Chapter 67: Pasha's Regret (Two-in-One Chapter)

"Any thoughts? Feel free to speak your mind." Kuben clapped his hands, signaling that everyone could speak freely.

As a Coach, his role was primarily to study opponent footage and handle various preparatory tasks; such impromptu, on-the-spot ideas were not his strong suit.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be a coach right now, but an in-game leader.

"How about we just give up the Red Stairs?" Neo had died in the Red Stairs area repeatedly and felt a bit frustrated. "We've already died in this spot three times."

The others felt uncomfortable as well; the Huaxia proverb about not repeating a mistake a third time didn't seem to apply in CS: GO.

The opponent's playstyle at the Red Stairs was skillful and their coordination fluid; it was clearly not a problem they could solve in an instant.

Byali pinched his knuckles and voiced his thoughts: "I actually think this Red Stairs area must be taken."

"The Red Stairs position is in the central area of this map, Train. Unless we choose to execute a One-Wave Flow through the Green Corridor to attack A Site, no matter if we attack A from T Spawn or speed-run B, we will be constrained by the Red Stairs."

If attacking from T Spawn, the Red Stairs position could cause them huge trouble from the flank.

And if executing a rush to B, they would need to worry about the CT climbing up the Red Stairs at any moment, forcing them to watch their back while attacking from the front.

Neither scenario was the result VP wanted.

"But we can't control it!" Neo fell silent after replying.

Michu was pulling at his hair in frustration nearby.

They all understood the benefits of controlling the Red Stairs, but the problem was that they couldn't control it right now.

Tyloo's Red Stairs playstyle was too solid, leaving them without any good opportunities.

"Later, we can use two Incendiary Grenades to control it—one outside the Red Stairs, and another to burn the inside completely," Byali explained his idea. "At that moment, we sync up and push out from T Spawn; if the opponents want to continue their counter-aggression, we can pick them off from the side."

This strategy differed somewhat from VP's previous ideas.

Previously, VP wanted to engage the opponent while contesting the Red Stairs to take one of them out, rather than just forcing them back; even if they traded one-for-one during the contest, they would still be ahead.

This would make subsequent attacks easier.

But now, it seemed this method of simply forcing the opponent back was the best way to handle it.

Michu asked another question: "Then what about this round? We don't have enough utility right now to give the Red Stairs two Incendiary Grenades."

Incendiary Grenades were always expensive, and having just lost a round, VP's economy this round wasn't very strong; two players even had to settle for just one Smoke Grenade after buying Full Armor and a Galil.

Under such a configuration, buying two Incendiary Grenades to clear the Red Stairs was a bit too extravagant.

While his teammates were discussing, Xu Beifang had been silent; hearing this, he looked at his positioning, and an image flashed through his mind.

He didn't remember which match it was, but NaVi had also been disgusted by their opponent's Red Stairs playstyle.

S1mple relied on a positioning advantage to use an AWP to seize an opportunity at the Red Stairs, taking the opponent out with one shot and capturing the Red Stairs.

Since S1mple could do it, why shouldn't I try it?

"How about I take the initiative to contest the Red Stairs and try to find an opening?" Xu Beifang proposed.

His position wasn't the most forward one, but it was sufficient.

"If you have an idea, go ahead and try it." Pasha was at his wit's end, and upon hearing Xu Beifang's suggestion, he immediately agreed.

"Then we'll hold our angles outside for now and see how Nice's attempt goes. If he gives up an Entry Kill, we'll immediately execute a grenade set on B Site."

Pasha was still quite rational.

Although the young teammate had a very good skill level, the success rate of such a reckless breakthrough was bound to be low.

So he had to be prepared early for Xu Beifang's failed breakthrough.

Thinking this, he also bought a Smoke Grenade and a Flashbang, preparing to execute the grenade set on B Site as a secondary plan.

The score above the big screen was in the classic resolution.

The eighth round officially began.

Following the plan, Xu Beifang sprinted out the moment the countdown ended, knife out, running wildly toward the Red Stairs.

Reaching the top of the Red Stairs, he didn't stop, performed a Spin Jump in mid-air to hook onto the stairs, took two steps down, pressed space, and flew out directly...

"Dage's counter-push was beautiful!!" Seeing the two's exquisite coordination break the deadlock, the Tyloo group was quite excited.

Mo also pointed out their next playstyle: "DD and Dage's counter-aggression was very good. That's how we need to play from now on—using our coordination to play against these VP guys."

"The Red Stairs still need to be controlled. As long as we can maintain control of the Red Stairs area and don't lose the Green Corridor, whether it's for a retake or facing VP's A Site grenade set, it will be easy to handle."

Xiaogui nodded and echoed: "But we have to be careful of that rookie. The old players on VP have very fixed playstyles, but that Nice's movement is very strange."

The others indicated they understood, and Xiaogui proceeded as usual to control the Red Stairs.

At the start, he threw an Incendiary Grenade at T Spawn, held for a second, and after confirming no one was pushing out, he walked from the Electric Box into the Red Stairs.

But almost instantly, he saw someone fly directly into his face.

Holy shit!!

He subconsciously raised his gun to spray, but that AK-47 unreasonably headshot him.

【Nice used AK-47 to headshot and kill Somebody】

Under the camera, Somebody shuddered, almost saying, "The cabinet moved."

"Red Stairs entered!! This guy is so fast!!" Xiaogui shouted loudly the moment he was killed.

He felt a bit helpless; before the match, he had confidently said he would teach Nice a lesson and let Apex see who the real genius teenager was.

As a result, right from the start, he had been solo-killed in direct duels by Nice several times, and he was a bit dazed.

Xu Beifang didn't think that much; the moment he popped out through the stairs and saw no one inside, he knew his opportunity had been seized successfully.

Xiaogui indeed hadn't reacted to the fact that someone was already at the Red Stairs and was directly headshot and killed by him.

After getting the Entry Kill, this time Xu Beifang didn't stop, but actively jiggled to scout information on A Bomb Site.

Having heard the callout, Bntet's attention was already on the Red Stairs direction; seeing Xu Beifang's shoulder, he immediately sprayed and opened Firing.

But Xu Beifang wasn't hit by him; he had only come to bait out a position.

Seeing that he had been baited into firing, Bntet realized something was wrong and hurriedly tried to retreat behind cover.

But the Terrorist within his field of vision rushed out in a crouch-peek stance.

"Bang!"

【Nice used an AK47 to get a headshot kill on Bntet】

He was just like a Mud Truck, fiercely slamming into Bntet and killing him instantly!

You damn well better act like a human being!!

"Dage doesn't even want to play anymore, this young man's Gunplay is too fierce!!" Xiao Bo was stunned at the commentary desk, "What kind of rookie comes out of the gate this fierce!"

Lao Shuai Ge also didn't expect the exchange of numbers between the two sides at the start to be so intense.

"VP knew you liked to contest Red Stairs, so this round they sent Nice directly to Red Stairs to duel you. Didn't Xiaogui and Dage play Red Stairs well? Well, they killed you at the start, so naturally, no one is controlling Red Stairs! This tactic is top-tier!!"

【God damn top-tier tactic】

【So as long as you kill everyone, it's the world's strongest tactic, right】

【This is an FPS game after all, Gunplay does the talking!!】

【Beifang is awesome!!】

【...】

Inside the VP voice comms, there were only sounds of excitement.

Xu Beifang had proposed the idea of actively contesting Red Stairs, and although Pasha agreed, no one really cared much about the final outcome.

But who could have imagined that Nice would not only control Red Stairs but even break through most of A Site!

As the veterans of the team, they only needed to cheer "666" behind the young man now.

Furthermore, Pasha glanced at Xu Beifang's position; after getting two kills, he didn't continue to rush forward but instead steadied himself.

This point was just fantastic!

Pasha felt inexplicably regretful at this moment.

It wasn't that Nice lacked ability; on the contrary, for him, this rookie was the kind of teammate he had dreamed of.

No IGL would be able to refuse a teammate who could duel and break sites, yet also remain steady after gaining an advantage.

As for the issue of Consciousness that Nice himself cared about, it was already irrelevant in the face of these two strengths.

What he regretted now was that it was such a pity he only encountered this kind of teammate at the end of his professional career.

Pasha's inner reflection was only for a fleeting moment.

He also had to admit that although the rookie was said to have poor Consciousness, his overall game sense was actually quite good!

If he had decided to continue pushing forward just now, his teammates outside T Spawn and on B2 would have had no way to provide him with support.

Once he was taken out, it would have been a pure throw; a 5v3 would have turned into a 4v3, and the advantage wouldn't have been as significant.

But now that he had steadied himself, he could use a 5-man group-up approach to hit a site, at the very least resulting in a local 5v3.

Pasha called everyone back to execute an Explosive Bomb Attack on B Site.

DD, who was guarding CT Mid, saw the Smoke Grenade coming, got greedy, and was instantly killed by Byali; the remaining two Tyloo players chose to Save Weapon.

"The score has come to 5:3, the first half is already more than halfway through. The battle between Tyloo and VP is quite intense, and both sides have put up great performances, especially Nice, who is making his debut at this IEM Shanghai, having already secured a 9/1/2 stat line and 134 Average Damage per Round. His form today is quite outstanding." Lao Shuai Ge praised Nice's performance.

"However," Xiao Bo's expression was somewhat worried, "Train is a CT-sided map. Even with a one or two-round lead, Tyloo is still considered behind, not to mention the score isn't even leading yet."

"Being unable to break VP's economy has become Tyloo's most difficult problem right now. If this continues, the situation for the first half is very worrying!"

Sakula Xiao Bo, who held the titles of AK Kid, Liuzhou Shaman, and A2 Police Shotgun Prince, although his commentary occasionally suffered from "jinxing," did not possess the causality-altering ability of Ma Xixi's words.

This time he didn't "poisonous milk" either; the situation after the first half was as he expected.

Tyloo could not completely break VP's economy. As the CT side, their own economy was instead dragged down by VP during the back-and-forth; after all, CT weapons and utility were generally more expensive.

Finally, the first half ended, with the score locked at the classic 8:7.

During the halftime break, the mood among the VP members was quite good. Although it seemed like they only led by one round, this was a CT-sided map; getting 8 rounds on the offensive side was already a huge advantage!

After the halftime break, the two sides swapped factions and entered the second half Pistol Round.

Tyloo was under great pressure; if they lost this Pistol Round, they would basically have no room for error in the second half.

Their strategy for the Pistol Round was quite simple: a Red Stairs push combined with an Explosive Bomb Attack on A Site from T Spawn.

Xu Beifang was near the Car and was the first to be focused down and killed by DD and Mo.

It was unknown if his death gave the Tyloo members confidence.

"DD with a triple kill, thrillingly helping Tyloo take the Pistol Round, the score is now 8:8 tied!" Xiao Bo let out a long breath, "Very thrilling."

Lao Shuai Ge nodded from the side: "In that case, with Tyloo winning the Pistol Round in the second half, this match is still worth watching."

Xiao Bo happily said at the commentary desk: "My mood right now is very complicated, nervous! Exciting! Happy! Excited! Happy!"

"Alright, stop with your elementary school English." Lao Shuai Ge saw that Xiao Bo had no intention of stopping and quickly pulled him back; everyone was here to watch the match, not to watch the Liuzhou Shaman make sentences.

Having lost the Pistol Round, Pasha directly ordered the team to Force Buy.

His teammates had three versions of the game's ultimate weapons, the CZ75, plus Pasha with an SSG 08, while Xu Beifang had a somewhat maverick Desert Eagle.

In VP's Force Buy rounds, apart from positioning, Pasha generally didn't make too many demands on individuals.

In his view, the hope of winning this round was slim to begin with, so rather than restricting his teammates with tactics, it was better to let them play freely and be more comfortable.

"Byali, why don't we push toward T Spawn together? Pasha, can you help us throw a Flashbang later?" The more it was a round like this, the less Xu Beifang liked to hold angles and wait at long range.

What he thought about more in his mind was disrupting the opponent's defensive rhythm; if the timing was caught cleverly, he could even capture a decent weapon in one go.

"No problem."

The countdown ended, and Xu Beifang carried his Desert Eagle and led his teammates running into the Five-Six Paths.

"Knowing the opponent is on a Force Buy/eco, Tyloo's strategy this round is very good; they aren't rushing to push, waiting for some opportunities inside T Spawn and Red Stairs."

Xiao Bo quickly saw the restless CTs on the minimap.

"But VP doesn't intend to slowly chat their way into your hearts; they just want to have a real fight with you!"

"Pasha with a Flashbang, DD at T Spawn is completely Flash!! Nice with a Desert Eagle Flick, this counter-clear is quite successful!!"

The Terrorist Hall was cleared by a counter-push, and Tyloo moved instantly as well.

Xiaogui, who was inside the Red Stairs, rushed out directly to look toward T Spawn; the opponents had already all rushed into T Spawn.

But just as he was considering whether to throw a molotov to cut off the retreat inside the Terrorist Hall, a CT peeked back out.

"Bang!"

The opponent acted as if they were taking a leisurely stroll, as simple as taking a sip of water.

One shot and he was insta-killed!

A Pain Mask was plastered directly onto Xiaogui's face!

What the hell!!

Mo was originally outside the Terrorist Hall holding utility, ready to act at any moment.

The sudden situation inside caught him off guard; he hurried over, intending to deal with these two people directly while the opponents hadn't picked up the AK yet.

Byali pulled out with a CZ and was baited by Mo's jiggle peek; the CZ's magazine was emptied quickly, and Mo pursued and killed him rapidly.

"There's one more!!" Xiaogui shouted a reminder.

Mo understood in his heart and had his teammate behind him throw him a pop-flash.

"Thrown!"

Mo peeked at the same time, and both people inside the Terrorist Hall covered their eyes, becoming patients of an ophthalmologist.

After his vision recovered, Xu Beifang saw a Terrorist on his left in his peripheral vision and immediately flicked over.

But the opponent's Reaction was also very fast, and he dealt with him in one spray.

Mo saw that the two Terrorists at the Inner Site had been dealt with; he didn't blame Xcc for flashing him white, but instead continued to ask him for a Flashbang and announced the start of an all-out attack on the Inner Site directly over voice comms.

But after the flash, an SSG 08 bullet struck and insta-killed him.

In the remaining 2v3 Clutch for Xcc and Dage, perhaps the best news now was that the weapons were all at T Spawn, and the remaining members of the opposing team had no way to pick up guns to enhance their combat power.

The first wave of exchanges resulted in a 2-for-3 trade between VP and the opponents, which gave VP a chance to Reset.

Pasha had a sudden inspiration: "Neo and Michu, you guys come over to gamble on A Site! We're just giving up B Site entirely!"

"What if they hit B in one wave? Do we play a Retake?" Neo was a bit hesitant.

Pasha was quite straightforward: "If they hit B, we'll just go to T Spawn to Save Weapon; three people with three Long Gun Rounds is just enough to save them."

Everyone's eyes lit up; if they really managed to save three guns, then even if they lost the round, Tyloo wouldn't be profiting.

Tyloo, however, didn't think that far ahead; in a situation of numerical disadvantage, they ultimately chose a wave of attacks on A Site.

The result was naturally being pulled apart and paralyzed by VP, who had been prepared with crossfires from multiple angles.

Tyloo had finally won a Pistol Round in the second half, but the momentum they had just obtained was Reset by VP like this, and their Mindset was somewhat collapsing.

This round had a huge impact on Tyloo; they never imagined they could be Reset by an eco round.

After being heavily scored on by VP, their margin for error became increasingly small.

Although they erupted for a few rounds afterward, it was ultimately a map favoring the CT side, and Tyloo was unable to turn the tide.

The score was fixed at 16:11, and VP won the first map of the BO3.

(End of chapter)