Chapter 80: Starting the Push for the FACEIT Top 100

The IEM Shanghai tournament has officially concluded, and VP's final result was merely runner-up.

After the tournament ended, pasha and the others did not return directly to Poland; instead, they asked Xu Beifang where in Huaxia was suitable for travel, and the group began checking in and sightseeing in various places.

For CS: GO Professional Players, there is one thing that is quite great: every offline tournament is a large-scale trip—though this is just one of the few small perks after flying all over the world.

VP's next tournament is the ZOTAC Cup held in Hong Kong; this is not a very high-level tournament, but the prize pool for this event is 300,000 USD!

That is 50,000 USD more than the IEM Shanghai tournament that just ended!

And although the tournament level is not very high, there are still teams like the strong Brazilian team mibr led by the Godfather, Team Kinguin led by taz—a member of the former VP Golden Five—as well as OpTic led by k0nfig and gade, and so on.

At the very least, these teams currently have higher rankings than VP, so it is impossible for Xu Beifang to underestimate this tournament.

The prize money for this tournament is very high, but there is also a reason why it is not rated as an S-Tier Tournament.

It is an invitational tournament, and the entire process has absolutely no breathing room; from the first day, it is a single-elimination BO3 tournament.

After playing a BO3, if you fail to advance, you leave immediately; there is absolutely no room for error, it is purely a tourism cup.

This is also one of the reasons why the old men of VP do not take this tournament to heart; compared to the prize money, being able to stay in Huaxia for a few more days to travel is simply the best thing ever.

While the VP group went sightseeing, Xu Beifang took a train back home.

He could not stay in Shanghai; whether it was training or the cost of living and eating in that place, it could be described as exorbitant.

His income level is decent now, but he did not feel the need to be extravagant to that extent.

Back home, he returned to his usual rhythm of life.

Every day, he would livestream, train to climb the ranks, and work out to build muscle; if not for the prize money he had deposited into his Bank card not long ago and the 60,000 follower count on his account, Xu Beifang would have felt as if he had never been to Shanghai.

The fans were naturally very happy as well, seeing that Xu Beifang, who had already become a bit popular on Bilibili, was still his usual self; aside from occasionally having things to do, he was just sitting in front of the computer playing CS: GO. This level of self-discipline truly made them admire him.

He renewed his subscription on the accelerator for a month and began his path as a high-ping war god.

【Not playing 5E anymore?】

Xu Beifang glanced at the audience's question, nodded, and replied: "I'll hold off on playing that for now; I'm going to push my FACEIT rating up a bit."

He glanced at his personal information, which showed that his European server ranking was over 1,200.

"I haven't played for over half a month, the ranking has dropped quite severely!"

FACEIT has an activity mechanism; if you don't play for a long time, your division will be hidden, and you will need to re-qualify.

But Xu Beifang had only not played for half a month, so he hadn't reached that point yet.

His ranking drop was simply because his points remained stagnant while the guys below him had surpassed him.

Thinking of this, Xu Beifang modified the title of his livestream:

"Reaching the FACEIT Top 100 in one week."

He could stay at home for about half a month, and then he would have to meet up with the VP group in Hong Kong to prepare for the ZOTAC Cup.

Now that his ranking has reached around 1,200, the subsequent climb will be relatively simpler; after all, he only needs to surpass 1,100-plus players, it'll be quick!

He played a total of 4 matches in the morning and lost one.

After the IEM Shanghai tournament ended, although looking at the data from the system's personal information, he hadn't undergone any major changes.

But now, turning to play this kind of FACEIT, he truly had a feeling of dimensional reduction strikes; he was very confident, and even with 120 ping, he felt that the opponent's various movements were very rough, and he could easily seize opportunities.

The first three games were won very easily, but in the fourth game, he encountered a combination of xantares—one of the future FPL head instructors—plus kennyS.

At times like this, the disadvantage of high ping became apparent; facing kennyS's lightning-fast Sniper Rifle, by the time Xu Beifang fired his first shot, kennyS had sometimes already missed two.

He tried very hard to fight, but in the end, he still didn't win the match.

After playing 4 matches in the morning, the livestream turned into a lifestyle channel, and Xu Beifang, under the instigation of his viewers, transformed into an experienced food vlogger—well, that was his own interpretation.

The audience in the livestream were all sighing with emotion:

【You can see everything in Little Xu's livestream: foreign language time in the morning, gaming time in the forenoon, food time at noon, fitness time in the evening...】

【You can see four sections of content in one livestream, this wave is a huge profit!】

【Watching four pieces of content for the price of one cent, isn't this squeezing the market?】

【Little Xu earns one person's pay but works four jobs, what a huge loss for him.】

The viewers in the livestream were all talented individuals, and Xu Beifang chatted with them casually.

He had advised danking not to livestream yesterday because danking is only 17 years old and is too young and immature.

As for himself, he had a very clear plan regarding livestreaming; it was something to keep him company and relieve boredom when he was idle, and it could also earn some pocket money, but this thing would at most be his side job and would not have any impact on his goals.

After finishing lunch and taking a short nap, he started his livestream.

Although he had the Energy Potion provided by the system, Xu Beifang always felt that the 【Energy Potion】 was just forcibly extending his life, but a good rest was the best tool for maintaining physical strength and energy.

Just like for people who sit for long periods in front of a computer, even if you buy an ergonomic chair worth tens of thousands, it's not as comfortable for your lower back as standing up and walking for 10 minutes every hour.

In the afternoon, he played about 7 matches, and his final record was 5 wins and 2 losses.

As his FACEIT ranking got higher and higher, the strength of his opponents and teammates became increasingly formidable, and the overall quality of the matches became higher and higher as well.

In one match, Xu Beifang encountered flamie on his side, while the opposing team had loba plus nafany, and the remaining random players were also top-tier.

In this match, Xu Beifang had no intention of paying attention to the chat; the communication and rhythm of the entire match were maxed out, and both sides fought quite intensely. In the end, it was the two active Professional Players, Xu Beifang and flamie, who were fiercer, winning the match 16:13.

The moment it ended, everyone in the lobby laughed and typed "gg".

This match was played heartily and vividly, immersing everyone in it.

Xu Beifang felt like he had taken a sip of ice-cold Sprite on a dog day of summer; it was incredibly refreshing.

Afterwards, he added flamie as a friend, and the other party agreed very quickly.

After agreeing to duo queue when they had time, Xu Beifang went offline to start stretching his muscles.

He was still in the process of building muscle, and since there was no gym in his county, he could only do some basic push-ups and pull-up training.

The livestream was still not turned off; Xu Beifang stretched, found a POV of NiKo performing well on FACEIT, and began to study it.

As the future world's strongest Entry Fragger, and even the strongest in history, NiKo's techniques might still be a bit green now, but he was still the target of Xu Beifang's learning.

By the evening, there were fewer viewers in the livestream; after all, analyzing demos is relatively boring, and not everyone's goal for CS: GO is to become stronger.

There are also quite a few casual players who just enjoy the thrill of a Bison rush.

But those who remain in the stream are mostly players who want to improve.

【Xu, could you proactively explain the demo? We watch demos every day and analyze them ourselves, but we can't really analyze anything.】

【Exactly, we can't make heads or tails of the demos; it just feels like the pros have such accurate Gunplay and their Consciousness is like they have wallhacks.】

【Nice, could you talk about the thought process you see so we can learn from it?】

The viewers certainly want to learn, but sometimes the skill gap is too large; watching a pro's recording is like looking at astronomical figures—they know it happens but don't know why.

Most of them can only see that this player's Pre-aim is excellent, and the moment an opponent peeks out, they instantly headshot them, but they completely fail to understand things like tactical positioning or offensive choices.

To them, a POV recording is not much different from a highlight reel.

【Ding!】

【Suggestion received: Proactively explain the thought process behind POV to viewers. Difficulty: 3 stars. This is a long-term mission; completing it daily grants a D-rank Treasure Chest...】

A thought flashed through Xu Beifang's mind; he hadn't thought of this before, but explaining POV to his viewers wasn't a difficult task.

"Alright, let's take a look at this Inferno match from NiKo. As a star player for FaZe today, NiKo's strength is quite formidable, and he is someone I also need to learn from."

"Okay, he bought a Desert Eagle with no armor right at the start of the Pistol Round. Hmm, very confident; everyone, please don't copy this."

【LMAO, he just told us to learn from NiKo, and now NiKo is doing this—pulling out a Desert Eagle in the Pistol Round, so confident.】

【I already pulled out my notebook and wrote down 'Pistol Round Desert Eagle', and now you're telling me not to learn it?】

【Indeed, that's correct; there's no need to buy a Desert Eagle in the Pistol Round, the margin for error is too small.】

Xu Beifang was also speechless; he hadn't expected NiKo to pull out a no-armor Desert Eagle in this Pistol Round—was he joking?

As the attacker, NiKo carried the Desert Eagle to T Spawn, then crouched and moved to the left, suddenly standing up to take a look at A1.

Xu Beifang paused the screen to explain: "This is the part we need to learn. Many viewers like to just rush in one wave during the Pistol Round. Rushing isn't the problem, but you need to pay attention to whether anyone is pushing up Mid."

"With NiKo's crouching motion, the opponent at A1 can't see him, and the moment he stands up, his Pre-aim is already in place. If someone is holding a direct angle at A1, he can take them out with one shot."

A moment later, NiKo arrived at Banana, his teammates gradually following, and only then did he start acting as an Entry Fragger to go ahead and gather information. He paused again:

"Did you notice this point?"

【???】

【Is there anything worth noting here?】

【Is it the Pre-aim?】

【I don't understand; I always feel like we aren't playing the same game.】

In this era, domestic CS: GO is still in its infancy, and everyone basically lacks theoretical knowledge.

Xu Beifang explained carefully: "He waited for two teammates to reach the near point of the Stone Slab before Pre-aiming to peek. This way, even if he loses the duel, the two teammates at the Stone Slab can quickly provide a Trade Kill."

"Sometimes you always say your teammates in the Ladder are toxic, but in reality, you have to create opportunities for coordination yourself. Often, you don't even look at the mini-map before actively going to look for trouble, without a shred of team coordination."

【Team coordination? As if you have team coordination, Xu; don't you just solo entry frag in matches?】

【You dry-peek every day and have fun, and now you're teaching us to play as a team!】

【Why should I coordinate with teammates? Those teammates refuse to play as a team, what can I do?】

【Xu is hogging the good stuff and won't teach us his secret techniques.】

【...】

Sure enough, whenever the issue of solo play versus team play in the Ladder comes up, it always leads to controversy.

Xu Beifang explained: "I don't dry-peek every single time. I play like that in VP because my playstyle is unique. And if you watch my POV, you'll find that many of my kills are obtained based on coordination with teammates. In a match, I often have pasha throw flashes for me; that is also a form of team coordination, just with a slightly different concept."

"As for why you should improve yourself, it's because you can't improve your teammates' skill level; you can only look for reasons within yourself. Rather than putting pressure on teammates, it's faster to improve yourself!"

"And at what point did you get the idea that CS: GO is a game of Gunplay? In matches, we play entirely with our brains—guessing various positions, tactical mind games; Gunplay is just the simplest link in the chain."

Many in the stream expressed that they had benefited greatly from these novel theories.

Because at this stage, the CS: GO community is generally still learning Recoil Control and Counter-strafing.

Even the aiming tutorials Leon Kai is currently making are already the most outstanding teaching materials in the CS: GO community.

Xu Beifang's analysis and choices, based on the mindset of a Professional Player, are very fresh, although these contents are currently too complex and general for them.

But many players recorded the screen, because they knew this was useful; they prepared to watch the recording repeatedly to slowly understand it.

And Xu Beifang also learned a lot from this POV.

"NiKo is worthy of being NiKo; every peek he makes carries a strong sense of purpose." Xu Beifang had originally performed well at IEM Shanghai and thought he could go toe-to-toe with these players.

But now it seems that there is still a huge gap between him and such top-tier players.

After explaining it to the viewers, Xu Beifang found that he remembered many of the scenes and technical choices with exceptional clarity.

The overall efficiency was surprisingly high. He thought about it carefully; the reason might be that if he just watched the demo himself, these ideas would only pass through his mind as he compared his own thoughts with NiKo's.

But if he had to teach it to the viewers, he would be more serious, compare his thoughts with NiKo's to find the shortcomings, and then explain them through verbal expression. His absorption and understanding of the demo content were far higher than before!

Even if there were no system Suggestion Mission later, he would have to conduct these teaching moments every day.

Sure enough, listening to advice is the only way to get ahead!

A bit of writer's block, my head hurts...

(End of chapter)