Chapter 347: Good news: Beifang dropped it. Bad news: There's still Zywoo

"Taken!"

The information of shox killing nitr0 came from the upper right corner, and the confrontation on Inferno also came to an end.

A pure crushing game made Xu Beifang unable to help but stretch.

After moving his muscles and bones a bit, he took another look at the scoreboard and found that the headshot rate was still maintained at 100%, only then did he lean back on the gaming chair with satisfaction to close his eyes and rest.

The other Vitality members were also physically and mentally very comfortable, and the victory in the first match made smiles hang on their faces.

"16:2, I don't need to say more about this score, right?"

Ma Xixi marveled. Although he predicted before the match that Liquid couldn't break Vitality's Inferno winning streak,

he also didn't expect Liquid to be so "fishy," finally only getting two rounds.

A score like 16:2 is rare in tier-one matches, but he didn't expect it to appear in the confrontation between such top-tier teams.

"Liquid played with some problems. North American players' CT, can only say those who understand understand; the defense is indeed played poorly."

【To be honest, I'm curious now what Beifang's stats are in Map 1. Can he break the record left by NIKO?】

Liquid was losing crazily, and the overall morale was relatively low, but they basically couldn't get even a single point, and were constantly headshot and killed by Xu Beifang in duels, leading to a very cold feel, and finally such a huge score gap appeared.

【World's number one breakthrough, there is also a gap】

【Don't blacken it, you can't see the Director's performance. He played really fiercely in the pistol round in the second half, directly killing several people at point A...】

Elige was 16 kills and 16 deaths. In the adverse situation, his kills were a positive number, and even the average damage per round was 100.9. As a player on the losing side, this stat is already quite "C."

【Then he was operated by Xiao Xu】

【94% non-white-giving rate, so this guy only gave white in that pistol round, right?】

The Director and NAF's stats were actually quite okay; both had about 10 kills.

And in the match, one also needs round victories and frontal kills to extend one's feel.

As for nitr0 and stewie2K, they looked a bit like "Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Chick."

MO added from the side: "To be honest, it's not purely Liquid's problem. It's mainly that Nice is a bit too exaggerated. He played 24 headshot kills in the first half. I've also played professionally; this feeling of being killed instantly head-on is quite a blow to people."

In training, only those small positive feedbacks can make people persist.

【This time his individual performance is even more than the sum of Liquid's other four people】

【2.51 rating, this data is more outrageous than the last】

【Average damage 160, really don't know how this guy plays. Are we really playing the same game?】

nitr0 got 3 kills, stewie2K got 4 kills. As a professional player, this record is really a bit abstract.

The audience on-site sent applause for Vitality's wonderful performance in Map 1, the entire Lanxess Arena was noisy, and netizens in the live stream room also entered a rapid discussion.

【16:2, I feel like if you pull five people from the bullet comments, they might be higher than Liquid】

"North America has no CT"—this sentence isn't just talk, but a summary of facts.

"And today Nice had many times where he fired after the opponent, but he hit a headshot upon meeting, often being able to counter-kill the Director or NAF. If this happens a few times, the feel is basically gone."

ID: Nice

Kills/Assists/Deaths: 29 kills, 0 assists, 7 deaths

Average damage: 160.2

Non-white-giving rate: 94.4%

Tactical score (rating 2.0): 2.51

【Stinky fish-fryer】

Other players' stats were actually mediocre. On Vitality's side, besides Xu Beifang, no one had more than 20 kills, and even JackZ, as a tool man, had negative overall stats.

However, when netizens saw Xu Beifang's stats, they gasped.

【Today Liquid doesn't know what they are playing; only Ji Ge is performing】

【This state, why does it feel like Vitality can win the championship 3-0 directly?】

【nitr0 and 2K, these two guys are also too beastly; combined they don't even have a fraction of the opponent's big brother. How to win this?】

【stewie2K's record is definitely my favorite episode】

As for Liquid, it was even more abstract.

Netizens in the live stream room were chatting about the data problem when they saw the screen turn, and the post-match data of Map 1 was released.

Besides discussing Xu Beifang's data, netizens naturally wouldn't let Liquid go.

【Such high kills, and 100% headshot rate, I really suspect this guy is a hard lock now】

"To be honest, if Coldzera were on the opposite side, even if Liquid was zeroed out today, I wouldn't feel strange." MO laughed and teased. "This Beifang entering the second stage is really fierce."

CSGO, whether in training or confrontation, positive feedback is very important.

Liquid, this team, is much better on the offensive end, but defense always makes some small or large mistakes; they usually play defense very poorly.

You have to know, usually, it's not easy to see this kind of "astonishing" record.

【What kind of cool story plot?】

【Woke up, the world's CSGO strength dropped 99%, only Beifang is unaffected】

【Liquid's problem isn't big, it's mainly that Vitality is too fierce. 100% headshot rate, this frontal can't fight back at all】

【Director, what are you doing!】

In the case of being CT at the start, if they could see Liquid get 6 points, fans would feel the main team players were in an explosive state today, and the winning chance was large.

【29-7, where did this cheater come from?】

【nitro 0.24, Jiao Jiao 0.18, the two of them combined rating isn't even a fraction of Beifang's. Really speechless】

【nitr0 as IGL can actually be understood, but this Jiao Jiao is too disgusting】

【North American soft-footed shrimp】

【You guys stop blackening it. stewie2K is just such a player; his strength is greater than his character】

【It is indeed strength greater than character. If you talk about strength, there is indeed no strength, but it is still strength greater than character】

The audience was still amazed at Xu Beifang's performance and the emotion of complaining about Jiao Jiao not being human.

The short halftime break ended, and the players from both sides adjusted briefly and returned to the match stage again.

"Map 2 is Liquid's chosen Overpass. I don't know if they handled their mentality well in these 10 minutes of halftime." Ma Xixi stopped teasing the bullet comments. "However, Overpass is their own map pick. Liquid is starting as the attacking side, so they can play a bit more comfortably, and the pressure doesn't need to be that big."

"At least they don't have to face Xiao Xu's Banana road, which is definitely a good thing for them." MO laughed. "But now it's mainly a state problem. If Liquid's frontal gunplay is still like Inferno, even if Xiao Xu doesn't perform, it will be very difficult for them to win this match."

As a professional player, he also had to admit that Xu Beifang's Banana road is played really well; Liquid has no way to deal with him.

Xu Beifang's ability to lead the rhythm is too strong; Liquid was basically led by the nose by him in Map 1.

"However, compared to looking forward to the main team members' state warming up, it's better to look forward to Beifang's state not being so fiery."

Two minutes before the match started, Xu Beifang was closing his eyes and resting on the gaming chair.

Entering the state at the start consumed a lot of his energy.

Mainly because looking at the screen so close, his eyes were always a bit dry, and he always wanted to blink.

He was worried that he would miss the timing because of this problem when entering the match, so he grabbed time to let his eyes rest.

"Brothers, Map 1 has already emptied me. It's your turn to perform next." Xu Beifang waved his hand toward his teammates with his eyes closed.

JackZ snorted disdainfully: "Every time it's like this, saying the state is already not working, and next I'm going to lag, but every round he kills first or second."

Shushu nodded like a chicken pecking at rice: "Exactly, exactly!"

XTQZZZ smiled, and then explained his view: "For this next match, I really don't plan to play around Beifang, just operate according to our previous habits. Beifang tries to find information or steal the first kill in the early stage, but after getting a kill, he can be conservative."

He understood it clearly: Liquid had been made completely jittery by Xu Beifang's aggressive playstyle on the first map.

When entering Map 2, frontal confrontation might be played relatively conservatively, and even the default might be done for a long time.

In this case, if Xu Beifang wants to do various unconventional top-pressing, the difficulty will be very large.

But if he changes to a style, slightly restrained, Liquid's counter-means might not work instead.

As a coach, before the match is when he plays his role.

"And it's exactly, exactly!" apEX grabbed the chubby meat on Zywoo's face with his right hand. "Just like Beifang teased, if you don't perform again, even the expired baguette will be gone!"

Xu Beifang: "..."

He didn't expect apEX to remember the Zywoo diary he teased.

Hearing this, Shushu didn't care at all and revealed his signature smile again.

On the other side of Liquid's player bench, taking advantage of the match about to start, coach adreN comforted:

"Don't have psychological burdens because of the failure in Map 1. It's very normal for a player to explode in a match. Director, you watch Vitality's matches a lot, you should also know that Nice's state is actually not stable. Many times he performs in this match, and plays relatively ordinary in the next match."

Hearing this, the Director nodded and took the initiative to say: "It's like this. I once asked Nice, and he said it's because he is close to the screen and can concentrate, but this way of maintaining time isn't long."

Hearing this, the mentality of the Liquid group felt better, and the oppressive atmosphere seemed to be dispersed.

But to be honest, the Director actually had no bottom in his heart.

Although it's normal for Nice to use "second stage" to finish a map and then decline, judging from Nice's state in Map 1, even if he declines, it shouldn't be too bad.

So for this next match, their overall pressure is still quite large.

Participating in Cologne this time, they actually wanted to defeat Astralis and lift the championship. This isn't an easy road.

But from the start of the play-in, their state was quite excellent, and they even killed their

The forums were all shouting that they had the momentum to win the championship this time, and nitr0 had initially thought so too.

But after watching the Group B semi-finals, where Vitality brutally beat Astralis with a wild momentum and entered the finals with a 2-0 score, he felt the script was a bit off.

What is the lower bracket playing at?

Astralis, what are you playing at?

How could you let Nice put on such an exaggerated performance?

Who among you woke Nice up?

But I didn't see Astralis shouting like BlameF!

With Xu Beifang chasing him down on the first map of the finals, nitr0 already felt something was wrong.

However, he knew this was his own emotional issue and couldn't let it affect his teammates.

"Think about the first half of our year; didn't we get tired of winning tournament trophies back then?" nitr0 said with a handsome smile on his face.

Since Astralis began their era of dominance, Liquid was the first team to break out of the siege.

In the first half of 2019, their rise also came after defeating Astralis once, and then they became unstoppable.

They knew in their hearts that their ceiling was very high and that they had the ability to defeat any team in the world.

"Exactly!" stewie2K chimed in, "Vitality defeated Astralis yesterday, and haven't we defeated Astralis before?"

Although apEX might not have the best reputation, for the current Liquid team, he was an excellent leader; in this low-pressure team, much of the morale-boosting was done by him and nitr0.

It's just that nitr0 was soft-spoken, and his words often struggled to motivate people, while the boisterous apEX's words were more convincing.

"Next is our strong map, give it some effort. I'm a teacher who taught Nice recoil control, after all; don't let my student look down on me." Elige, who was not good with words, also took the initiative to speak up at this moment.

stewie2K shook his head: "It seems your time as a teacher is coming to an end."

The Liquid players burst into laughter.

Seeing the expressions of his players, Liquid coach adreN finally relaxed, standing behind them and watching as they began to enter the server for the second map.

Xu Beifang heard the sound of the USP coming through his headphones, then opened his eyes and sat up from his gaming chair.

"It's on, it's on, brothers!" Xu Beifang shouted excitedly, "Let's get passionate; the fun times are starting again!"

From the big picture, this was the last major tournament before the Major, and all teams wanted to adjust their form in this competition to maintain better shape for the Major.

As of now, ESL One Cologne was already one of the most important tournaments outside of the Major.

Xu Beifang also wanted to lift a trophy in this city with such rich esports culture and continue their streak of consecutive championships!

He also enjoyed all of this.

The dazzling stage, the loud applause, and the blood-pumping cheers after every spectacular kill.

As well as the duels and mind games with powerful opponents—this was all he pursued.

Xu Beifang understood very well that he wanted to defeat Liquid; he wanted to stand in the center of the stage and lift that trophy after this final ended!

"This round, let's be a bit unconventional: 3A2B start." After considering it, apEX chose a heavy-defense gamble.

It seemed like 3A2B was fine, but one had to know that on the map Overpass, a 3B start was basically the standard default formation.

Putting 3 people on A Site was already considered a lot.

"My spawn is good, I'll step on the balloon in a moment to check for information at T Spawn." apEX turned to look at the two guys beside him, "You two just group up at A Long; let's secure A Long first."

The order from apEX had been given, and the group set off after the countdown ended.

Xu Beifang took Zaiwu directly to A Long; apEX prepared to go to the balloon to scout information immediately, while he wanted to push out of A Long and use the information apEX gathered to take an information duel.

apEX did indeed get information in the early stages, and Xu Beifang also tried to use that information to steal an entry kill.

But perhaps after the confrontation on the first map, Liquid played very cautiously; the moment Xu Beifang peeked out, he was spotted by NAF, and the two exchanged a shot before stopping.

"We're falling back, apEX, watch out on your own."

A Long had been discovered, so it wasn't a good position to push forward anymore.

After all, this was an open area, and trying to force a way through with pure gunplay was still very difficult.

Although Xu Beifang felt his form was good, he couldn't disrespect his opponent; they weren't the noobs from the 5EPL.

"Yeah, I understand." apEX responded, but he didn't retreat directly from the balloon.

He felt his position was still mysterious, and the opponent would definitely think he had taken one piece of information and run away.

If the opponent didn't clear this position, he could definitely get a big wave of kills.

But after holding Overpass for a while, apEX didn't see anyone, and he started worrying if the opponent was going to rotate.

After considering it, he chose to retreat.

As a result, just as he came down from the balloon, he saw two Terrorists in Mid while still in the air.

"Two in Mid!!"

apEX reported the position quickly and immediately opened fire.

But before apEX could finish reporting, he saw two more Terrorists rush out of the sewer.

"Bang!"

【Elige used Glock to headshot apEX】

Liquid's focused fire took him down instantly.

"Ji Ge's timing was very good; rushing out of the sewer directly secured the entry kill." Ma Xixi commentated quickly, "What about B Site now? Should they retake directly?"

"Liquid is choosing to go up through A Small? But there are still two CTs hanging around A Long Toilet!"

The moment apEX died, the attention of both Xu Beifang and Zaiwu was already on Mid.

The two didn't communicate, but they tacitly chose their positions.

Xu Beifang held A Long at the entrance of the A Long Toilet, while Zaiwu held the entrance to Mid from inside the toilet.

But while Xu Beifang was holding, he heard the sound of bullets flying past his ear.

He immediately turned his head to help Zaiwu deal with the enemies inside the toilet.

"The main force of the Terrorists rushed directly into the toilet; Zaiwu was a bit shaky at first, but Beifang also came over to help!"

"Beifang instantly one-tapped one with the USP, helping Zaiwu clear the threat, but NAF's timing was also spot on; Beifang's positioning was a bit too eager, he didn't walk into the toilet and was directly picked off by NAF from A Long!"

"Now only Zaiwu is left in the toilet; he's about to be surrounded!" Ma Xixi's tone was full of worry.

If it were the Zaiwu of the past, he would feel this clutch could still be handled.

But Zaiwu's form these past few days was truly not good.

Just like the encounter just now—if it were the old Zaiwu, he would have one-tapped them directly without needing teammates to help.

nitr0, who had already been killed, saw the kill feed in the top right corner and shouted excitedly: "Nice is dead!! There's one more in the toilet; take him out and the pistol round is ours!"

Because of the experience on the first map, for them, as long as Xu Beifang was dead, the difficulty afterward would be minimal.

Once Xu Beifang died, they felt the air become a bit sweeter.

Liquid played unhurriedly; if it weren't for the bomb in the toilet, Zaiwu felt the opponent would have rotated directly, or even ignored his position.

The score was 3 vs 4; Zaiwu knew in his heart that he had to get two kills for his teammates to have an even clutch to play.

Zaiwu's face also lost its playfulness.

He pursed his lips, his brain running at high speed, thinking about the most reasonable way to handle this clutch.

There should only be one at A Long; there were many people in Mid, and since the bomb was near Mid, the opponent would act sooner when they made their move from Mid.

But he couldn't just stand there waiting; otherwise, if he let the opponent get into position, he would definitely be the one pulled apart and killed.

After considering it, Zaiwu held the Mid entrance of the toilet and quickly came to the A Long side of the toilet.

Then he peeked out directly and exchanged a shot with NAF.

NAF was hit by Zaiwu's shot and was so scared he shouted in voice chat: "Zaiwu is coming out to find me, hurry up and help!"

They had originally thought this was a guaranteed kill on Zaiwu, but Zaiwu's movement seemed to have broken their encirclement.

If Zaiwu abandoned cover and broke out of the siege from A Long, they really wouldn't have any way to deal with him.

Thinking of this, nitr0 and stewie2K rushed directly into the toilet from Mid, helping NAF with the trade.

But Zaiwu never thought about breaking out from A Long; that would only trade one for one at best.

He thought it would be best to trade two; if possible, take out everyone in this encirclement so his teammates could come over to defend the bomb together.

"apEX and nitr0 rushed into the toilet to trade, Zaiwu has already turned around; apEX's aim was a bit off, but Zaiwu's wasn't!"

"Headshot one... two!!"

Ma Xixi widened his eyes; the charm of CSGO lies in this—although there are team tactical influences, everyone can have an impact on the situation.

"Two in a row, the enemies in Mid have been cleared, but NAF has also rushed over from A Long."

"But Zaiwu seemed to be able to hear NAF's thoughts, turning his head a second before NAF strafed out and holding him dead!"

The audience at the venue cheered with all their might, and Ma Xixi and MO, who were commentating in the CSBOY live stream, were also stunned.

From their perspective, Zaiwu's play was very smooth.

In a local 1vN situation, he used cover to actively find the isolated enemy first; before this, they also thought Zaiwu wanted to find NAF to fight to save his own life.

But now it seemed Zaiwu's initial goal was to lure those two from Mid out.

After luring them out of Mid, what followed was a crushing display of gunplay.

Zaiwu used his gunplay to tell everyone that his form wasn't bad; it was just that under the cover of his teammates, it wasn't exaggerated.

He was still the strongest genius teenager of the new French generation!

"The situation was instantly reversed by Zaiwu's individual ability; the 3v4 clutch turned into a 3v1, leaving only Elige at A Small at a loss."

"The bomb is still in the toilet; what about this round, does Zaiwu have a chance for a four-kill?"

Elige had originally heard nitr0's excited shouting and thought this round was no problem.

But the crazy kills in the top right corner made his heart sink.

He didn't turn back immediately but continued to search toward the bomb site; he wanted to intercept the two guys retaking first, then find a way to pick up the bomb.

With his movement, he actually saw a CT crossing the bomb site.

But Elige's first shot didn't hit the opponent's head, and he got a bit anxious afterward, ultimately failing to get the kill.

He was even more nervous now, but he could only turn back and search again.

But the moment he walked into the toilet from A Small.

"Pfft!"

【ZywOo used USP to headshot Elige】

"This is Zaiwu; you think why Beifang dares to be so aggressive? It's because he has this guy behind him covering his back!" Ma Xixi shook his head and laughed, "It makes one sigh, this guy is truly amazing."

"When you watch matches, don't you always feel that as long as Beifang is performing, it's just changing to a different place to be imprisoned?"

"But this guy always manages to silently kill his way to second place, with only a few kills less than Beifang; that's how you know Zaiwu's greatness."

MO replied: "It's truly absurd; no matter how you look at it, the word 'death' was written on his head, but he forced his way out with his plays, and honestly, his logic was too reasonable—every step seemed calculated."

In the Vitality team room, Xu Beifang didn't hold back his praise: "This logic, it's really perverted!"

"I've already prepared to be carried this round."

Zaiwu did a virtual fist bump toward Xu Beifang: "That's fine, I'll start performing this round."

He felt Xu Beifang had been fierce enough these past two days; he had indeed been a bit lazy.

Actually, if he put himself in those shoes, he would make similar decisions, but he would take the initiative to find the frontal fight first, or kill one at A Long first, and then use cover to play.

"Then I'll go to the sewer this round; I want to hard carry during this eco round." Zaiwu unexpectedly took the initiative to suggest it.

shox teased from the side: "Incredible, now Zaiwu even dares to steal apEX's rewards."

This sentence was met only with apEX's ferocious expression.

In the joyful atmosphere, the Vitality members headed to their respective areas.

In the force-buy round, Xu Beifang got a FAMAS, but he didn't intend to go to the forward point to engage in a firefight this round; instead, he stood at A Long and held his angle quietly.

Zaiwu, who had declared he was going to the sewer at the start, rushed into the sewer with an MP9 immediately.

He wasn't in a hurry at first, quietly holding the lower level of the sewer for a while.

After a long while, he heard footsteps coming from the balloon.

Zaiwu didn't rush, but coordinated with apEX for a flash-bang counter-clear.

Then Zaiwu caught a blinded nitr0 and easily took him out with short bursts from the MP9.

After clearing the sewer, Zaiwu turned his head to look at Mid.

"There are three big generals in Mid; they only have Glocks and P250s, and Zaiwu has an MP9—this position is actually not easy to play."

"Feinting a shot, Zaiwu again actively sold a flaw; Liquid took the bait and pushed to the close point, Zaiwu sprayed down one with the MP9, took down two!"

"Stepping out again, he directly took down nitr0 at the balloon too; the MP9 gets another four-kill! Is there a five-kill? The last one is outside the long pipe."

"It's just that NAF had no desire to play anymore and rushed out from the long pipe to find JackZ and give himself up."

Ma Xixi shouted: "What is this situation? Beifang played so well last round, Zaiwu felt unbalanced and wants to have a go too?"

"What is this 8/0 start?!"

He suddenly felt that this little French fatty also seemed to be acting a bit strange.