The One He Could Never Beat

Nexa watched mantuu get picked off for the second time and felt a headache coming on.

In OG's pre-match map-control setup, mantuu's AWP was undoubtedly one of the most important pieces.

If mantuu got traded out while holding an early angle, the rest of OG would have little choice but to fall back and defend deeper positions.

After all, the team's analyst had told them long ago that Aether's success rate when holding angles in previous matches had far surpassed even s1mple's.

With four against five, nexa didn't want to risk having his teammates challenge Aether's AWP.

"Let's gamble. We'll stack four on A."

Nexa really did live up to his reputation as the gambler.

If they guessed right, then fine: four against five at the Bomb Site wasn't a disadvantage for the CTs. They'd even have the edge in utility and positioning.

If they guessed wrong, they could save their remaining four rifles and still have the firepower to take on Fnatic next round.

"Yeah, I'll fake a counter-flash at B, then quietly head back to A." valde, who was defending B, nodded.

This round, though, Fnatic chose to split four-one.

After throwing a volley of utility at A, ALEX, who had been scouting B alone, slipped into the completely empty B Site Bomb.

Fnatic naturally headed through Underpass to plant at B. OG's four, now without favorable angles or information, saved their guns.

"That one's on me." mantuu watched the bomb-plant notification and irritably rubbed his hair. "He got way too lucky with those two shots. Next time I'll pick a safer position and won't give him a chance to peek and kill me."

Nexa nodded. "Yeah, it's only been two rounds. You can't be so unlucky that you lose every single duel, right?"

"As long as you don't lose that AWP, we can trade together and shut down Fnatic's solo-AWP attacks."

"Relax. Don't let Aether's performance in these two rounds get to you."

"On Vertigo last map, your AWP held its own, didn't it?"

"..."

By all rights, gambler nexa and the pre-match strategies prepared by the analyst should have been sound.

OG's analysts had naturally reviewed plenty of Fnatic's previous matches.

Other than Qin Feng, none of Fnatic's players had an average tournament Rating above 1. If OG could trade Aether out through their default setup, they would most likely gain a huge advantage on the CT side of the first half.

They didn't need to win the numbers advantage every time. As long as they took out the AWP Aether was using on the attack, OG would have practically cracked Fnatic's offensive system.

The one problem was the fragment of Sniper Rifle Mastery Qin Feng had just used.

An SSS-level AWP skill was a game-changing variable, powerful enough to overturn the gap between two teams.

For the rest of the first half, Qin Feng's AWP mercilessly tore OG's defense apart.

mantuu, meanwhile, experienced the despair of being a sniper firsthand.

From the moment Qin Feng picked up the AWP, mantuu faced him in six one-on-one AWP duels across ten Gun Rounds.

Every one of them ended in mantuu's defeat.

Without flashbang cover or smoke to obscure the fight, it was a pure aim duel—and mantuu couldn't win even once.

In the final few rounds, mantuu even found himself hoping not to see an enemy appear in his scope.

His abysmal AWP performance had also brought OG's default defense to a complete standstill.

OG had opened 5–0, but by the end of the first half, they had managed only six rounds.

Fnatic, leading 9–6, went into the second half on defense with a three-round advantage.

Once the half ended, the somber mood in Fnatic's training room vanished. His energized teammates crowded around Qin Feng.

"Aether, that was insane!"

"That AWP absolutely put mantuu on trial!"

"I thought you'd be the next ZwyOo or s1mple, but you're neither. You're yourself—the one and only Aether!"

Seeing his teammates perk up, Qin Feng could only smile helplessly.

Every time they won a round, ALEX and mezii came over to high-five him. By the end of the half, his hand was getting numb.

"Don't get too excited. We've only just finished the first half."

"Starting on CT in the second half gives us a big advantage, but we still have to watch out for OG's counterattack on the T side."

They had gone from 0–5 to 9–6. Qin Feng had practically single-handedly ripped OG's defense apart with his AWP.

Even the spectators who hadn't believed in Fnatic at first were now looking forward to Qin Feng's next performance.

If he could tear through OG's defense with an AWP on the T side, would picking one up on CT mean OG's players couldn't even see the Bomb Site?

In Wan Ji Qi's 6657 livestream on the Douyu platform, he didn't hold back in praising Qin Feng.

"Guys, I want to change my 5E nickname right now."

"How about 'Fnatic's Aether himself'?"

"This AWP is ridiculous."

"mantuu's holding AWP couldn't stop Aether's AWP peeks even once. He didn't even get a shot off."

"Fnatic really struck gold this time."

"I bet even their coach didn't expect Aether, who was brought in at the last minute to replace Peppzor, to end up saving Fnatic."

"Looking back, it was absolutely the right call for poizon to give up the main AWP spot."

"Aether's AWP hasn't let poizon down, and it hasn't let Fnatic down either."

"..."

Inside OG's bright, spacious training room,

Nexa furrowed his brow, his face full of confusion.

The analysts and coaching staff had said Aether was good at holding angles, but not particularly strong at breaking into sites.

So what had changed about Aether today?

It wasn't just mantuu, the team's primary AWPer—even nexa had felt the sheer terror of Aether's AWP firsthand.

He was fast.

Every bit as fast as kennyS in 2015.

Most of the time, if OG's defenders exposed even the slightest bit of themselves when peeking, Aether's AWP instantly took them out.

Hide Aether's name, and you could easily mistake him for prime s1mple or ZywOo.

Nexa glanced at mantuu, who was already looking half-asleep, and sighed.

He really was the one mantuu could never beat.

"We won't buy an AWP in the second half. We'll play fast."

"Aether usually guards B, so we'll rush A Main on the Pistol Round."

"We'll play fast in every Gun Round from here on out."

"Letting Aether keep picking people off with that AWP is too costly."

"If we rush in with an Execute, we can deny Aether the chance to pick anyone off."

"We can take a gamble—bet that Fnatic can't stop our rush."

"..."

The mid-game break passed in a flash.

After the sides switched, OG, now on the attack, unsurprisingly went for a fast push at A.

But they clearly hadn't expected Fnatic to have adjusted their strategy to counter OG's rushes.

Three players pushed up at A Short, with one at A Main, completely crushing OG's plan to rush from T Spawn through Amusement Park and hit A Main.

After a simple one-for-four trade, the only terrorist left was valde, shoulder-peeking from B Long.

With the bomb dropped, valde tried to push out from T Base, but had no chance. poizon took him out with a single shot from Fountain.

The second-half Pistol Round was over, and the score moved to 10–6.