Chapter 406

"Not bad, to have this form in the first match after the off-season." Coach XTQZZZ walked behind Xu Beifang, squeezing his shoulder as he spoke.

This was Vitality's first official match of the off-season, and it had a significant impact on the players' confidence.

If they had lost the first match of the off-season, some might have fallen into self-doubt. Since Map 1 happened to be Big's signature Dust II, he was still very worried when the BO3 started.

Their overall form today wasn't as hot as it was during the Major, but that was reasonable.

In matches without an audience, it's hard to stir up the passion of these players who thrive on LAN, so they weren't as engaged.

And because the intensity suddenly increased, shox and Zywoo were clearly a bit unaccustomed in the first few rounds, but fortunately, after Big made a push, they made simple adjustments and slowly found their rhythm.

"To be honest, that push from Big was inhuman. How many pieces of utility did they use to target you?" JackZ looked at Xu Beifang curiously.

"I remember they threw three flashes at the start, then used another flash to anti-rush, and gave a smoke at the A Long corner. I used a smoke grenade to protect myself, but they threw three fires and two grenades at me. I was completely helpless." Xu Beifang's eyes were full of resignation.

apEX couldn't help but laugh: "Actually, you did your best. Trading that many pieces of utility for that round was definitely an effective death, it's just a pity Xantares insta-killed you."

Xu Beifang consumed a huge amount of the opponent's utility in the A Long pit, leaving the Terrorists with very few tools to push. Vitality was originally at an advantage in that round, but the Headshot Brother's hot hand shattered their subsequent plans.

XTQZZZ said: "This is the price of becoming the world's best. Our opponents will target us differently based on their tactical styles. In these moments, it's very difficult for us to counter-target, so in the match, you have to rely on your on-the-spot performance to handle it."

The targeting of Vitality by these tier-one teams revealed the tip of the iceberg after the off-season.

Although they had anticipated this kind of targeting, they still found it outrageous.

After all, using 10 pieces of utility just to get one kill—this kind of resource exchange was a bit too exaggerated.

It wasn't that they didn't try to counter-target.

In fact, counter-targeting was an important part of their training during the boot camp: breaking down existing tactical structures and reorganizing them to effectively avoid the opponent's conventional targeting.

But once they were in the match, facing new tricks from opponents with different styles, the coaching staff was helpless. They could only rely on the players' on-the-spot operations, and then adjust based on the opponent's targeting after the match.

shox said: "But I'm more concerned about Big's current mental state. They won the pistol round at the start, only to be reset by Beifang with a Negev. Then they finally managed to catch up, only for us to take it back. Plus, with smooya as a ticking time bomb, hehe..."

Inside Big's match room.

smooya looked at the scoreboard; only he was keeping up with the first tier on Big's side.

He thought back for a long time and still felt that several rounds could have been won.

He opened his mic to say something, but it ultimately turned into a long sigh.

The Leader was originally thinking about defensive strategies for the second half, but hearing that sigh made him numb.

The only good news was that smooya didn't start applying pressure directly; he finally controlled his emotions, which was the silver lining in a bad situation.

"Find the rhythm. We threw away too many rounds in the first half that we shouldn't have. We won the pistol round; we should have been the ones with 9 rounds."

Hearing this, smooya angrily punched his leg: "【British profanity】... Who knew this Nice could pull out a Negev in the second round? He must have been taken over by the Big-Silver personality inside him."

Being killed by a weapon like the Negev really made him unhappy.

The Leader shook his head helplessly: "Don't underestimate Nice. That guy is a grinding machine. I wouldn't even be surprised if he pulled out an M249."

"It is what it is. Let's think about the defense for the second half. Be careful after winning the pistol round this time, don't throw it again."

But the prerequisite is that they have to win the pistol round first.

After a short halftime break, both sides returned to the second half of the match.

Sides swapped, and Vitality moved to the offensive side.

"Big only got 5 points in the first half, the pressure is quite high." Ma Xixi analyzed, "Now they can only hope to win this pistol round. If they lose the pistol round, there's no room for error in this match, and Big might be gone on Map 1."

"Both sides bought two sets of utility, so this pistol round has some interesting dynamics."

"Big starting 2A3B? A B-heavy defense... No, they aren't going for a B-heavy defense, Xantares is planning to push up from Mid!"

The Headshot Brother didn't intend to push Mid directly. According to the Leader's plan, he was prepared to push behind the Xbox box and then coordinate with smooya from A Short and teammates in the Sand Pit for a Mid retake.

He didn't see anyone in the Terrorist Spawn at first glance, which is why he boldly stepped out.

But something suffocating happened. Just as he walked out from Mid Doors, he saw a figure moving in the Terrorist Spawn.

"Pop! Pop!"

Two P250 bullets accurately hit his head, killing him instantly.

【Nice used P250 headshot kill Xantares】

"The opponent is still hanging out in the Terrorist Spawn." The Headshot Brother reported helplessly.

What kind of timing is this!

Not early, not late, but he peeked out the exact moment he walked out of Mid Doors.

"Xantares is stunned. Is Vitality's pistol round starting to look up?" Ma Xixi suddenly remembered something and changed his tone, "Doesn't feel like it, smooya's form is still quite good, 16/9, very good combat effectiveness."

As a famous 'Beifang fanboy', Ma Xixi's ability to flip-flop like a Sichuan opera performer made the viewers very happy.

However, as he said, the round had just begun, and it was only one kill; it was too early to make a judgment.

After Xu Beifang got the first kill relying on scouting in the Terrorist Spawn, he immediately followed his teammates to A Long.

The opponent's push released a lot of information to them.

One piece of information was—Big wasn't fighting for A Long.

So at this moment, if they took A Long with flashbangs, they could put some pressure on the opponent and distract Big's attention.

Accompanied by a flashbang, Xu Beifang rushed into A Long with a P250, followed by JackZ who was ready to trade.

Just as he judged, after a quick sweep, A Long was empty.

Vitality had two smokes and two flashes left, enough to organize a complete explosive bomb attack.

apEX glanced at the mini-map; the three of them were at A Long, while shox and Zywoo were playing default at B1.

The overall formation was already set; no extra effort was needed.

"Next, we're going for an A-split. You guys on the flanks don't rush to act, wait until we unfold the explosive bomb attack in front, and see if we can intercept the rotating CTs."

"If we don't get much information, just go up A Short for the A-split, but you guys must be fast on A Short, and the synchronization must be done well."

apEX explained the subsequent tactics clearly.

Xu Beifang cleared the Blue Car angle with a simple pre-aim and then entered the Pit with a spin jump.

He held the angle from the Pit, while apEX started throwing the CT Spawn smoke and then rushed forward with JackZ.

"A Long explosive bomb attack starts! The Leader seizes the timing, peeks out, and taps three times, leaving JackZ, who has no armor, with very little health!"

"And the Leader had full utility this round, he continued to throw an HE grenade to A Long!"

"Dou Dou caught this three-pointer, only 13 HP left!"

"The Leader stood up this round. He hit both of Vitality's Terrorists who were carrying utility down to one HP at A Long. This pistol round has suspense again!"

The viewers in the stream couldn't help but worry; why did it feel like the offense was about to explode?

The Leader's HE grenade gave apEX a 'pain mask'.

However, he didn't lose his mind, but calmly made mid-round decisions: "You guys on A Short need to get someone up there to help quickly. JackZ, don't rush to push, hold for a while!"

Now both of them were at one HP; they'd probably die if they met anyone, so they had to let the two on A Short take the lead.

Zywoo rushed up A Short the moment he heard the order, but shox keenly heard the sound of a rotation from the Sand Pit and played the 'old six' role from behind.

Two teammates held angles carefully on the left side of A Long, while Xu Beifang held the long angle quietly in the Pit.

A flashbang flew over. Xu Beifang immediately understood that the opponent was about to anti-rush. He turned his back to the flash and instantly looked at the platform.

A CT peeked out from A Platform, his muzzle pointing straight at apEX and JackZ's position.

The opponent also guessed they were low on health and wanted to actively anti-rush to bring the numbers back.

But Xu Beifang didn't give him that chance.

"Pop!"

【Nice used P250 headshot kill tabseN】

"The one on the bomb site is dead! We can speed up!" Xu Beifang shouted immediately.

He only saw one person peek from the platform, which meant there weren't many enemies on A Platform. This was the time to seize the opportunity.

Zywoo understood and started to speed up from A Short.

The first thing he saw was smooya trying to hide in the Ninja Spot.

smooya was also very desperate. tabseN's anti-rush didn't trade anyone, so he was the only one left on A Platform, facing enemies from both sides.

After receiving bullets from A Short, he could only fight back against A Short.

But unfortunately, Zywoo relied on the advantage of the A Short slope headshot position to outplay him.

Xu Beifang also followed the main force to push forward.

shox wasn't just playing the 'old six' behind Mid Doors either. After the fight started in front, he calculated the timing and snuck out from Mid Doors.

"There's one at the CT spawn!" shox reported while firing. Unfortunately, the opponent was moving, so he didn't hit the head with the first shot, and he heard footsteps from the Sand Pit, so he had to leave the enemy at CT spawn for his teammates to handle.

However, Xu Beifang, who arrived in time, didn't let him down. Thanks to shox's distraction, the rotating CT at CT spawn was looking toward Mid, exposing a huge back to him.

Backs in CSGO are quite hard to hit, but Xu Beifang didn't miss that shot, easily taking the kill with the P250's damage.

And shox, over at Mid Doors, also held and killed the rotating nex with a Glock.

A 0-for-5 round, the pistol round was won without any danger.

11:5

This pistol round was quite uncomfortable for Big. They didn't lose this round due to tactics, and Vitality's aiming wasn't particularly exaggerated either.

But everyone on Vitality was doing their job. The Leader felt that the opponent was always able to solve them in the most uncomfortable way.

At the start, Nice easily disrupted their plans with a P250.

Then, after he finally gained some advantage at A Long and dealt some damage, just when he thought he could trade back, he was held and killed by Nice.

The chain reaction caused by his death and Vitality's offensive synchronization led to smooya's death.

The fall of A Site also caused the rotations from Mid and B Site to be cut off one after another.

In this pistol round, the details of everyone on Vitality were much better than theirs.

In the 17th round, the Leader didn't command the team to force buy, but directly started adjusting the economy.

After all, they didn't get a single kill in the pistol round, so the economy was too low.

Dou Dou swept the screen in this round, having a great time.

In the 18th round, Big chose a half-buy.

After the pistol round ended, Big only had 2000 in economy. After losing one round, the economy reached 4400.

Although 4400 is enough for long guns, Vitality had three SMGs in the second round, which forced them to buy head armor. If they wanted head armor, they wouldn't have much utility for the full-armor A1.

Dust II, although an aim-heavy map.

Good aim is not as good as good positioning; they still needed utility to fight for map control.

So in this round, they half-bought once.

Vitality happened to be preparing to use SMGs for a B-rush in this round, and then they were hit by two HE grenades from Big, combined with the performance of the Desert Eagle.

The final result of this round was quite tragic; in the end, only shox survived with 20 HP to win the victory.

The score reached 13:5.

"The score gap is gradually widening, and there isn't much time left for Big to operate. This is a very important key round. If Big can't win this round, their Dust II match is almost gone." Ma Xixi made his judgment.

The director's camera gave shots to the match rooms of both teams.

On Big's side, the Leader was frowning, giving some important commands.

And on Vitality's side, Xu Beifang was chatting with apEX and Zywoo, as if discussing what to eat for dinner.

The viewers in the stream felt that Vitality was like the Demon King in a story, treating the brave challengers with nonchalance.

But the reason Xu Beifang was so relaxed was mainly because apEX gave a relatively simple tactic for this round—rush A Long for a speed push.

apEX's thinking was quite clear: this round was a key round for Big, but the pressure on them wasn't high.

In this situation, the simpler his tactics, the more of a headache for the opponent.

Plus, Xu Beifang happened to have the spawn position for A Long; sending Xu Beifang out to get kills was enough!

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang rushed into A-Door with his knife out, with the other four teammates following closely, ready to use utility to assist him in the A Long fight.

As long as Xu Beifang wasn't killed by the sniper rifle immediately, they were going to fight to the death at A Long.

Xu Beifang walked into A-Door, and his teammates' flashbangs were constantly flying toward A Long.

He turned his back to the flash and jumped out of A-Door, walking out directly, not dueling at the A-Door area.

With his teammates following behind, holding the Blue Box was far more important than engaging in a firefight immediately.

He spin-jumped out and then turned around, intending to scout information, but Big's desire to fight for A Long in this round was also very strong. Xu Beifang was fully blinded the moment he turned around and could only run behind the Blue Box.

"Big let smooya defend B alone with a half-armor sniper in this round, and the other four came to guard A Site. But Vitality is fighting for A Long with the strength of all five people; the flashbangs at the start haven't stopped at all."

"Beifang is constantly turning his back to the flashes, but there are just too many flashbangs; he can't dodge them all!"

"shox extinguished the fire and rushed out from the A-Door smoke to trade, but the Leader sprayed shox to death from the A Long corner smoke!"

"Both sides engaged in a fierce fight, but Big actually got the first kill!"

The first kill was taken, and with the sound of the Terrorists extinguishing the fire, A-Door was sealed off.

The Leader couldn't just stop there. He immediately signaled his teammates to anti-rush, trying to take A Long and keep control of it.

He aimed and threw a Blue Box fire, using utility to clear the spot first, then used flashbangs to send his teammates out.

Xu Beifang was prepared to peek to bait shots, but the opponent's incendiary grenade came first, and he could only respond.

But just as he pulled out a smoke grenade, before he could throw it, Zywoo threw a smoke from inside A-Door to the Blue Box.

"Nice extinguish!"

Xu Beifang praised.

With more utility in hand, there must be more countermeasures.

But he also understood that he had to clear the siege immediately, otherwise, Big's HE grenades would come, and he would become the next electronic.

He immediately pulled out a flashbang and said: "Shushu, help me with a flash. I'll throw the first one, then you throw yours."

Zywoo raised an eyebrow; he couldn't help but praise Xu Beifang's meticulousness.

Using two flashbangs ensured that the flashbangs would be effective.

While speaking, Xu Beifang's flashbang was already thrown, and Zywoo followed immediately.

"Heard the sound of the fire being extinguished, knew someone was behind the Blue Box, but Big wasn't in a hurry, instead letting people come to the near point to hold angles, preparing to use utility to blast them later." Ma Xixi took a breath, "Big is so detailed this round. They were afraid Xu Beifang would peek to catch the timing while throwing grenades, so they let people come to the near point to hold this smoke!"

"nex heard the sound of utility, turned his head to dodge the flash, but there's a second one!"

"Shushu's flashbang worked very well. Beifang pulled out from the smoke, instantly locked on, and took down nex, then used a spray transfer to insta-kill tabseN in the A-Door corner smoke!!"

"What is this spray transfer! A 90-degree turn!!"

"This is the charm of the World's No. 1. As long as he doesn't die, miracles are possible!!"

【Nice!!!】

【Beifang! Super my man!】

【This spray transfer reminds me of aimrush, Beizige really taught it like that!】

【This coordination for A Long, it's so smooth. If Tyloo had this coordination, they wouldn't be afraid of not getting results】

【It's okay, Tyloo has violent dry-peeking!!】

【Teacher Nice is giving us teaching materials, tears in my eyes】

Xu Beifang didn't know about the viewers' discussion. Having taken A Long with Zywoo's coordination, he excitedly praised: "Nice flash!"

apEX and JackZ rushed into A Long one after another. He gave mid-round orders: "We've already got two kills at A Long, don't give the opponent a chance to rotate, push up in one wave!"

"Beifang, only you have a flashbang left. Help us throw one into A Site later."

Xu Beifang nodded, then peeked at the A Long corner, confirmed that the Blue Car wasn't holding a direct angle, threw a fire there, and immediately sprayed at the Blue Car.

The main force of the Terrorists gave a CT Spawn smoke, and Xu Beifang threw his only flashbang, sending them onto the platform.

After sending his teammates to the bomb site, he turned his attention to A Long.

At this moment, he keenly noticed that his AK47 magazine was empty. Xu Beifang had a flash of inspiration and came up with a devious idea.

Two people died instantly at A Long. The Turkish Headshot Brother and tiziaN didn't continue to push forward rashly. After consideration, they planned to operate around A Short.

A 3-on-4 rotation, plus smooya had started pushing forward early, making this clutch look like it had some room for operation.

"A Short is sealed with a smoke grenade. Two riflemen are trying to double-peek on A Short, but Vitality doesn't give them a chance at all, their discipline is maxed out."

"Now they can only rely on smooya to find an opportunity at A Long."

smooya carried his sniper rifle all the way to A Long. During the first exchange at A Long, he felt that B Site seemed empty, so he cleared B Tunnel in one go and pushed all the way from the Back Garden.

It's just a pity that his teammates died too quickly, not giving him a chance to flank the opponent.

Now in a 3-on-4 clutch, he didn't know if anyone was left at A Long, so he could only try.

Arriving inside A-Door, he adjusted his pre-aim, did a crouch-peek, opened his scope instantly, and looked at the A Long corner.

Confirmed no one.

At this moment, smooya saw an AK47 on the ground at the A-Door entrance.

He thought about it; in this 3-on-4 clutch, the main focus was pushing, and the AK47 might be more useful. If the sniper rifle missed a shot, it would be over.

And I have to say, that AK47 skin was a full-blue Case Hardened; it must feel better to use!

So he switched to the AK47 directly.

But the moment he picked up the AK47, footsteps came from the left side of A-Door.

smooya's alarm bells rang. He immediately did a back-crouch step, then sprayed at the door with the AK47.

"Wait!!" smooya shouted desperately, "Why is this AK out of ammo!!"

The moment he fired, he didn't hear the sound of the AK47, only the sound of a jam.

And what made him desperate was that the Terrorist rushed in with his knife out.

He hurriedly retreated to reload, but how could he outrun someone with a knife while holding a gun?

Xu Beifang looked at smooya, whose face was full of panic, curled his lips, and rushed toward the CT in front of him.

smooya was so anxious he cursed: "【Profanity that would make S1mple cry】, Nice... 【Profanity that would make apEX cry】..."

A light slash, another slash, and finally a heavy slash!

【Nice used Claw Knife kill smooya】

The director didn't react in time either. When the screen cut to the scene, Xu Beifang was already using his knife.

"What's the situation?" Ma Xixi shouted in surprise, "How did Beifang knife smooya?"

MO also shrugged: "Could it be that smooya missed his shot, but I didn't hear the sniper rifle sound either."

The viewers in the stream were also very confused.

"But if the director knows what's up, there should be a replay later. What's going on here, how did smooya get knifed?"

With smooya's death, Big's A Short duo tried to operate, but they only traded one before being held and killed by Vitality's crossfire.

The director also replayed the scene of the knife kill.

He first showed Xu Beifang's perspective, watching Xu Beifang throw the AK47 with 0 bullets left at the A-Door entrance, and then pick up another AK to hold a direct angle at the A-Door corner.

Then it was the scene of smooya rotating back to pick up the AK, Xu Beifang pulling out his knife to rush up, and smooya being knifed after failing to fire.

The director even showed Xu Beifang with a big smile and smooya cursing, the entertainment value was maxed out.

【This is cyber fishing!】

【He wasn't playing randomly, this was clearly prepared】

【Beifang is so bad, haha, using an AK to fish】

【No CT can resist the temptation of an AK】

【smooya cracked me up】

【Why is Beifang full of these cheeky things today】

【Could it be that Beifang is also transforming into a Sword Saint?】

【You've already won the Major, can't you let my Beizige enjoy the match?】

The joyful scene made the viewers in the stream laugh.

And smooya's mentality was a bit broken.

They were already at a big disadvantage, and Xu Beifang was still doing these tricks.

When he first discovered the AK47 was out of ammo, he thought it was an accident.

But Xu Beifang, who pulled out his knife, told him clearly that this guy was the one behind it.

Now Xu Beifang was as annoying as S1mple in his heart.

Big's main player's mentality was broken. The score gap was already a bit large, and the subsequent confrontation was quite rapid.

Vitality entered match point in one rhythm, but Big started their 'won't play until match point' series, chasing back two rounds in a row.

But it didn't have any impact on the result. With the combined effort of shox and Zywoo, Vitality successfully took the last round of Dust II.

The score was locked at 16:7.