Chapter 372: Xu Beifang is just being immature, playing around

"No suspense here!"

"16:3. On the first map of this best-of-three, Xu Beifang has displayed his dominant strength as always, and Vitality has welcomed their 16th consecutive win on Inferno, fully demonstrating the current form of this team!"

Inside the broadcast room, Ma Xixi shouted loudly, a faint smile hanging on his face.

As commentators, they certainly hope for more exciting matches. While the first map was a stomp, it didn't suffer from the boredom usually associated with one.

Both sides had sound overall strategies; there were no brain-dead decisions. Whether on the offensive or defensive side, the tactical maneuvers were a pleasure to watch.

On the offensive side, Xu Beifang's plays were quite eye-catching. His various opening-kill routines in Banana and that one smoke-mixing play made the viewers in the chat exclaim, "Ah!" in high praise.

On the defensive side, although ENCE had lower proficiency on this map and couldn't outplay Vitality in duels, Aleksib's tactics in several rounds were quite brilliant.

It was just a pity that the gap in map proficiency was too large.

Mo sighed, "Vitality's Inferno is a bit too monstrous. It feels like only a fully-charged Astralis or a FaZe with all their gods returned could put up a fight. On this map, compared to other tier-one teams, they are performing dimensional reduction strikes!"

"However, Vitality's performance on this map relies heavily on your North God's form. Once Xu Beifang's form dips, the overall performance won't be that great." Ma Xixi quickly changed his tone, "But unfortunately, Beifang is one of the most consistent professional players!"

Ever since the full-buy rounds began, their Banana had been constantly tortured by Xu Beifang. The B site, which was breached repeatedly, affected their entire game.

Because it was ENCE's map pick, Vitality started on the defensive side.

Before the second map even began, the entertainment value from CSBOY was already through the roof.

He knew Xu Beifang was strong, but the firefights on the first map always made him feel stifled—getting flashed out and traded, or being instantly killed through smoke without any information.

Shox shot Old Jack a look, "If you didn't get your fill of kills in the game, you're looking for a sense of presence in chess? Who would play international chess with a former pro like you? I'd rather play table tennis with Beifang."

Now that he saw Beifang about to crush his primary team, he immediately got anxious.

Setting aside their usual joking around, they began to enter a competitive state.

Aleksib followed up on his words, "That's the confidence we need. We've defeated countless opponents on Mirage, even leaving s1mple with the regret of a lifetime. I believe that on this map, we can fight our way back!"

Mingrixing chimed in from the side, "Ma Zong, can you praise Beifang more? Actually, I really want to see Beifang beat ENCE up."

"Wgnls! Why is everyone trying to jinx me? Fine, I'll make a judgment. I believe in Beifang's performance. You all focus too much on Inferno and forget that Beifang started his career playing Mirage!"

There was another burst of laughter at the player benches. Having taken the first map with a landslide victory, everyone was in a good mood.

Sergej straightened out his feelings, but he still felt a breath of frustration stuck in his chest.

Mo was stunned, "Mingrixing, you have such a cruel heart!"

Ma Xixi had thought this sudden reversal would be a good joke for the stream, but he didn't expect the viewers to be so terrified.

Losing Inferno didn't put Aleksib in a great mood, but as an IGL, his eyes were always on the big picture, so his mindset was relatively better.

Mingrixing used to be a viewer in the CSBOY stream and only recently became a team assistant. However, Mingrixing was just experiencing life; this person was a wealthy woman from Shanghai who owned countless properties.

Map: Mirage

With that, he directly opened the betting interface on the Huya backend.

【Next time they play Astralis, it feels like Beifang's keyboard will be covered in expired milk.】

Xu Beifang replied, "That's not impossible."

By the end, ENCE was almost entirely relying on the structure Aleksib provided for defense, but their win rate in head-on duels was ridiculously low, to the point where they were losing confidence.

【Beifang doesn't deserve to die!】

The broadcast feed cut to Vitality's player bench. Ma Xixi's gaze fell on that familiar tall figure, silently muttering to himself, "You must win. Let everyone see that I really am a professional commentator!"

After a ten-minute halftime break, both sides entered the server for the second map.

So he took the initiative to comfort them, "It's okay. The first map was Vitality's pick; we actually expected this result. It's just a pity we couldn't create a miracle."

JackZ chimed in, "Indeed a pity. Once the second map starts, we two will play international chess in the back and let those two guys go kill."

Hearing Mingrixing join the viewers in stirring the pot, Ma Xixi immediately got anxious, "I already said, I am a professional commentator! Mingrixing, ban everyone in the chat who is jinxing me!"

Zywoo still smiled cutely, "It's fine. Once we get to the second map, we can coordinate again and let them see the charm of our Siren Killer combo!"

The moment Inferno ended, Xu Beifang took off his headset and turned to look to his right, "Our coordination couldn't have been smoother, it's just a pity we only took one point in the second half's full-buy rounds."

"Today, I'll show you what a professional commentator is!!"

This Inferno match left them feeling very powerless. During the early probing phase, Aleksib relied on tactics to gain some advantages. They thought it was a start, but didn't expect that to be ENCE's biggest rhythm of the entire match.

Aleksib's voice wasn't impassioned, just rationally analyzing, and the restless hearts of the ENCE players calmed down.

【Beizige, what did you do to offend you!】

He was truly unconvinced!

"Mirage is our home court, I will definitely get my revenge on Nice!" he said viciously, "Several times on the first map, I didn't even see anyone before Nice hit me. It disgusted me to no end."

【Xixi, don't! We'll call Xiao Xu over to gift gifts after the match ends!】

But after spending some time together, he and Ma Xixi discovered that this girl truly loved CSGO, and they both knew Mingrixing's primary team was ENCE.

As for the other side of the stage, the atmosphere at ENCE's bench was a bit oppressive.

"Fine, pretend I didn't say anything!"

Hearing his comfort, his teammates felt it was indeed the case. Vitality already had the title of the world's number one Inferno, and they hadn't played Inferno well in the last half-year, so losing was normal.

Shox sighed, "Another round of being carried. I feel like in the future, I should just log in to help start the game."

ApEX arranged the pistol round tactics, "We'll just use the standard 3A2B formation. However, for the A site, you three can do a setup to counter a potential explosive bomb attack. I'll buy flashbangs and a defuse kit and prepare to retake."

Because apEX had to go to the B site, he didn't intervene too much in the defense of the A point.

Xu Beifang suggested, "How about one of you stands under the second floor with me? We'll play a bait-and-switch."

In terms of basic structure, there aren't many tactics to play in a pistol round; besides crossfire, there's only information deception.

Xu Beifang had pulled off many beautiful plays using this trick under A2, and he quite liked using it.

JackZ raised an eyebrow, "How about I give you both a pair of dualies, and you both go under the second floor, how about that?"

"That way the information can be even more real."

"Sure!" Xu Beifang didn't refuse. In a position like under A2, dualies could produce very good results.

They communicated the timing of their move, and after the countdown ended, they each headed to their respective defensive areas.

In the CSBOY broadcast room, seeing the feed appear, both commentators and viewers perked up.

"Alright, the match has started. Let's look at both sides' utility. ENCE has bought two sets of utility—smoke, flash, HE. Although the bomb is near A1, ENCE's playstyle is relatively slow; they aren't rushing with explosive utility. The early stage is mainly for gathering information. If they get useful information, a rotation later is possible."

Ma Xixi looked at the CT side, "ApEX has two flashbangs and a defuse kit, but the twin stars are doing something fancy again. Two dualies standing together under A2—this setup is sophisticated!"

MO took over, "ENCE is clearing mid simply. After clearing, they're turning back to hit A. They want to smoke off the jump platform and connector, using flashbangs and HE to rush the CT spawn. But this tactical deployment seems to have really walked right into Vitality's setup. Let's see how this firefight plays out."

ENCE moved into position silently.

"Two people at the T-spawn jump platform throw smoke grenades directly, then throw two flashbangs to send their teammates out of A2. This is a jump to the second floor!"

"Boom!"

The teammates' flashbangs were thrown, and Aerial and Sergej followed them, jumping from A2 to the short box almost simultaneously.

Besides seizing the position and getting kills, they also had the task of clearing points and gathering information.

So the two of them were very meticulous. While flying in the air, they specifically turned their heads to look under A2, wanting to confirm the information—two pairs of cute, wide eyes appeared before them.

In the shadows, those two dualies flickered with light, chilling to the bone.

Causing the two of them to panic instantly.

"Two under A2!!" Sergej shouted hoarsely in the voice chat.

But the sound of the dualies rang out faster than his voice.

"Da-da-da-da-da-da!!"

The fire rate of the two pistols was absurd, and the accuracy of these two guys was also outrageous.

Sergej still wanted to fight back the moment he landed, but after landing, he was nothing but a corpse.

【Nice used Dual Berettas to headshot kill Sergej】

Aerial did land firmly, but under the firepower of the two dualies, he was also instantly melted.

【ZywOo+Nice used Dual Berettas to headshot kill Aerial】

Watching Sergej in the feed get scared into a twitch, Ma Xixi laughed quite immorally, "This wave, ENCE walked straight into a big trap!! The flashbangs were good flashes, the problem is they couldn't flash under A2 at all, and these two hair dryers in Vitality's pistol round—how is this even playable!"

"The two people jumping to the second floor were instantly melted, Zywoo also pulled out from under A2, Beifang climbed the stairs to the top of A2 to look for A1. The two at A1 didn't have armor and were instantly finished off by bullets. Although JackZ at the CT spawn was blown up by an HE grenade, the terrorists attacking the A site were also finished off by their two dualies!"

"The last one, Aleksib, crept up from the archway. He wanted to intercept the retake and get as many kills as possible, but Vitality didn't even open the VIP door. He had no choice but to go to the A site to fight. Xu Beifang was already on a roll, standing directly on the short box directing traffic, but Aleksib just couldn't win!"

"A double five-kill right from the start of the pistol round—it's looking good, brothers!"

The score reached 1:0, Vitality won the pistol round.

Ma Xixi summarized, "I'm not sure if Vitality intentionally studied ENCE, but this wave was mainly because ENCE wanted to hit the A site with explosive utility, but the weak point of the explosive utility tactic was exactly what Vitality countered. The twin stars with two dualies—the firepower was maxed out. The two guys with half-armor were directly melted, and they couldn't play the rest."

Regardless, Vitality hit the weak point of ENCE's tactics and took the round easily.

This also shows the terror of tactical targeting.

Ma Xixi felt that Vitality's path ahead wouldn't be particularly easy.

After losing the pistol round, ENCE chose to buy up for a force-buy after consideration.

This round, Vitality's focus was on mid and the B site, leaving only JackZ at the CT spawn jumping to scout.

ENCE's point this round was exactly to use utility to hit A. Their initial purpose was to try and operate with guns, wanting to take advantage of Vitality's poor economy to find an opportunity for a comeback.

But to their pity, JackZ at the CT spawn was as steady as an old dog and had no desire to duel at all.

They could only plant the bomb and then operate around the bomb site.

But unable to stand at the CT spawn and jungle, ENCE had too few gun positions and was soon eroded bit by bit by Vitality's retake.

Planting the bomb added quite a bit of economy for the terrorists, but the failed force-buy still left their economy in this round very awkward. ENCE could only perform another half-buy adjustment, leaving two thousand in the economy for the next round.

The opponent didn't apply enough pressure, and Vitality didn't have any tactical issues, eventually taking this point with a 1-for-4 trade, safe and sound.

The score reached 3:0, and the first full-buy round confrontation finally began.

In the first full-buy round, Vitality's defensive focus was still closer to the A site, but Aleksib's IGLing really had some substance.

He directly learned a trick from apEX's advanced tactics; in the first full-buy round, they jumped to A2 right from the start.

The A site only had JackZ hanging alone this round, and the first wave was instantly suppressed.

Later, they also knew JackZ was very steady, so they actively counter-cleared and ate JackZ, standing in the CT spawn.

Zywoo's movement was fast, immediately rotating from VIP to help, but didn't expect Allu to have already pulled out an unarmored AWP, aiming right inside VIP.

Two people were lost right at the start, and apEX and Shox were still a bit far away. Xu Beifang didn't play recklessly and directly followed the main force to save his gun.

This confrontation was simply unplayable.

Whether it was Xu Beifang or apEX, they both thought Aleksib's move was a set tactic, just playing an unconventional style. But after Aleksib took a point this way, he chose to repeat the trick.

But no one expected that when facing ENCE's second jump to the floor, JackZ didn't hide back this time. After turning his back to the flashbang at the CT spawn, he turned around with an M4A4 and directly sprayed with recoil control!

A hearty triple-kill directly created countless ten-year fans of JackZ in the CSBOY broadcast room.

With JackZ being so effective, the others in Vitality didn't let them down and easily took this point.

But ENCE was also on a roll at this time. In the next round, they still chose to hit A with explosive utility, and they used the Liquid A playstyle—that is, people and utility coming out together.

Sergej charged around the bomb site this round and took a point for ENCE with a quad-kill.

The fierce battle between the two sides began, and the A point saw quite intense firefights in the following rounds.

This style of rapid explosive utility hitting made it hard for Xu Beifang and Zywoo to perform.

But later, when Xu Beifang had a good position, he actively jumped to A2 and topped it, getting the opening kill.

Shox also got a kill in the B site by choosing his position well. Later, relying on steady operations, they finally crushed ENCE's economy.

After winning this round, Xu Beifang took a long breath, "This Aleksib isn't playing by the book. Continuous rapid attacks—it doesn't seem like his personality at all."

It's just that he had to admit these rapid attacks were indeed effective. If they hadn't held their own in terms of marksmanship in several head-on encounters, the ones with an exploding economy now would be them.

ApEX also nodded, "No big problem. Next, they should slow down, and we can play according to our rhythm."

Being targeted in those few rounds was partly because their starting routes were in the sewer or B2, and their overall defensive focus was wrong. By the time they got information and returned, it was already very rushed.

Fortunately, they eventually regained the rhythm.

Taking advantage of ENCE's lack of economy, they chased back several points fiercely.

It wasn't until 6:2 that ENCE finally saved up enough economy for a full-buy round.

ApEX said, "Now ENCE shouldn't dare to play that fast, so we'll still take the initiative to come out and fight."

"JackZ, you stay at the A point. Throw fire at A1 at the start—don't save it—and then just play alone at the CT spawn."

"For mid, Beifang has a good position. You jump down from mid directly, whether it's pre-pushing or going to the sewer is fine. If you want to pre-push, we'll coordinate with you to push from B2."

"If you want to play mid, let Shushu cover you from the archway."

Xu Beifang thought for a moment, "Let's clear mid. They'll probably be quite steady this round. Pushing from the sewer has a lot of pressure, so I want to sweep their mid."

"But I need B-small and the archway to coordinate with me, otherwise my position will definitely be locked down."

After the countdown ended, Xu Beifang, who had the first position, rushed directly into VIP. Then he pulled out an HE grenade and threw a bomb at the T-spawn while jumping down from VIP.

After landing in the sewer, he casually threw a smoke grenade into the sewer.

This smoke grenade didn't need to be very precise; as long as it could fill the sewer, it was enough.

"ENCE threw a quick VIP smoke this round, preparing three people to rush mid first." Watching Aerial waiting and ready in A2, the experienced Ma Xixi immediately analyzed ENCE's thinking, "They should be preparing to play a 4-archway pinch on A."

"But Vitality's defensive focus this round is also in mid. This wave is a clash of needles against wheat—let's see how the mid-game operations go!"

"Xiao Xu jumps into the sewer at the start and even throws a bomb at the T-spawn. Is he planning to push forward? No, he stops there in the sewer."

XseveN was in the first position this round and rushed to grab mid directly with the help of the quick VIP smoke. But just as he arrived at mid, he was hit by a bomb head-on, and his whole person was directly slowed down.

Then the thing that made him uncomfortable appeared: a sniper rifle appeared at the archway. XseveN immediately crouched, but it was too late to fire...

"—Bang!"

【ZywOo+Nice used AWP to kill XseveN】

"—Bang!"

【Allu used AWP to wallbang kill ZywOo】

"There are three more in mid!" Zywoo reported the position immediately after being traded.

The moment the fire was thrown at the archway, apEX extinguished it, attracting the opponent's attention. So the moment Zywoo was taken out, he immediately shouted, "Can you flash mid?"

"Wait a second!"

"Right away!"

The teammates on both sides of A and B needed to prevent rushes at the start and weren't in position immediately.

Xu Beifang immediately said, "I'll throw a wall-bounce flash. It's behind you. Once it pops, pull out with me!"

With that, he threw a flashbang directly against the B-small wall.

Following a "Boom," Xu Beifang and apEX pulled out from left and right directly.

"Someone jumped into the sewer on the opposite side. Can you speed up and eat him?" Aleksib was responsible for applying pressure from the sewer this wave, but when he threw a flash to control the map, he saw the end was blurred by smoke.

Aleksib immediately realized something was wrong.

The information about someone jumping into the sewer, plus the smoke just replenished at the archway—all this information made the terrorists in mid feel immense pressure.

But the starting utility had already been laid out, and the tactics were halfway deployed; the arrow was on the string and had to be fired.

Sergej quickly communicated with Allu, "Let's push forward together, I'll turn my back to the flash!"

Allu nodded, switched to an AK, and pushed forward directly.

Their mid-game handling this wave was very good. After hearing the sound of the flashbang popping, Sergej also turned his head immediately.

The moment he turned his head, he saw one person rushing out from both the archway smoke and the sewer.

But the desperate thing happened: the vision he got was only for a split second, because Vitality still had flashbangs following!

At this moment, Sergej could only learn the full-white spray transfer that Xu Beifang had pulled off before.

But the next second, looking at his death perspective, he knew he had overthought it.

【Nice+JackZ flashbang used AK47 to headshot kill Sergej】

【ApEX+Nice flashbang used AK47 to headshot kill Allu】

The firefight in mid was so intense. Aleksib in the sewer didn't dare to push forward casually. Seeing the ID in the top right corner and the location of the gunfire, he also started spraying directly in that direction.

The flashbangs given by JackZ and Shox were quite good; neither of them flashed their own people.

Xu Beifang and apEX had a perfect output environment. When they finished a wave in the front, he wanted to retreat to the archway to stabilize.

But bullets from the side kept hitting him. Xu Beifang, whose spirit was already highly tense, subconsciously pulled his aim and sprayed over.

"Aleksib has already received the information about someone jumping into the sewer and is deliberately defending against targeting. Sergej actively turned his back to the flash, but Vitality's flashbangs are endless. Top-tier mid coordination! Beifang easily catches Sergej with a spray, apEX also takes one out, but Aleksib's sewer backup has arrived! WTF!!!"

The director gave Aleksib's perspective throughout this firefight. From the X-ray, they could see Aleksib spraying through the smoke and hitting Xu Beifang. Xu Beifang's health was also constantly decreasing. They all thought Aleksib could take back a kill this wave.

But they didn't expect Xu Beifang to turn around and slap him in the face.

Aleksib was directly stunned by this big slap.

"How is this still playable?" Ma Xixi shook his head and sighed, "Vitality is really playing very steadily now. Their tactical coordination and counter-clearing, everyone's form—I mean everyone—they are now like FaZe with all their gods returned. Everyone can get kills, instead of like before, 1 minute 35 seconds into the start, with the twin stars 2v-everything."

Ma Xixi truly felt in his heart that Vitality in this state really had the strength to compete for the Major championship.

It's just that popping champagne at halftime is indeed not good, and saying such a judgment out loud will really stir up trouble.

Aerial at A2 saw the crazy firefight in mid and JackZ's flashbang assist, judged the situation, actively crept out, and successfully shot JackZ at the long box.

What was left for him was a 1v3 clutch. Aerial jumped directly to the short box. Regardless of whether he could win the clutch, he planted the bomb first.

The firefight at the A site also confirmed the last person's location for Vitality.

Xu Beifang directly picked up Zywoo's AWP. After hearing the bomb-planting sound, he swayed at the jump platform and confirmed the opponent was planting directly.

He directly opened the scope and aimed at the center of the short box.

He fired a shot directly!

Aerial had just finished planting the bomb and was thinking about how to operate this clutch.

A powerful bullet from the side directly took his life.

【Nice used AWP to wallbang headshot kill Aerial】

The viewers in the CSBOY broadcast room were originally looking forward to how Aerial would operate, but suddenly saw him die. At this moment, they were all in a daze.

【This...】

【Xiao Xu is just being immature, playing around】

【I came to watch the match to learn techniques, what am I supposed to learn from this!】

【In a professional match, you can see smoke-piercing, wall-piercing, blood-locking...】

【Beifang knows too many things, but this wall-piercing point can be dug into after the match. This thing is truly learnable】

【Indeed, sometimes when separated by explosive utility, piercing the planter to death is quite useful】

【Can only say terrifying, how does this guy know everything!】

【Like I said, others are here to play professionally as a job, this guy is purely addicted to the internet】

【Aleksib, stop controlling mid, just hit A with explosive utility from the front. This is simply unplayable】

Xu Beifang couldn't feel the viewers' daze for the time being, but his opponent was truly questioning him.

After being pierced to death, Aerial directly typed to complain, "You can even pierce me to death with this? Can you be any more ridiculous?"

Xu Beifang took the opponent's questioning as praise for himself. He just smiled faintly and typed back.

Nice: "It's just a standard wall-piercing point."

ENCE was already a bit numb!

... ===== CHAPTER 373 =====