With Me Here, Fnatic Won't Fall Apart!

A 1-1 record wasn't unacceptable for Fnatic.

Especially since their opponent in the second round had been Group A's strongest team, Heroic.

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

April 18. The third round of the European Major Group A qualifiers.

Fnatic faced the little-known SAW.

The BO1 was played on Nuke.

Perhaps the shadow left by Heroic the day before still lingered. The sniper poizon, whom Fnatic had signed for a hefty sum, put on a performance that was the very definition of criminal.

At 7-23, he'd single-handedly dragged the entire Fnatic team down.

He'd also brought Fnatic to the brink of elimination.

Naturally, the PGL Livestream Room's chat was full of people lambasting poizon.

[7-23? Whose subordinate is this guy?]

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

[God A went 19-11. He's got that dungeon-warrior ZwyOo vibe.]

[For real. God A has to buy an AK for himself and an Sniper Rifle for poizon. He really... I'm crying.]

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

[ALEX is such a sucker. Can't he tell who the team's big brother is?]

Inside Fnatic's training room, coach Samuelsson stood with his arms crossed, silent. His expression was a far cry from his usual easygoing demeanor.

He'd thought that after bringing in poizon and Aehter, the team would easily qualify for the Antwerp Major.

But now...

Samuelsson unconsciously looked over at Qin Feng, who was sitting in the corner playing against BOTs.

Even with the team's record at 1-2, Qin Feng still had a terrifying 1.41 Rating.

Should he keep poizon as the team's main sniper, or completely scrap their previous setup and make Aether the team's new core?

In the next match, Fnatic would face Eternal Fire, a team of hard-hitting players led by the Turkish powerhouse XANTARES. If poizon played like he had today...

At that thought, Samuelsson gritted his teeth, made up his mind, and walked over to the Fnatic players, who were still practicing.

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

Huh?

Hadn't they agreed when I signed that I'd be the team's core main sniper?

poizon blinked in confusion.

But he soon realized that his criminal performances over the past two days must have already displeased the coach, who'd been watching from the sidelines.

Seeing poizon's bitter expression, Samuelsson patted him on the shoulder reassuringly and said earnestly:

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

"But your form hasn't been great in these matches, and you've wasted a lot of opportunities to score."

"Rather than forcing yourself to pick up the AWP, try using a rifle and get your aim back."

After listening to Samuelsson, poizon hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

poizon didn't want to give up his place as the team's main sniper, but more than that, he wanted to win.

Every professional player played for victory.

With an average Rating of 1.41 across three matches, Aether was clearly more deserving than he was of being the team's core.

"I understand."

In truth, poizon also felt that he'd let his teammates down with his performance over the past two days.

He'd thrown away several clutches they should have won by missing shot after shot.

Samuelsson patted poizon on the shoulder, then turned his gaze to Qin Feng. His expression was complicated as he said:

"Feng, ever since I watched your FPL and Asian Major footage, I've believed you had what it took to become a top-tier pro."

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

"We had you play second sniper and entry fragger in the previous matches partly because we'd already promised poizon the team's main sniper position, and partly because we didn't want to put too much pressure on you."

"Not everyone is born for the big stage."

"If you agree, we'll scrap all the tactics we planned before."

"You can play more freely, and you'll have the green light to fire whenever you want."

"Feng, can you do it?"

Qin Feng looked at his teammates and Samuelsson, then nodded calmly.

"Don't worry."

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

April 19.

7:15 p.m. China time.

Douyu livestream platform, room 6657.

"Welcome to Fnatic versus Eternal Fire. I'm your commentator, Wan Ji Qi."

"Map One is DUST2, chosen by Eternal Fire. But Fnatic won the knife round and chose to play Terrorists."

"Aether's holding the P250 his teammate bought for him. He's helping cover the angle in case CTs push up mid."

[6657, UP UP!]

[Hope God A doesn't start throwing again.]

[Can't believe I'm seeing a Pistol Round! What a time to be alive!]

[Aether, kill them all!]

In-game.

Round one.

Once Qin Feng confirmed there were no enemies pushing up mid, the rest of Fnatic played their defaults to perfection.

They hadn't taken A Main, but they'd at least ensured no enemies could suddenly flank them in the short term.

"Let's hit A Short. I'll throw an Xbox smoke, then we'll split A three-two." As he spoke, ALEX casually threw the Smoke Grenade in his hand from B1.

Qin Feng nodded and walked from mid to A Short, joining ALEX and mezii, who had jumped onto the boxes from B1.

KRIMZ and poizon held their guns outside A Door, waiting for their teammates on A Short to make some noise first.

XANTARES, guarding mid for the CTs, didn't push after seeing the Xbox smoke. Instead, he cautiously took position on the box at CT Base.

Eternal Fire had analyzed plenty of Fnatic's recent footage before the match, so XANTARES knew mezii would most likely buy a couple of P250s for his teammates.

Even though he was holding a USP, he wouldn't have much of an advantage in a mid-range fight against a P250.

"Someone's coming up mid. Watch A Short."

"They smoked Xbox. Probably a real A hit."

Compared to XANTARES's caution in mid, woxic was playing much more aggressively while guarding A Main.

He crept toward A Door, hugging the blue box.

"Bang."

[Eternal Fire.woxic headshot-killed Fnatic.KRIMZ with a USP]

KRIMZ had been about to work with the A Short players to hit A Main, but woxic caught him off guard inside A Door.

"poizon, be careful. He's pushed up close," KRIMZ warned him, having been caught at an awkward moment while clearing.

"Yeah." poizon nodded and stopped before entering A Door. "I've got a P250, so I can't trade well. A Short should go first. I'll wait a bit before going through A Door."

mezii on A Short didn't hesitate. He threw a smoke across the passage, turned his back, lowered his head, and hopped toward the site, drawing the defenders' fire for ALEX and Qin Feng behind him.

"What kind of advanced Flashbang is that?" Calyx, on the slope of the A site, landed a few shots on mezii, but Qin Feng killed him with a single P250 headshot. Calyx rubbed his shoulder helplessly. "One on A Short, very low."

With the A site lost, XANTARES didn't dare rotate back through CT Base.

"Let's retake A Short and mid. Don't rotate through CT Base."

"woxic, just play safe in A Main by yourself."

"Yeah." woxic nodded and ran toward the pit.

But poizon, who'd been waiting for an opportunity, clearly wasn't going to let him get away.

"Bang."

[Fnatic.poizon headshot-killed Eternal Fire.woxic with a P250]

poizon finally caught woxic as he ran toward A Pit.

All that remained for XANTARES and the others was a 3v4 retake through A Short.