With Me Here, Fnatic Won't Collapse!

One win and one loss; this wasn't an unacceptable result for Fnatic.

What's more, their opponent in the second round was Heroic, the strongest team in Group A.

All the players, including the coach, had already prepared themselves to lose to Heroic.

April 18th, European Major Group A qualifiers, Round 3.

Fnatic faced the relatively unknown SAW.

The map for the BO1 was Nuke.

Perhaps the shadow cast by Heroic yesterday hadn't dissipated yet. Fnatic's high-profile sniper, poizon, perfectly embodied what a disastrous performance looked like.

With a 7-23 score, he single-handedly dragged down the entire Fnatic team.

He also pulled Fnatic to the brink of elimination.

As for the PGL main stream chat, it was naturally filled with criticism of poizon.

[7-23? Whose subordinate is this?]

[poizon, pay attention to when you enter the site.]

[God A 19-11, has that vibe of the dungeon god ZwyOo.]

[Seriously, God A buys his own AK and still has to give poizon a sniper. He really... I'm crying.]

[If only poizon had missed two fewer shots, he wouldn't have thrown so many rounds.]

[This ALEX is also a big sucker, can't he see who the real big brother of the team is?]

In the Fnatic training room, coach Samuelsson stood with his arms crossed, silent, his usual relaxed expression gone.

He had originally thought that after acquiring poizon and Aether, the team would easily qualify for the Antwerp Major main event.

But now...

Samuelsson subconsciously glanced at Qin Feng, who was sitting in the corner playing against bots.

Even though the team's current record was 1-2, Qin Feng still maintained a terrifying Rating of 1.41.

Should they continue to let poizon be the team's main sniper, or completely overturn their previous setup and make Aether the new team core?

Fnatic's next match would be against the aggressive team Eternal Fire, led by the formidable Turkish player XANTARES. If poizon performed like he did today...

Thinking this, Samuelsson gritted his teeth and made up his mind, walking towards the Fnatic players who were training.

"Aether, can you play as the team's offensive main sniper?"

Huh?

Weren't we told when I was signed that I was the team's core main sniper?

poizon blinked in confusion.

However, he quickly realized that his disastrous performance over the past two days had likely already displeased the coach who had been watching.

Seeing poizon's somewhat bitter expression, Samuelsson patted his shoulder comfortingly and said earnestly:

"poizon, we actually still have a lot of faith in your abilities."

"But in these past few matches, your form has clearly not been good, wasting many opportunities to secure rounds."

"Instead of forcing yourself to pick up the AWP, why not try using a rifle to adjust your feel for the game."

Hearing Samuelsson's words, poizon hesitated for a moment before nodding affirmatively.

poizon didn't want to give up his position as the team's main sniper, but more than that position, he craved victory in the matches.

No professional player plays for anything other than victory.

Aether, with his average Rating of 1.41 across three matches, was clearly more deserving of the team's core position than he was.

"I understand."

In fact, poizon also felt he had let his teammates down with his performance in the last two days.

There were many clutch situations that could have been won, but were lost due to his consecutive missed shots.

Patting poizon's shoulder, Samuelsson shifted his gaze to Qin Feng, saying with a complex expression:

"Feng, honestly, ever since I watched your FPL and Asia Major replays, I've always believed you had the skill to be a top-tier professional."

"But I didn't expect you to realize your talent so quickly."

"The reason you played secondary sniper and entry fragger in the previous matches was firstly because we had already promised poizon the main sniper position, and secondly, we didn't want to put too much pressure on you."

"Not everyone is born to perform on the big stage."

"If you agree, we will completely overturn all the tactics we've set up before."

"You can play more freely, and you'll have unlimited firing rights."

"Feng, can you... do it?"

Qin Feng looked at his teammates beside him and at Samuelsson in front of him, nodding calmly:

"Don't worry."

"With me here, Fnatic won't fall."

April 19th.

19:15 China Standard Time.

A certain streaming platform, stream ID 6657.

"Welcome everyone to this match between Fnatic and Eternal Fire. I'm your commentator, Wan Ji Qi."

"The first map is DUST2, chosen by Eternal Fire themselves, but Fnatic, who won the pistol round, chose to be the attacking side."

"Aether, holding the P250 given by his teammate, helps his teammates hold the angle for CTs pushing mid."

[6657 UP UP!]

[Hope Yaoshen doesn't mess up again.]

[Seeing a pistol round? My youth is ending!]

[Aether, kill them!]

In-game.

First Round.

After Qin Feng confirmed there were no enemies pushing mid, the other Fnatic members played default to the best of their ability.

Although they didn't secure A main, they at least ensured that no enemies would suddenly flank them from behind in the short term.

"Let's hit B small. I'll smoke off Xbox, and we'll do a 3-2 split on A." With that, ALEX casually threw the smoke grenade he was holding at B1.

Nodding, Qin Feng walked directly from mid to A small, meeting up with ALEX and mezii, who had jumped onto the box from B1.

KRIMZ and poizon held angles outside the A entrance, waiting for their teammates in A small to create noise first.

XANTARES, guarding mid for CT, did not rush forward rashly after seeing the Xbox smoke. Instead, he cautiously positioned himself on top of the CT spawn box.

Eternal Fire had analyzed a lot of Fnatic's recent VODs before the match, so XANTARES naturally knew that mezii would most likely buy two P250s for his teammates.

Even though he was holding a USP, he didn't have a significant advantage in a head-on fight against a P250 in mid.

"Someone's pushing mid, be careful in A small."

"They smoked off Xbox, they're probably really going for A."

However, compared to XANTARES's caution in mid, woxic, who was guarding A main, had a much more aggressive position.

woxic directly pushed towards the A entrance, hugging the blue box.

"Pop."

[Fnatic.KRIMZ was killed by Eternal Fire.woxic with a headshot using USP]

KRIMZ, who was about to coordinate with his teammates in A small to hit A main, was caught off guard by woxic inside the A entrance.

"poizon, be careful, he's pushing close," KRIMZ, caught off guard during his site take, quickly warned.

"Okay." poizon nodded and immediately stopped his advance towards the A entrance. "I have a P250, so it's hard to trade. A small, you go first. I'll enter A entrance later."

mezii in A small didn't hesitate either. He threw a smoke to block passage and walked towards the bombsite with his back hunched over, creating a crossfire for ALEX and Qin Feng behind him.

"What a high-level flashbang." Calyx, on the A bombsite slope, shot mezii a few times before being headshot by Qin Feng's P250. He rubbed his shoulder in frustration. "One severely wounded in A small."

With A bombsite lost, XANTARES in CT spawn didn't dare to rotate back from CT spawn.

"Let's clear A small and mid. Don't rotate from CT spawn."

"woxic, just protect yourself in A main."

"Okay." woxic nodded and immediately ran towards the pit.

However, poizon, who had been looking for an opportunity, wouldn't let him go.

"Pop."

[Eternal Fire.woxic was killed by Fnatic.poizon with a headshot using P250]

poizon finally didn't miss the timing when woxic ran into the A pit.

What was left for XANTARES and the others was a 3v4 retake through the short route.