Chapter 438

Everyone played their part, successfully taking the pistol round, which made them very happy.

However, after winning the pistol round, whether they could hold the next few rounds was also of paramount importance.

For this BO5 final, Vitality had discussed it before the match; they knew Astralis wouldn't be convinced, so Inferno would definitely appear early.

So they had also made some minor adjustments for this map.

One of them was—Xu Beifang returning to Banana Road to defend.

If Astralis prepared to target him, this repositioning could make most of Astralis's targeting futile.

So in the second round, Xu Beifang bought full armor, a FAMAS, and utility, and brought JackZ along to control Banana Road.

Controlling the map at the start of Banana Road still followed the process, using utility to clear spots.

However, Astralis also knew their economy wasn't good, so they didn't rush into Banana Road early this round, and Xu Beifang's map control was effortless.

"I'll throw a Banana Road entrance smoke in a moment, then we'll clear the near points, and I'll scout the near points while you, JackZ, go to the bomb site and flash for me."

Xu Beifang arranged the follow-up strategy while controlling the map, when suddenly he heard Zywoo say calmly: "They're flying out of the Second Floor!"

Xu Beifang and JackZ immediately moved, but then they saw the top right corner scrolling constantly.

【ZywOo headshot Magisk with M4A1】

【ZywOo killed dupreeh with M4A1】

【ZywOo headshot device with M4A1】

【gla1ve headshot ZywOo with Desert Eagle】

An exaggerated trade, but Zywoo under the Shed successfully achieved a 3-for-1 result, which was already quite good.

"Nice shot!" Xu Beifang exclaimed while leading his teammates to retake.

But before they could arrive, apEX and shox had already taken down the remaining two opponents.

Watching Vitality handle this ANTI-ECO with ease, Ma Xixi praised: "Vitality's decision-making is so calm today!"

"If gla1ve hadn't successfully traded, Zywoo wouldn't have even moved under the Shed. He completely let the opponents plant in the large or small Pit, just not letting them walk to the bomb site."

MO added: "And apEX is smart too. Just as the opponents rushed out of the Second Floor, he sneaked up from the back. The opponents just flew out of the Second Floor and never expected someone to be at their back."

"Although they let Astralis plant the bomb, for Vitality, they only lost one MAC-10 and also farmed quite a bit of economy; this result was quite good."

Xu Beifang and JackZ were still on their way when they saw their teammates had already killed everyone.

At this time, the hype squad had to do their job, so he high-fived apEX: "Nice one, how did you suddenly wipe them out?"

Since the teammates just had a good round, they had to share their emotions.

Zywoo still smiled gently, while shox pointed out the core point: "Zywoo played well. In the first wave, he didn't rush under the Shed and caught everyone who wanted to fly down."

"It's fortunate he caught them; otherwise, this wave would have been really dangerous."

They had stood 3 in Mid, and no one was watching the bomb site at the start, so if Zywoo had missed his shots or let the opponents enter the bomb site, and they quickly threw an A1 smoke, the outcome might have been uncertain.

apEX couldn't help but say: "This gla1ve guy is really weird."

The previous round could be said that Astralis hit their weak defensive point; Astralis won the tactical battle in the previous round.

Xu Beifang heard this and said with a smile: "It's fine, winning is the real skill!"

Successfully taking the second round, the effect was indeed very good.

Because Astralis had force-bought in the second round, basically all their economy was spent.

Although they planted the bomb, with the loss bonus, Astralis's average economy was only about 3200.

This meant that if Astralis wanted to enter a long-gun round, they could only operate with Desert Eagles and no armor this round.

Third round.

As Xu Beifang expected, Astralis attempted a no-armor Desert Eagle round.

He thought that since they had held off Astralis's force-buy, there wouldn't be any problems this round.

But unexpectedly, at the start, Device used a Desert Eagle at the Terrorist Spawn to air-shot Zywoo, who was jumping across A1. This shot was absurd.

Then, Astralis chose to control the map slowly to push.

A Du used his Cobalt Imprisonment in the Connector to one-tap apEX, who was pre-aiming. For a while, the IEM official stream was flooded with 【Cobalt Imprisonment, I am A Du】.

shox used an M4A1 in the large Pit to hold off two, but was still killed by Astralis's continuous trades.

Xu Beifang and JackZ's retake was late; they didn't expect this round's plot to be so dramatic.

Although they had a Defuse Kit, Astralis threw two consecutive blocking smoke grenades, leaving them with no vision at all.

They didn't have much utility left, so Xu Beifang and JackZ tried a forced retake. Although JackZ won the duel against xyp9x, there was no time to defuse.

As the C4 exploded, no one survived this round.

Zywoo bit his lip in self-reproach: "My bad, if I hadn't died at the start, there wouldn't have been so many problems later."

This was true; the collapse of this round started with Zywoo giving up the first kill.

Once he died, Vitality was forced to become 2A2B, and Astralis's push became even simpler.

However, Xu Beifang said: "Small problem, the opponents were just too accurate, what can you do?"

It wasn't a decision-making problem; Zywoo wanting to use his positioning advantage to get a free look at info was a very reasonable choice.

It was just unexpected that Device would perform like that.

"Just play well later."

But being reset in such a round meant the subsequent cost was an economic problem.

Xu Beifang and JackZ's economy was still good, but the others' average economy wasn't great, so considering balancing it, they did a no-armor Desert Eagle gamble.

But gla1ve was truly smart; during their push to B, one was headshot by Xu Beifang with a Desert Eagle.

Astralis saw this kill info and immediately sprinted to A, directly using a "North-avoidance tactic" to dismantle Vitality's gamble.

This eco round naturally wasn't won, but it's worth mentioning that JackZ successfully sneaked up on Magisk and saved his AK.

The score reached 2:2, and Astralis successfully tied the score.

The first long-gun round of the first half had officially arrived.

apEX didn't even speak; the AK47 naturally went into Xu Beifang's hands.

In Vitality's team, this had become a consensus.

If the big brother doesn't take the resources, who will? Should apEX take them?

"Beifang, what do you say? Any ideas?" apEX chose to ask Xu Beifang's thoughts first.

Xu Beifang deliberated: "These rounds feel like Astralis's offense is more focused on A, but let's feel out their rhythm today first."

apEX nodded: "Then let's do this: you two continue to control Banana Road according to the previous rhythm, then on A, Zywoo picks up the sniper, we two go to the Second Floor to do a set play, and shox, you play utility alone in the Connector."

In that case, the main setup in the early game was in A Second Floor, and they only needed to play Banana Road slowly.

Xu Beifang cleared his thoughts and led JackZ to Banana Road.

On the way to Banana Road, Xu Beifang said: "JackZ, let's find a way to control Banana Road early and make it look like 3B."

JackZ said "Hmm," indicating he understood.

Making it look like 3B naturally drove Astralis toward A.

If Astralis really fell for it, they would actively probe A Second Floor, and then Zywoo and apEX's setup would succeed.

Although they weren't on the main battlefield, they could still release information through their actions, causing the opponents to misjudge.

"Astralis doesn't dare to enter Banana Road at all; their goal is clear, they've directly given up Banana Road," Ma Xixi commentated quickly. "Utility is laid out on Banana Road, and they even sent JackZ to clear the near points."

"Vitality's speed in taking Banana Road is as fast as ever."

Watching the cooperation between Xu Beifang and JackZ, Ma Xixi clicked his tongue in wonder; this wave could only be described as a picture-perfect performance.

He couldn't help but recall the Tyloo Inferno match he saw a few days ago; the purpose and speed of both sides in controlling the map were not on the same level at all—this was the gap.

Astralis was deprived of Banana Road control at the start, so their focus naturally shifted to A.

On A, controlling Mid in the early game was quite difficult, so most teams started from A Second Floor.

"Jiuye and A Du are controlling A Second Floor in the second wave. They confirmed the Boiler Room was empty. Jiuye is quite smart; he first wall-banged into A Second Floor from the VIP corner. Zywoo happens to be holding an angle in the A Second Floor corridor; can he wall-bang him to death?"

The audience in the stands was also looking forward to it. Watching Astralis's matches, although they didn't understand their strange wall-bangs and smoke-mixing, the spectacle was indeed high.

After xyp9x found the spot, he started wall-banging into A Second Floor.

The audience watched Zywoo lose health rapidly on the match UI.

But the next second, accompanied by the sound of a sniper rifle, xyp9x in the main perspective instantly fell to the ground.

【ZywOo wall-banged xyp9x with AWP】

"Jiuye wall-banged, but was wall-banged back by Zywoo? This reaction time!" Ma Xixi was shocked.

xyp9x fired a burst, but was instantly wall-banged back and killed. He was a bit stunned, but he quickly reacted and shouted: "There's a sniper holding an angle in A Second Floor!"

A Du on the Spiral Stairs was already prepared and immediately chased to trade.

Even if he couldn't trade, he wanted to occupy an angle so that when Zywoo peeked again, he would have a chance to kill him.

But when he peeked, he noticed a rifle still standing at the near point. Both sides were locked in a tense duel, and combat broke out instantly.

"Bang!"

【dupreeh headshot apEX with AK47】

"Tapped in A Second Floor!" apEX reported the position with great annoyance. He had fired first and hit A Du's head, but A Du had also hit him with a headshot.

The difference was that his M4 could only deal nearly 90 damage, while A Du killed him with one shot.

Zywoo tentatively threw a grenade into A Second Floor, but didn't kill A Du.

This was a bit awkward, because Astralis's detailed A Second Floor map control had disrupted their setup.

Coupled with the unsuccessful follow-up engagement, they didn't gain an advantage.

And subsequently, gla1ve immediately threw a Connector smoke, making it look like they were going to hit A.

shox, who was previously peeking in the Connector to catch utility, subconsciously wanted to throw a Mid fire when he saw this smoke grenade.

But fortunately, he calmed down, forcibly suppressed the urge, and instead crept back to the bomb site.

He understood in his heart that as soon as this fire was thrown, Astralis would confirm their position info, and they might really speed up.

shox was still experienced; this action of his also made gla1ve not dare to act easily.

In gla1ve's mind, he was now sure there was a sniper on A, but he wasn't sure how many people were left on A.

Because Vitality's Banana Road control was too early, and these guys were quite prone to gambling, it was possible they had returned to retake after controlling Banana Road.

Therefore, gla1ve chose to let the team regroup and come back to hit B.

Even if they didn't hit B, they at least had to clear Banana Road.

Otherwise, they might just start their attack, and that guy Nice would have already sneaked to their rear.

Xu Beifang didn't intend to push forward actively; after all, Astralis's discipline was world-renowned, and trying to catch Astralis from behind was too difficult.

He was originally behind the Stone Slab, preparing to bait and trade with JackZ.

As soon as JackZ opened fire, he would immediately pull out from behind the Stone Slab to help trade.

However, the pressure on A was relatively high, so after consideration, Xu Beifang actively threw a smoke grenade at the Banana Road entrance and then started to rotate to A.

"Astralis just wanted to make a move on Banana Road, but Beifang threw a smoke to block it. But Magisk and Device were very brave; the two of them rushed in the moment the smoke exploded!"

"JackZ never expected them to double-peek at this time and was directly traded by Astralis's concentrated fire!"

The kill info of the exchange drifted across the top right corner.

gla1ve saw the kill feed and immediately shouted in the voice chat: "Speed up, there's only one left on Banana Road, let's trade him!"

All of Astralis immediately moved.

Xu Beifang heard JackZ's shout in the voice chat and knew the situation was not good.

He had just turned back, and his formation with JackZ was scattered.

However, because of the early utility investment, there wasn't much utility left to use, so Xu Beifang understood that even if he retreated to the back to survive, there wouldn't be much of a way out later.

Although shox still had quite a bit of utility, Zywoo's health wasn't healthy, and since he had a sniper rifle, the difficulty of retaking was high.

Therefore, he could only operate with his gunplay at the near point.

If he operated well, the two guys on A would still have a chance to retake.

If he didn't operate well, they could only save their guns.

Xu Beifang frowned, his expression instantly becoming serious.

Listening to the gunfire that had just stopped, he immediately jumped to the right and stepped on the Banana Road Barrel.

Just as he stepped on it, he happened to see a Terrorist pushing in his direction. Because his body was blocked by the Stone Slab, he happened to see a head due to the height difference.

Xu Beifang's crosshair had already been adjusted during the jump, and he quickly made a horizontal fine-tuning.

"Bang!"

【Nice headshot device with AK47】

"Astralis's movement is fast; they killed JackZ and immediately started moving because they knew there was at most one person on B, and even if they traded, they could still reinforce!"

"Beifang has no utility; he knows he must actively find an opportunity to duel. He even jumped directly onto the Barrel to find a height difference and instantly killed Device! Magisk immediately peeked out to trade, but only saw Beifang's figure jumping away."

"Beifang made a sound of walking backward, then walked to the left and arrived in the middle of the road to hold an angle. His teammates are already on the way to retake; he must kill one more for Zywoo and shox to have a chance to retake. Can he do it?"

Magisk was very annoyed that he couldn't chase and kill Xu Beifang, but he immediately stepped forward to chase.

Listening to Xu Beifang's footsteps walking backward, he was very vigilant because he heard the footsteps disappear quickly.

So he quickly pre-aimed toward the Sandbags.

But he didn't expect Xu Beifang to be holding an angle on the open road without cover; this was completely out of his pre-aim.

He immediately pulled his crosshair back to adjust, but it was too late!

"Da-da-da!"

【Nice headshot Magisk with AK47】

"He's standing in the Fire Boy spot!!" Magisk shouted in the voice chat. The position where Xu Beifang was now, Fire Boy often liked to stand, so in Astralis, they called that position 'flamie'.

However, gla1ve's trade speed was faster than his callout; almost the moment he engaged, gla1ve heard the sound and fired a pre-fire in that direction.

But Xu Beifang choosing this position in the middle of the open road was also a last resort.

This kind of position, if holding against one person peeking alone, was quite useful, after all, it was a non-pre-aim spot.

But a non-pre-aim spot was quite troublesome when dealing with a large group's attack, because non-pre-aim spots often had no cover nearby, making it easy to be traded.

Xu Beifang also thought of this, so the moment he killed Magisk, he started to pull toward the Sandbags.

Fortunately, he had mastered a very niche technique—run-and-gun spray.

So at this moment, while moving toward the Sandbags, he fired wildly at the side of the Stone Slab.

Then gla1ve, who peeked out, saw a terrifying scene: that guy Nice kept drilling toward the Sandbags, but while running, bullets were still hitting him.

【Nice headshot gla1ve with AK47】

"Magisk peeked and was instantly killed, gla1ve fired a pre-fire, but Beifang run-and-gun sprayed and killed gla1ve too!!" Wanjiqi stood up at the commentary desk.

"Oh!! What is this? How can this guy kill people while run-and-gunning with an AK!!"

"Beifang's spray-down, only a low-health A Du is left on Banana Road. A Du pre-aimed and pulled out to the right, but as a low-health player, he still didn't win!"

The cheers on the scene were incredibly restless, and Wanjiqi shouted excitedly at the commentary desk: "Oh!! Nice, Xu Beifang has returned to his faithful Banana Road again. He directly created four kills on Banana Road!"

"Don't collide with Nice on Banana Road, because he will use his strength to tell you how strong the dominance of the world's number one Banana Road is!!"

【Holy shit!! Bei!!】

【This can work?】

【Did I see that right? How are all the bullets hitting gla1ve while run-and-gunning!】

【Do you understand what the King of Banana Road is!】

【Good news: only one left on B! Bad news: the one left is Nice!】

【Astralis is dry-peeking too】

【Wanjiqi is cheering so much】

The audience on the scene was cheering excitedly, while gla1ve looked at Magisk in a daze: "No, buddy, isn't this your move?"

He saw it very clearly; this kind of run-and-gun spray recoil control, in his impression, only Magisk could do it.

Magisk was the first to be killed, and he was also dumbfounded: "How would I know? This thing is very hard for me to use."

Run-and-gun spray recoil control is very dependent on the feel of recoil control and rhythm; it is a very high-end and difficult technique to use.

He had taught this to others in Astralis at the time, but no one learned it. How did Nice learn it quietly now?

gla1ve didn't get an answer from Magisk and couldn't help but look at the man on the other side of the stage enjoying the cheers.

Nice, how many more secret skills are you hiding?