On the Edge of Danger

The first map of the BO3, Vertigo, was actively picked by OG.

Fnatic chose to start as CT on the opponent's map pick.

"Give me Dual Pistols, I'll hide behind the sandbags."

Qin Feng glanced at mezii, the team's utility player.

Just half a month ago, he was still a rookie who had just joined the team.

After more than ten days of scrims and four Major qualifiers, Qin Feng had completely solidified his position as the core player within the team.

Asking mezii for Dual Pistols, that's not too much to ask, right?

"Clack."

"Clack."

A smoke grenade and a pair of Dual Pistols were dropped at Qin Feng's feet.

mezii's voice came through the headset, "Aether, I'll give you another smoke. If they use fire on the sandbags, put it out yourself."

"Mm."

Qin Feng nodded and ran towards the sandbags in area A.

However, in this round, OG did not choose to attack area A, which Qin Feng was primarily defending.

OG's analyst had already studied Fnatic's previous matches dozens of times.

Nexa knew that when Fnatic played as CT in pistol rounds, they would most often choose to have Aether use Dual Pistols provided by mezii to hold the site.

And Aether was one of the most terrifying players not only on Fnatic but also in the entire group stage.

There was no reason for them to attack B instead of challenging A, where Dual Pistols were highly effective.

The logic was easy to understand.

It was like playing against G2; the opponent would most likely attack the area defended by Aleksib, not the area defended by Niko.

In stream room 6657, Wan Ji Qi.

"They're rushing B directly."

"Can poizon and ALEX, who are holding the ladder, defend it?"

"They were blinded by a flash, poizon and ALEX didn't retreat, they just fired blindly."

"It's over, both of them were taken down by valde rushing in."

B site was quickly overrun.

The bullet screen in the stream room was filled with comments of "freebie" (meaning a wasted effort or a free kill for the opponent).

mezii, who was scouting mid, didn't dare to go through the CT spawn and wooden planks back to retake due to lacking armor, so he could only helplessly hold the exit point where the Terrorists might push towards CT spawn.

Qin Feng and KRIMZ in area A quickly chose to go through CT spawn to retake.

Unfortunately, in the 3v5 retake, they only managed to trade one kill, eliminating OG's flameZ.

OG easily secured the first pistol round on their chosen map.

In the second round, Fnatic chose to force buy and fight.

Qin Feng took the Scout Rifle from mezii, bought himself full armor, and spent 700 yuan to buy a Desert Eagle for mezii, who had no armor.

The remaining three Fnatic players all chose full armor and Desert Eagles.

However, this direct confrontation didn't yield good results.

FlameZ, playing the entry role, picked up an AK and wiped out the CTs who were trying to push mid.

Although Qin Feng managed to get a kill on the weakened flameZ mid, he still couldn't resist OG's assault.

OG, at the cost of just a submachine gun and an AK, easily wiped out all five Fnatic players.

In the third round, Fnatic, on a pure ECO, didn't even manage to get a single kill on OG.

In fact, Fnatic's proficiency on the map Vertigo was very low.

If it weren't for their even worse performance on Ancient, ALEX wouldn't have agreed to play this map.

In the fourth round, Qin Feng held mid with a sniper rifle, but OG still opted for a fast push.

With a rapid B site execute, valde instantly killed ALEX, who was scouting behind the boxes in B site, successfully breaking through the site.

The score, as expected, became 0-4.

Despite saving four rifles, Fnatic's situation remained dire.

"Aether, maybe you need to push up with your sniper rifle this round."

"If we play default, I don't think we can hold off OG's fast pushes."

"It's an online match anyway, no audience, so don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"Just treat it like an FPL match, you'll have to be the one to push up and get opening picks."

If it were a previous match, ALEX might have advised Qin Feng against such a bold play.

But looking at the current situation on the field, the Fnatic in-game leader understood that for them to win this round, someone had to step up.

And the player most likely to do so was the team's core, Aether.

However, the following rounds did not go as smoothly as ALEX had imagined.

Qin Feng attempted to push forward from various positions multiple times, but apart from a few meager gains, most of his attempts were thwarted by the Terrorists holding angles from the back.

Throughout the entire first half, Fnatic had no effective response to OG's map control.

Although they managed to win a few clutches thanks to the brilliant plays of Qin Feng and poizon, the scales of victory continued to tip heavily in OG's favor.

As the scores alternated, the first half ended with a score of 5-10.

During the halftime break, mantuu even casually chatted with his teammates.

"Is this the genius young player from China?"

"He doesn't seem that amazing."

"How can his Rating still be higher than s1mple's?"

"I guess the opponents they faced before were just really weak."

Nexa, the gambling god, calmly reminded them, "The match isn't over yet, don't get too relaxed."

Mantuu chuckled sheepishly, said nothing more, and continuously pressed F to inspect the ruby dagger in his hand.

"The pistol round of the second half begins."

"It seems OG has figured out Fnatic's defensive default strategy, and Aether's sniper rifle has been heavily targeted by OG's utility."

"I wonder if Fnatic can bring us a surprise after the switch to offense."

Wan Ji Qi commentated with his usual passionate voice.

However, even with Qin Feng picking up the P250 sent by mezii, Fnatic still struggled to break through OG's default hold.

"Ah, we can see Fnatic choosing to go five-man mid."

"What, nexa is gambling on mid with three players?"

"Mezii, who was the first to peek, was taken down by nexa with a single shot. Aether only managed to trade with niko."

"The remaining Terrorists who tried to peek for a trade were lined up and shot by nexa and flamZ in mid."

"It's over, Fnatic didn't secure the crucial pistol round for them."

5-11.

Fnatic decided to force buy.

However, this force buy was once again thwarted by OG's backsite hold.

As expected, the score reached 5-13.

In the following rounds, although Qin Feng's AWP caused significant disruption to OG's defense, it was still difficult to reverse Fnatic's losing streak on the map.

As soon as Qin Feng was picked off by OG's players at the front, even when Fnatic had a man advantage in a clutch situation, it mostly ended with OG successfully retaking the site.

Ultimately, Fnatic lost the first map of the BO3 with a score of 8-16.

In the Fnatic club's training room.

Qin Feng looked at his somewhat dejected teammates, knowing he had to say something.

"Guys, it's just the first map, it's okay."

"Besides, OG chose this map, which we're not familiar with."

"The next map is Overpass, which we chose ourselves."

"And along the way, we've played many matches from behind."

"Moreover, didn't we already know we were going to have a tough match today?"

"They are strong, but we are also strong."

"Weren't Gambit in 2017 and C9 in 2018 Major champions after coming from behind with no one expecting them to win?"

"The team only signed a two-month contract with me. I might become a free agent after this match."

"But no matter the outcome, I will be grateful for everyone's trust in me and I will enjoy every match I play with the team from now on."

"..."