CS: The Last Dance, a Dance That Leads to Professional Success

Chapter 87 Qualifying Match! The Decisive Battle!
Today's post-match interview was given to the kid, after all, his performance today was also outstanding. He was second only to Meng Lang in team kills and was an important contributor to the team's victory.

The crucial long-range rifle round in the Lost City was a perfect demonstration of his individual skill. He single-handedly carried the bomb and carved a bloody path through HEROIC's defenses, securing the victory.

In the interview, host Banks, as usual, first asked the child, "How did you feel about today's game? Did you feel a lot of pressure facing a strong team like HEROIC?"

The kid adjusted his headset and replied in slightly accented English, “It was tense and exciting! You know, HEROIC is a very strong team, and their dynamic defense gave us some trouble. But thankfully, we withstood the pressure and… well, we won relatively easily in the end.”

He couldn't help but smile when he said "relaxed".

Clearly, he was thinking about that exaggerated 16-2 score.

Banks chuckled and then posed the key question: "We all know that G2 brought in newcomer Dark before this Major. What specific changes do you think his addition has brought to the team? And what impact has it had on you personally?"

Mentioning Meng Lang, the kid's eyes lit up noticeably, and his tone became much lighter: "Obviously, I'm very happy to fight alongside such an outstanding newcomer as Dark. Playing with him makes... well, it seems like the game is much easier. Yes, that's why I said earlier that today's game felt easy."

"His breakthroughs are incredibly sharp, always opening up opportunities for us. His entire offensive rhythm is simply fluid. His addition is undoubtedly a huge boost to G2 as a whole, that's so Crazy!"

Banks nodded, then changed the subject, asking a slightly provocative question: "We all know that in today's pre-match interview, HEROIC's Stavn said he thinks Jabbi is a better rookie than Dark. As a teammate and opponent, who do you think is better?"

The child laughed immediately upon hearing the question.

He wasn't the type to offend people or cause trouble with his words, but this time, after careful consideration, he smiled and gave a response that both protected his teammates and was impeccable:
"I think... the winner is better."

As soon as these words were spoken, the chat in the 6657 live stream room was immediately flooded with comments.

"That was a very high-EQ answer from the kid!"

"No problem! Winning is the only true measure of victory!"

"It may seem like they haven't said it explicitly, but they're actually strongly supporting Dark!"

"Supporting them wholeheartedly? That's quite a vivid image!"

"You'd better say you're genuinely supporting them."

"."

Watching the live stream, Wanji laughed out loud and concluded, "Great! I give the kid full marks for that answer! He neither offended anyone nor failed to clearly express his support for his good friend."

"Alright guys, let's hope G2 can keep up their form and make it into the championship group. Damn, I'm going to get some water, I'm exhausted!"

……

On Meng Lang's side, the familiar system notification arrived as soon as the match ended.

He once again chose not to claim the reward for the time being, but this time no extra treasure chests appeared. It was probably because although the data in today's competition was impressive, the process was relatively easy, and the system judged it to be less challenging than before.

But he wasn't discouraged. After all, Meng Lang firmly believed that effort brings reward. The system only provided a shortcut; ultimately, digesting and mastering it depended on himself.

He has achieved what he has today.

It was all thanks to his own hard work!

After returning to the hotel, Meng Lang rested for a while to relieve the mental fatigue from the competition, and then, as usual, turned on his computer, plugged in his peripherals, and began his daily personal training.

Practice shooting, explore maps, and practice FPL ranked matches to get a feel for the game... I did it all.

By evening, all matches of the second day of the Legends Group competition had concluded.

Meng Lang didn't pay much attention to the life-or-death battle of Group 0-1; his main focus was on the situation of Group 1-0 today.

Besides G2, the other three teams that successfully defeated their opponents and joined them in the 2-0 group are:
Copenhagen Flame

NAVI, a born winner

And NIP.

After checking the official schedule, I found that their opponent tomorrow is the Copenhagen Flame, led by Wu Zhuge Breathing Bro.

Speaking of the Copenhagen Flame, they were indeed a dark horse at the Antwerp Major.

Apart from the team leader Hooxi and veteran Roej, the other three members of this team are all newcomers from Denmark. In fact, this team is also known as the "cradle of Danish geniuses"!
Between 2019 and 2021, the Fire team experienced an extremely high frequency of personnel changes, sending more than twenty players to other European teams. It can be said that many players who are now active in the European arena have left their mark here.

Their core system revolves around Hooxi and Roej as a stable core, while continuously trying out and rotating young players. This approach maintains the stability of the tactical framework while constantly injecting fresh blood and vitality.

It was thanks to this system that they made it to a Major last year and performed amazingly at the Stockholm Major!
They fought their way through the Challengers Group, defeating many strong teams including G2, BIG and MOUZ to enter the Legends Group, becoming the biggest dark horse of that tournament.

They also performed well at this year's Antwerp Major.

In the Legends stage, they started strong with a 2-0 record, defeating BNE and European powerhouse ENCE. Their momentum is strong and they should not be underestimated.

The group assignments sparked a heated discussion in the Chinese CS community.

"The Fire Team will be in the qualifying rounds? It seems a bit risky..."

"What's so suspenseful about it? On paper, the Fire team isn't as strong as G2, is it?"

"Has the person upstairs forgotten about last year's Stockholm Major?"

"Indeed, the key is that G2's current winning streak is entirely due to the incredible energy of a young player on the team! But the Rockets have three young players! Their energy is no less than yours!"

"One genius boy versus three genius boys?"

"Damn, I don't think Dark will be able to pull off a big comeback tomorrow!"

"The time to test their mettle has come. Will it be one ox leading the way, or three oxen bringing prosperity?"

"."

It must be said that the concerns of Chinese CS community members are not without merit.

Although the Little Flame team has many young players, each of whom is very energetic, they have been trained and competed in a rigorous professional environment since they came from the Danish CS system, and they have a strong emphasis on tactical discipline and teamwork!

Led by the strategist "Wu Zhuge" (a nickname implying brilliance), this team's execution, tactical focus, and adaptability are on par with any top-tier team. This is the key to their continued success on the Major stage.

……

at the same time.

Inside the hotel, in the temporary lounge of the Copenhagen Flame.

Breathing Bro and Coach Sycrone gathered everyone together for a brief recap of the daytime victory against ENCE, but didn't go into too much detail.

After all, while a score of 16:8 wasn't exactly a crushing defeat, and the team did expose some problems during the process, it was generally within a controllable range.

The focus of tonight's meeting will undoubtedly be the G2 we will face tomorrow.

Coach Sycrone first led everyone in a quick review of G2's demos from the first two games in the Legends Group, focusing on their tactical tendencies on Nukem and Mirage, as well as the habits of each player.

After the debriefing was over, everyone's eyes fell on the Breathing Guy, who was sitting to the side, deep in thought.

Breathing Bro cleared his throat and said, "I believe everyone already knows which team we're playing against tomorrow. Yes, it's G2. Although we beat them once at the Stockholm Major last year, I want everyone to understand one thing clearly—this year's G2 is completely different from last year's."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the three young players on the team. "They've brought in a very special player, Dark! You all saw his stats today, they're ridiculously high. His addition greatly enhances G2's firepower and penetration capabilities. So, this will be a tough battle, and we must give them the utmost attention."

"I am not saying this to frighten you."

Breathing Bro then changed his tone, becoming firm and encouraging:
"What I want to tell everyone is that Dark is no different! Yes, he is strong, but he is just like you, a talented and 'awesome' young man!"

"What he can do, I believe you can do too, and even better! We must use our collective strength to fight against their sharp blades!" Upon hearing Breathing Bro's words, apart from the 28-year-old veteran Roej, who remained calm, the other three young players all showed eagerness and a sense of entitlement.

A newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger!

Besides, we are a group of geniuses from the Danish CS tradition. Why should we lose to a genius from the CN region?
When it comes to talent, who's afraid of who?!

……

The next day, July 5st.

The third day of competition in the Legends Group has officially begun.

Today's round of matches will determine the two teams that will be the first to advance to the championship group, while two teams will unfortunately leave the stage of this Major with a record of 0-3.

The match between G2 and Copenhagen Flame was scheduled for the second round. After arriving at the venue early, they were able to watch the first round match between NAVI and NIP, where G2 won 2-0 and advanced to the next round.

Meng Lang only watched for a short while before he deeply understood the foundation that enabled NAVI to establish the "Black Gold Dynasty" last year.

Any team that can be called a dynasty cannot rely on just one person to carry the team.

In today's BO3 match between NAVI and the traditionally strong European team NIP, the player who shone the most was not s1mple, but the team's star rifleman B1t, nicknamed "Big B".

Today he racked up 71 kills across two maps, with many stats off the charts. In the Sand City map, he even achieved a terrifying headshot rate of 77% in a single map!
This immediately drew cheers from the entire audience!

The "Nami" (NAVI fans) in the live stream chat were spamming the chat!

The gift rockets in the 6657 live stream experienced occasional lag.

It must be admitted that NAVI, as a long-established powerhouse team, coupled with the presence of a legendary superstar like s1mple, enjoys immense popularity in China, making them a phenomenon.

"NAVI's form...it feels like they're going to win the championship again this year!"

Leonardo DiCaprio shook his head and sighed as he watched NAVI cleanly defeat NIP 2-0, securing a spot in the championship group.

"It's really a bit too good." My cousin agreed, "They can all step forward, they're so well-rounded."

In fact, the most terrifying thing about NAVI is that five points can make noise at any time during the game, which is commonly known as the "five chariots"!
This makes them virtually without any obvious weaknesses, making them difficult for opponents to target.

Five-horse chariots were also a standard feature of the army that a dynasty relied on to establish itself.

And if you want to challenge the dynasty
We must then face this all-encompassing pressure.

"It's really strong."

The child felt a complex mix of emotions as he watched s1mple waving his arms and celebrating passionately during the game.

He was once hailed as the "crown prince" during NAVI's youth training, a title that seemed glamorous, but only he knew the bitterness behind it.

That man is in his prime, seemingly even better than before this year. With him around, how can I possibly get ahead?
But at that time, NAVI was so strong. If he gave up waiting and chose to leave and go to other teams, could he really achieve results?
I was once a child too, and I was deeply confused.

Looking back now, choosing to join G2 this year to start my professional career was probably a wise decision.

At the very least, in this Antwerp tournament, his first Major, they have fought their way up from the Challengers Group through their own efforts!

They stood at the threshold of advancing to the championship group.

Thinking of this, the child couldn't help but glance at Meng Lang, who had been quietly watching the battle from the side.

Unexpectedly, Meng Lang, who hadn't said much until now, suddenly spoke up:

"I really wish I could meet NAVI sooner!"

Meng Lang's gaze remained fixed on the image of the NAVI players leaving the field. "Playing against such a strong team must be very exciting!"

Exciting?
It's not exciting at all!
That's NAVI!
The child's lips twitched slightly, and he turned to look at Meng Lang, whose face was full of longing, before suddenly laughing again.

Yes, that's something this guy would actually say.

After all, this is a guy who just advanced from the Challenger Group and dared to say in an interview that his goal is to be the TOP1 of the year.

The word "fear" probably doesn't exist in his dictionary.

Little Li clapped his hands with a smile, bringing everyone back to reality: "Alright! Stop thinking about that. Even if NAVI gets stronger, that's a problem for later. Today, we only have one goal in front of us!"

"That's right!"

"That means defeating the little flame and securing a ticket to the championship group!"

……

After a short wait, the players from G2 and Copenhagen Flame took their seats at the competition venue.

After a fast-paced drafting game, the last three maps left were: Ancient Ruins, Nuclear Crisis, and Inferno.

Figure 1 shows ancient ruins. This is the image chosen by Little Flame. Yesterday, they defeated their formidable opponent ENCE on this very image.

It has to be said that there's some reason why Little Flame dared to choose this picture.

After the game started, Breathing Bro unleashed his "Zhuge Liang" power, not only accurately interpreting Li Zi's tactical intentions multiple times in command and strategy, and deploying heavy forces on the defensive end, but also in superb form, pushing forward and stealing kills from time to time, achieving excellent statistics that were no less than those of the team's young players, and repeatedly creating a numerical advantage for the team.

In the end, after a fierce battle, Copenhagen Flame won the first map with a score of 16:13, thus winning their chosen map.

On G2's side, everyone's expressions were not good.

They were indeed not as skilled as their opponents in this drawing; they didn't handle some details well, and their opponents seized the opportunity.

Although Meng Lang felt some regret, he wasn't too upset.

In a best-of-three series, you can't always play your strongest maps. He's not particularly good at the Ancient Ruins map, so he accepted the loss gracefully.

However, the next time might be different.

Soon, after a halftime adjustment, the game entered the second stage, Nuclear Crisis.

This map is G2's strong map. After a period of intense nighttime simulation training with FAZE in the Nuclear Crisis mode, Meng Lang's understanding and confidence in this map have grown day by day.

In the first half, G2, playing on the offensive side, led by Meng Lang and Xiao Lizi, played a smooth and fluid offense, scoring 9-6 against Xiao Huo Miao.

Without a doubt, on a widely recognized large police map, this opening is a huge advantage.

After switching sides to CT in the second half, G2 continued their momentum, relying on Xiao Lizi's excellent default defensive setup and the team's consistently high-level gunplay to successfully limit Xiao Huomiao's attack. In the end, they only allowed their opponents to score 2 points, and easily won the second map with a score of 16:8.

Winning this match means both sides have won their respective map selections.

The final decisive map, Purgatory Town, was left after Little Flame banned Desert City.

Clearly, after witnessing Meng Lang's terrifying performance against HEROIC in Micheng yesterday, Breathing Bro and his team would prefer to settle things with G2 rather than Micheng!
After a short break, Figure 3 also began quickly.

In live stream room 6657!

He rushed back from the bathroom while playing with the machine.

"It's on! I just went to wash my face, guys! This is the decisive map, Town Hall, between G2 and Little Flame! Let's take a look at the pistol round first!"

(End of this chapter)