Chapter 392: A familiar Mirage flank!

"They're back, they're back!"

Xiao Ming trotted back to the dorm with a pile of takeout and asked excitedly, "Has the match started?"

"Shh—"

The moment the door opened, he saw a group of people turn their heads and make a shushing gesture at him.

Xiao Ming tiptoed into the dorm and saw that Ma Dong's 27-inch screen was already showing the Mirage map.

The score was currently 1:3, and Ma Xixi's voice came through the speakers:

"A 1v1 clutch, a battle of wits between Xu Beifang and xyp9x. Xu Beifang planted the bomb at the B site, and he's also hidden inside A2. xyp9x has a smoke and a defuse kit; it's actually not easy to make a play from inside A2 here."

When gla1ve saw this smoke at the start of the round, he sensed something was wrong. Coupled with the sound of fire being stepped on coming from Banana, he reacted immediately: Vitality was planning to use this close-range one-way smoke to force their way through!

"The opponents are preparing to throw a 'Nice' smoke, Magisk, get ready to wallbang!"

But they didn't expect JackZ to take a wide flank, moving through CT Spawn toward B.

Magisk and dupreeh thought that after Xu Beifang planted the bomb, he had found a spot in the B site to hide.

Xu Beifang had anticipated that Astralis might apply pressure on both sides, so as he came over, he stuck to the back of the Stone Slab first and didn't rush to spam the smoke.

JackZ punched Xu Beifang on the shoulder and said with a look of astonishment, "You really dared to pull off that flank."

Wanjiqi took over: "And this xyp9x! He seems to have read Xu Beifang's info, silent-jumped onto A2, and actively sought him out!!"

Only after sensing the opponent's movement a second later did he start sticking to the middle of the smoke grenade.

mo added, "Xu Beifang's gunplay is also critical. gla1ve peeked out with his back to the flash and was instantly killed. And did you notice Xu Beifang's next move after taking down gla1ve? He immediately dragged his crosshair to the left. If Magisk had dared to peek, he might not have won the duel against Xu Beifang."

But before JackZ could catch his breath, the moment he crouched and stood up, another person peeked out from A Long.

Ma Xixi also noticed this issue:

Ma Xixi couldn't help but laugh out loud in the live stream room. On stage, the members of Vitality had also turned into the hype squad at this moment.

【The pressure in this matchup is huge, right? I didn't know who would win until the very last second.】

He considered it very clearly: since they were prepared to play more proactively on Banana and gain control of the close-range Barrel area early on, they might as well max out the pressure from the start and force the opponents into the bomb site.

That top-tier flank that had once stunned the world at the Major seemed to be appearing on the Major stage once again.

"Why wouldn't I dare? He has a smoke and a defuse kit; there's enough time for him to make a play. Once he clears A2, he can deal with Pit and A1 too."

JackZ asked, "Beifang, what are your thoughts? Should you come over and play A with me?"

【JackZ used AK-47 to headshot xyp9x】

After confirming the opponent wasn't coming to contest the forward position, he crouched and jumped onto the Tree Position wood pile to watch the Yellow Wall headshot angle.

This way, if Astralis were in a hurry to retake, they would have a chance to pin them down.

After receiving JackZ's response, Zywoo threw his incendiary grenade immediately.

"Fortunately, JackZ successfully traded the kill. A 2v3 clutch, there's still a chance to make a play."

"But the way he went straight for A2 during the retake is truly terrifying."

"Magisk has already changed positions; he wants to hold this bomb. His teammates are still on their way, but Nice threw a smoke grenade and took the bomb with a jump. There are 15 seconds left; he has time to plant!"

"The ID 'Beifang' carries a lot of deterrence. Astralis doesn't dare to play like this. If they try to defuse and Beifang peeks out and kills Magisk, it will be very hard for them to play the rest of the round."

"Vitality isn't in a rush to push. They chose to turn around and control A a second later, applying full pressure. Connector fire, Shed fire, they took control of Mid directly."

"device used an unarmored Desert Eagle to steadily pre-aim the Tree Position wood pile. This was a perfect prediction of Xu Beifang's movement, but unfortunately, he didn't even manage to fire a shot."

Ma Dong explained, "The start was actually quite smooth. shox got four kills in the pistol round, helping them win it directly. But in the second round, Astralis forced up. dupreeh caught a timing in Connector and tapped two with a Desert Eagle. Vitality wanted to rotate, but gla1ve threw a HE grenade right into the middle of their crowd. They didn't have much utility left and lost the round... The following rounds were just normal scoring."

At this pace, if Xu Beifang dared to mix into the smoke, he would only die instantly.

The people in the dorm were discussing it heatedly.

"xyp9x pre-aimed and wide-peeked, but—hiss!!! Xu Beifang reacted and counter-killed xyp9x after being shot at!" Wanjiqi calmed his nerves, "This was too thrilling."

The moment Xu Beifang jumped down, he heard the sound of the bomb being planted at the site.

Wanjiqi's voice rose, and his tone was full of anticipation. Things being abnormal meant that what happened next might exceed their expectations.

Xu Beifang took the first position and headed toward Banana as usual.

【Amused】

"apEX tried to trade, device took the kill and retreated—no, wait, dupreeh's Connector anti-rush flash is here! Zywoo was fully flashed and taken out!"

But JackZ suddenly encountered fire and traded 1-for-1, which made him realize instantly that the B site was completely undefended.

"But JackZ didn't choose to trouble dupreeh; instead, he's creeping from the Library toward the B site."

"Astralis's 3B start originally wanted to rely on the Sandbag position to play an anti-rush and delay the Terrorists' attack rhythm, but they didn't expect to be played to death by Vitality's in-game decision-making."

【6 rounds in, Xu Beifang has already racked up 12 kills】

"Magisk has come over too. He's holding the corner angle, not daring to peek anymore, but he still couldn't beat Xu Beifang!"

【I really can't understand this match anymore. At first, I thought the protagonist of this point was Beifang, then I thought it was device, and later I thought it was JackZ. I didn't expect it to be somebody in the end.】

apEX nodded, "Then for this point, we'll stick to the standard start. Beifang, your positioning is good, go contest Banana first. I want to force the B site players back into the bomb site before the 1-minute mark."

After saying that, they were very synchronized, firing short bursts at a certain frequency on both sides of the smoke grenade.

"The opponents only bought one unarmored Desert Eagle just now, maybe one person has half-armor." Xu Beifang considered carefully, "If they are on unarmored Desert Eagles, there's a possibility device might pull out a sniper rifle. The others have plenty of utility."

"This is a very famous 'Nice' one-way smoke. Both sides of the smoke grenade can have one-way effects, but Astralis clearly did their homework. They started suppressing both sides directly, not giving Xu Beifang a chance to play the one-way," Ma Xixi explained to the viewers in the live stream.

"Bang!"

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot dupreeh】

They knew the opponents had a defuse kit. At the time, seeing Xu Beifang's knife-switching motion, their hearts had already skipped a beat.

JackZ was nervously creeping toward the B site, but halfway through, he suddenly heard the gasps of the audience in the arena.

"Now dupreeh has come straight to A1 to cut off the rotation. The intention is quite obvious: either you plant the bomb directly at A, or you come over and kill him. He used utility and positioning to forcefully cut off Xu Beifang and JackZ."

This operation couldn't be abandoned just because of the opponent's smoke spam; they had to play it out.

Xu Beifang was rushing over from Banana. If the bomb was really intercepted, he wouldn't have much room to operate for this point.

The director was also very mischievous, directly starting to replay Astralis's death perspective.

"But device didn't return to the bomb site because of the commotion at A. He stepped back to the deep position, holding the angle with his AWP, and took out shox with one shot!"

Wanjiqi gasped, "This device, he's killing wildly in Connector. Relying on this unarmored sniper, he's gotten three and a half kills!"

"Why don't the opponents dare to defuse?" Danking asked the professional next to him, very curious.

If they walked while making footsteps, they would be heard by Xu Beifang outside B.

Danking widened his eyes and looked at the figure on the stage in disbelief: "Is this also within your calculations?"

Splitting up to go through CT Spawn and the Long Corridor—if the timing wasn't right, it might turn into two 1v1s.

If the opponent played an anti-rush on Banana a second later, his position peeking out would definitely catch the anti-rush CTs off guard.

"device switched to his pistol and wants to keep fighting. This guy is still making plays; he has no intention of stopping. But JackZ recovered his vision and finally reacted, spraying device down."

"And then here in Mid, let's try to hit Connector, and see if there's a chance to call a Connector-pinch-B later."

"This round completely replicated somebody's Mirage flank, just with more ferocious gunplay than somebody's, and he ended up killing everyone!"

Ma Xixi raised an eyebrow, "Vitality played this beautifully. They threw a 'Nice' smoke at the start but didn't intend to play the one-way. Instead, they used utility to slowly split the battlefield, and finally relied on utility coordination to force their way through the Sandbag."

The opponent knew the bomb had been dropped, so dupreeh at A was very likely on his way to CT Spawn just now.

【To be honest, the quality of the duels in this final is really high. I feel like one tiny mistake from either side could cause the whole situation to collapse.】

"If xyp9x had an AK in his hand this round, the clutch would have been taken by Astralis."

"Da-da-da!"

dupreeh definitely knew there was someone in Connector. Throwing a smoke in Mid at this time could only be intended to block Xu Beifang's trade kill.

【This round was tailor-made for Xu Beifang】

gla1ve finished his magazine and hid behind the Sandbag to reload. The opponent hadn't fired yet, which made him feel a bit nervous.

【Magisk used M4A4 to headshot JackZ】

"But Xu Beifang has already jumped out from the Long Corridor!!"

Xu Beifang glanced up; the score had reached 3:3.

JackZ had once thought this point was lost; he didn't expect it to end this way.

【Do the Danes think they are the Galaxy Battleship?】

They searched the angles very carefully because, due to their respect for the ID, they didn't dare to defuse one-by-one. That would truly be as Xu Beifang wished, splitting this clutch into two 1v1s.

shox provided an idea: "You can flank the bomb site now. If you can catch dupreeh, their net will be broken."

【I thought of the scene of Astralis at Nuke Outside before】

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot gla1ve】

Because they had suffered a loss in the second round and were turned around by the opponent's gamble, they were extra careful now.

But they didn't expect device to be at the back of Connector at this time, and he even coordinated with the flashbang at the bomb site to wipe them all out.

Astralis's disciplined and cautious approach actually buried them at this moment.

"Pay attention, Vitality might be flying to the second floor... No!" Before he could finish, he saw an incendiary grenade fly over from Banana. gla1ve shouted immediately, "The opponents are going to clear us!"

It was already the Major final. Even if they had 200 more in economy, having one more flashbang at a critical moment could change the course of the match. They had to grasp every detail.

But this time he didn't throw the fire at the Barrel, but instead threw one next to the Sandbag.

"Vitality used utility to send Beifang in a second later. gla1ve dodged this Stone Slab flash, but after peeking out, he still couldn't beat Xu Beifang. He only fired one shot before being headshot by Xu Beifang!" Wanjiqi sped up his speech, "Magisk's reaction was also very fast. The moment gla1ve was counter-flashed, he threw a smoke to extinguish the fire, wanting to come out to help, but gla1ve died too quickly, and he didn't dare to come out at all."

The members in the dorm finally gained the right to breathe at this moment. Ma Dong even wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

Xu Beifang sprayed a burst at dupreeh.

"Astralis members are on their way to retake. They want to use a perimeter to deal with JackZ, and for this, the B site was left completely empty."

Finally, in the painful eyes of Astralis fans, Xu Beifang turned into an ECO-specialist, getting a four-kill in this round. If he hadn't been low on health and didn't want to lose his gun, he might have even gotten a five-kill.

Zywoo saw Xu Beifang's move and understood immediately, starting to aim and catch the Dilemma Fire, "JackZ, come over and throw another Stone Slab flash."

If the two of them walked through CT Spawn, they might miss the timing.

Magisk hesitated for a moment in the smoke; it was already too late to trade.

Because apEX threw a Stone Slab smoke on Banana from the Terrorist Spawn for him—that was the one-way smoke now known as the 'Nice smoke'.

Xu Beifang nodded: "Let's try it."

【This Astralis unarmored Desert Eagle is humorous】

"No way," apEX said suspiciously.

Xiao Ming sighed at the thrill of this clutch and put down his takeout, "Why is Vitality behind in the early game? What's the situation?"

He moved immediately, throwing a flashbang toward CT Spawn, and then threw a smoke grenade toward the end of the Long Corridor, which was where JackZ's bomb had dropped.

apEX nodded: "Alright, the score is tied. Next, we need to find a way to start scoring."

After Handoo roughly arranged the strategy and everyone communicated some details, they set off to start the plan for this point.

But he also understood that this deduction was highly likely to be correct; otherwise, Astralis had no reason to throw that Mid smoke.

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot device】

【Holy crap, he really dared to flank like that】

But the audience on-site clearly knew from the god's-eye view that Nice was planning a heaven-defying flank!

【What the hell, somebody, haha】

Zywoo shouted: "JackZ, don't rush, dupreeh seems to have pushed to A1. He wants to intercept your bomb! Someone from CT Spawn might be coming over too!"

He even excitedly stuck out his hands and tongue, waving them around wildly.

Ma Xixi was quite surprised by this timing.

Because Astralis, who had just played with shared Desert Eagles, had saved up enough economy again.

Another roommate on the side said: "But Vitality's condition is also good. They gave Beifang a Hero Galil earlier, and he got four kills, almost turning the round around for Astralis, so Astralis's economy isn't very good either."

Ma Xixi also laughed: "This clutch is getting interesting. Xu Beifang switched to his knife and started sprinting. He's preparing to end this round in 'somebody's' way, but Astralis has a defuse kit on them this round. Can he really reach CT Spawn before Astralis defuses?"

He arrived at the Tree Position and dodged a flashbang at the start.

The audience in the arena watched Astralis still searching carefully, while Xu Beifang had already sprinted to Connector.

"Straight to the head!!!"

Today, his godfather was going to go on a killing spree at the Berlin Major final, so they naturally had to be there. They originally thought there would be an exhibition match after the Major started, so they ordered takeout for the ultimate viewing experience, but they didn't expect that in the time it took him to go down and get the takeout, five rounds had already been played.

After getting the first kill, Xu Beifang didn't force himself to stay in the close position but retreated behind the Stone Slab and started facing the wall.

Xu Beifang looked at the kill feed in the top right corner and frowned. device's sudden outburst made the situation unclear.

"The timing of this Connector anti-rush is too good," Zywoo said, "I didn't have a chance to trade at all."

somebody smiled: "Because he is Nice!"

He seemed to be using his instinctive body language to express his happiness, but Xu Beifang really didn't understand what he was doing.

dupreeh was very likely trying to drag JackZ in Connector and then have his teammates rotate over to clear him.

JackZ looked annoyed; he couldn't understand why he had crouched this time. If he hadn't crouched, he would have left directly after killing the first one.

They feigned an attack on the A bomb site, just wanting to create the impression that they were going to fly to the second floor, or even that they were going to rotate.

A bold idea suddenly popped into Xu Beifang's mind.

Xu Beifang grabbed the bomb amidst the bullets and sprinted toward the B site without stopping.

A fly's head was half-crouched there, testing the C4 password.

Xu Beifang bumped fists with him: "No need, with the economy for one more long gun, we'll have more room to operate later."

But these two walking silently through CT Spawn ensured the trade, and also made JackZ lose the possibility of creeping from the Long Corridor to the B site.

Xu Beifang came to Banana as usual for this point. Knowing the opponent didn't have much economy, their map control rhythm was relatively slow.

"There should only be dupreeh left at the A bomb site, and there are two people at the B site," Zywoo reminded.

From the picture he gave, Astralis's Desert Eagle this round seemed to be cursed; whoever held it died.

"This Jiuye is too confident. He dares to creep all the way into A2?"

Why don't the opponents dare to defuse?

Xu Beifang was actually behind by a point here.

"Steady, brother. If it were me, I would have definitely rushed over to get that five-kill," JackZ reached out his fist toward Xu Beifang.

Wanjiqi took over: "Before this match, both sides must have watched the recordings, but Xu Beifang doesn't seem to intend to retreat. He stepped into the middle of the smoke grenade a second later! This move is a bit bold!!"

Sure enough, Astralis only bought one Desert Eagle this round; the others were unarmored USP pistols.

"dupreeh immediately took over the Desert Eagle. Do you also want to be the breaker? But this Desert Eagle isn't Kulan's Shackles; peeking out only gave Beifang a head."

The Long Corridor smoke was still there, blocking the opponent's vision.

Xiao Ming opened the takeout bag and glanced at the screen.

After saying that, he actively started to operate.

A sudden accident occurred; both sides were even engaged in a firefight due to the arena factors.

Turning their heads at the same time was xyp9x, who was pushing forward in the Long Corridor. The two locked eyes and instantly engaged in a firefight!

"Da-da-da!"

"Bang!"

apEX looked at Xu Beifang excitedly. After he took down Magisk, he waved his arms along with the cheers in the arena.

He immediately turned his head to dodge the flash, and the next second, a Stone Slab flash exploded. gla1ve immediately strafed out.

In Xijiang University Dorm 302, a group of shirtless male college students didn't even dare to breathe.

Two CTs in the B site walked silently back to A together. gla1ve's rotation could be called quite bold, and many details were grasped well.

"Xu Beifang thrillingly planted the bomb. He chose to hold his AK and actively clear Banana. He didn't see anyone on Banana at first, but he heard footsteps in the Long Corridor!!" This scene seemed to overlap with the scene from last year's Berlin Major. Wanjiqi's mouth curled up, "No way!!"

But the big brother was operating nervously, so they didn't dare to come out and interfere.

Ma Xixi exclaimed on the side: "Can you really believe it? This is the Major final, and he dares to play like this!!"

"He really succeeded! This person's ideas are too bold. You have to know the opponents have a defuse kit!! dupreeh was eaten by his burst, Magisk rushed over to trade, but Xu Beifang flicked a shot over!!"

But looking at xyp9x's pre-aiming, they all had some worries on their faces.

Therefore, Xu Beifang directly planted a 'world-class' bomb.

Netizens in the live stream were discussing it heatedly, but everyone was just joking around. More people were focusing on the subsequent confrontation.

It scared him into thinking someone had come behind him, so he turned his head immediately.

The director on-site finally got smart for once; he split the screen between the remaining two Astralis players and Xu Beifang sprinting with his knife out.

"gla1ve is here too..." Wanjiqi was speechless watching. Does that Desert Eagle have some kind of magic? Do they need to inherit this unarmored Desert Eagle one by one to find someone to duel with?

Xu Beifang was originally at the close position on Banana, waiting for JackZ to get the first kill.

The audience watched the match screen with immense anticipation.

With Astralis's personality, they were definitely prioritizing stability now and wouldn't actively push through the smoke to find trouble with him.

"After gaining control of Mid, apEX threw a Library partition smoke, but they didn't intend to explode A. Instead, after feigning, they started looking for opportunities toward Connector."

"The CTs have already searched the Church and the bomb site. Now their judgment is that Xu Beifang is on Banana. dupreeh is defusing, and Magisk is holding the angle from the front!"

The moment he stood up, he saw a fly's head appear in his crosshair and pulled the trigger instantly.

"Magisk and Jiuye might have considered grouping up to trade. They came over from the Long Corridor silently. JackZ happened to walk through CT Spawn. This wave of fate was missed!!"

But before the words were finished, Xu Beifang heard a smoke grenade explode at A.

"What?"

"Astralis's 3B start for this point, two people went to Banana at the start, Jiuye at the back was throwing flashes, but Xu Beifang wasn't afraid at all. He stepped on the fire and forced his way through!"

JackZ noticed Xu Beifang's move and said: "Beifang, you stay on Banana. I'll try to play it. If I get killed, you just save your gun."

"Bang!"

"Da-da..."

The big screen was replaying the brilliant kills. somebody looked at it with a curled lip, "This counts as not coming in vain."

... ===== CHAPTER 393 =====