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

In this rifle round, Team A had already called a timeout, so they were prepared for NA's next round with an AWP. Therefore, in this situation, they clearly tightened their defensive formation.

In the rounds against snipers, if you spread out your defensive formation, it will easily give the sniper a chance to perform. But now that they have contracted their formation, they only need to use items to delay and block, which will basically not give the sniper any room to perform.

So, in this round, NA clearly intended to use sniper rifles to find more opportunities. However, since the front points were already covered by Team A's utility, and they didn't expose much of their positions, it was extremely difficult to get a kill directly using sniper rifles.

Therefore, in this situation, Na's main idea was to use the sniper rifle to apply pressure to the forward position. This way, they could make it easier for the others to reach the forward position.

During the back-and-forth struggle, Team A was clearly in a more passive position. Although they knew from the pause and the players' and coaches' assessment that NA was likely to use a sniper rifle in this match, they took a series of precautions.

However, sometimes, even when a sniper rifle is out in the open, it can still put immense psychological pressure on the opponent and severely restrict their positioning. After all, although they also have rifles and a sniper rifle in this round, they don't want to reveal that information at the start of the game.

In this way, from Team A's perspective, they can make it less likely that Na will expect them to use a sniper rifle in this round. Then, in the rounds where both sides are playing against each other, when Na relaxes their vigilance and the overall situation is no longer under great pressure to cover the front point, this is when their sniper rifle can come out to look for opportunities.

"We can see that both sides are playing very cautiously right now. It's clear that A team has anticipated NA's sniper rifle based on their positioning. Therefore, they are preparing in advance to deal with NA's sniper rifle and don't want to give them too many opportunities in the early stages."

More importantly, after acquiring the AWP, Team A didn't immediately utilize it effectively. This misled and confused Team A's information, meaning that when Team A attempted to push forward or caught off guard by the AWP, it could prove surprisingly useful.

In many situations, the overall strategic impact varies significantly for professional teams, especially top-tier teams. A strong regional presence can exert considerable pressure on the opponent, severely limiting their positioning and tactical arrangements.

Team A clearly concealed the fact that they had a sniper rifle in this round. They didn't want NA to know this at the beginning of the game. One reason for this was that they wanted to avoid direct confrontation. After all, Team A knew the power and strength of NA's Li Mo's sniper rifle. If the two snipers were to clash head-on...

On one hand, their margin for error is lower, given their relatively poor economy. On the other hand, they are also very worried that a loss would put them in a very passive position for the entire round.

As for Team A, their tactic clearly had some effect. Na believed that if the opposing team didn't immediately gather information based on the overall situation or restrict their movement, the round would largely remain a normal rifle match. In this respect, Na's analysis is quite standard, as it carries some risk for Team A on the defensive side to wield a sniper rifle in this round.

"We can see that Team A is very flexible and versatile in their weapon configuration. In this round, they not only forced out a sniper rifle, but also picked up a shotgun again. We know that NA's tactics put a lot of pressure on Team A, and Team A's solution was to pick up a shotgun at the A2 building. Shotguns are actually very effective at this kind of stairwell corner position, both in terms of deterrence and lethality."

Therefore, if NA fails to prepare a proper response beforehand, a direct confrontation between the two sides could very well result in significant casualties from shotguns.

During Li Mo's sniper rifle's direct engagement of the mid-lane position, he was essentially aiming to allow his teammates in the mid-lane and second-floor positions to push effectively. Team A had anticipated this strategy beforehand.

Therefore, in this process, the choices they made were significantly different from those in previous rounds. If they had followed their previous plan, having confirmed NA's current positioning, they would definitely have chosen to take the initiative, using Flash to simultaneously push out from the mid lane and L building positions. This would have greatly increased the probability of breaking Li Mo's overall strategy and clearing out NA's people at the mid lane forward point.

However, from Team A's current perspective, this choice might not be very effective given that NA was already prepared. More importantly, they believe NA will continue to push, and all they need to do is hold their positions on both sides of the middle lane and use the shotgun at A2 to conceal their information and give NA no opportunities. They aim to quickly establish their advantage in the early game.

At this point, Li Mo didn't really notice much of a problem. After all, from the start of the game until now, Team A hadn't provided much information. The only obvious thing was that they had someone in the middle lane. After all, utility coverage had to be maintained constantly. Only in this way could they prevent him from using his sniper rifle and create an opportunity to get a kill.

In Li Mo's view, they were clearly unable to gain further information or establish an advantage in the mid-lane and second-floor positions. Therefore, he was hesitant about whether to change his initial offensive strategy and tactical arrangements.

"We continued to provide deceptive utility to the mid lane, and then the three of us rushed directly to the banana lane. After pressing the neck of the enemy in front, we accelerated and broke through to the mid lane. After taking control of the bomb site, we then used the mid lane to counter-attack the CTs and put pressure on their flanks."

After careful consideration, Li Mo ultimately decided to try and open up the situation through Banana. He reasoned that the opposing team would definitely put pressure on the middle and A2 buildings this round. Given their limited information, forcing a breakthrough, especially with their sniper rifle restricted, would put them at a numerical disadvantage. This might play right into the opponent's hands. Therefore, the lack of information suggested the opponent would likely maintain a heavy defense in the middle. With only two players at point B, a three-man push and breakthrough would catch the opponent off guard. If they could successfully control the bomb site, they could then resolve their current predicament.

It can be said that under these circumstances, Li Mu was able to make such a tactical adjustment and command. He truly deserves the title of the strongest brain, after all, in this round, both sides have actually made a great deal of tactical judgment.

However, in such an extreme situation, under normal command, the most one would do is to devise tactics that would allow their side to better execute a mid-lane flank. Choosing to decisively accelerate through Banana at this point was something Team A would never have considered.

At this point, both sides are still in the information-gathering process. Team A is feeling complacent because they haven't provided NA with much information since the start of the game, and their positioning has greatly restricted the opponent. They never expected that during this back-and-forth, Li Mo, with almost no information, would devise an offensive strategy that directly bypasses the opponent's heavy defense, which is practically like having a god's-eye view.

"Although we should find it very incredible, the fact is that Cobra must have realized that the opponent had set up a mid-lane-focused defensive strategy for them in this round, so he chose to have his teammates speed up and break through the banana lane."

Moreover, it's clear that even under these circumstances, Na still maintains impeccable attention to detail. They not only left a rearguard in the mid lane but also used items to continuously disrupt the opponent. This presents a significant challenge for Team A.

Judging from the limited information available, it's difficult for them to know that NA has shifted its offensive focus. Furthermore, given their weaponry, if NA rapidly increases its speed and they can't anticipate this, it will be extremely difficult for them to retake the bomb site once the enemy gains control, especially with only a sniper rifle and a shotgun.

The facts were exactly as the commentator from the "God's Eye View" predicted. During the back-and-forth between the two sides, the defenders at point B, with only two players facing NA's accelerated breakthrough, were completely unprepared. After NA pushed forward, they immediately provided a full load of utility to the bomb site.

Under these circumstances, the two players from Team A had no choice but to retreat, because they knew very well that if they tried to engage the attacking team, they would be at a disadvantage in numbers and it would be difficult to achieve good results.

However, Team A also understands that even if their two players at point B successfully retreat to the CT position, the round has clearly tilted in NA's favor ever since they withdrew.

Even if they didn't lose in terms of numbers, now that they've lost control of point B, it will be extremely difficult for them to achieve any further success.

After all, this return mission was inherently difficult for them. They had a sniper rifle and a shotgun, and if Na didn't give them enough distance, they would have a hard time making any impact.

"With NA making a decisive tactical adjustment and launching an assault on point B, the defending A team is now facing a very troublesome situation. They are finding it difficult to utilize both guns effectively in this situation. If they want to solve this problem, they must launch a simultaneous forward push at both the CT and Banana positions."

For Team A, they now need to open up opportunities from both positions simultaneously. On one hand, their shotguns can only be effective at close range by moving to close-range positions near the intersection and using smoke grenades or coordinated teamwork. On the other hand, the AWP is obviously meant to apply pressure to NA's bomb site and forward positions from the CT position.

Therefore, after formulating their tactics, Team A's defensive speed was also very fast. After all, they knew that in the process of fighting against Na, once a lot of time was consumed, Na had many ways to compress the time to a point where they could not retreat successfully. Therefore, under such circumstances, Team A's defensive speed of retreating was very fast.

"This round still depends on whether Team A can find an opportunity at the intersection, but we can see that from their current position, it's quite difficult for them to make any moves. Because Na knows very well that if all five of them retreat to the back position, they will lose their original advantage in the gun line."

Therefore, they played very decisively. They had two players at the front point of the banana path, so Team A, unaware of this information, could only use utility items to clear the area.

However, in this situation, Na's individual players have more opportunities to perform, and if they waste too much time, it's relatively easy for Na to limit Astralis's entry point.

(End of this chapter)