Chapter 342: It

Lanxess Arena, inside the player tunnel in the backstage.

Zonic waved and greeted the tall figure in the distance.

The tall figure was in a good mood, turned his head and nodded to Zonic.

Xu Beifang thought his smile was so bright and warm, but in Zonic's vision, it was another look.

The terrifying muscles made the team uniform look like it was about to explode. The smile looked warm, but the shadow under the lights was pulled very long, making people feel suppressed. The blue-purple lights floated over from the venue, shining on his side, adding a terrifying atmosphere.

Can only say that he is worthy of being a BOSS!

But Zonic understood in his heart that this was just his brain supplement after seeing the data, and the real Xu Beifang was still very sunny.

In the IEM Sydney final three months ago, Xu Beifang amazed the entire professional circle with his proud performance of five kills in a single game. At that time, some people even said that no one would be able to play this terrifying level of performance for a long time, and all riflemen would live in Xu Beifang's shadow. Even after three months, the professional arena still remembers that wonderful performance, and as time goes by, the impression it leaves in people's hearts will only become deeper and deeper.

No one would doubt Xu Beifang's powerful explosive power, because he had already proved himself with personal strength, but he also didn't expect that no one had caught up with Xu Beifang's terrifying performance, but he broke the record again.

NEO took an orange out of his pocket, peeled it and put it into his mouth: "So-so, actually it doesn't meet my expectations for them."

Humph, tasteless!

"Ah?"

Even all the members here will definitely perform better than himself.

pasha is not the first day to arrive in Cologne. He has been paying attention to the Cologne game since the group stage. He has an understanding of the several teams that qualified, and finally feels that Astralis, who is in full state, will be the favorite to win this ESL Cologne. Now hearing NEO say this, he is a bit confused.

Listening to the cheers in the venue, pasha casually changed the topic.

However, pasha laughed soon: "It seems that the state of the twin stars today is very good..."

Actually, NEO was originally enjoying the viewing atmosphere with his teammates in the stands.

Hearing pasha say this, NEO turned to look at him, his expression a bit complicated, "Zywoo is actually also mediocre, it's all Beifang performing alone. This BO3, he can basically be counted as one dragging four."

This is pure frying fish!

The brilliance of the individual is very dazzling and charming in this game, but it is often very helpless.

pasha is ultimately a bit regretful. He really wanted to come to the scene to cheer for Xu Beifang, but he didn't make it, so he had to comfort himself like this.

"Actually, I guessed it haha, I just thought that Beifang could win anyway, I cheered for him on the road, anyway, the game was just so-so."

If Vitality's opponent was an unknown wild chicken team, or even an ordinary tier-one team, they could accept it.

NEO didn't get used to his old brother and said directly: "Then you are wrong. I just said Astralis's performance was so-so. I never said this game was so-so."

BO3 game, average rating 2.38, people who have played CSGO know what a terrifying data this is.

Some professional players don't necessarily play a data over 2 in their entire career, but Xu Beifang?

Not only over 2, but also two consecutive games over 2, and even the average data is close to 2.4.

Was caught for speeding yesterday.

pasha, who was stuck in traffic, finally rushed over, so NEO returned to the player tunnel, planning to chat with pasha casually.

Vitality has always been a stable dual-core explosion. Being able to play a crushing score, it is obvious that Beifang and that little French fatty have been performing. They saw the terror of these two guys in the StarSeries, and it is not particularly strange to appear again now.

Overslept today, and when he came over, the first game was almost over.

That Danish team that Liquid wanted to defeat but couldn't defeat. 【34

"Speaking of which, what's your situation? Yesterday you were caught single-peeking the CT Spawn, today you pull a Jametime. You don't watch a single one of Beifang's matches, do you?"

In fact, he understood that Liquid and NRG, none of these people were scrubs.

pasha scratched his head with a smile, draping his exaggerated arm over NEO's shoulder: "That was just an accident."

"Speaking of which, how did Team Astralis play today?"

But this muscle-bound guy wasn't there either time.

"What do you mean?" pasha raised an eyebrow. He had just arrived at the arena and hadn't checked the specific match details. Was there a little subplot he didn't know about?

"Vitality won 2-0, not even one map went to overtime. Vitality won the match in a crushing fashion."

CSGO is a game of aim, but it's also a team game.

Xu Beifang just fried them like fish fry.

But Xu Beifang's performance got him hyped. Looking back at this Liquid confrontation, it felt a bit like entering a "sage mode."

But after seeing Xu Beifang's brilliant performance on Map 1, the confrontation on Map 2 felt a bit like two scrubs pecking at each other.

For veteran players like pasha and NEO, they've seen too many matches. In NEO's view, Team Astralis's performance today was mediocre; it couldn't amaze them.

That dynasty team that sat on top of all the other teams!

This resulted in them being under immense pressure, even though they hadn't officially confirmed their spot in the finals yet.

It can only be said that it was just bad timing.

When NEO walked out of the lounge to smoke, the dazzling lights of the arena shone into the player tunnel, reflecting the clamor inside the arena. The player tunnel actually had dim yellow lights, but compared to the inside of the arena, it wasn't that dazzling.

pasha was stunned and subconsciously shouted: "One-man-army and still won?"

NEO looked at pasha with some reproach. He felt that whether it was yesterday or today, Beifang's match pressure was quite high, and as old teammates, they should be on-site to cheer him on.

But who was Vitality's opponent?

Astralis!

The top players appearing on the professional stage today basically all experienced the wonderful experience of a "one-man-army" when they were young.

If you go to a CSGO forum now and ask who the "Lao Wangs" (suffering kings) are.

You would definitely get many answers, such as NIKO during his Mouz days, S1mple now at NAVI, or Xu Beifang during his VP days...

They all have explosive individual ability and are in the rhythm of a "one-man-army" within the team. They have all put up explosive stats, but ultimately lost the match.

On forums, people often use memes to tease these "Lao Wang" teams: "One daddy loses, two daddies tie, three or four daddies win easily..."

Whether a "one-man-army" can win the game, pasha and NEO themselves have deep feelings about it.

That year when Xu Beifang was on the team, if only Xu Beifang was playing well, then today's match would have likely been lost.

So when he heard NEO say this, he was filled with confusion.

Immediately after, in the player tunnel, NEO took out his phone and showed pasha the post-match stats on the HLTV page. With pasha's eyes bulging, he quickly explained some of the brilliant content from the match:

"... Team Astralis originally thought they could definitely win this round. As long as they won this round, they could get their 14th point, and in the next round, Vitality would have no money, so the chance of winning would be high, so winning this point basically meant going to overtime. Then, our Beifang, while blinded, killed the three people who were strafing out to trade him in the Connector... I just leaned back into Rain's arms at that moment; it was truly terrifying."

After he finished speaking, pasha opposite him still had a jaw-dropping expression: "Has Beifang's individual ability evolved to this point now?"

They spent half a year with Xu Beifang, and while they were together, this young man gave them a very good feeling.

Sunny, cheerful, and motivated.

Always carrying the vitality of a young person, willing to put in great effort to become stronger, unlike those "genius" teenagers.

Back then, they sighed many times about how great it would be if their own form could be better.

Even after parting ways, they knew very well that Xu Beifang would definitely become a top player in the future. But looking at the clips edited by netizens on NEO's phone, he still felt it was incredible.

pasha took a breath: "According to you, after tonight, Beifang's title of 'World No. 1' is basically solidified."

Previously, although Xu Beifang performed steadily, he had few matches and lacked experience against top teams, so Xu Beifang often joked that he was only "World No. 1-ish." Now that netizens call him World No. 1, no one should refute it.

"It's really a bit too perverted. Average rating 2.38; the stats for this match are more than your two matches combined."

Stats close to 2.4, this is truly outrageous.

Honestly, just seeing these stats left him dumbfounded.

Even for pasha himself, playing a Faceit match, wanting to blast out these kinds of stats is a huge challenge.

He thought about it carefully: if he streamed himself playing like this, could he have two matches with a rating over 2 in a single day?

Finally, pasha admitted helplessly that even if he returned to his peak, he couldn't seem to do it.

This is almost an unrepeatable achievement.

In this matter, their little brother has already surpassed them.

NEO's face darkened, and he gave pasha an unceremonious elbow.

He can currently put up a 1.0 rating in FAZE matches, which is considered quite good, so what pasha said was actually damn right.

But precisely because of that, he gave the muscle-bound guy an elbow. Sometimes lies don't hurt people; the truth is the sharp blade.

"You want to die, don't you?"

pasha smiled in pain, but looking at the clips on his phone, he secretly made a decision.

He missed two matches in the playoffs by accident; if he doesn't catch the finals, he will regret it for a long time!

He has a premonition that their little brother might have entered a stage of enlightenment.

The upcoming finals might be much more brilliant than most players imagine!

Amidst the sky-filling cheers, the match between Liquid and NRG finally came to an end.

The final result was as expected: Liquid dominated NRG and took the match.

This didn't exceed Vitality's expectations. In their impression, the strength of the NRG team was upper-tier; they could easily beat first-tier teams, but when they encountered truly top-tier teams, they were a bit lacking.

When the bus drove through the streets of Cologne back to the hotel, the Cologne streetscape was still beautiful. XTQZZZ sat in the second row of the bus, looking down and marking some data from time to time. As he organized, he turned his head to look back:

"After we get back to the hotel, we'll find a restaurant nearby to have some late-night snacks. After the snacks, it shouldn't be too early, so we'll all wash up and sleep... Then tomorrow morning, Beifang, exercise and come back early; I'll have breakfast ready and wait for you all in the training room..."

Usually, because they return to the hotel after the match, there is time to review at night, but after today's match, the players' emotions were very high, so they watched a Liquid match together in the arena. If they reviewed the match now, it would drag on until very late at night.

So XTQZZZ chose to arrange the time for tomorrow morning.

After saying this, XTQZZZ couldn't help but look at Xu Beifang and smile again:

"Beifang, every time it's like this, it's too outrageous."

He thought he knew enough about Xu Beifang, and he also highly recognized Xu Beifang's individual ability in his heart, but Xu Beifang being able to put up average stats of 2.38 against Team Astralis was truly astonishing.

They actually prepared a lot of things for this match today, but in the end, many of the preparations weren't used.

It was mainly because of the unstable factor of Xu Beifang; he not only disrupted Team Astralis's rhythm but also drove the entire Vitality team into a combat state.

XTQZZZ doesn't know what changes this ability will bring in the future, but at least from now on, it's a good thing for Vitality.

Analyst swani said with a smile: "I said, don't underestimate Nice's individual ability. I also highly suggest we study that 'four-protect-one' set from the VP era and use it."

"You might not understand how exaggerated he is as players. In professional teams today, there should be many playstyles that distribute resources, but only in very few teams can I see a star player who consumes resources have such an exaggerated resource conversion efficiency as Beifang."

"Just like he said himself, he uses the FAMAS very well, not because he likes playing the FAMAS, but because when he was at VP, in many rounds, only the FAMAS could be given to him, but he could use a FAMAS issued by his teammates to produce results."

"Isn't it the same today? With a FAMAS at the A bomb site on Overpass, he directly beat Team Astralis to a pulp; he really was like a god of war."

After swani finished speaking, he shrugged; some things are better left unsaid.

XTQZZZ wrote this idea down in his notebook, considering the possibilities for the future.

Xu Beifang, who was at the center of his teammates' discussion, just smiled quietly.

Whether to treat him as the ultimate core is something for the whole team to consider; he personally doesn't have much to say.

After all, Xu Beifang had long experienced the playstyle of being treated as the ultimate core, and he was confident that he wouldn't have the large fluctuations in form like NIKO.

So he had no thoughts on this.

Besides, if he were asked to bear more pressure, Xu Beifang would actually be quite happy.

Carrying a heavy load has always been a very good training method because it can probe the upper limit of his individual ability and allow him to improve faster.

So if the team really decides to play that way, Xu Beifang can accept it.

As for now, he has to enjoy his own "sewer time"!

Xu Beifang changed his posture on the bus, took out his phone, and started opening the forum.

Vitality vs. Team Astralis, the confrontation between two "World No. 1s," was already full of hype; everyone wanted to see who was stronger between the new and old World No. 1.

Coupled with the exaggerated match content, it led to even more intense discussions among netizens.

"How to evaluate the ESL One Cologne semi-final match between Vitality and Astralis?"

【My evaluation is, one-man-army can really win!】

【Nice: There were no prisons in this world, you guys were just too bad】

【Dazhuang proved with strength that 'Lao Liu' can restrain aggression; Beifang proved with strength that individual ability can crush tactics】

【Beifang's performance today reminds me of the discussion on a certain forum: 'What level is it to be able to stably trade one in professional matches'】

【Stably trade one? He got 79 kills in 52 rounds, averaging 1.5 kills per round, and this guy is still an entry fragger!】

【Nice is truly ruthless. You have to know, 79 kills in 52 rounds, and this was while Team Astralis deployed the 'North-avoidance' tactic!】

【But looking at this match, Beifang's performance is much fiercer than the peak S1mple/device I've seen, not to mention that this time in Cologne, he stepped on S1mple and device to get here. This guy is really a very pure player, working hard every day, asking different players to fill his shortcomings, slowly evolving into a hexagonal warrior. He really evolved from a rookie to a god step by step】

The audience didn't spare any praise for Xu Beifang's performance. This is esports; as long as you play well, the trend on the internet will always follow you.

Xu Beifang felt that since he could put up such a good performance, he could naturally enjoy the netizens' praise for him.

The netizens' comments about him were all praise, but the comments about Team Astralis weren't so friendly.

【Where are the Astralis fans? I really like that sentence you guys said: 'It's just that Team Astralis hasn't made a move yet, it's just that little Xu hasn't made a move yet!'】

【Team Astralis today really turned into 'four dishes and one soup'】

【device, known for his stable holding and sniping, was torn apart by Beifang twice in the confrontation today, and in head-to-head duels, he was beaten 15:3. This is not a performance on the same level at all】

【TOP 2 has become mediocre; the sniper's rating barely exceeds the IGL's, which is something to criticize】

【device is actually okay; overall, it can only be said he was suppressed by Beifang. xyp9x was the one who was dominated. As a clutch master, he only took one clutch today, and that B point on Banana was beaten through by Xu Beifang. What is there to play?】

He continued to scroll down. The post-match photo of Vitality and Team Astralis was shared by the photographer on Twitter and was quickly moved over here.

This photo can be considered a very well-shot esports image.

The contrast between the two sides was exceptionally clear, and the expressions on gla1ve's and Xu Beifang's faces made Team Astralis fans feel blocked in their hearts.

【Seeing gla1ve, who is usually calm and wise, like this makes Astralis fans feel so uncomfortable】

【But you have to admit, this time Team Astralis was indeed inferior in skill. Team Astralis once ruled the world with tactics, and now the new king has killed his way back with individual ability】

Xu Beifang saved this photo and put it into his gallery.

Team Astralis will definitely decline in the future; even if they can rule the first tier for a long time, this is inevitable.

Xu Beifang was very anxious before because he wanted to catch Team Astralis in their prime and personally pull them down from the mountain peak.

So he had actually been looking forward to this confrontation tonight for a long time.

But perhaps because it was his first BO3, or perhaps because Team Astralis didn't adjust their form well, only Team Astralis's performance on Map 2 matched the Team Astralis in his impression.

This must be the problem of staying on the mountain peak for too long.

What Team Astralis relied on for survival was tactics, and after they reached the peak, they walked very far on this path.

But after becoming invincible, Team Astralis lost their drive, lost their fighting spirit, and overall began to stand still, entering a comfort zone.

Xu Beifang and Vitality were growing and moving forward frantically, while Team Astralis was still just maintaining the status quo.

The gap between them will only get smaller and smaller; now, Vitality's strength has even completely surpassed Team Astralis, becoming the true World No. 1!

Xu Beifang also hopes that Team Astralis can wake up from this painful confrontation today and regain their form faster.

Otherwise, if they encounter Team Astralis at the upcoming Major and they are in this state, it would be a great pity.

However, that is a relatively long-term problem.

After all, the Major is a subsequent match; the problem in front of them is still to handle their own form and let themselves face Liquid better in tomorrow's match.

Finally, lift their trophy in Cologne!