The buy time before the third round ended.
poizon, holding an MP9, followed KRIMZ straight to B Site.
Qin Feng, meanwhile, carried an AWP to the middle of A Site.
"They haven't planted the bomb in either of the last two rounds. smooya probably won't be able to afford a Sniper Rifle this time."
After thinking it over, Qin Feng moved into Mid before mezii had even thrown his T Spawn Molotov. He scoped in and held the angle toward T Spawn.
That was a bit too mean.
There were plenty of angles for the Terrorists to hold Mid from T Spawn, and in most cases, they'd have the advantage in a duel.
On top of that, a Sniper Rifle holding Mid straight on would probably get blinded by a pop flash thrown from T Spawn.
But ITB clearly weren't very disciplined.
Trying to take Mid before the T Spawn Molotov went off, dobbo showed up in Qin Feng's scope before the flashbang had even popped.
Bang!
One shot, one kill.
[Fnatic.Aether killed ITB.dobbo with an AWP]
After getting sent back to spawn in the blink of an eye, dobbo quickly warned his teammates over voice chat: "AWP Mid. Watch out."
smooya glanced at the kill feed in the top right. "That was Aether, the guy who was holding B, rotating to Mid. B's probably weak. Let's take VIP and rotate B."
Even though Aether had bought an AWP this round, smooya still figured they had a decent weapon advantage.
As long as they could take control of the map early, ITB wouldn't be at much of a disadvantage.
But soon, another shot rang out.
[Fnatic.Aether killed ITB.Tomas with an AWP]
"How the hell did he dare push out?" Tomas slammed a hand on the desk. "He pushed up with the AWP and caught me on the side. I don't know how he had the nerve."
Adam9130 tried to comfort his longtime teammate over voice chat.
Sometimes you just got unlucky. It happened.
After taking out two players, Qin Feng decided not to push any farther.
Even with two SMGs on their side, they had a huge advantage in a 5v3.
He'd only been playing aggressively because they were at a weapon disadvantage.
"Let's rotate while they're still at T Spawn." Qin Feng looked toward poizon, who was still hiding on the flower bed at B. "I fired two shots with the AWP at A. They'll probably go B."
poizon hesitated, then nodded. He jumped down from the flower bed, pulled out his knife, and ran toward A Site Connector.
"Should we go B?" Cypher asked timidly in ITB's Skype call.
He'd thought the newly signed Aether was an easy target. Who could've guessed that just three rounds into the match, Aether would already have a terrifying 6/1 record?
What kind of monster was this guy?
"Then let's hit B." Tomas took over as the armchair commander. "We've got two smokes left. How about we clear Banana Alley, smoke off Bomb Site, then rush CT Base?"
"Sounds good." The others nodded. The three remaining Terrorists lined up and hurried toward Banana Alley.
With so few grenades, ITB didn't throw a Molotov at the wooden boxes. Instead, they threw a flash off the white wall and dry-peeked.
No one.
smooya thought it over quickly and came to what he considered the right conclusion. "No one close. They probably think they've got the advantage and are holding from inside the Bomb Site."
"We'll smoke off Bomb Site and rush CT Base, then wrap around from Church to retake B."
After a brief discussion, they threw their utility. By then, Qin Feng had rotated to CT Base, close to B Site.
Seeing two smokes block his view, KRIMZ hurriedly warned him, "Aether, careful. They smoked off Bomb Site, so they'll probably rush CT Base."
"Oh?" Qin Feng's eyes lit up.
Now this was a nice surprise.
Since KRIMZ wasn't in danger of getting isolated in a 1v3, Qin Feng scoped in from deep in CT Base, holding the angle the Terrorists might cross.
smooya was the first to peek out, checking the flower bed for any defenders hiding there.
"Flower bed's clea—"
[Fnatic.Aether killed ITB.smooya with an AWP]
smooya: ...
Before he could finish, Qin Feng had sniped him from CT Base.
"They're hitting B!" Seeing the bomb icon on the minimap, Qin Feng turned into a callout machine.
The two remaining Terrorists looked at the bomb lying below the platform and exchanged helpless glances.
How were they supposed to play this?
There was an AWP in CT Base, and the bomb had dropped in a terribly awkward spot.
Seeing how little utility his teammates had, Cypher's heart sank. "Should we save?"
With 1:10 left, the two remaining Terrorists retreated to T Base to save their guns.
poizon and mezii each picked up an AK.
With two MP9s upgraded to AKs, Fnatic gave up on trying to take the remaining guns.
Samuelsson, the coach watching from behind the players, was thrilled. He could hardly believe his eyes.
Even if ITB were only a third-tier European team, Qin Feng's performance had far exceeded his expectations.
Seven kills and one death in three rounds.
Qin Feng had more kills than his four teammates combined.
Had they picked up an FPL prodigy?
No. They'd picked up a dad!
Even ALEX, usually a man of few words, couldn't help praising Qin Feng. "Aether, I feel like your future could be every bit as bright as s1mple's or Zwyoo's."
"I'm doing all right," Qin Feng said with a smile. "The Major in a few days will be my real chance to prove myself."
Fourth round.
Aside from the two full-armor AKs they'd saved, ITB's other three players could only afford to buy TEC-9s without armor.
Since it was just a practice match, ITB didn't bother with any elaborate tactics on a half-buy.
After taking control of Side Alley, they chose to execute onto A Site through Second Mid.
They lost three players, but the AK they'd saved last round finally managed to take out ALEX, who was in Pit.
Four against two.
poizon, hiding on Bomb Site, didn't give the Terrorists a chance to plant.
Two headshots brought the fourth round to an end.
Although the Terrorists hadn't managed to plant the bomb, the loss bonus meant smooya could finally pick up his beloved AWP.
"Let's keep taking map control this round. I'll hold T Spawn with the AWP first. You take Banana Alley and Side Alley." smooya took a moment to steady his breathing, hoping to calm himself down.
He figured that even if he wasn't as good with the AWP as poizon, he was still better than Aether.
He would prove to Fnatic that kicking him, smooya, had been the wrong decision.
"This round, let's take Banana Alley and hit B."
"They lost a gun, but their economy's good. poizon will probably switch to an AWP too."
"Our economy's rough, and we don't have enough utility to force the CTs at A to move."
"Let's clear Banana Alley, then execute."
Facing a Fnatic side that was far better than them, ITB clearly had little chance of winning through tactics or aim.
Adam9130 nodded silently.
"It's just a practice match. They probably won't do anything unconventional when they have a full buy."
"Just clear Banana Alley, then hit B!"
"They'll probably have an AWP and an M4. That might not be enough to hold."
"We'll smoke CT Base and Coffins, then rush the CTs on Bomb Site."
"Throw a smoke at CT Base right away to bait out the CTs' utility."
"Once their counter-utility runs out, we'll go in for real."
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