Chapter 339: You Never Know What Xu Beifang's Next Combo Meal Will Be

Watching Xu Beifang and Zywoo's performance help the Primary Team secure the score, the Vitality fans in the audience were extremely excited, one after another raising their arms and shouting, filled with exhilaration.

In the first half on Inferno, they had watched the Primary Team drop too many rounds, and their hearts were naturally filled with repression.

However, now that Xu Beifang had stepped up to start performing, the weight in their hearts began to lift; this proved that Vitality already had someone who could step up to dictate the tempo.

The subsequent confrontation went exactly as they had expected.

After Vitality regained their rhythm, Astralis's offense became quite difficult.

Primarily, they had no way to ignore the Banana position to execute their play, otherwise, Vitality would let them know what the terror of a 4A heavy defense was.

Although for a large site like A, Astralis could use their understanding to achieve simple utility splits, facing the pressure of a 4-man heavy defense, their odds of winning were still too slim.

This resulted in Astralis being forced to apply pressure to Banana, but this was precisely the crux of the issue for Astralis.

They simply couldn't outplay Xu Beifang in Banana.

gla1ve couldn't win a slow push through Banana, so he attempted to change the tempo, wanting to rely on an unconventional speed-up at the first opportunity to trade kills and take down Xu Beifang, thereby seizing control of Banana.

But Xu Beifang's experience in Banana was too extensive; the moment Astralis's actions shifted even slightly, he had already anticipated it.

A close-range Incendiary Grenade was dropped, then after turning away from Astralis's Flashbang, he unleashed a spray directly toward the Stone Slab; three Astralis players were instantly melted, and yet another Full Buy Round was rendered unplayable.

Of course, Astralis didn't fail to secure a single point afterward; gla1ve's intelligence, combined with Magisk's explosive form, successfully allowed them to take two points through several Formulaic Tactics.

The remaining rounds were all steadily taken by Vitality.

The score, without anyone noticing, reached 4:10.

The final round of the first half had arrived.

"The last point of the first half is here; this round is critical," Wanjiqi said, looking at the numbers on the screen, briefly explaining, "If Vitality takes this last point, then the first half ends 5:10; with a 5-round gap, Vitality can still accept that."

"But if Astralis takes this last point, a 4:11 scoreline means that if Astralis wins the Pistol Round in the second half, they can push the score directly to 14, and there won't be many rounds left until Map 2 ends."

This round was not particularly important for Astralis.

But for Vitality, if they could take this point, there would still be room for maneuver in the second half.

He was still somewhat surprised; he had originally thought that with Astralis's exaggerated start, the subsequent match would be a one-sided crushing, a complete blowout.

Yet in the actual match, Vitality withstood the pressure at the critical moment, not collapsing across the board, but instead stabilizing their own front line.

Just like on Map 2, they slowly entered their own rhythm, becoming increasingly comfortable facing Astralis's offense.

Especially Xu Beifang in Banana, who had become the focus of Map 2; in the early stages of Map 2, with Astralis frantically attacking the A site and avoiding the B site, everyone could see Xu Beifang working hard to perform during Retake situations, with several instances where he was just a hair's breadth away from success.

But following that gamble adjustment, which made Astralis afraid to play so casually, Banana subsequently became his home turf once again.

He was basically chasing Astralis's players around in Banana, making it very difficult for Astralis to take map control of Banana; one could clearly see the gap in the two sides' understanding of Banana.

Even the English-language casters couldn't stop praising: "Regardless of how this Inferno match ends, Nice's playstyle will become a textbook for Banana players."

Now, it all depended on whether Xu Beifang could continue to help the team take this point in the upcoming round.

Round 15.

The countdown ended, and Vitality chose a 3B2A start for the early game; apEX wanted to leave a set of utility in Xu Beifang's hands, allowing him to play more comfortably on his own during the second timing.

So as the countdown began, Vitality applied pressure directly from the front.

shox and apEX immediately threw a close-range Incendiary Grenade and a full-coverage Incendiary Grenade for the middle section, and immediately after, shox also threw an explosive grenade toward the Tree Position.

With Electronic not on Inferno, Magisk had put on the unlucky guy's clothes.

"Damn it!"

Magisk had only come to Banana at the start to throw an Incendiary Grenade, intending to follow up by stepping toward the Tree Position and using the Headshot Position of the Wood Pile to play for an advantage, but his health plummeted instantly.

Fortunately, gla1ve's extinguishing Smoke Grenade came very quickly, which prevented Magisk from dying instantly at the start.

The Banana position, because it is relatively long and narrow, is easy to play when starting out.

But it is very difficult to master.

Because the choice of several gun positions, the timing of the engagement, and the anticipation of the opponent's patterns are all very important.

A Gunner who relies only on pure Gunplay usually ends up in a very miserable state in this position.

Just like Magisk in this round.

Or like Electronic, who often ends up with one HP before even seeing anyone.

After gla1ve helped extinguish the fire, Magisk, left with only 33 HP, didn't dare to stay in Banana any longer and immediately slipped away toward the back.

On Xu Beifang's side, upon hearing the sound of the fire being extinguished in Banana, he had an idea in his mind.

Waiting for the opponent's close-range fire to go out, he aimed and threw an Aozhaolei, then immediately used a small-body peek to jump and look at the Tree Position from the Stone Slab—he didn't see anyone holding the angle directly at the Tree Position at first.

More importantly, the Smoke Grenade the opponent threw was completely biased toward the Tree Position and did not completely seal off Banana.

It must have been to cover someone leaving, so there should still be someone holding an angle at T Spawn.

So after considering this, he immediately threw a Smoke Grenade toward T Spawn.

But at the same time, the kill feed appeared in the top right corner.

【dupreeh+xyp9x Headshot killed JackZ】

"Two people inside A Apartments!" JackZ shouted the callout in voice chat, saying with some self-reproach: "My fault, I wanted to grab an opportunity from A Apartments."

Although JackZ was always teased for his Formulaic Playstyle, he still had his understanding.

His basic way of playing was to throw a few different sets of utility at fixed times in A Apartments, and then, just when the opponent thought they had figured out his habits, he would pull off an unconventional move to catch them at a moment of psychological relaxation.

In this instance, JackZ had thrown a One-Way Fire, wanting to catch the T-Junction of A Apartments by surprise.

But Astralis's Default details were far more cautious than he had imagined; even after hearing the Incendiary Grenade explode, Astralis still cleared the site with two people in sync, and when JackZ didn't instantly one-tap someone upon firing, he was immediately traded by the two of them.

Looking at the kill feed in the top right, Xu Beifang, after throwing the T Spawn smoke, moved quickly to the side of the Stone Slab near Banana and hugged the wall.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

A burst of bullets from T Spawn sprayed through, constantly whizzing past Xu Beifang.

Xu Beifang waited for him to stop firing, then continued to walk forward with silent steps.

"Beifang has already hung onto the Banana Road Near Point; they have already taken full control of Banana; apEX, hurry and rush toward the A site."

"With JackZ dead, even if Zywoo is quick to counter-utility, the pressure on A site remains immense."

"Team Astralis is also just preparing to probe Mid; they intend to secure control of Mid in the second timing."

"However, Xu Beifang doesn't seem to intend on just staying inside Banana!!"

Wanjiqi's eyes were instantly drawn to this aggressive move by Xu Beifang.

By conventional logic, sending one person to hang out at the Banana Road Near Point to gather information was already bold enough.

Yet, he never expected that Xu Beifang didn't just plan to stay at the near point, but intended to push out and look for a fight.

This... what if he gets caught in a crossfire?

Wanjiqi was extremely worried.

But from the very beginning, the thought in Xu Beifang's mind was never just to hang out at the Banana Road Near Point.

He roughly calculated the opponent's positions and knew that Team Astralis would be unlikely to come to Banana to clear a second wave in the short term.

At this moment, Team Astralis's focus on Banana was relatively weak, so he had to seize this opportunity and take the initiative to push out.

Furthermore, it was already a 4v5 Clutch situation, so he had to gamble.

Xu Beifang walked silently and slipped directly out of the smoke.

He didn't see anyone holding an angle at T Spawn at first, which made him breathe a sigh of relief; he continued to push forward and soon saw a Terrorist inside the Sewer.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

A short Tap with the AK47 in his hand.

【Nice+Shox headshot and killed Magisk with an AK47】

"Beifang caught an incredible timing! Team Astralis was just about to use a Flashbang to clear Mid. He's turned into a Timing Master this round; Magisk just pressed 4 and summoned the enemy!"

After taking down Magisk, the numbers and information were now in his hands.

At this point, Xu Beifang's safest choice would be to slip away and return to a safe position.

But Xu Beifang didn't take such a huge risk just to get a single kill.

He immediately pulled out an Incendiary Grenade and threw it toward the right side of T Spawn.

Then, after waiting for a timing at the origin point, he strafed directly out to the right.

After Magisk was killed, he fed back the information immediately.

gla1ve and Device were also instantly on high alert, immediately turning their attention toward the Banana direction.

gla1ve even started moving toward Banana immediately, wanting to trade Xu Beifang.

But the sound of the Incendiary Grenade stopped them in their tracks.

They subconsciously assumed this fire was utility used by Xu Beifang to block the path while he slipped away.

"What a timing," gla1ve muttered, then gave an order: "Let's continue to take Mid..."

Device also subconsciously turned his head toward Mid, but just then, a scene flashed through his mind.

"No! That's fire used by Nice to mask his footsteps!"

Device's arm tensed as he quickly snapped his view back, only to see a CT strafing out.

"Bang!"

【Nice headshot and killed Device with an AK47】

After Xu Beifang took down Device with a short Tap, he immediately performed a Spray Transfer, pulling his aim back to the left.

"Beifang doesn't want to run; he still wants to keep fighting! A fire made the opponents think he was leaving, but in reality, he was already prepared, pre-aimed, and strafed out. Device reacted, but he was still insta-killed!"

"gla1ve on the left was also taken out by the Spray Transfer. This Positioning, this transfer! Nice!!"

Amidst the gasps from the scene, Wanjiqi shouted with great emotion: "It's still my Beizige! You can't play a standard Default against the world's number one, because this guy is much more aggressive than you'd imagine!"

"Oh no, Team Astralis hasn't even finished their Map Control at Mid, and their players have already been mostly wiped out by Beizige!"

【Nice killed gla1ve with an AK47】

"How does this guy dare to do this!" gla1ve really couldn't fathom why someone would play so recklessly.

Pushing forward actively while at a numerical disadvantage was one thing.

But the problem was that even after his position was locked, he still dared to push out to fight; he really wasn't afraid of being caught in a crossfire.

Device already had a sour face, and he angrily slammed his right hand onto his monitor.

Monitor: WDNMD!

Unlike gla1ve, he wasn't angry at Xu Beifang's boldness, but was blaming himself.

As one of the most hardworking players, he had watched many of Xu Beifang's match recordings; this playstyle of using utility to mask the intent of a push was something he had seen countless times, and it could be considered Xu Beifang's signature style.

Yet, he had failed to react to it this time.

If he had been able to react and thought of this possibility, he might have been able to catch Xu Beifang.

That way, there would still be a chance to play out this round.

But now, the advantageous 5v4 situation had instantly turned into a 2v4.

xyp9x and A Du, who were already prepared to synchronize in A2, could only look at each other in dismay.

The bomb was still dropped at Mid, and they had no choice but to turn back and try to take down Xu Beifang.

But from the main camera angle, the audience saw that Xu Beifang still hadn't left; he was standing inside T Spawn, holding a direct angle on A1, because the bomb was currently dropped at the T-Junction in Mid.

"Is Beifang going to keep being reckless? He could actually retreat to a back position for a solid defense, but he chose to take the initiative!"

"xyp9x just peeked and was instantly headshot! However, dupreeh, who snuck over from under VIP, finally seized the opportunity and killed Beifang with a pre-fire."

Watching Xu Beifang get killed, Wanjiqi let out a long breath.

He didn't feel any regret that Xu Beifang was traded; it was more of a 'this guy has finally been dealt with' feeling.

There was no helping it; Xu Beifang's performance this round was too terrifying.

You aren't coming to Banana to look?

Then I'll push forward to find you!

Not only is he looking for a fight, he's almost wiped out Team A by himself; this is truly too monstrous.

The secondary monitor to his right was also scrolling frantically at this moment.

【The dominance on Banana is too strong.】

【Beifang has reached enlightenment! If you won't play Banana, he'll take the initiative to find you and fight!】

【You never know what Beifang's next combo will look like.】

【Even when Team A is playing to avoid him, Beifang's presence is just too strong.】

【No choice, the gap in individual skill is too large; there isn't a single person on the Banana front who can win a duel against Beifang.】

【There used to be a Front-Facing Boy, but today VP has been passively activated—it's a special attack against Magisk!】

【Recovered 5 points, it feels like there's still a chance for this Map 2.】

Xu Beifang pushed forward to secure four kills, and the other three members did not let him down.

Shox, who had rotated to defend the B site, held an angle from CT Spawn and easily killed A Du as he crossed, taking the round with ease.

"Nice!" During the halftime break, apEX waved his fist quite excitedly, "Our performance in the second half of the first half was quite good. Keep up this rhythm, and we have a chance to Reset them!"

The first 8 rounds were indeed played poorly, but even though they are at a score disadvantage, their Mindset is quite good right now.

Because their performance in the second half as the CT was very good, especially Xu Beifang.

Under such heavy targeting from the opponent, he was actually able to put up a stat line of 19-4-9.

This greatly boosted the morale of the Vitality members.

XTQZZZ also came over to fist-bump them: "These points were played really well. Just like we said before, no matter what, as long as we believe we will win and take action, everything is possible."

"Recall that match we played against NRG; it's been too long since we've had a comeback like that. Shall we do it again today?"

JackZ said: "Doesn't that mean every time we have a comeback from now on, we'll have to recall NRG?"

"The NRG team that only exists in memories," Zywoo quipped.

The Vitality group burst into laughter instantly.

But immediately after, they began to discuss the setup for the second-half Pistol Round.

HLTV recently conducted a statistic: on the map Inferno, if the attacking side can win the Pistol Round, the average win rate for the second round is 74%.

The importance of the Pistol Round goes without saying.

They are currently on the trailing side, and every point is incredibly critical.

……

There was a small accident today; a kid visiting my home broke my internet cable. This chapter was typed using voice-to-text on my phone, so there might be a few typos. Sorry, sorry.

Beware of "Kid Pals" during the Chinese New Year!