Chapter 497: 51 Being Yourself in the Fire!

"NAVI was crushed just like that?" Shuijingge was somewhat surprised by the result of Map 1.

This was the first time he had properly watched a COL match since Xu Beifang's comeback.

Although he had vaguely known from big data pushes that COL's recent results were good, even winning the IEM Chengdu championship.

But he thought that against NAVI, they would definitely be suppressed quite a bit.

In his mind, the result for COL today would likely be "honorable in defeat"; the final result might be a miserable loss, but there would be many highlights, with both sides fighting very intensely.

But he didn't expect that while there were indeed many highlights.

The direction was completely different from what he had imagined.

A retired old player returning to the arena?

Can they be this fierce?

Today, he had truly opened his eyes.

Just at this moment, Leon Kai joined the voice chat, intending to conduct a dual commentary.

This was what he had just asked Leon Kai via WeChat; after all, as a commentator in the CS industry, some areas were still a bit too amateurish.

As soon as Leon Kai entered, he asked curiously: "Leon Kai, tell me what's going on? How did COL beat NAVI to a pulp? NAVI is a Major champion! Map 1 was beaten like this by them?"

Compared to Shuijingge, Leon Kai was much more professional. He said: "I'm actually a bit surprised too."

"Ah!"

"That's for sure. I also thought NAVI could win; even if they couldn't win, at the very least they would take a big score." Leon Kai explained. "Map 1 was NAVI's map pick after all, and looking at the map BP, the possibility of COL practicing the map was very high."

"So they were mostly focused on training status, so naturally I thought NAVI had a better chance of winning."

Shuijingge pursued: "Then why..."

"Because COL's status is very good. Let's take the last round as an example." Leon Kai gave an example. "NAVI couldn't win the head-on duels at all. In the last round, they were very proactive in wanting to rush out to engage, but they kept losing people; their kill capability was not on the same level at all."

"At the very least, COL's firepower is much stronger than NAVI's right now."

Xu Beifang goes without saying; he was the most outstanding performer in Map 1. He took the initiative on the defensive side, constantly leading the rhythm of the match.

On the offensive side, he also delivered several brilliant kills.

NIKO and Elige's performances were also noteworthy.

NIKO, in the Black Room position, also constantly traded back and forth with the opponent, even gaining many advantages in head-on confrontations.

Elige, on the defensive side, coordinated with Xu Beifang to suppress and trade kills, assisting Xu Beifang in achieving many effects.

Although there were a few rounds where mistakes that shouldn't have happened occurred, the overall performance was already quite outstanding.

Even without an explosive Carry performance, this was already enough!

The camera gave it to NAVI's player area; Xiao Li Zi stood up and was nervous with his teammates, his right hand scratching his thigh somewhat helplessly.

The baseball cap with NAVI printed on it was worn on his head, as if this could hide his expression.

The other few young people were simpler; a group of hot-blooded young people directly wrote their moods on their faces.

Bewildered, dejected, dizzy.

These feelings all appeared on their faces.

"A bad feeling surged into my heart. NAVI must now consider the problems they might encounter in Map 2." Shuijingge teased. "They must pull themselves together, otherwise they might be taken away in one wave."

Leon Kai shook his head: "It's not that simple."

He expanded his explanation: "I've been paying attention to COL since IEM Chengdu. They didn't play the Anubis map before; today they actively picked it out, obviously intending to pull it out to practice."

"Actively solving a weak point in the map pool, this point is very worthy of praise!"

Many teams would hold onto their only strength and not let go, just like the former Big, which relied on the high level of Dust II to have decent combat power in the first-tier arena, but as long as the opponent removed Dust II, their strength would drop by a large margin.

Even as Dust II exited the active duty map pool, they slowly disappeared from the first-tier arena.

He understood that only teams with stronger adaptability could survive in the arena.

"But Anubis is a map they aren't good at after all. Although this map isn't NAVI's specialty, their proficiency is definitely higher than COL's, so the subsequent match might turn the tide, and NAVI will crush COL in Map 2."

"Where the winner is truly decided, we still have to look at Map 3."

Leon Kai made a professional judgment on the match. In COL's player area.

Coach Xiaoxi smiled and said: "Although we played a bit roughly overall, we still took Map 1. This is great."

Xu Beifang was high-fiving his teammates and celebrating, and upon hearing this, he responded with a smile: "I'll refute that; we actually played very well overall, there were just a few rounds with flaws; it's a problem that doesn't matter much."

Coach Xiaoxi nodded: "Everyone's status is indeed good; relying on tacit understanding can solve many problems, but be prepared to be suppressed next. Our level on Anubis isn't high; be prepared to solve problems in Map 3."

"However, even so, we still need to strive to take every point, letting a NAVI that is going all out serve as our opponent—this isn't common in training matches."

They had discussed this a long time ago; compared to the ranking of the tournament, they valued the training effect this league brought them more.

Today's BP was also discussed in advance.

So Coach Xiaoxi's words didn't strike them down; they just cooled down their excited emotions a bit.

As the current second-ranked team in the HLTV world, NAVI is a typical 6-map team; except for Vertigo, which they don't play, the other maps are all noteworthy.

And for COL, regarding the Anubis map, they only had some things from recent intensive training.

The methods are relatively few.

But the opportunity to train with such a top-tier team going all out is rare; some of their overly low-level playstyles will be quickly broken by the opponent.

The feedback obtained after the match will be surprisingly high.

A group of people were all prepared, and after the halftime break ended, they officially invested in the second half's confrontation.

Map: Anubis

(The callouts for some positions are not necessarily this way, because there are several ways to call out the same position)

T: Nice, NIKO, Elige, Danking, JKS

CT: Aleksib, JL, w0nderful, IM, B1t

The pistol round officially began.

During the halftime break, COL had already finished discussing, slightly guarding against a forward push and then coming for a wave of A Site explosive bomb attacks.

"COL is directly exploding bombs at the second timing, the fire at the Fountain position, and two regular smoke grenades on A Site, intending to directly launch an offensive."

"But Xiao Li Zi's handling is very good; he immediately countered with a smoke at the entrance of A Site, and then gave a hidden flash, intending to go out and clear!"

"But this wave bumped into someone in the smoke grenade, and both sides directly started the battle mode, but COL's offensive rhythm was dragged down!"

"JL at the back point is purely practicing shooting; JL takes one, takes two, takes three!"

"JKS completed the trade, but Xiao Li Zi behind the smoke also took JKS out. Danking traded successfully, but B1t's rotation also arrived; they didn't even have a chance to plant the bomb."

……

After losing the pistol round, Xu Beifang took a breath: "The opponent handled the pistol round too well; we should have immediately moved back when the first wave didn't get in."

He simply reviewed the problems of the pistol round and finally found that it was because they played this map too little, leading to an unclear understanding of the map's engagement structure.

The entrance to A is a bit like the B-Pass of Inferno.

They wanted to go out with a wave of explosive bombs, but Xiao Li Zi's smoke grenade directly blocked them to death.

Although there is a Fountain nearby to get vision, it was burned by them at the first moment.

It can only be said that NAVI's handling is indeed outstanding.

However, if he were more experienced, he would have directly given the rotation command the moment he saw this smoke.

"It's still my reaction that was a bit slow." Xu Beifang mentioned it simply, and then began to arrange the follow-up. "Didn't manage to plant the bomb; JKS has the most kill economy, you get a Desert Eagle for NIKO to play with."

NIKO's Desert Eagle is still very trustworthy; in this kind of economic round, even if he can only get one kill, it's worth it.

However, they didn't find an opportunity in this round because NAVI was too steady.

They are best at dealing with rounds that require discipline.

Ultimately, in only one wave of A Site acceleration, relying on NIKO's Desert Eagle damage and Danking's trade, they successfully took one person out.

But still didn't manage to plant the bomb.

The score reached 0:2.

COL also entered the long gun round.

"For this round, we focus on default map control." NIKO gave the command. "NAVI shouldn't have changed guns much, so there are actually quite a few short guns in hand; they don't have the qualifications to come out and take map control from us."

"Like this, Beifang and JKS, you two go solo and hang on both sides; we three, the main force, will apply some pressure to Mid."

Among the three superstars of the CSGO era, Xu Beifang is also a quite special player.

S1mple is a player who relies extremely heavily on resources, but as long as you give him a big Sniper or a Hero AK, S1mple can really make a name for himself.

Zywoo is the other extreme; he doesn't eat resources at all, even if he holds something like an MP9, he can still kill and do things.

And Xu Beifang is more flexible.

He can eat resources, and he can work after eating resources.

But he doesn't eat resources, and he can still do quite a few things.

He has a lot of experience going solo, so in this default thinking, NIKO put the more experienced Xu Beifang and JKS to go solo to increase the fault tolerance.

After the countdown ended, Xu Beifang walked straight towards A Site.

But NAVI gave a smoke grenade at the A-Outer Stairs in the early stage, making him somewhat confused.

"The opponent on A Site might push forward; Danking, come help me, give some pressure to Mid, at least don't let the opponent grab the Bridge Hole area."

NAVI's smoke made his eyes light up, but his keen tactical sense also let him know the function of this smoke.

This smoke directly sealed the road for the Terrorists to go to A Site; if it were accompanied by a forward push on A Site and the Black Room, he might die very miserably.

Essentially, the play of this smoke is the same as the Inferno Faze smoke.

So Xu Beifang didn't dare to move around, but called Danking over to double-peek the A-Door direction.

Maybe because of the height, the vision Xu Beifang got standing on Danking's head wasn't much.

However, making this adjustment temporarily was already a very good on-the-spot reaction.

This NAVI smoke is indeed powerful, just relying on one smoke grenade to make him mobilize so many troops.

But his thoughts were fast; it was mainly a problem caused by lack of experience.

Next time he encounters this situation, he will immediately throw a fire in the A-Door direction to counter their possible forward push, and it can be solved very easily.

Although this smoke grenade is similar to the Faze smoke, because of the distance, the effect is completely different.

Still need to practice... Xu Beifang sighed in his heart, but his hands didn't stop.

As the smoke dissipated, he let Danking go back to push Mid with NIKO, while he did the default on A-Outer.

"The Mid trio is advancing slowly with silent steps, but JL is holding an MP9 in front of the Mid-Door. NIKO is jiggling to observe, but this position is looking at the shadow first!" Leon Kai said urgently.

"JL got the information and directly fired a pre-fire; the MP9 instantly took out NIKO, and a spray-run also took out Elige behind!"

Although Danking on the screen traded successfully, this confrontation in Mid still made Shuijingge exclaim: "This MP9 combat power is a bit exaggerated; running and spraying took out two in Mid. It can only be said that he is worthy of being a Major MVP-level player."

The impression JL has shown to the public is mostly that of a joker, that second-tier rookie.

But after this guy entered NAVI, he really played better and better, and his performance became more and more stable.

JL is already the well-deserved big brother of NAVI today.

Xu Beifang also noticed the kill information in the upper right corner.

Mid map control didn't go well, which made him feel a bit uncomfortable because of the numerical disadvantage, so the subsequent offense was a bit hard to play.

"You guys lean towards me, I'll sneak in first to get some information." Xu Beifang gave the follow-up decision.

And sneaking alone, it was mainly because he keenly sensed a piece of information.

Before the match, they were all prepared to pick Anubis, so Xu Beifang watched the recent Anubis recordings of NAVI players in advance.

CS players are a group of creatures pursuing perfection.

So the more reasonable and effective the playstyle, the more it is favored by them.

Consequently, more and more formulaic playstyles have emerged.

Even Xu Beifang has his own formulaic playstyle.

And this A-Door, the order of the opponent's utility and the place where it exploded, was overlapping with a DEMO of B1t he remembered watching.

B1t now either holds the smoke at the front point or jiggles at the back point to scout for the Terrorists' follow-up actions.

He assumed B1t was holding the smoke, so there couldn't be a chance on the side near the table.

B1t gives this smoke, will hold the smoke on the Fountain; he will be very detailed to pay attention to the upper left side of the smoke, where there is a table that can be stepped on to get information, and B1t will always guard against that place.

When Xu Beifang watched the recording at the time, he very much suspected that it was a trap B1t deliberately set.

He glanced at the side of the smoke grenade near the table; the smoke above it was the lowest.

B1t thought this was a bait, waiting for the prey to take the bait at any time.

But when he understood that this was a bait, the positions of the prey and the hunter quietly changed.

He looked at the Fountain behind the smoke, found a rough reference object, and directly fired and sprayed!

B1t was honestly holding the smoke grenade, nervously calculating the time for the smoke grenade to dissipate, and considering when to change positions.

But just at this moment, the sound of gunfire suddenly rang out from behind the smoke grenade.

Bullets frantically hit his body, and the burst of damage instantly took away his life; B1t didn't even have time to react.

"B1t!!" Being killed abruptly made B1t directly curse out loud. "Someone came to A-Door, Nice directly wallbanged me to death, I don't know how many people."

B1t was surprised in his heart, and Leon Kai, who was commenting, was also stunned.

He was still calmly speculating about what might happen between the two sides, when suddenly he saw Xu Beifang behind the smoke fire and spray, directly taking B1t out.

"What is this!" Shuijingge shouted unbelievably. "Has CS evolved to this level now?"

Leon Kai was also stunned: "He wallbanged like this in the final half a month ago against Faze too; it's simply unreasonable!"

After Xu Beifang got the first kill, he immediately rushed into the bomb site to collect information.

Although his teammates were still on the way, he had to occupy the gun position, otherwise JKS and Danking wouldn't have any chance to get in.

He directly added a Heaven smoke, but the opponent didn't have any movement afterwards.

Xiao Li Zi wasn't in a hurry; after the game of wits in Map 1, he understood the opponent's marksmanship too well.

So he chose to wait for his teammates to rotate back before looking at the follow-up.

He was quietly collecting information behind the cover on the right side of Heaven; his teammates' rotation had already arrived at Mid, and he heard footsteps coming from the opponent's A-Door, so he immediately took out a fire grenade and threw it towards the A-Door direction.

"This fire blocked the bomb planter's way into the bomb site; time is running out. Xiao Li Zi's delay is used too well!"

"And this delay bought time for two teammates; as long as w0nderful and IM stand out and can take out the bomb planter, then they can still take this round!"

Xu Beifang actually didn't enter the bomb site; after throwing the smoke grenade before, he moved to the vicinity of the Fountain.

Now a fire exploded in front of his left, and Danking immediately extinguished the fire.

Xu Beifang also seized the opportunity to peek out to look for opportunities.

As soon as he pulled out, he saw a CT taking out a fire grenade and throwing it towards him.

He immediately stopped and aimed to fire.

"Da-da-da!"

【Nice used AK-47 to kill IM】

While he took IM out, the fire grenade exploded under his feet.

At the same time, perhaps having received information from his teammates, a CT peeked out from the Mid direction again.

Xu Beifang originally intended to retreat, but now he knew there was no retreat.

Because if he ran, the opponent would definitely focus their firepower on Danking.

If the bomb was taken out, there would be no chance in this round.

So he chose to crouch, forcibly interrupting the movement state, and fired at this policeman in Mid.

"Da-da-da!"

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot w0nderful】

Xiao Li Zi had been hiding behind the cover using utility to delay time, but his teammates died one after another, and w0nderful stood out to trade but was also taken out, so he immediately strafed out.

He knew that if he didn't come out now, there would really be no chance in this round!

The moment he strafed out, he saw the bomb planter jumping out from the smoke grenade, and the Terrorist crouching on the fire next to the Fountain holding an AK.

He aimed his gun and sprayed at the bomb planter, wanting to take the bomb out.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of light in the fire, followed by—

"Bang!"

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot Aleksib】

In the next second, kill information appeared again in the upper right corner.

【IM used fire grenade to kill Nice】

The entire kill sequence was just in an instant; everything happened so fast that Leon Kai and Shuijingge, as commentators, only had time to let out an "Ah?!".

The confrontation between the two sides had already ended.

After Shuijingge reacted, he said in shock: "What is this Beifang thing! He just stepped on the fire and took out all three people on the opposite side??"

"Is that fire fake?"

He subconsciously looked at the screen, wanting to see NAVI's reaction.

But found that NAVI directly called a timeout.

The score reached 1:2.

COL, relying on Xu Beifang's performance, successfully took the first long gun round.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 498 =====