one angry. Although the younger brother was very busy at work, he still had a long vacation to relax after work.

Xu Nanfang now had to revolve around his shop all day.

Although as the boss, he was relatively free.

"Then you have to arrange it in advance." Xu Beifang shouted immediately, "You promised me before that you would go to the scene to cheer for me during the Berlin Major."

"I know, I know." Xu Nanfang pretended to be impatient, then pretended to take out two passports from below nonchalantly, "Isn't this already handled? How could I forget something I promised you?"

The younger brother had been playing matches abroad for many years, and whether he could feel the support of his family was a very important part.

The electronic sports of Xu Nanfang's era were growing wildly, and most parents regarded video games as fire and water. He also knew something about the experiences of the first batch of e-sports people at that time.

That's why he didn't want his younger brother to walk in this industry without feeling the support of his family behind him.

Looking at the smile on his younger brother's face, Xu Nanfang also smiled: "Your sister-in-law and I have both handled it, going there to cheer for you... Just happen to have a honeymoon, I've been busy with the internet cafe and these things before, and haven't had time to take your sister-in-law out to play."

"Are Mom and Dad not coming?" Xu Beifang asked.

Xu Nanfang shook his head: "I didn't tell them before, they originally planned to go somewhere to travel and play next month, so I just didn't say anything."

They didn't have children now, and Xu Ba and Xu Ma were at home every day, and there weren't many things to do.

Before, Xu Beifang's sister-in-law suggested that they could go travel outside when they had nothing to do and enjoy life.

The two adults finally got interested and planned for a long time.

At this time, if Xu Nanfang said he was going abroad to cheer for Beifang, they would definitely go, but the travel might be shelved.

Xu Nanfang considered that for this kind of competition of his younger brother, his parents might not understand it very well, so he didn't say anything.

Xu Beifang also understood, and it was already very good to have his big brother and sister-in-law come to cheer for him.

"Right." Xu Nanfang remembered one thing, "NIP wasn't eliminated this time, right."

Xu Beifang nodded: "Right, NIP also successfully advanced, GeT_RiGhT carried hard in the group stage."

Throughout the group stage, GeT_RiGhT played an average rating of 1.18. This data could even be given to electronic, to NIKO, or to Xu Beifang.

And GeT_RiGhT, as a veteran, was actually able to play such an outstanding performance, which was really a bit exaggerated. His stable performance had a feeling of wanting to continue to compete with young people.

GeT_RiGhT's golden partner, f0rest, also had an average rating of 1.11.

Xu Beifang could only say that the stability of these two old guys was breathtaking.

"Deserving of being the TOP1 for two consecutive years, and it was obtained as a rifleman. This person is really terrifying." Xu Nanfang also said with a grin.

In their era, these two were the hottest spicy chickens in the professional circle, and they were all top gods that could only be seen on the internet.

Xu Nanfang said to his younger brother: "Then Beifang, if you have a chance, find two of your jerseys and help me ask them for an autograph. I'll seal them and hang them on the wall of the shop."

Xu Beifang complained: "Do you really think I have a lot of clothes? When the time comes, I'll just exchange two of their jerseys for you, and you can just take them to the fish platform and say they are 99% new and used by a girl."

Fortunately, he had foresight about this matter.

At that time, it was still during the VP period. After the London Major was finished, RZE came to find Xu Beifang to exchange jerseys, but Xu Beifang only brought two for washing.

After finishing, both were washed, so it was embarrassing to take them out for exchange.

At that time, it made him very awkward, and he specifically explained to RZE that it was because he didn't bring that many jerseys.

So every time he played a match later, he would reserve a few more.

Teams here in Europe are greatly influenced by football, and when they meet players they admire, going over to exchange jerseys is a very normal thing.

Xu Beifang rarely went to find people to exchange, but every jersey he brought would have a few exchanged away.

Now at home in Suzhou, there are already more than a dozen jerseys of other players.

He had almost collected the jerseys of last year's TOP 20 players.

Hearing his younger brother's unreliable words, Xu Nanfang rolled his eyes at him, then shouted: "Alright, that's about it, play better in the playoffs later. If you make me lose face in front of customers, I'll beat you when you get home!"

The big brother's threat had no deterrent power, but instead made Xu Beifang feel warm inside.

After hanging up the video, the slightly slack fighting spirit in Xu Beifang's heart was rekindled.

After eating lunch downstairs with his teammates, the Vitality group came downstairs to the hotel and accepted an interview with Betway Esports next to the ESL Cologne billboard.

It was still the familiar Swedish guy from last time serving as the host. He smiled and greeted the two Vitality members, then signaled for them to tidy up their hairstyles and such, and they could start.

"This is a new program from Betway Esports, the general content is to sharply comment on some content in CSGO." The Swedish guy explained to them, and then started asking:

"What do you think is the best design in CSGO?"

The first to accept the interview for Vitality were Xu Beifang and apEX.

apEX took the microphone, thought for a while, and then said: "The economy system?"

As a commander of a team, he was very sensitive to the economy because it basically affected the overall offensive and defensive rhythm of CSGO, allowing most weapons in CSGO to have a place to be used, rather than like other FPS team confrontation games, where there are only two or three popular main weapons to use.

Xu Beifang thought for a while: "I think it should be the counter-strafing aiming mechanism, plus a kill feedback."

The counter-strafing aiming mechanism made the entry threshold for CSGO a bit high, which led to a very obvious layering of players' levels, and the feeling of staged improvement for everyone was strong.

And the relatively good kill feedback in the game could also allow players to feel pure kill pleasure in a short time, which was also the key reason why players could stay in this hardcore-leaning game.

The host nodded with satisfaction, and then asked: "Then what do you think is the worst thing in CSGO content now?"

apEX raised an eyebrow. Good guy, so there was this segment too.

He was very happy to complain about Valve.

He didn't even think and immediately opened his mouth to say: "Some small bugs in the map, and map design problems. Most maps are maps that lean towards the CT side. Among all the active duty maps now, there isn't actually one that leans towards the Terrorists."

apEX spoke without much thought. In fact, at the current stage, Vertigo is still a map that leans towards the offensive side.

However, in the big framework, these seven active duty maps lean more towards the police.

"The focus is too much on the defensive side, which indeed hinders the viewing experience of the match." The Swedish guy nodded.

Then apEX handed the microphone to Xu Beifang.

Xu Beifang pondered for a long time, then asked: "I think there are actually quite a lot of problems, are you sure you want me to say it?"

The Swedish guy's eyes lit up. Xu Beifang's words made him feel that this new series might have highlights.

"Of course, we are just an interview."

Xu Beifang said his thoughts: "First of all, the AWP is still a bit too strong. The dominance of this gun in the match is still a bit too exaggerated."

As a rifleman, Xu Beifang felt this point very obviously.

The sniper rifle is really too strong for holding points, and with fast enough reaction, its flick shot when peeking is definitely much faster than your rifle.

"But it's not easy to nerf the sniper rifle." The Swedish guy said, "It's impossible to nerf its damage."

One shot to kill is its characteristic. Hitting the leg for about 80 is already giving the rifleman fault tolerance.

If the damage is nerfed again, then it is estimated that no one will play it later.

"Nerf the number of bullets, why nerf the damage." Xu Beifang shouted, "Subtract a few bullets, leave about 6, so that the sniper rifle doesn't have such high fault tolerance, that counts as a nerf."

The Swedish guy frowned: "Nerfing bullets, this shouldn't have any effect."

Xu Beifang shook his head: "I see you don't understand at all."

As a secondary sniper, he understood too well how much the reduction in the number of bullets would affect the sniper rifle.

"The third question, and also the last question."

The Swedish guy continued to ask: "Then what ideas do you have for Valve's future updates? Or do you have any suggestions?"

apEX immediately got excited: "I suggest Valve adjust the economy up a bit, that would feel great. Now I always feel the economy is not enough."

As a commander, what he cared about most was the problem of the economy system.

He felt that if the economy was increased, it might bring higher fault tolerance, both sides would have more full-buy rounds, and the match could be more exciting.

Xu Beifang's thoughts were a bit more: "I was thinking, if the utility was changed to be droppable, would the professional confrontation and game become more exciting? I think the information collection in professional confrontation now is a bit too simple."

"Droppable utility?" The Swedish guy's eyes widened instantly. He felt this was simply a genius idea.

If utility could be dropped, wouldn't one person be able to throw 10 flashbangs?

"Yeah, utility can be dropped, so in professional confrontation, everyone can play some tricks from tactics."

In professional matches nowadays, there are still some new things appearing.

But compared to the big environment, there aren't many. Most are about details and basic skills. Audiences watching matches mostly watch the players' performance.

Xu Beifang had seen clips of droppable utility when simulating techniques before, and felt this thing was very interesting. Today he also said it directly, which could provide some ideas for Valve.

"Also, you can appropriately increase the round time, so apEX's previous protest idea would be completed. After all, with more time, the Terrorists' win rate would definitely be higher."

After the interview, Xu Beifang sat down next to Zywoo. Zywoo was watching a video of a small otter.

(It's this thing)

JackZ and shox were accepting an interview, so Xu Beifang just started browsing his phone and waiting.

ESL Cologne was the last major tournament before the Berlin Major. Everyone had their eyes on this tournament. The group stage had ended, and what followed were the incredibly cruel playoffs. Every BO3 would cause a team's fans to feel heartbroken.

Before the playoffs started, the ESL Cologne tournament organizers had already announced the playoff bracket. Now the forum was full of discussion posts about the tournament.

【Why are the Danes and Liquid both starting from the semifinals? Did they go through the back door?】

【What back door, these two teams are the group winners of Group A and Group B!】

【Looking only at paper strength, Group A shouldn't have much to say, Liquid will eventually be king. There is a lot to talk about in Group B, NAVI, Vitality, and Astralis all have a chance to win the championship】

【NAVI doesn't have much hope, right? Meeting Vitality again, they are already Beifang's captives. This seems to be the fourth time they've been captured by Beifang. Feels like seven captures of NAVI】

【Seven captures of NAVI made me laugh, but NAVI fans feel there is still great hope. S1mple's state is good recently, plus the new lineup, the overall firepower is much better than before, NAVI's winning chance is still very big】

【Guess if the Danes will act this time?】

【The last Dane who acted has already had his head smashed by Xu】

Immediately after, Xu Beifang saw a meme of harvesting vegetables below, and he couldn't hold it in.

As long as the odds are high enough, the combat power of players coming out of VP can explode!

He also really suspected that the last ECS was a small tournament, and the Danes had been hiding tactics all along.

But if the Danes still hid tactics this time, if Xu Beifang had a chance to face them, he would definitely make them hide another ticket.

Xu Beifang had been looking forward to facing the Danes for a long time.

It was a pity that they didn't face each other last time. This time the grouping was clear. If they could enter the semifinals, they would definitely bump into Astralis.

Of course, the premise was that they could successfully defeat NAVI in the first round.

Netizens teased Xu Beifang about the seven captures of NAVI, but they also had to capture NAVI in the first round.

The firepower change brought by NAVI after changing the lineup was something even netizens could see, so how could they not understand.

Moreover, defeating NAVI at the StarSeries last time, the opponent's performance made Xu Beifang feel hearty.

Thinking about facing NAVI offline, Xu Beifang felt his hands itching.

In these two days, except for going out once to shoot a promotional video, he stayed in the training room to train.

It is worth mentioning that pasha also had nothing to do and came to Cologne these two days, preparing to enjoy the atmosphere of the offline tournament.

Xu Beifang didn't have time to play with his big brother, mostly focusing on preparing for the match.

Time soon came to the day of the ESL Cologne playoffs.

At 7 PM Cologne local time, Vitality ate a little bit outside and came to the famous Cologne Lanxess Arena.

When they were shooting makeup photos yesterday, they had been to this stadium and had a simple rehearsal.

But tonight, they saw the full picture.

Vitality's previous few tournaments were mostly held in stadiums with tens of thousands of people, and they felt surging when watching the match.

But the Lanxess Arena was a stadium that could accommodate 20,000 people.

Looking at this, it was much larger than the venues they had played in before.

Arriving inside the venue, they could also feel the enthusiastic emotions coming from the light in the player tunnel.

Zywoo rubbed his hands: "The atmosphere at the scene today is so heavy."

apEX leaned over and said: "It's mainly because there are more local fans. Many people wanted to come to cheer for BIG, but who would have thought that BIG didn't even get the qualification, and in the end, they could only shout for BIG offline."

Xu Beifang put his hand on his teammate's shoulder: "Then let these people become our fans today!"

The location of this tournament was in Cologne. As the host here, if BIG had the ability to reach the offline stage, with the blessing of those crazy BIG fans, their combat power could be increased by half.

But they didn't even get the qualification for the group stage, which made the German local fans very heartbroken.

Now this bunch of spectators wearing BIG jerseys were mainly neutral!

Whoever played well, they would shout for them.

The few of them discussed, and the coach led them to the front of the player tunnel.

The Lanxess Arena was already overcrowded, the entire U-shaped stand was full of people, not to mention the VIP seats directly in front of the stage, which gathered people together.

The scene was crowded with people, and the enthusiastic atmosphere in the venue made the audience very excited, and they were all chatting with their companions about some content of the match.

Suddenly, all the lights in the venue went out, and it fell into darkness.

That huge screen suddenly flashed with light.

The wonderful highlights of the ESL Cologne group stage appeared on the screen.

Through the player tunnel, Xu Beifang just happened to see Zywoo's 1V3 clutch with an AWP.

After the highlight collection ended, the screen started to show a countdown.

Every time the number appeared, the scene shouted along in unison. For a moment, the sound wave was earth-shattering, and Xu Beifang felt the soles of his feet vibrating.

"10!!"

"9!!"

"8!!"

"..."

"3!!"

"2!!"

"1!!!"

As the number returned to zero, the lights gradually brightened, and the impassioned music slowly fell.

If it was just comparing the opening ceremony, the opening of the final must be more grand.

Now that the playoffs had started, the tournament group was just to give the audience a sense of ritual.

But with the cooperation of the audience, the atmosphere at the scene was also quite hot.

The host walked onto the stage holding the microphone, and after a simple welcome speech, he stretched his voice and shouted: "Then first, let us invite, NA——VI!!!"

The lights on the dome focused instantly, and NAVI walked out from the tunnel on the right side of the venue.

S1mple had an unruly smile on his face, greeting the audience, and while walking to the stage, he enjoyed the cheers of the audience.

Electronic was cold but with a hint of embarrassment; if you looked at him a few more times, you couldn't help but want to laugh.

As they walked forward, Xu Beifang also saw the highlight of this ESL Cologne.

The silver trophy in the center of the stage.

"This should be what a trophy looks like." Xu Beifang raised an eyebrow.

The trophy at IEM Sydney before was completely a big vegetable plate. After getting it, Zywoo used it to play table tennis with Xu Beifang.

It was quite good to take it home and display it.

Xu Beifang certainly liked that trophy, but by comparison, he still preferred this traditional trophy style.

Just when he was thinking wildly, he heard the host's vigorous voice in the venue:

"Next, let us invite, Vitality!!!"

Xu Beifang walked forward with apEX in the sound wave. Just walking out of a player tunnel, he felt like he had pressed the volume button on his phone, and the sound suddenly increased several times.

On that huge screen, the makeup photos Vitality took a few days ago appeared.

The makeup photos were not surprising, still the old set, just Vitality's group of people shooting in the studio shed.

But the photographer knew how to shoot their charm, shooting each person with their own characteristics.

Anyway, the audience at the scene was very supportive, shouting loudly one by one.

Around the stage, there were quite a few Vitality fans. They wore Vitality jerseys and held light boards of Vitality members themselves.

Because there were many handsome people in the Vitality team, shox and JackZ were both male model faces, while Xu Beifang belonged to the kind of handsome guy with an heroic atmosphere. For a moment, it was like chasing stars at a concert.

Xu Beifang also stretched out his hands and high-fived the passersby next to him all the way.

After walking onto the stage, he looked into the venue.

The audience waved glow sticks to cheer for their favorite teams. Under the dim lights, it looked like an inverted galaxy.

"There are spectators from over 60 countries gathered here today to enjoy this feast belonging to CSGO!"

"After intense group stage matchups, the teams fighting today are NAVI and Vitality!"

"But there is only one trophy, and there is only one qualification to enter the semifinals. Only one of them will be able to successfully advance."

"Is the winner NAVI, or Vitality!!!"

The host held the microphone and stretched his voice to shout: "Let us wait and see!!!!"

The impassioned music sounded. The host didn't do any pre-match harsh words, because in the eyes of the ESL Cologne tournament officials, being able to stand on a stage was already a life-and-death opponent, no need for any harsh words to set the scene.

Amidst the applause of the audience, Vitality and NAVI left the stage and came to the player seats.

The match was still in the preparation stage. After entering the player seats, XTQZZZ waved his hand and pulled everyone to his side.

Everyone hooked their shoulders and backs, forming a circle.

This was something XTQZZZ recently saw from a second-tier match.

Although this thing looked very secondary, for the match, it was like a start button, which could quickly get the players into state.

"In ten minutes, we will officially go on stage. swani has already prepared all kinds of materials for us before the match. We also scanned a circle in the lounge before, our preparation work has been done, so no need to be nervous." XTQZZZ looked at the expressions of the team members, confirmed that their expressions had no fluctuations, and then showed a satisfied look.

"In the StarSeries, the first time we lifted the cup, it was the championship snatched from NAVI. As the biggest loser of that match, they definitely won't be reconciled, so we also have to be mentally prepared."

"But just like Beifang expects, he really wants to face Astralis and play once. Even to realize this wish of his, you guys don't drop the chain today."

"Just play according to our training, communicate more, apEX don't get carried away, Zywoo Beifang if you have ideas, speak up actively."

XTQZZZ looked at his teammates again: "Finally, 3, 2, 1!"

"Go!!!" Vitality group shouted in unison.

The embrace was released, everyone sat back in their positions and started to adjust their equipment quickly.

Xu Beifang also opened the Aimbotz map and started to hit robots quickly to warm up!

... ===== CHAPTER 327 =====