Chapter 348: Four kills and only one leg seen

Looking at Zywoo's bank account, the members of Vitality were all beaming with joy.

However, after some mutual banter, they quickly brought the topic back on track.

apEX recalled the reminder from head coach XTQZZZ before the match—Liquid was currently extremely vigilant regarding Xu Beifang, so the pressure felt on A Site shouldn't be too great.

Therefore, after some consideration, he chose to take the knife to B Site.

"Alright, Zywoo, drop a sniper rifle."

Listening to the IGL's order, shox chuckled on the side; Zywoo's economy hadn't even warmed up before being squeezed out, which was truly somewhat abstract.

Zywoo didn't mind; he rarely took the initiative to voice his own thoughts. If the team wasn't in a predicament, he would be fine using an MP9 every round.

Hearing shox's laughter, apEX ignored it and continued giving instructions: "Xu Beifang, take the sniper rifle. In today's match, you might have to carry the sniper rifle more often."

"No problem." Xu Beifang didn't really care whether he used a sniper or a rifle; using a rifle was mainly just better for dictating the tempo.

"This round, you're playing A alone. If possible, create some noise early on to give the impression of an aggressive A Site map control."

After Zywoo finished adjusting, he did a simple jiggle peek.

Twistzz had pre-positioned a smoke grenade and threw it directly onto Vitality's short pipe fire, extinguishing it.

Old Jack received the information and immediately reported the situation.

"There's one in the sewer, but he threw a fire." Xu Beifang carried the sniper rifle and waited quietly in front of the flames, not in a rush.

One T-spawn fire, then a T-spawn smoke, and then a flash for Overpass—wouldn't you be sweating bullets?

Since Elige wasn't seen at the far point in the first wave, he could only be hugging the wall near the short pipe.

After arranging Xu Beifang, he continued: "As for B Site, we'll start with a 4B setup. Later, we'll actively contest the construction site. We'll execute that 4B aggressive construction site take we practiced, and secure control of the construction site immediately."

He felt that as a professional player, Twistzz shouldn't be so reckless as to force his way through the fire to contest the construction site alone.

Immediately after, an HE grenade exploded next to the sandbags. Twistzz felt fortunate that he hadn't been in a rush; if he had tried to push quickly in that first wave, he would have taken another HE grenade and been down to one HP without even seeing anyone—truly hard to handle.

He immediately backed off, only adjusting his angle to try and find Elige's position.

But just after extinguishing the fire, he heard two "Boom" sounds, and his health plummeted.

Twistzz's reaction was fast, mainly because he could hear the sound of a flash being pulled in B1 from his position, so he turned away immediately.

Although they had traded a player in this wave, control of the construction site did not belong to them.

……

HP-48

Health plummeted, so the advantage in the subsequent duel wouldn't be as great... Twistzz thought to himself.

Elige held his angle quietly. Listening to the footsteps moving back from the sandbags, he felt he had caught an incredible timing.

He only needed his teammates to secure an even-footing duel position after the order was executed, or even a slightly disadvantageous one, because Zywoo and Xu Beifang would use their exaggerated individual ability to bring it back.

The guys on B Site were preparing to clear the construction site; if he could hold the sewer, their pressure would be much smaller.

Thanks to the information provided by Xu Beifang, he knew the sewer was safe, and the sewer wasn't planning to synchronize with the construction site push.

Zywoo didn't intend to retreat; their mission at the start was to secure control of the construction site on B Site.

They didn't have the margin for error of that one shot.

"Vitality's B Site combo at the start of the round blew Twistzz down to half health, but now that they know there are at least three people on B Site, Twistzz is pre-aiming the double-boost spot. JackZ jumped to scout from the double-boost spot but wasn't caught by Twistzz."

He turned on his scope and pushed from Mid toward the sewer.

Not only that, but now that the opponent was hitting his body, it would only take two bullets to take him down.

Therefore, in terms of IGLing, he didn't need to engage in overly complex mind games with his opponents; he just needed to avoid being targeted and play their own game.

Xu Beifang and his teammates swapped weapons, and after the countdown ended, they started directly from A Small.

"However, there's only his sniper rifle playing A Site this round, so that should be quite conservative... but Liquid is quite fast on B Site; they're hard-pushing the construction site!"

apEX told him that creating some noise was enough, but whenever possible, he still wanted to alleviate the pressure on his teammates.

Hearing this, apEX threw his flashbang immediately.

The biggest difference between an AK and an M4 is that an AK can one-tap, while an M4 only does about 90 damage. But now that both he and Elige were blown to low health, an M4 could also one-tap, so the head-on duel was entirely down to reaction time.

apEX's tactical purpose was very strong. As Vitality's IGL, because his teammates' individual abilities were exceptionally outstanding, he didn't need too many overly intricate orders.

As the full-buy round began, Ma Xixi also entered commentary mode.

"Xu Beifang has picked up a sniper rifle. Is he going to come over and dictate the tempo this round?"

So it was highly likely that someone was following behind to trade.

Even if it was just the timing of a turn, Zywoo pulled out and took him down immediately.

"Elige, who had already retreated into the short pipe, has crept back out. He's been shift-walking against the right-hand wall the whole time, holding an angle. He feels he's very mysterious; can he steal a kill this time?"

Zywoo and shox were already prepared in the sandbag area, and hearing the flashbang explode, they strafed out immediately.

After Xu Beifang finished throwing his set of utility, he didn't force an angle on T-spawn from Overpass, but instead displayed a Wong Kar-wai-style "one-shot" sniper performance in Mid.

"Liquid wanted to hard-push the construction site immediately, and Vitality also planned to contest it. This combo was quite good; Twistzz was directly devoured by Zywoo!"

If this wave was played well, not only could they win back the kill Twistzz gave up, but they could even create an advantage!

However, from the god's-eye view, Zywoo took two steps back and then started shift-walking forward again.

But even if he reacted and successfully turned his head, it was still useless!

"Rat-tat-tat!"

The AK47 bullets hit the construction site wall directly. Elige's instinctive reaction didn't hit the prepared Zywoo, and he knew in his heart that this wave was going to be bad.

He immediately strafed a body-width to the left-rear to avoid being pre-fired by Zywoo.

But Zywoo strafed out wide, and the two sides engaged in a firefight instantly.

"Rat-tat-tat!"

【ZywOo killed Elige with M4A4】

With both teammates in the construction site dead, stewie2K in the sewer became somewhat anxious. He had been holding for a while and hadn't heard any information from the upper level.

He chose to gamble that there was no one on the upper level of the sewer, intending to quickly pass through and open the door to trade for Zywoo.

However, when he shift-walked over to open the door, he did take a glance at the upper sewer, but his overall clearing was somewhat sloppy.

When he saw that guy carrying a sniper rifle, stewie2K immediately crouched and opened fire.

But the bullet was still stuck in the magazine, and his chest had already been pierced by an AWP.

"—Bang!"

【Nice killed stewie2K with AWP】

"Great shot!" apEX exclaimed loudly, "5 vs 2, we can play it safer now."

Zywoo also reminded: "Xu Beifang, you can go through the construction site to reinforce B directly. I'll go back to defend A with apEX."

After taking down stewie2K in the sewer, Vitality had completely cut off Liquid's retake.

However, they didn't really need to retake for the time being, because in a 5 vs 2 clutch, holding angles steadily made it very difficult for the opponents to operate.

Liquid was indeed in a tough spot; 1 minute and 30 seconds into the round, they had entered a 2 vs 5 clutch.

nitr0 and NAF didn't know what to say anymore.

A fast push on the construction site had been completely anticipated by the opponent, who had executed a counter-strategy.

The defenders were blooming on both A and B; the start of the round was unplayable.

"Really, Vitality's defensive aggression is truly very strong!" Ma Xixi praised.

MO also nodded: "This is a top-tier combo. Start by throwing fire at the construction site; if you extinguish it and push, then two HE grenades are ready. If you push out, you're definitely a cripple. After the utility is spent, the two people at the sandbags are ready, strafing out to hit half-health with full-health. If you still can't win that, it's a gunplay issue."

"Now that the round has entered a 2 vs 5, it seems saving weapons is the best choice." Ma Xixi adopted Liquid's perspective and gave the most appropriate option.

But the aggressive Liquid did not choose to save.

After all, it was too early in the round; saving weapons right at the start would be a blow to morale.

After probing for a while, nitr0 and NAF didn't find any forward-pushing CTs, and in the end, they could only group up and go to the long pipe, attempting a silent contact.

"Liquid chose to play 1-for-1 trades, but Vitality also chose to sacrifice one to trade. Even with a numerical advantage, they are playing some subtle tricks."

"JackZ is jiggling near the long pipe with an MP9, shox is waiting nearby with a FAMAS, and Xu Beifang is holding the construction site with a sniper rifle from underwater."

"The two sides are about to make contact. How will this firefight go? JackZ jiggled again and finally saw Liquid. An MP9 spray hit both of them down to half health, but didn't take either of them down!"

"shox didn't rush; he waited for the timing and pushed out directly. Both people in the long pipe were pulling utility, and he caught them off guard, easily picking up two kills. This 1-for-1 trade was played well by both!"

Ma Xixi smiled: "This is what we mean; when a team wins a championship in a top-tier tournament, their confidence afterward is different. Vitality used to play timidly on this map against Liquid, but now they are incomparably confident. That is the gap."

"And the pressure on Liquid is really huge. They lost to Vitality in their last tournament encounter, and coupled with Vitality's performance yesterday, their pressure has accumulated."

Having won the first three rounds smoothly, the members of Vitality were all relaxed.

However, they didn't let their guard down; as the current world No. 3, Liquid's strength was still quite terrifying.

They wouldn't pop champagne at halftime or look down on the opponent's strength just because of a temporary lead.

Facts proved that their vigilance was very reasonable.

After winning this full-buy round, Liquid's economy had a small problem. In the following rounds, even if Liquid only bought no-armor Desert Eagles, they could pose a considerable threat. Every round, they had to lose at least two full-buy weapons.

It wasn't even that Zywoo was in good form; his outstanding performance in clutches meant they almost turned the tables in several rounds.

Liquid's state made Vitality tighten their mindset, not daring to have the slightest slack.

For Liquid, it was very painful.

In a state of trailing in the score, nitr0 chose the safest playstyle, not pursuing the slim win probability of a force-buy comeback, but playing as many full-buy rounds as possible.

Although Elige and Twistzz gave away many opening kills today, their head-on form was also very good.

Their head-on duel win rate was still considerable, and they even helped the team gain advantages in many rounds.

However, being able to gain an advantage but not win the round was a huge blow to them.

Elige couldn't help but complain in his heart: "What is up with this Zywoo? How is he playing the clutch like he has wallhacks?"

In clutches, the more they worried about where Zywoo would appear, or worried that he would strafe out at a certain time, the more Zywoo would use his operations to recreate the images in their minds.

This feeling was like *tsuntsu*—every time they were about to succeed, they were returned to the starting point, making people feel incredibly stifled.

It wasn't until the 8th round that Xu Beifang carried the big sniper and arrived at the balloon as usual.

After turning his head to dodge two flashes and eating two flashes, Xu Beifang pushed slowly toward the T-spawn while scoped in under the cover of the Mid smoke.

"Bang!"

【Twistzz killed Nice with AK47 headshot】

The audience at the venue gasped, especially Liquid's fans.

Although this wasn't the first time Liquid had secured an opening kill, the scene of Twistzz, a rifler, tearing apart a big sniper still amazed them.

Xu Beifang also took a breath. Twistzz was indeed ruthless this time; he had pushed with a sniper rifle, so logically he should have had the advantage.

But the moment he saw Twistzz, he was one-tapped, which meant Twistzz's pre-aim was right on his position, and his reaction was also quite fast.

Truly ruthless!

Worthy of being the man who develops the gallery in CSGO!

If the audience knew Xu Beifang's thoughts, they would definitely tease: Is it interesting for the No. 1 headshot rate to tease the No. 2 headshot rate?

"Liquid isn't hesitating this round, attacking quickly from A Long, invading from A Long toilet. apEX caught one with an M4 but was also taken down by the following gun line. JackZ had a chance to turn his head at A Small, but NAF strafed out from Mid and was killed instantly!"

"Liquid can finally take a round!" MO shouted. Although he personally favored Vitality, if this map one of the finals was 16:3, and map two was also a crushing defeat, that would be a bit exaggerated.

They would really suspect if Liquid had eaten something bad.

"Liquid is also very decisive, directly executing an explosive bomb attack on A. Vitality's retake is coming very fast. This 2v4, two clutch masters are here, can they operate?"

"Trash can smoke, bank smoke, all the utility that should be given is given—enough respect!"

"shox is crouching at the car head, taking down stewie2K with a spray, wanting to change positions, but NAF's trade has also arrived."

"Zywoo stepped out from the bank smoke and traded NAF. How about this 1 vs 2 clutch? Is there a chance?"

"Elige rushed over from the left, Zywoo took him down with a spray, and Twistzz reinforced from the right of the bomb site—a spray transfer!!"

"What a pity!! Just one bullet's worth of health away. Zywoo carried hard this wave, but Twistzz still held the pressure; strafing out was a headshot."

【Twistzz! My superman!!】

【What a pity, Zywoo almost took off again】

【Just one bullet away, this could have let Zywoo operate】

【Mainly because Twistzz performed a meritorious service; if he hadn't one-tapped Xu Beifang at the start, this wave really wouldn't have been won】

【Indeed, one Zywoo in a clutch is already so fierce; with one more Xu Beifang, this clutch is unplayable】

【The metaphysical score is here!】

【……】

The score reached 7:1, and Liquid finally ushered in a chance for a counterattack.

Although Vitality had been winning consecutively in the early stages, on this map chosen by their opponent, the pressure they felt was completely different from Inferno.

On Inferno, when they won a round, they could basically save three full-buy weapons.

But on this map, many times they ended up saving one big sniper, and the economy never operated well, which was also why Vitality didn't dare to relax.

"My bad." Xu Beifang scratched his head, "I gave away that opening kill too painfully."

apEX shook his head: "Normal. Letting you go out to take the opening kill always has risks."

"It's impossible for you to one-tap others every day, and for them to never one-tap you once."

After chatting casually for a few sentences, apEX turned his attention back to the match.

Having been chased back a round by Liquid, they still had some economy, but it was troublesome to get full weapons and full grenades.

apEX still let Xu Beifang and Zywoo find opportunities on the map, trying to steal an opening kill.

Xu Beifang, who had obtained the big sniper, still stole an opening kill, but the moment he got the kill, he was also traded by nitr0's big sniper.

He only completed a 1-for-1 at the front point, so the head-on situation was a bit hard to play.

Next, Liquid didn't play any fancy tricks with them, just controlling the map, executing explosive bomb attacks, pushing, and trading.

But Vitality, with poor weaponry, found it difficult to hold this round.

Xu Beifang could imagine that the audience was teasing about the "metaphysical score."

But his feeling was that after winning the first score, Liquid's psychological pressure was much smaller, and they started to have confidence in their duels.

Having lost another round, Vitality's economy also collapsed directly, and they were forced into an eco round.

The force-buy comeback the audience was looking forward to didn't happen either.

The score reached 7:3 without anyone noticing.

The first half was already halfway over; Vitality was actually leading by quite a bit, but Liquid's winning streak tempo was very fierce. If they couldn't break it, then being chased by too many points would make the second half uncomfortable for them.

"Xu Beifang, you keep using the sniper rifle. Don't be too aggressive this round; just find opportunities to hold angles." apEX gave the order, "Then we'll start with a 4B setup. Early on, we'll still actively take the construction site, then reinforce A Site or use other tactics."

Since apEX wanted to perform an "empty city strategy" on A, Xu Beifang simply didn't go out early on, jumping around at home and looking at his newly bought butterfly knife.

He was slacking off in the spawn point, while on B Site, both sides were engaging in very tense firefights.

In this round, apEX intended to repeat the old trick, wanting to play the fast construction site take routine.

But this time Liquid was well-prepared. Although Elige, who was in the first position, extinguished the fire, he didn't rush out immediately.

Instead, he waited in the short pipe, and after hearing two HE grenades explode, he asked his teammates for a flash to rush out and counter-clear.

"Vitality counter-cleared in the second wave. Zywoo was completely blinded by Liquid's construction site flash. Elige seized the opportunity and rushed up to take Zywoo down!" Ma Xixi raised his volume, "But Vitality didn't give up! apEX threw a second flashbang, letting shox counter-brush out!"

"shox took down Elige with a spray. stewie2K in the sewer opened the door wanting to trade, but the timing wasn't very good; shox had already slipped away!"

The two sides' confrontation in this wave was very intense, and the firefight at the construction site ultimately only resulted in a 1-for-1 trade.

NAF, who was outside the long pipe, wanted to seize the opportunity to synchronize and speed up, but the CT on B Site anticipated it and threw an incendiary grenade directly, blocking them outside the long pipe.

This chance was basically impossible to seize.

"However, although a 1-for-1 trade occurred, Vitality's B Site defensive strength is still quite sufficient because Xu Beifang is holding the fort alone on A Site, allowing them to start with 4B. Even after the firefight, there are still 3 people defending B Site, which is very solid."

Forced back by the incendiary grenade and unable to synchronize, the opportunity wasn't seized.

nitr0 wasn't anxious. In the first full-buy round, they were stunned by Vitality's combo.

So he probably understood now that Vitality was a 3B heavy defense, and since the ID just killed was Zywoo, he understood that there should only be one Nice left on A Site.

However, he was still somewhat hesitant about whether to go and trouble Nice just like that.

The meticulous Twistzz seemed to sense nitr0's thoughts and took the initiative to say: "Why don't we try rotating to A? They are heavy on B Site, and they still have a lot of utility, so it's not easy to play."

"Although A Site is Nice, his form isn't good this match. As long as our trade efficiency is fast enough, taking A Site is still very easy."

nitr0 originally had the idea of hitting B, but after hearing this, he looked at the scoreboard. It was indeed as Twistzz said; although Nice's data was still positive, it couldn't compare to the Inferno match at all.

"Then let's rotate to A now."

After saying that, nitr0 threw a flashbang toward B Site casually and then led the main force toward A.

"Liquid didn't choose to play default in place, but turned around to probe A. But this round, only Nice is playing on A Site."

When the director's camera gave the shot to Xu Beifang, the expression on Ma Xixi's face was somewhat speechless.

Truly worthy of being from VP; I really suspect you've eaten something bad.

The head-on firefight was intense, but this guy was just rocking back and forth on the bomb site alone, constantly cutting his broken butterfly knife.

He didn't voice his inner complaint, but he knew in his heart that Vitality might be doomed this round.

And if the bomb site was lost and this round wasn't won, Xu Beifang would even have to take the blame!

Xu Beifang cut the butterfly knife again, and only then did the big sniper scope in.

Actually, he wasn't just playing with his butterfly knife; while cutting the knife, he was more so scouting information and calculating the opponent's position.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to jump around on the bomb site.

After the first round of firefights on B Site, the information fed back by his teammates was 3 on B.

So he had just taken a few looks at A Long; usually, members playing solo on A Site would start moving from A Long first.

It was this situation that made him play somewhat leisurely.

However, after calculating the time roughly and hearing a flashbang thrown by Liquid for the A Small sniper, he also knew that the opponent had probably rotated over.

Only then did Xu Beifang scope in with the big sniper, holding the A Small crossing directly.

(Angle holding position)

He could hold this position for about 12 seconds; any longer, and there would be a risk of being hit from the side.

He was defending A solo and had to consider this problem.

All 4 members of Liquid had pushed to the vicinity of A Small. nitr0, holding the big sniper, didn't rush to let his teammates push, but intended to use the sniper rifle to actively clear the points.

Although he was an IGL, he was also a very good sniper in North America; at least in this tier-one environment, his sniping was quite good.

After jiggling at A Small a few times, nitr0 pre-fired with the big sniper scoped in, wanting to hit the sniper position on the platform.

"—Bang!"

【Nice killed nitr0 with AWP】

"Sniper position at the car head!" nitr0 reported the position to his teammates quickly.

He was somewhat helpless; Xu Beifang's reaction was too fast. He strafed out with a pre-fire posture, but in the end, he only saw one of Xu Beifang's legs.

Liquid's members heard the report and all moved closer, almost ready to act.

"Xu Beifang's timing is very good. Just as he cut to the big sniper, he held and killed nitr0 who was scouting from A Small. This also secured information; the opponent is highly likely to hit A."

"But he is alone at the car head. Can this big sniper really drag it out until his teammates retake?" Ma Xixi's tone rose, setting the atmosphere.

But what Ma Xixi didn't expect was that after Xu Beifang secured the kill, he had no intention of waiting in place.

The main thing was that his teammates were at a certain distance from him. If Liquid intended to execute an explosive bomb attack, he would be killed by utility if he stayed in place.

He had to find a way to disrupt Liquid's tempo!

The moment Xu Beifang secured the kill, he jiggled to confirm there was no trade at A Small, and immediately pushed toward the area under the platform while scoped in.

Scraping along the points, he successfully secured vision inside the toilet.

He saw a terrorist facing him sideways at the connection between the toilet and A Small, and the big sniper fired directly!

"—Bang!"

【Nice killed NAF with AWP】

"Great shot!" apEX praised in the voice chat, then shouted quickly, "Xu Beifang, don't rush, find a way to drag it out; our retake will be in place immediately."

apEX, who was on the way to retake, still thought Liquid had already started their explosive bomb attack.

Xu Beifang didn't stop his hands; after taking down the terrorist in the toilet, he immediately leaned forward, hugging the toilet wall.

If the opponent wanted to trade at this time, Xu Beifang could still use the cover to dance with them.

"Xu Beifang's big sniper took down the second kill. Liquid's attack has been stopped by his sniper rifle."

"But he is still not satisfied!" MO took a breath, "He is still actively looking forward! Someone is standing at the A Small corner, but stewie2K doesn't seem to have any intention of strafing out. This wave, could it be... Xu Beifang!!!"

Gasps erupted at the venue; no one could believe the scene before their eyes.

From their perspective, after Xu Beifang secured the second kill, he pushed directly toward A Small with the big sniper in one go.

But as he pushed, he suddenly flicked to the right, and the bullet pierced through the wall, hitting Twistzz on the shoulder with one shot.

【Nice killed Twistzz with AWP wallbang】

Twistzz was inside; you had no information, and you just wallbanged him to death with that one shot?

Really or fake?

The moment his teammate was killed, stewie2K wanted to trade immediately, but the continuous sound of gunfire made him feel a bit empty inside.

He jiggled to the right but didn't dare to strafe.

But stewie2K forgot at this moment that the A Small toilet position was a disadvantageous gun position.

Because this gun position would expose his shadow first.

stewie2K took a step to the right, although he didn't strafe out of the cover.

But when he strafed back, a bullet with extreme impact pierced through the A Small wall and hit him directly on the forehead.

【Nice killed stewie2K with AWP wallbang headshot】

"Hiss!! This Xu Beifang simply doesn't give you any room to operate. Two consecutive wallbangs directly stunned Liquid. How is this playable?"

"It seems only nitr0 saw a bit of a person in the 4 kills; there wasn't even a head-on duel."

MO smiled with relief: "When playing with a rifle, at least you can see the scene of this guy one-tapping you. Now that he's pulled out a sniper rifle, he doesn't even let you see the death screen. Too damn exaggerated."

Under the cheers of the venue, apEX didn't care either; he stood up directly, pointing both hands toward Xu Beifang, with a proud smile on his face.

Although he didn't speak, the audience could understand his meaning: "I have such a Xu Beifang, do you have one?" or "Is my Xu Beifang awesome or what?"

Liquid fans looked very helpless, but they had to admit that these two players from Vitality were unreasonable.

They finally managed to deal with Nice, and Zywoo would often perform.

They dealt with Zywoo, and Nice could operate again.

Previously, Liquid's form wasn't good, and they couldn't trade for effective kills in head-on duels, so they had nothing to say; it was indeed that the members of the primary team didn't play well.

But what about this round?

The two sides swapped a kill at the start, nitr0 found Vitality's weak defensive area, a 4 vs 1 clutch, and only one big sniper was defending A Site. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed hard to hold.

As a result, a group of Liquid people couldn't even see a person head-on. 4 people were killed, but Liquid only saw one long leg head-on. How were they supposed to play?

The primary team finally found the tempo, and there were signs of improvement in this match.

But this Nice suddenly stood out and disrupted the tempo.

Now they could only hope that this round wouldn't have much impact on the primary team's players. ===== CHAPTER 349 =====