Chapter 453: 8NIKO

The format for the IEM Chengdu Group Stage is relatively simple.

The entire Group Stage follows a double-elimination format; except for the first round which uses a BO1 format, all other rounds are BO3 matchups.

The winner of each group will advance to the semifinals, while the second and third-place teams will enter the quarterfinals.

Knowing their opponents for the Group Stage, the COL team can now make appropriate preparations.

Since the first round is a BO1 matchup, they only need to consider the final map for the match.

The members of the team are all working hard on various preparations to handle their upcoming debut at IEM Chengdu.

Although they have officially played a few times in the open qualifiers, the strength of the opponents in the qualifiers was a bit lacking, making it hard for them to get motivated.

As for the map they will play against Faze in the upcoming BO1, Xu Beifang has focused his attention primarily on Inferno.

Since entering CS2, Faze has consistently been one of the teams with the highest level of play on Inferno, and the "Mid Faze Yan" that ropz developed to block the Terrorists' vision has even led a trend.

Back in the CSGO era, Inferno was also the map Xu Beifang was most proficient at and played the best on.

As long as they don't Ban Inferno, Faze has no reason to proactively ban it.

After all, this isn't a Major final; Karrigan won't pull out a map that Faze isn't particularly good at.

Xu Beifang has watched the footage of Faze's recent matches several times, keeping a general impression in his mind and creating a few counter-strategies; with that, his pre-match preparation is basically complete.

Now, he just needs to wait for the match to actually begin.

On the afternoon of the Group Stage, after packing everything up at the hotel, the group headed to the IEM Chengdu offline venue early to prepare for the match.

"How many years has it been since you played a match? Do you feel a bit complicated now?" JKS asked Xu Beifang in a low voice in the car.

Xu Beifang smiled, "Actually, I am a bit nervous; it's been a long time since I played in an offline match."

NIKO was holding his phone, filming the scenery of Chengdu, and laughed when he heard this: "Rare to see, you're actually nervous?"

"But don't worry, in the match later, I'll throw a few good flashes for you so you can get some good frags, and you'll be moved to tears that your youth has f***ing returned!"

NIKO laughed to himself as he said this, then turned to ask Danking: "Dan, does this city have giant pandas to see?"

NIKO's mood was exceptionally high today.

The group chatted in the car and soon arrived at the offline venue.

Only then did they realize that Xu Beifang's decision to reserve extra time was correct, because there were too many fans waiting at the entrance of the venue!

You have to know that there is no audience entry for the Group Stage, and everyone is watching online, but for Xu Beifang's first match of his comeback in the true sense, many of them still came to cheer him on.

The moment Xu Beifang stepped out of the car, the crowd erupted into excited cheers.

"Whoa!!"

"Nice, I love you!!"

"Go, Ni Gongzi!!"

"Streamer Wa, you must go all out!"

This familiar scene made Xu Beifang feel a bit emotional; around 2020, there were always scenes like this.

It's just that this image hadn't appeared in his life for a long time.

But thinking about it, he will see it often in the days to come.

So he raised his hand and waved to the crowd.

But his raised hand paused for a moment because he saw a fan wearing a Vitality jersey with an A4 paper hanging on their face, and on the A4 paper was Xu Beifang's face.

This guy was directly cosplaying the former Xu Beifang.

So Xu Beifang asked in surprise: "You're Nice, then who am I?"

The crowd burst into laughter.

Then Xu Beifang waved at them, "We have to go prepare for the match, bye!"

"Go, go!"

"Gotta be a ship-breaker today!"

"The most miserable episode for the Faze fans."

Amidst everyone's amusing comments, Xu Beifang led his teammates into the venue that was both familiar and strange to him.

……

Inside the 6657 livestream room.

Wanjiqi was popularizing the player Xu Beifang to the new viewers.

Then he saw the IEM broadcast feed appear and quickly switched back to avoid being teased by everyone again for '6657 has no Pistol Round'.

"It's starting!" Wanjiqi rubbed his hands with anticipation, "Look at this COL, right now it's just Beifang sitting in the middle, and as long as his teammates don't play well, he starts hammering!"

"His muscle state is completely capable of doing a 1V4 solo with no pressure, alright!"

"Who does the streamer support in this match? Friends, don't stir up trouble, alright? 6657 is a neutral commentator and will be watching the match quite 'objectively'."

"Alright, without further ado, let's look at the BP situation for today's match."

"Faze Bans first; they banned Vertigo and Anubis, a reasonable choice. These two maps are their least proficient ones, and facing a team like COL that rebuilt during the off-season, removing their own weaknesses is quite reasonable."

Wanjiqi continued to watch COL's Ban/Pick.

COL directly removed Ancient and Overpass, so the remaining maps were only Nuke, Inferno, and Mirage.

Faze's level on these three maps is actually quite good, but the ideas of both teams' IGLs have converged.

Faze removed Mirage, COL removed Nuke, and finally, Inferno was left.

"This is interesting now." Wanjiqi raised an eyebrow, "Everyone knows about Faze's Inferno; the intensity is quite high. And on the COL side, Nice is the former World No. 1 on Banana; during the CSGO era, no one could beat him on Banana. NIKO's Banana play is also top-tier; otherwise, it wouldn't be called 'Shrimp Road' later on."

"It's just that now the whole Inferno has been reset and the overall look has changed drastically, so whether their understanding can still be effective remains to be seen."

Just then, Wanjiqi suddenly heard a passionate shout coming from the broadcast: "Nice, Let's go!!"

Then, they witnessed a very heartwarming scene.

After Karrigan shouted to get the atmosphere going, the members of Faze all waved toward COL, greeting this old rival they hadn't faced in a long time.

The director's camera cut to Xu Beifang, and Xu Beifang also smiled, giving them a thumbs up.

【These are the old-timers of CSGO, it's so interesting.】

【Karrigan is cheering for the other side, haha.】

【It's like a group of old friends getting together to play an internal scrimmage, haha.】

【This scene is just too fun.】

【Come to think of it, the relationship between these 10 people is really intricate. NIKO has been in Faze and was a teammate with several people currently on Faze. The new guy on Faze, Han Wang, is considered half a student of Beifang's. Then Faze also almost bought Nice many times, and JKS has also served as a firefighter for Faze.】

【Tearing up, this is the bond between men.】

Amidst the laughter, the ten players from both sides sent emojis in the public chat to interact.

Soon the warm-up time passed, and the match officially began.

The BO1 match used the knife round system to decide sides, and both sides engaged in a bout of close-quarters combat.

But in the end, Karrigan, who was stuffed with a butt plug, ultimately couldn't beat the wily NIKO, and finally, COL won the knife round.

Xu Beifang naturally chose to start as the CT.

COL vs Faze

Map: Inferno

T: Karrigan, rain, frozen, Broky, ropz

CT: Nice, NIKO, Elige, Danking, JKS

The match, officially begins!

"Brothers, let's get hyped, alright? Brothers, as long as we win this match, let Danking treat us to a big meal, alright!" Xu Beifang gave a simple opening, which drew cheers from his teammates in unison.

As for the wailing of the pink goblin, no one cared.

After livening up the atmosphere, Xu Beifang began to set up for this round.

"Let's go with an A-leaning formation for this round. NIKO, can you play solo in B to scout?" Xu Beifang asked for NIKO's thoughts.

On Inferno, a map with a relatively unique structure, it was mainly he and NIKO who were responsible for the B site defense.

Letting NIKO play in B instead of him was mainly because he needed to sense information from the A site to carry out retake maneuvers.

"No problem!" NIKO gave a hearty laugh, "Your orders are enough, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

He was someone who had been an IGL, so he knew that if he resisted, it would be very difficult for Xu Beifang's command to be carried out.

"Then it's 4A1B. NIKO, you scout in B. If there's a situation, I'll rush back there. I have two flashbangs and a defuse kit. If you're under pressure, just say so, I can throw flashes."

The countdown ended, and everyone stepped out.

Danking, as the first in position, rushed directly to Mid, then jumped past A1 to scout information at T Spawn.

"Two went towards Banana, NIKO watch out."

Xu Beifang processed the information in his head, "Ji Ge, come back with me. Dan and JKS, you two can leave Connector to guard Second Floor."

He quickly finished making his mid-round decision.

Wanjiqi did not miss the footage of the pistol round and quickly started commentating as soon as the countdown ended:

"Faze, as the attacking side, is playing the pistol round a bit exaggeratedly. They equipped a full 3 sets of utility, seemingly prepared to execute a group B site bomb drop. But NIKO isn't rushing in Banana; he started slipping back as soon as he heard the info."

"The two guys at A Connector are also rotating back directly." Wanjiqi raised an eyebrow, "Beifang's decision-making commands are so fast!"

He noticed the changes happening in the CT formation.

Originally, the 4A were standing at the front, but after sensing that the pressure on B was high, and after giving up Connector, Danking and JKS didn't greedily hold onto Mid control. The two of them stayed at A Second Floor and Balcony, a strategy completely focused on guarding the Second Floor.

It was played very rationally.

"Faze spent some time clearing angles during their attack. They didn't just rush in all at once, which gave the CTs time to return to 3B. However, Beifang didn't stick to the Bomb Site but is holding utility at Long Corridor."

"This looks like they're planning a counter-flash, but Faze is also executing a direct bomb drop from the front. Now it all depends on whether these two flashbangs from Beifang blind them!"

Xu Beifang quietly held a flashbang at Under Platform; he had already finished communicating with NIKO.

As long as NIKO felt the opponents were ready to speed up, NIKO would immediately throw a smoke, and then he would throw his flashes, sending Elige from CT Spawn and NIKO from beside One Box to peek together and hit the enemies trying to force their way through the smoke.

NIKO was nervously jiggling at One Box, then he heard the sound of three people jumping at the same time. He immediately threw his smoke grenade and shouted: "Flash!"

Xu Beifang threw two flashbangs in succession.

Elige was very experienced; he didn't wait for Xu Beifang's flashbangs to pop completely, but as soon as he heard NIKO shout, he immediately peeked out from CT Spawn and fired a pre-fire shot.

This pre-fire shot didn't hit anyone, but it attracted rain's attention.

Originally, rain saw the smoke grenade trajectory and intended to come over to catch the CT behind One Box, but seeing someone at CT Spawn, he was forced to divert his attention to the CT Spawn area.

Although NIKO countered with a smoke grenade, rain still charged in without hesitation.

They had practiced this set of tactics for the pistol round on the map.

A full three sets of utility poured down could help them share most of the pressure of the gunfight, but now that the utility had been used, if they didn't dare to rush out, they wouldn't be able to continue playing.

So they had no choice but to jump through the smoke and rush out.

The others behind him had the same idea.

Besides, since rain, who was in the first position, had already jumped out to draw fire for them, they definitely had to follow up.

And then, it was as if they had seen Tiga.

"Faze chose to rush to the end, but they can't kill anyone while blinded! Beifang's flashbangs were very effective, and NIKO and Elige didn't let his flashbangs go to waste. One, two! Everyone rushing through the smoke was taken down!!"

"The timing of this counter-flash from COL is exquisite!!"

After Xu Beifang's two flashbangs were thrown, he saw a wave of kill notifications start scrolling in the top right corner.

【NIKO+Nice flashbang used usp headshot kill on rain】

【Elige+Nice flashbang used usp headshot kill on Broky】

【Elige+Nice flashbang used usp kill on karrigan】

【Elige+Nice flashbang used usp headshot kill on Frozen】

"Good shot!!" Danking shouted in the voice chat, "Beautiful, brothers, that was played so well!!"

Their wave at Bomb Site A only racked up some WeChat step counts, so as the hype squad, they definitely had to provide enough emotional value.

Ropz, who was bringing up the rear, saw that his teammates had already been taken out, so he could only try to mix into the smoke for a wave.

But Elige was holding the smoke, and after mixing out of it, he was ultimately picked off by the opponent.

"Four Kill in the Pistol Round, brother, you're a bit of a freak!" Danking went straight into character, "You're going to make the other side lose confidence like this!"

The others were also laughing uncontrollably; Danking was indeed very capable as the hype squad of the team.

Elige laughed happily, "It's all thanks to the captain's Flashbang, the timing was perfect, they didn't open their eyes from start to finish."

Xu Beifang also teased, "NIKO, don't be anxious, I'll find a chance to throw one for you later, okay, so you can get a Four Kill too."

"Forget it." NIKO rolled his eyes.

Xu Beifang didn't keep chatting idly and soon issued the early setup for the second round: "Ji Ge, buy a Long Gun Round weapon. NIKO and I will go Full Armor with MP9s and utility to control Banana. They didn't Plant, they only have $2000 in economy, so we still have to be on guard. NIKO and I will control Banana first, then I'll rotate to help A."

After the Inferno map reset, it became easier for CTs to control Banana.

But on small maps like this, the probability of being upset in an ANTI-ECO becomes higher, and with the rounds becoming shorter, the game theory of each round becomes more important because the overall margin for error is lower.

Xu Beifang and NIKO easily controlled Banana, he left the extra utility at CT Spawn, had NIKO jump at the Stone Slab to scout, and then he returned to Bomb Site A for a heavy defense.

"No Plant, but Faze actually force-bought, they are very bold." Wanjiqi briefly explained the configuration of this round, "Faze doesn't really want to fight for Banana with them either. Beifang also anticipated this, he did some basic control of Banana and just let NIKO play it alone, the formation became a 4A heavy defense."

"Beifang's movement is ridiculously fast, by the second timing he has already arrived at the Recess near Mid. He has a Full Armor MP9 this round, and this position is a great area for a firefight."

"Faze threw a Connector smoke at the second timing, wanting to make a move on Mid."

"But Elige immediately countered with a Mid smoke, yet Faze doesn't look like they want to stop."

Wanjiqi's tone was a bit worried, because Faze threw the Connector smoke, so he was the only one left in the Mid area for the moment, and Elige could only help him by wall-banging.

If he didn't get a kill, or only got one, this wave would be a huge loss.

Karrigan might be able to figure out that only NIKO was at Bomb Site B and rotate back to speed-run B.

"This wave depends on how Beifang operates."

Xu Beifang held his MP9, listening to the opponent's undisguised footsteps in Mid, knowing that Faze clearing Mid was practically an open secret.

But fortunately, his position wasn't an open secret, plus Elige threw a Smoke Grenade and HE Grenade at Connector, which attracted some of their attention.

He quietly gathered information, then immediately turned his head after hearing the sound of utility being thrown.

"Boom~"

After the Flashbang exploded, Xu Beifang turned his head directly, and a Terrorist rushed out from the smoke spreading in Mid.

He sprayed a burst directly.

【Nice used MP9 to Headshot karrigan】

At the same time, the bomb dropped in the middle of the road.

This scene also made Xu Beifang realize that the other side wasn't trying to probe or simply clear Mid at all, but intended to speed-run and seal the deal.

That meant someone must have synchronized coming out of the Boiler Room.

So Xu Beifang directly utilized CS2's biggest bonus—run-and-gun.

Aiming at the Boiler Room entrance, he strafed left with his MP9 while running and firing.

Broky, who came out of the Boiler Room, thought he was being very stealthy, wanting to hug the edge of the smoke to get information and use a Tec-9 to take Xu Beifang out.

But he didn't expect Xu Beifang to pre-fire, and he was startled by two "ding-ding" headshots.

After spraying down Broky, Xu Beifang's magazine was empty. He didn't panic and retreat into the Connector smoke, but used reverse thinking, counter-intuitively diving into the Mid smoke.

Sure enough, the moment he stepped into the Mid smoke, he heard two sets of footsteps heading toward Mid.

Elige at Connector saw Xu Beifang's position and, understanding the intent, found an angle to spray and Firing to help lure them.

Danking at the Bomb Site didn't rush to trade, but said: "I have an A1 Flash, Beifang, don't look at A1."

With that, Danking's Flashbang was thrown.

Xu Beifang caught a glimpse of the Flashbang being thrown and immediately looked toward Connector, diving out of the smoke.

Rain and Han Wang rushed out of the Mid smoke wanting to trade, but found that Xu Beifang was nowhere to be seen. They immediately used their Tec-9s to rapid-fire toward Connector, but didn't see anyone.

"So fast..." Han Wang complained.

But the next second, bullets came from behind.

"Bang!"

【Nice used MP9 to Headshot Frozen】

Rain finally realized that Xu Beifang hadn't returned to Connector, but was hiding in the smoke waiting for an opportunity.

He immediately turned around, but was met with a Flashbang, and could only fire while blinded.

But in the end, he couldn't escape his fate.

"Faze's members came one after another wanting to trade, but Nice's experience is much better than they imagined, a wave of reverse smoke-mixing brought him directly behind them!"

"Oh!! He is swimming like a dragon in Mid with an MP9!!"

"He's already got a Four Kill this round, is there a Five Kill?"

"The last ID remaining is ropz, knowing he plays Second Floor, Beifang rushed straight into Second Floor to find him. Can ropz win? He didn't win either! ANTI-ECO Five Kill!"

Wanjiqi laughed: "This round really let Beifang farm to his heart's content, the episode Dazhuang would envy most, but this was actually a Half Armor economy round, Faze all had Tec-9s they could use, it still has a lot of value."

The director showed the highlight replay of the kills, and Wanjiqi watched and commented: "This round doesn't even count as aiming, this is just the experience of this old fox. Look, he completely predicted what the opponent wanted to do, I can only say that even if this guy holds an MP9, he can play a vital role."

"It makes one sigh, truly the World's Number One Sniper of the CSGO era!"

Wanjiqi was extremely excited in the live stream, but the Faze members, who served as the background, all laughed.

Rain scratched his head, "I thought this guy's level would drop a lot after resting for a few years, but it turns out he's still this difficult to deal with."

Nice is just like that, his presence in the match is ridiculously high.

Even if he didn't duel head-on in the previous round, his Flashbang still had an Impact on the situation.

This round, he relied on himself to kill them all.

You have to know that they were also holding Half Armor and Tec-9s, and at that distance, the gap with the MP9 isn't actually that large.

Yet even so, Nice managed to wipe them out single-handedly.

They didn't even have much of a chance for Firing.

Youngsters like donk rely on Reaction and aim, which is indeed disgusting to duel against.

But this guy Nice is experienced and has too many strange tricks up his sleeve, and furthermore.

This guy's Reaction and aim are also top-tier.

After dueling him head-on this round, it felt as if they had returned to the years 2019 and 2020.

Back then, as long as they faced Xu Beifang, they would feel drenched in sweat.

In the hearts of these old-timers, Nice is the opponent they most want to face, yet also the one they least want to face.

Nowadays, facing an old rival again is a pleasure, but once truly inside the match, everyone is very serious and will try every possible way to take points and win this game.

"This is a Rifleman's meta after all, this guy is definitely harder to deal with," Karrigan consoled, "Actually, I had mental expectations for this early on, but since this guy transitioned to an IGL, his Gunplay will definitely be affected to some extent; his Impact might not be as strong as in previous metas, so he can still be handled."

"Wait for the upcoming Long Gun Round..."