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

Chapter 97: A Grand Scene in Essence?!

The world is in the spotlight!

This isn't just a casual remark!
According to statistics from the authoritative esports data website Esports Charts, the Antwerp Major has become the highest-rated CS:GO tournament of 2022 so far, with a staggering peak concurrent viewership of 2113610!

Behind this number,

It represents the passion and attention of CS players worldwide.

On the one hand, the astonishing viewership was due to the joint broadcasting model adopted for the first time at this Antwerp Major, which allowed top streamers like Gaules from Brazil, who have millions of fans on Twitch, to provide commentary.

These streamers have a large and highly engaged fan base, and their live streams bring far more viewers to the event than the official main channel, greatly increasing the overall reach and community buzz of the event.

On the other hand, this Major tournament itself is star-studded and full of highlights!
If you want a wealthy family, you can have one!

We've got a dark horse if you want one!

Among them, the two most eye-catching and most regarded as "champions" are undoubtedly NAVI, the defending champion who established the "Black Gold Dynasty" last year, and FAZE Clan, the new champion of this year's IEM Katowice.

FaZe continues their unstoppable winning streak from the first half of the year, aiming for the Major and attempting to establish their own era, while NaVi seeks to defend their throne and continue their dynasty's rule.

This ultimate showdown between the "old and new kings" is full of fateful storytelling and suspense!

The quarterfinals have arrived, a do-or-die match that will decide the winner!

Every single one of them is a life-or-death battle!

Naturally, it immediately captured the attention of countless fans and viewers around the world, pushing the ratings to a climax.

Moreover, it's important to know that these astonishing statistics do not include data from the domestic market at all!

In fact,
This year, the viewership and discussion surrounding Major tournaments on major domestic live streaming platforms have skyrocketed, reaching unprecedented heights.

There is no other reason,

Naturally, this marks the first time since TYLOO in 2018 that a CNCS player has stood on the stage of the Major Legends, and now they have gone even further, making history by entering the quarterfinals of the Championship!

This is the first time in history!

During this period, on domestic live streaming platforms such as Douyu, Huya, and Bilibili, in the live streaming rooms of top CSGO viewers like Wanjiqi, QUQU, Maxixi, Dongguaqiang, and Danking!
Anyone could clearly feel that the popularity of the live stream, the number of bullet comments, and the revenue from gifts were all soaring, even far exceeding any previous Major tournament without the participation of Chinese players.

Therefore, many esports commentators on various platforms have begun to consciously or unconsciously protect this "only seedling of CNCS".

Let's put aside sentimentality for now and talk about reality—without a doubt, Meng Lang is now the biggest driving force for a large number of fans who support CNCS sentimentality to continue watching this Major.

Not everyone enjoys watching purely internal battles between top European and American teams.

If Meng Lang's G2 team is eliminated in the first round, a significant portion of the domestic audience's enthusiasm might instantly cool down, and they might suddenly become "less interested in watching CS matches."
Therefore, early this morning, domestic CS streamers were all praying frantically: Please, please don't let G2 make it all the way to the championship group, or get dragged down in the very first round of the quarterfinals!

……

Sportpaleis Arena!
center stage.

After the period that cannot be described, major CSGO tournaments have gradually returned to offline venues, and the sound waves at the scene can be described as a real tsunami, with huge decibels that almost lift the roof off the venue!

Center stage, under the spotlight!
Banks, the official host, dressed in a purple suit and exuding elegance, strode onto the stage. He is hailed as the "world's best MC."

Holding the microphone, he surveyed the audience, which twinkled like stars, and with his powerful and infectious voice, loudly opened the curtain on tonight's battle:

"Ladies and gentlemen! CS:GO fans from all over the world! Good evening!!!"

"Welcome to the 2022 PGL Antwerp Major - Championship Playoffs!!!"

"This is Belgium! This is Antwerp! This is the Sportpaleis Arena!"

"Tonight, the eyes of the world will be focused here! All the passion, all the dreams! Will shine brightest on this stage!"

"After five days of fierce competition and brutal elimination in the Legendary Group, only eight of the strongest teams have made it to the Champion Group stage!"

"But remember! The road to the championship is always crowded! And in the end, only one team can lift the Major championship trophy, the symbol of supreme glory, from the center of the stage!"

"Then, without further ado! Let's give a standing ovation to the two top teams vying for the championship trophy in tonight's first match! Let's begin tonight's epic battle!!!"

"First of all! Let's welcome—from the CIS region, the biggest dark horse of this Major, who will tear through all obstacles!"

"Team Spirit——!!!"

Accompanied by Banks's incredibly passionate voice, the members of Team Green Dragon stepped onto the stage one by one.

Compared to players like Da Chao in the team,

The young players were visibly nervous; Patsi, the youngest player on the team, even walked with a slight limp, which drew good-natured laughter and even more enthusiastic applause from the audience.

Backstage waiting area.

The G2 team members had assembled, and the cheers coming from the tunnel ahead, like a tsunami, were clearly audible.

Old Ni glanced at the child beside him, whose expression was tense and whose lips were unconsciously pursed, then looked at Meng Lang standing on the other side, who seemed to be resting with his eyes closed. He couldn't help but gently nudge the child with his elbow.
Asked in a low voice:

"How are you, Ilya? Are you nervous?"

"A bit... to be honest, there are even more people here than in Cato." The child forced a smile and honestly admitted.

Old Ni chuckled and patted the child's shoulder firmly, comforting her with the tone of someone who'd been there before: "Of course! This is a Major! It's alright, Ilya, take a deep breath. Soon, you'll get used to it and even love it. Remember, these cheers are for you too!"

Turning his head, Old Ni looked at Meng Lang again, asking with the same concern, "Meng, what about you? Is it nervous for you to experience something like this for the first time?"

"Me too."

Meng Lang opened his eyes, nodded, and answered honestly.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous playing in a large-scale offline tournament like this for the first time, facing 23,000 spectators.

But in Meng Lang's heart, there was more of an indescribable excitement and exhilaration, as well as a wonderful sensory experience!

My palms felt slightly warm, my heart was racing, and my whole body felt a tingling, electric-like sensation!

The thunderous cheers outside seemed to seep into his nerve endings, stirring every cell in his body and making him highly focused and excited!

He closed his eyes slightly, took a deep breath of the air carrying the venue's distinctive scent, and silently recited:

"Is this... a real large-scale stadium event?"

The next moment, Banks' distinctive, drawn-out voice, the host, came through the tunnel clearly!
"Now! Let's welcome—the warrior from Europe! The one with unparalleled talent and strength—G2!!!"

The host's voice was like the sound of a starting gun!

It’s about to start!
Led by Old Ni, the members of G2 walked out of the passage one by one and stepped onto the dazzling stage bathed in spotlights!
As one of the "longest rivers" in the CSGO scene, Niko is undoubtedly G2's superstar and face of the team!

As soon as he stepped onto the stage, the entire venue erupted in enthusiastic cheers and screams!
Next, the child, the cousin, and Little Li took turns on stage, and each of them received applause.

Meng Lang was the last member of the team to appear.

Just before he stepped out of the tunnel, coach XTQZZZ patted him hard on the back, nodded emphatically, and looked at him with eyes full of trust and encouragement.

Meng Lang turned around and gave the coach and the staff behind him a confident smile in response!

The next second, he put his hands in his pockets!
Even with his right hand wrapped in bandages, he still strode forward with an almost aggressive, forward-leaning gait! His face radiated confidence and triumph.
Walk towards the end of the passage into a dazzling sea of ​​stars composed of countless cell phone flashes!
As soon as he stepped out of the aisle and onto the edge of the stage, a clear and enthusiastic shout suddenly erupted from the area near the audience seats:

"Dark!!!Dark!!!"

Immediately, the shouts seemed to be contagious, like a storm that kept accelerating and expanding, quickly sweeping across half of the venue!
Just as Meng Lang had predicted!
Most of the haters hide behind the internet; the real world, the one that best reflects people's hearts, is offline!

During his time at the Antwerp Major, Meng Lang fought his way from the Challengers Group to the Legends Group, and then made a strong run from the Legends Group into the Champions Group!

They were absolutely insane!

Even though he's a Major newcomer, his youthful, unstoppable gun skills and clutch performances have already stirred up a "Dark Storm" in the European and even global CS scene!
With the purest strength!
It captivated countless viewers who crave the ultimate viewing experience!

In live stream room 6657, a user watching the game exclaimed in surprise upon seeing Meng Lang's entrance:
"Holy crap! Hands in pockets! That gait! That domineering aura! Dark, this young guy... doesn't seem nervous at all!"

"And the key is that he's incredibly handsome!"

"The director gave it a close-up! Look at the scene, many female fans are so excited they're almost jumping up and down! Holy crap! I can only say... this guy really embodies the universal standard of beauty!!"

"These guys are just too good-looking. There's no doubt that the pros in the GO scene are incredibly handsome! I need to catch my breath!"

The live stream chat room 6657 was also flooded with comments!
"Holy crap! Dark actually looks kind of handsome today!"

"Is this the Dark Lord of CN?"

"You're so mean! You're so handsome and you still play competitive games. I'm a female college student, and I can't even concentrate on watching the game!"

"Indeed, he's almost as handsome as me!"

"I admit, we're about evenly matched!"

"I didn't realize there were so many handsome guys in the live stream! I was always too afraid to send comments before, afraid that all the girls in the live stream would be thinking about me and wanting to do *that* to me!"

"."

After the entrance segment, both contestants entered the soundproofed seating areas on either side of the stage.

A major battle was imminent, and the atmosphere became heavy and tense.

Coach XTQZZZ stood behind the team members and began the final pre-match "twisting" exercise:
"Remember, brothers! There are no weak teams among those who make it to the quarterfinals of the championship group! The Green Dragons are a team full of energy and unpredictability!"

"But forget the noise outside, forget the cheers and pressure! Today's match will be just like we've planned and rehearsed countless times, round by round! Stay calm! Stay focused! Gather information carefully and make the right decisions!"

"Then, beat them up!"

"I want you to act like a perfectly coordinated machine, a seamless whole! I want you to be more united than ever before in your shared goal! I hope you can feel that!"

"The five of us, at this moment, are breathing together!"

"We are one!"

"Alright! Now, I'll say 3, 2, 1!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Let's go! G2!!!"

Led by their coach, the five G2 players and their coach formed a circle, stacked their hands together, and roared with all their might, unleashing the most exhilarating roar before the match!

"come on!!!"

"We'll crush the Green Dragons today!!!"

After the rope twisting was finished, the referee signaled that the BP (Ban/Pick) phase of the competition was about to begin.

Green Dragons won the rock-paper-scissors game and secured the right to choose sides in the best-of-three series. They started by banning Sand 3.

They also came up from the Challenger Group, and they still have lingering fears from the 43 kills Meng Lang unleashed on Sand II during G2's Challenger Group promotion match against Little Bee.

I believe that no team would choose to challenge G2's Sand Dune at this time unless they are particularly confident in their Sand Dune.

G2 followed suit, removing Death Park, a map that G2 traditionally struggles with and almost never practices.

Next, we will proceed to the image selection phase.

As everyone expected, the Green Dragons immediately picked their strongest map without hesitation—Map 1: Ancient Ruins!
This map, filled with green hues, is the one where the Green Dragons dominated their journey from the Challenger Group to the Champions Group!
As soon as the image of the ruins was selected, the streamer playing with the machine in room 6657 exclaimed in astonishment:

"Holy crap! Ancient Ruins! Why isn't G2 banning the green map again?! Seriously, buddy?! Where do you get the confidence to fight the Green Dragon in their green base?"

"Last time, we fought so hard in the ruins with Little Flame, we almost lost because of this map, how dare you release it again?"

“Some viewers commented, ‘Are you never going to play Ancient Ruins? You have to practice eventually.’”

"Dude, you're right. The team does need to broaden its map pool and can't have any obvious weaknesses."

"But the key point is that Dark just doesn't seem to be good at playing green-toned maps! And Green Dragon is the map with the highest win rate and the most dominant performance they've had since they came from the Challenger Group!"

"Even if you're saying you're using tournaments as practice, you don't need to use your opponent's signature map to practice in a do-or-die situation like the quarterfinals of a Major championship! That's way too risky!"

While the machine was puzzled and worried about G2's bold BP.

G2 countered by picking a strong map they had prepared in advance – Map 2: Desert City.

Next up is the second round of the Ban chart.

On the Green Dragons' playing area.

DaChao quickly communicated with the team's core sniper, Degster, and they decided to ban Nuka.

Yes, the Green Dragon doesn't like the Nucleus image.

The reason is simple—they didn't have a coach with them to guide them. Coach Da Chao felt that the complex and three-dimensional structure of Nuclear Crisis, with its numerous tactical points and prop coordination, was too brain-intensive to command.

He prefers tactical maps that are simpler, more direct, and more aggressive, allowing players to better utilize their individual abilities!
So now, only Death Tower and Inferno Town remain in the map pool.

Without much thought, G2 removed the building without hesitation, leaving only the third image as the final piece of the puzzle.

Purgatory Town!

At this point, the draft phase of the BO3 is complete. The map for the first round of the championship playoffs between G2 and Spirit is as follows:
Figure 1: Ancient Ruins (Spirit)

Figure 2: Desert City (G2)

Figure 3: Left, the town of Purgatory

After the draft phase, both teams began their final pre-match preparations, checking their peripherals and adjusting their posture.

As the stadium resounded with rousing battle songs and cheers from the audience, the ten players from G2 and Green Dragons began loading into the Ancient Ruins server!
At this moment, Meng Lang leaned back slightly, feeling the intense lights on the stage and the sound waves that penetrated the noise-canceling headphones from all directions of the circular venue!
He closed his eyes, and the slight nervousness he felt before going on stage had vanished. He felt unexpectedly relaxed and focused, with a steady heart rate, as if he had entered a "comfort zone" that was perfect for him to perform!
Now this is what a competition should be like!

Meng Lang sighed again!
Map loading complete!

My first professional match in a large-scale arena, BO3, map 1 Ancient Ruins, has officially begun!
(End of this chapter)