Chapter 338: Don't Let Nice Seize Any Opportunity!

The confrontation between Astralis and Vitality can be said to be the most focal matchup of the entire ESL Cologne Playoffs.

A clash between the new and old World No. 1s naturally draws everyone's attention.

Moreover, the team Astralis has dominated the tier-one scene for too long now, so long that it has become tiresome.

Yet even the haters of Astralis have to admit in their hearts that the dominance this team possesses is unprecedented.

Coupled with the arguments between Astralis fans and others on the internet, this match has a high viewership.

When Astralis and Vitality truly collided, after the BP ended, many viewers were already looking forward to the matchup on Map 2.

Astralis is famous for their utility management and discipline; on Inferno, a map that leans towards utility coordination, they are like a fish in water.

As for Vitality, their Inferno has also been quite terrifying over the last half-year; their record of over a dozen consecutive wins on Inferno recently can be described as terrifyingly strong.

Plus, with Xu Beifang's terrifying performance on Banana, he has always been praised as the "King of Banana Road," so the audience is quite looking forward to the confrontation on this map.

"The Pistol Round begins. Vitality has equipped Beifang with dual pistols as usual, while apEX has bought an extra piece of utility, preparing to use a Smoke Grenade to stall for time when the opponents come out."

Astralis's playstyle, which is as calm as a robot, makes Xu Beifang feel very helpless.

Xu Beifang and apEX have too little utility, so they cannot contest Banana and can only retreat to play from the back.

"Little Xu got two kills but was traded out, while apEX was killed by xyp9x through the smoke; in the second timing, Astralis still completed an advantageous trade."

apEX threw a smoke and wanted to step in front of it to hold an angle, but Astralis's Flashbangs never stopped; not only apEX, but even Xu Beifang was covering his eyes.

After taking the Bomb Site, they quickly found their respective gun positions, and subsequently, they proactively added a Coffin Smoke, directly sealing off the vision of Zywoo and shox.

The facts were indeed so; after the halftime break and adjustment, Astralis regained their form.

But just at this moment, a hurried shout was heard in the voice chat: "They're flying Second Floor!!! Quick, Retake!!"

The smoke was a good smoke, but Astralis's Flashbangs were better.

Xu Beifang can only hope that in the Full Buy Round, Astralis will still play as aggressively on Banana.

The score at the start reached 0:3, and entering the first Full Buy Round, Xu Beifang bought full armor and grenades, preparing to have a good time playing against them on Banana.

But the opponent's offensive slowed down, so Xu Beifang thought about finding a way to push forward in the second timing to collect some information at the front.

"The two-man B defense didn't contest Banana; Vitality just wants to play the back point, but can they really hold the back point this time?" Wanjiqi took a breath, "You have to know that Astralis bought three sets of utility in the Pistol Round."

【There's really no way; apEX was blown up and they instantly accelerated. What can Beizige do alone on B with a Desert Eagle?】

Seeing this, Wanjiqi understood in his heart that this Pistol Round was already gone.

"Three sets of utility, this gla1ve is really going all out."

【This Astralis is too steady; they are so calm even when playing against an ECO】

【Can only look forward to the performance in the Full Buy Round】

Then in the second timing, apEX, who was peeking at CT Spawn, became the unlucky one; two grenades flew over from Banana, and apEX was directly blown away.

Xu Beifang had already tried very hard to make a play at the Bomb Site, but facing the overwhelming army, his Desert Eagle was of no avail.

But it must be said, Astralis is Astralis; on the map of Inferno, they know Vitality has no money, yet they still respect them greatly—not a single piece of utility that should be given is missing.

After the Pistol Round ended, apEX felt a bit of a headache during the local summary.

"And the most unacceptable thing is that after the frontal bomb execution in the Pistol Round, Astralis still had a smoke and a flash in hand; they could continue to compress Vitality's retake time."

After his vision returned, Xu Beifang used a USP to get one kill at Dead Point, and after the opponent pushed to his face, he switched to dual pistols and got another, but subsequently, gla1ve threw an Incendiary Grenade over and pinned him down to his death.

The opponent is just bullying you for having no money and bullying you for not being able to afford utility.

This set of tactics can even be executed on the Ladder, and can even be played very easily.

The following scenes, as expected, did not exceed Wanjiqi's expectations.

Astralis launched a round of bomb execution, and apEX played very brilliantly this time, directly countering with a B-main smoke.

But the problem is that Astralis is just capable of getting results.

Both sides entered the Inferno server; Astralis, as the map picker, started as the attacking side, while Vitality played defense.

After considering it, Vitality chose to synchronize and pull out to fight together.

However, they didn't care; after losing the Pistol Round, they chose to Force Buy and go for a hard fight, attempting a reset.

A 2-for-2 trade on A, the numbers came to 3v3, but Astralis successfully took the Bomb Site and planted the bomb, and both sides directly switched offense and defense.

And after a round of firefights, Astralis still had two Smoke Grenades and an Incendiary Grenade in hand; this is the most exaggerated part.

In the first wave of frontal duels, they were completely suppressed to death; Astralis's utility offensive put great pressure on them.

Seeing the kill feed, Astralis did not hesitate and directly accelerated with a bomb execution.

This is completely an open conspiracy, but the economic gap cannot be covered up; Astralis pushed all the way through, not giving a single chance.

But they only traded one before being pinned down by Astralis's crossfire; Astralis won the first Pistol Round of the first half.

"Oh! Zywoo is playing a bit aggressively here; he came up and headshot Device, bringing him down to 2 HP."

Astralis's move to fly Second Floor is not unusual; it's even the simplest set: throwing a flash inside A2, then gla1ve from Mid assists with another synchronized flash, and Device adds a Connector smoke.

【There is also a gap between Danes and Danes; who do you think everyone is, Dazhuang? Seeing the opponent ECO, he turns into a special forces soldier】

These pieces of utility greatly compressed Vitality's retake time, so even in a frontal 3v3 clutch, Vitality couldn't win.

Astralis's utility management was done too well, and coupled with the subsequent gun positions being too reasonable, they could even choose positions where all three gun angles crossed; Xu Beifang had just killed one, only to be instantly focused down by the following two, leaving absolutely no room for further play.

After the first Full Buy Round collapsed, Vitality's economy had some problems, and they subsequently chose to Force Buy.

But at this time, Astralis slowed the pace down again, executing a Connector-to-A pinch in the last 30 seconds and successfully taking the A site.

In the following few rounds, Astralis's pace was smooth sailing, and until the 9th round, Vitality hadn't even managed to get their first point.

The Vitality Head Coach saw that the situation was not right and quickly called for a timeout.

XTQZZ's lecture and worries before the start of Map 2 were justified.

He knew very well the difference between Map 1 and Map 2.

Map 1, Overpass, Vitality had been playing very diligently recently, plus Xu Beifang's form on Map 1 was truly fierce; Astralis hadn't figured out the rhythm before being stunned by Xu Beifang.

But when they entered Map 2, the situation was different.

First, during the halftime break, Team A definitely cleared their thoughts; they know Xu Beifang is in excellent form and will certainly avoid him in the upcoming rounds, which can also be seen from the maneuvering in the last few rounds.

Aside from the Pistol Round and the ANTI-ECO Round, Team A's final assaults in all other rounds have unfolded toward the A site.

The change of pace over several consecutive rounds has made the guys at the A site jittery, but the economic disparity leaves them with no way to deal with this situation.

Xu Beifang is also helpless; he is playing alone at the B site every round, constantly playing Retake, and his feel for the game is also cooling down.

Moreover, as Team A gains the advantage, gla1ve is also slowly getting into his rhythm; he is already able to carry out small tactical adjustments within the big framework, and he is already very much at ease.

Now with an 8-round deficit, any spectator who understands the game even a little knows how dangerous this situation is.

Inside the NICE Internet Cafe, the players in the competition area are full of worry on their faces.

In the eyes of many, Vitality has already reached the edge of a cliff on this map; if they cannot handle the next two rounds well and score, then everyone can only look forward to Map 3.

But now the economic gap between the two sides is huge; Vitality can't even scrape together enough for a Long Gun Round, while everyone on Team A is filthy rich.

They cannot see any hope of a Reset.

Even Xu Nanfang, who has unconditional trust in his younger brother, is looking at the screen with a grave expression, hoping in his heart that Xu Beifang will find his form again.

……

NIKO and his teammates in the stands look not far away, where the maple leaf red is fluttering in the arena; those Team A fans are all cheering and shouting for their Primary Team's lead.

The entire Lanxess Arena is filled with noise.

On Map 1, the Primary Team was chased and killed by Xu Beifang alone; they had been holding it in for a long time, and now their emotions have completely erupted, making the scene quite shocking.

Seeing this scene, NIKO has a bit of a toothache: "I really have to scold this Nice; he was so fierce against us on Inferno, but he has no voice when he meets Team A."

"It's not that he has no voice, apEX is being led by the nose..." NEO sighed.

In the position of IGL, gla1ve is currently the World No. 1; he uses different expressions to keep apEX from capturing Team A's information, so playing is naturally very restricted.

"I feel like we could swap Nice to the A site; he can't perform on Banana right now. I remember Nice used to defend A before, too." The Rain God also put down the light board in his hand.

NEO nodded: "When he was at VP before, he was responsible for defending A1; he is the type of person who can play any position. However, if they swap positions, the others on Vitality might not necessarily adapt."

The division of labor in professional teams is actually very clear, and different choices usually have a primary defensive zone.

If you swap to other positions, the details and routines might be much worse.

"What a pity, I thought they could fight with Team A; I originally thought Vitality could battle with Team A on this map." The Rain God sighed, "Judging from Vitality's current state, this map is likely gone."

Team A is already leading by 8 rounds; if they take two more points, their first-half advantage will be huge.

Added to Team A's current economy, they will likely get more points, and this Inferno match is very likely to end at lightning speed.

……

"Calm down, calm down." XTQZZZ shouted loudly in the match room, "Don't let losing points cloud your judgment. You need to carefully analyze what the opponent's core strategy is. Although we are trailing on this map, we are already leading by one map, so don't have too much psychological pressure."

"Listen to the shouting at the venue; I think it's very noisy, so can you make them quiet down?"

apEX listened to the cheers of the audience in the arena for Team A; these sounds stung his heart. He raised both hands and slapped his face hard twice, the slight pain helping him sober up.

"Brothers, let's reorganize our defensive line." apEX shouted, "It's no big deal. It's our First Time running into Team A's Inferno, and it's normal for them to find their rhythm. I'll clear my thoughts; subsequently, we will shift our defensive focus toward the A site. As long as we can hold one round, they won't dare to attack A every single round afterward."

When apEX said this, his expression was very fierce.

But as captain and IGL, his words play a significant role throughout the entire team.

"Dou Dou is right." Xu Beifang replied, "We were just stunned by this combination of punches from Team A. Actually, as long as we find our form, we can still operate later."

"Besides, we were able to successfully beat Team A on Map 1, so why can't we do it on Map 2? You know we are equally proficient on this map. Listen to the shouts of the Team A fans at the venue; do you want to just let them shout until the end like this?"

JackZ laughed: "Then I guess after the match ends, the Team A fans' throats will be hoarse."

shox said speechlessly: "You really are thoughtful, huh."

However, after Jack's interruption, the members of Vitality adjusted their Mindset again, and everyone had a smile on their face.

……

"Vitality, they seem quite happy?"

After Wanjiqi interacted with the bullet comments, he turned his head and was stunned to see the director's feed.

In his mind, after calling a timeout now, Vitality would be very grave, the atmosphere would become silent and stressful, and everyone would be trying every possible way to chase the rhythm back.

But how are these guys from Vitality laughing?

Is 0:8 very funny?

How can they laugh?

Wanjiqi was a bit confused.

But after thinking about it carefully, he understood: "I've chatted with Beifang before, and he said the atmosphere in the Vitality team has actually always been quite good. Because of the French 'joker' attribute, it's hard to have moments that are particularly oppressive. Now that they can laugh, it also shows their Mindset is good. I can only look forward to their performance later."

With this score gap, Wanjiqi feels that as long as they aren't shut out, it's a victory.

……

The timeout ended, and both sides returned to the match.

The economy for this Force Buy isn't very high; Xu Beifang has a Half Armor and a FAMAS, but apEX only has an MP9 to use, and the guns of the guys at the A site aren't much better.

At the start, Xu Beifang chose to burn the Stone Slab close point, then stepped near the Sandbag.

apEX had a flash of inspiration: "Beifang, you throw another Flashbang to the close point, and I'll sneak behind the Barrel."

Xu Beifang also understood Dou Dou's idea; he hid behind the Wooden Board, and then Xu Beifang was at the Sandbag. As long as the opponent pushed forward to the Stone Slab, the two of them could easily clear the screen relying on Crossfire.

Xu Beifang immediately operated according to apEX's idea.

apEX also got into position according to the plan, but unfortunately, Team A was much more cautious than he imagined.

After losing vision, the opponent still fired a burst at the Barrel.

【Magisk used an AK47 to Wallbang and get a Headshot on apEX】

"Magisk used a burst to Wallbang Dou Dou to death. In that case, only Beifang is left alone at the Sandbag with only a FAMAS in his hand. Should he retreat from this position?"

Xu Beifang did not retreat, but instead aimed his Crosshair directly at the Stone Slab.

A Terrorist strafed out toward Xu Beifang's direction; Xu Beifang moved one body-width to the left and immediately crouched to spray.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

【Nice used FAMAS to get a headshot kill on dupreeh】

"There's one standing at Sandbag, and he's still at full health." A Du patted his forehead with his right hand, "That was my mistake."

He had been a bit off; he and Magisk had already coordinated that he would peek and bait at the Banana Road Slate Corner, and then Magisk would flash for him to rush out.

But when he peeked the first time, his Pre-aim was directly on Xu Beifang, so he subconsciously wanted to Counter-strafing and shoot Xu Beifang.

Yet, he only saw Xu Beifang twist his waist, and his Crosshair was thrown off; that FAMAS took him out instantly.

"Beifang forcibly traded the kill back, making it a one-for-one on Banana. shox has also rotated back from Connector and immediately threw a Stone Smoke for Banana Road, saving Beifang. So, this exchange of numbers is just barely acceptable," Wanjiqi said.

Xu Beifang successfully retreated to CT Spawn, only to see the opponents throw a Dilemma Fire at B-Main.

Vitality was currently in a 2A2B formation. Xu Beifang thought for a moment: "Dou Dou, can we rotate to A directly? They shouldn't be hitting B anymore."

"Sure."

apEX didn't ask Xu Beifang for the reason and agreed immediately.

Xu Beifang and shox also immediately started rushing from CT Spawn, leaving the B site empty to begin a Retake of the A site.

"Oh!! Vitality is choosing a 4A gamble stack at the second timing??" Wanjiqi's eyes lit up, because he clearly saw gla1ve, who was carrying the bomb, moving toward the A site.

So this early rotation by Vitality counted as a successful gamble!

Having rotated to the A site early, the entire Vitality squad was still anxious; they didn't know if this on-the-fly command from Xu Beifang was correct.

Once a gamble stack goes wrong, the difficulty of a subsequent Retake is very high.

But soon, seeing the large amount of utility flying toward the A site, their spirits lifted.

Because this meant Xu Beifang's decision was correct; they had gambled on the right site!

"A2 floor throwing flashes! They're probably coordinating a jump-out, watch out!" Xu Beifang heard the movement and shouted loudly in the voice chat.

"Boom!"

The sound of a Flashbang exploding came, and Xu Beifang, who was holding a direct angle at the A1 Barrel, immediately turned his head to look at the A2 floor.

A Terrorist was pushing toward A1 in a Spin Jump motion. Xu Beifang's Crosshair tracked the person, and a burst directly took down gla1ve in mid-air.

After taking down gla1ve, Xu Beifang heard footsteps on the A2 floor. He moved one body-width to the left and held his Crosshair steady.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

【Nice used FAMAS to kill xyp9x】

"Team A is executing a bomb drop. Beifang is standing at the A1 Barrel holding a direct angle on the A2 floor, getting two kills with two consecutive instances of Positioning. shox at Connector is forced back, and two people at A1 are also rushing up to Trade Kill. It's very hard for Beifang to run away from this position!"

"But Beifang turned his head immediately after finishing the A2 floor, spraying down a burst, but device's AWP Pre-aim took Beifang out directly. However, it's not a big problem; both were left at low health by Beifang. shox's Flashbang has arrived, and Zywoo, hiding at the Bomb Site, is taking action!"

Accompanied by the tearful eyes of the two at A1, JacKZ from the Pit and Zywoo from A1 pulled out in sync—a good flash paired with a good player.

【JackZ+Nice used Desert Eagle to kill device】

【ZywOo+shox Flashbang used MP9 to get a headshot kill on Magisk】

As the last Magisk fell, astonishing shouts erupted within Vitality's voice chat.

"NICE!!!!! Let's go!!!"

The Vitality fans on-site had long been suppressed; Vitality had finally won the first round by relying on an intuitive gamble stack, and astonishing shouts erupted throughout the venue.

apEX also raised his right arm high, cheering excitedly: "Beifang, this rotation of yours was amazing. From now on, in my heart, you are the true Gambler God!!"

When Xu Beifang called out the rotation, they all felt a lot of pressure; after all, the score gap was too large, and if they kept losing points, it would be hard to operate later.

In this kind of top-tier professional confrontation, it is very difficult to have a major Reset.

When Xu Beifang asked, apEX also followed his own gut.

Clearly, Xu Beifang's gut was right.

"Great job, brother!" JackZ reached out his palm toward Xu Beifang, "We finally took this damn first point!"

Being scored on crazily by Team A like this, the situation was truly dangerous.

Fortunately, they had finally gotten the first point. Although the score gap between the two sides was still large, this was a very good start.

Even though it was just one round of victory, the members of Vitality had already reignited their fighting spirit.

"Vitality got a point by relying on a gamble stack; this is also their first point!"

When Wanjiqi said this, he actually felt a little bit of anticipation.

Vitality's resilience had always been very strong, and they hadn't been discouraged by losing points at the start; even when trailing by a large score, they were still trying hard to find ways to get points.

Now that they had the first point, the overall rhythm would be much better.

Then, when the first half ended, was it possible for Vitality to get a decent score?

CSGO matches are just like this; as long as the match isn't over, you don't know what the final result will be.

Even Tyloo had the proud record of defeating Team A.

In this world, everything is possible.

Vitality got the first point, but Team A didn't particularly care; after all, they were still leading by 7 points.

Furthermore, they didn't intend to shut out Vitality today.

It was just that the confrontation in the previous round still gave gla1ve a bit of a headache.

Because Vitality had started gamble stacking for heavy defense, he couldn't just bite the bullet and avoid Xu Beifang to play anymore.

Seeming to see his childhood friend's worry, device said: "It's fine, I'll use the AWP and coordinate with Magisk to play Banana Road. Pushing for Map Control shouldn't be a problem."

gla1ve nodded: "Then let's start with Default Control, and we'll go to control Connector at the second timing."

The countdown ended, and Team A moved forward in an orderly fashion according to his arrangement.

……

Xu Beifang got the AK that shox threw to him; he was still going to play Banana Road for this point.

apEX's position was relatively forward. Xu Beifang had a flash of inspiration: "Dou Dou, after you throw the first fire later, can you crouch in front of the Stone Slab? I'll step directly onto the Stone Slab."

"How do you want to play this?"

"I'll step onto the Stone Slab to find an opening and play an unconventional angle."

After learning of Xu Beifang's plan, apEX stopped talking.

The two went straight to Banana; apEX, in the first position, threw an Incendiary Grenade at the Tree Position, then stepped into the fire thrown by the opponents at the close point.

Xu Beifang's movement was also quite agile; he stepped directly onto the Sandbag nearby, jumped onto apEX's head, and then jumped onto the Stone Slab.

Seeing this, apEX hurriedly retreated, but in just one second, it had already burned away nearly half of his health.

Xu Beifang stood atop the Stone Slab, unaffected by the close-point fire.

Once in position, Xu Beifang first held the Recess to prevent any Terrorist from peeking out of it.

Immediately after, he pre-aimed and peeked to the right.

Within his field of view, he saw a Terrorist carrying a sniper rifle, holding a direct angle on the Barrel.

Because of the utility usage at the start of Banana, Magisk was hiding in the Recess waiting for the fire to go out, while Device was holding the Barrel, waiting for the second timing to help Magisk push.

The Incendiary Grenade on the Barrel made Device relax his focus a little.

After all, if the opponents wanted to make a play, they would need to extinguish the fire first.

But just at this moment, a head suddenly appeared in the upper right of his field of view.

Device shuddered.

"Bang!"

A single bullet from an AK47 directly took Device's life.

"Someone stepped on the Stone Slab!" Device reported loudly.

After hearing this, Magisk was somewhat confused; after all, he had thrown the fire at the Barrel, and that fire should have covered the entire close point, so the opponent shouldn't be at the close point at this time.

So even though there was fire on the left, he still strafed out immediately.

But even though his movement was fast, he ultimately only saw a figure jumping away in the air.

After Xu Beifang jumped away, he actively made a footstep sound as if moving backward, but he only did it for an instant.

In reality, he immediately asked apEX for a Flashbang.

"You can throw it!"

"Flash... pop!"

apEX had already prepared the Flashbang for him early on, just to pick him back up after Xu Beifang finished his first wave of aggression.

But at this moment, it became an important tool for Xu Beifang's anti-rush.

"Beifang relied on a very bold decision at the start to tear Device apart; Magisk stepped out of the fire to pursue, but only saw Beifang's shadow."

"However, Beifang doesn't intend to run; he's going to flash back and counter-peek. Magisk is completely flashed, and he still wants to jump back, but Beifang's AK shows no mercy, taking Magisk down in a single burst. This anti-rush was beautiful!"

"gla1ve peeks out from T Spawn, strafes out, and deals half health to Beifang. Xu Beifang retreats to cover; this wave is already enough..."

But Xu Beifang wasn't going to let gla1ve off easy; after finishing off Magisk, he had only thought about retreating because he assumed Banana was empty.

Because the timing was just off and he got hit by gla1ve, he immediately stood on the Stone Slab and jumped to take a look.

gla1ve was still holding an angle from that position in T Spawn, guarding against their anti-rush.

Xu Beifang set his pre-aim and made a wide strafe to the right.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

gla1ve, in the player seat, took his hands off the keyboard and leaned back in his gaming chair, letting out a helpless sigh.

Magisk complained in the voice chat: "This guy plays too aggressively. I saw him move backward and thought they were going to retreat to the Bomb Site, but this anti-rush caught me completely off guard."

He actually still didn't understand how Xu Beifang had gotten onto the Stone Slab in the first place.

gla1ve shook his head: "Dueling this guy is like a horror game. If your initial positioning doesn't kill him instantly, he can immediately lock onto your head and kill you."

He had hit Xu Beifang twice in the first exchange, definitely taking off half of Xu Beifang's health.

He knew Xu Beifang's playstyle was extremely fierce, so he was guarding against Vitality's anti-rush Flashbang.

He hadn't expected that a half-health Xu Beifang would actively wide-peek; his crosshair didn't catch up in time, and he just saw Xu Beifang crouch before he was sent to the spectator screen.

"Let's try to play it out; our economy is still decent, and taking down a few more Long Gun Rounds is good too."

Having had three players killed by Xu Beifang on Banana at the start, and now facing a 2v5 Clutch with less than 1 minute left, gla1ve couldn't ask for too much.

Although they knew Xu Beifang was at half health, xyp9x and A Du had no intention of going to the B area.

After entering the town, scoring continuously in the A area had reduced their fear of this ID, but this wave of kills constantly scrolling in the top right corner made them recall once again just how terrifying this ID was.

So, they headed toward the A site in unison.

The two coordinated their trade kills and successfully took down shox at the Connector.

But they didn't expect that there was still Zywoo with a sniper rifle at the back of the Connector.

Zywoo used two bullets to leave both of them in the Connector.

The score reached 2:8; the gap between the two sides was still significant, but the Vitality fans in the arena inexplicably had a feeling.

It seems... Vitality is getting better again!

PS: ANTI-ECO refers to dealing with the opponent's eco round; for example, if your side has Full Armor Long Guns and the opponent only has Half Armor Handguns, for your side, this is called an ANTI-ECO.