CS: A young talent from Peking University, you want me to play professionally?

After being pushed out to attack the CT position, the two players on Team A didn't really have a good solution. They couldn't simply go in and retreat, as that would be pointless.

On the other hand, they would have no chance of winning the gunfight without firearms.

Therefore, in the instant the two sides collided, Na easily killed two members of Team A, thus the opposing team lost the crucial angled firing line of CT.

"In that case, after the two CTs were taken down, Team A has lost any chance of turning the tide. Even if they manage to get here, it will be too late to retreat and save the AK, since they are currently positioned too far forward."

"Okay, with the synchronized coordination of the three players on NA's side, Team A had no chance to save their AK and were all killed in the end."

In fact, judging from this round, Team A's individual player abilities, overall tactics, and understanding of NA are all very profound. However, even under such circumstances, they still failed to seize any opportunities, which is quite a pity, because they made some mistakes in this round, and these mistakes ruined their chances of seizing opportunities.

After losing two rounds in a row, Team A, both the coaching staff and the players, appeared relatively calm. They had faced NA the most times before, so they were well aware of each other's strength. When they chose Inferno, Team A didn't expect a high chance of winning, but they still wanted to try as many things as possible in the Swiss map round.

Judging from today's match, it's clear that NA maintained a high level of discipline and performance. This is actually the most troublesome situation for Team A when facing NA, because generally speaking, if nothing unexpected happens, NA can always take the initiative on this map.

Especially on offense, Na knows very well how to set the pace of the attack. Especially when they have an economic advantage, if they are at a disadvantage in terms of items and weapons, it will be more difficult for them to perform well on the defensive end.

However, for Team A, the current form of the match is still within their acceptable range. After all, Na hasn't yet displayed a competitive form that they feel completely unable to withstand, or rather, an unconventional tactic that they feel is unbreakable. From the start until now, the communication between the two sides has remained within a normal range.

Faced with this situation, Team A felt they could proactively make adjustments to try and find a way to break the deadlock in this long-range gunfight.

"They should slow down their pace this round and stop trying to accelerate the game directly. So, we shouldn't rush this round either. We should focus on controlling the map at a slower pace in the early stages. As the defending side, if we rush to change our defensive strategy because of our current strength, especially if we make some reckless attempts, we will undoubtedly give the opponent an opportunity."

Despite conceding two points in a row, Team A remained unperturbed. They didn't even consider calling a timeout so early in the first half given their consecutive losses. After all, top teams generally have excellent command and communication.

Therefore, after losing these two rounds, instead of being anxious, they believed they should calm down and gather more information during the default defensive phase, and avoid engaging in unnecessary gunfights due to impatience.

So, Team A's tactical approach is undoubtedly sound. After all, logically speaking, when facing a team like NA, if you try to create opportunities on the defensive end, such an attempt is likely to be exploited. Only in rounds where there's no economy and you're forced to probe due to the pressure of long guns and utility items would such an attempt be somewhat reasonable.

However, they will obviously be on high alert for the next round of long spear fighting, so they will choose the most reasonable decisions in terms of tactics and positioning.

"In this round, we'll start by applying pressure to them in the middle, including the area in front of A2, using both utility and information to pressure their defense. After that, we'll leave two players in the middle and then make a bold attempt to reach the front at the intersection."

Because if we can create an opportunity on Banana, the chances of taking control of the entire bomb site are very high. After all, the opposing team will most likely focus their defense on the middle and A2 building. If we apply pressure to their other positions, their defense might be forced out of position.

In Li Mo's view, because this round was a rifle round, the opponent was unlikely to launch an unconventional push. After all, the opponent was a top-tier A team, and they wouldn't panic and implement problematic tactics just because they lost two points.

So they might still want to play some slow-paced, low-impact maps. In that case, if they apply increased pressure in the mid lane again, Team A must consider whether they think the mid lane is an easy weak point to break through, and then keep pushing until they establish a very tight defense in the mid lane before changing their offensive options.

As Li Mo had predicted, things unfolded exactly as A-team had anticipated. Seeing the significant utility deployments and smoke-filled pressure from NA in the middle and A2 buildings at the start of the round, A-team instinctively assumed NA would opt for a fast-paced attack. This meant shifting from a single-lane breakthrough to a pincer movement from the middle and A points – a subtle but effective adjustment. Knowing the tactical pressure NA would exert, A-team had to react swiftly to their accelerated pace; otherwise, missing the optimal window would make effective defense extremely difficult.

"Something's not right. Their speed-up in the middle lane and A2 building this round is clearly not in line with their previous offensive strategy. If their goal was to take control of the area as soon as possible, or even to create a significant lead, they should have started competing for positions with us after investing in items, instead of giving us a second wave of items like this."

From a timing perspective, their tactic seems more like a delaying tactic to slow down our defense, making us believe they are indeed aiming to break through the middle and take control of the A bombsite. In reality, they are using this as a pretext to launch a full-scale attack soon.

It must be said that Team A's tactical thinking is top-notch. Although there are still two NA players applying pressure in the middle and A2 buildings, even after being given this misleading information, Team A still considered whether NA might have other tactical options for this round. After realizing this, Team A immediately sent two CT players to rotate back to defend, while switching positions in the middle and A2 buildings.

"After flashing into the bomb site, we'll clear out their positions inside the site immediately, then advance to infiltrate. Their counter-attack shouldn't be too late. After all, while our deceptive tactics have had some effect, the enemy isn't stupid and will react quickly."

Therefore, we must take advantage of the situation before they can fully adjust their positions and reinforce their defenses, to gain as much control of the map as possible, making their counter-attack much more difficult.

After giving the team clear instructions, Na's acceleration was instantaneous, bringing Li Mo some unexpected joy. They even managed to arrest one of the opposing team members at the bomb site, attempting to create a miracle. In fact, after eliminating that opponent, the situation in this round was undoubtedly controlled by Na within the first minute of the round. After all, they had not only planted the C4 and secured a favorable position for the CTs, but more importantly, they had also created a numerical advantage.

Even though the opposing team is in a rifle round this time, they made some economic sacrifices in the previous round. Therefore, their utility and armor levels are not at their maximum this round, making their current defensive maneuver, despite being outnumbered, even more difficult.

"Team A was too confident in their individual abilities. Although their position at the bomb site was unconventional, a team like NA would definitely clear out all potential threats and possibilities after entering the bomb site. Therefore, being eliminated at this crucial moment undoubtedly puts a lot of pressure on the other four members of Team A."

“We can even see that Team A has slowed down their rotation speed, and judging from their positioning, we have to consider whether they should choose to save their guns in this round.”

For Team A, they are indeed in a dilemma. If they easily choose to save all four weapons, they will undoubtedly be less financially strained and still have the ability to compete with NA in the next round. However, if they save weapons again, the score will be 0-3, and if they still cannot score in the next round, their score gap in the first half will become quite significant.

It's important to understand that when top teams clash, once the score gap widens, it's incredibly difficult to catch up, unlike teams with a clear difference in skill. If the weaker team gains an initial advantage, the stronger team can use tactics and individual player performance to create opportunities and gradually close the gap.

"Let's save the gun."

After careful consideration, Team A decided to take a conservative approach in this round. Aside from the numerical disadvantage, they felt they had completely lost confidence in their positioning. Trying to mount a defensive counter-attack now would undoubtedly be very stressful, and time was also a tight factor.

"Okay, with Team A making a very decisive decision to save their weapon in this round, the score is now 3-0. Na, as the attacking side on the Dust 3 map, had a very smooth start. We can see that they have made many tactical changes since coming to the World Championship. They are not simply playing a game where they might leave the map empty most of the time, as they did before. Instead, when facing Team A again today, Na played very proactively in the first three rounds on the attacking side, especially in the first two rounds where they chose to go all out with speed and breakthroughs."

"The main reason is probably that Team A has not been able to put much pressure on NA in the first three rounds of the game. I can understand Team A's predicament in this round, since their economy is a bit tight and they are relatively short on items. Therefore, they cannot directly use items to counter when NA probes them at the beginning of the game."

After securing 3 consecutive points, Na entered a comfortable phase, as their economy was well-developed. They hadn't lost many guns in the last three rounds, meaning their economy was strong. Facing A's upcoming counterattack, they had a lot of leeway.

On the other hand, Team A is feeling rather distressed. If they fail to win the next long-range round, their economy will collapse again, putting them in a very difficult position to find opportunities.

(End of this chapter)