Taking Match Point

"Dada dada dada."

"Pop."

The crisp M4A1 gunfire and the Scout Rifle shots rang out almost simultaneously.

[OG.mantuu eliminated Fnatic.mezii using M4A1]

[Fnatic.Aether eliminated OG.mantuu with a headshot using SSG-08]

Mantuu, who had just felt he was regaining his confidence and taking over the game, suddenly felt annoyed.

He hadn't expected that the first Terrorist to run boost out would just be bait for Aether to find the CT position.

"Nexa, be careful, they definitely know there's another one. Aether's Scout Rifle in mid might be watching you now."

Mantuu directly and helplessly reminded Nexa, who was double-pushing for him in the Sewer.

"OK, got it. Can you throw some utility at the Archway? It's inconvenient for me to go back to the Archway from the Sewer right now."

Nexa also started issuing commands over the team's voice chat.

However, Qin Feng was already positioned at the sandbag in mid, watching the entrance to the Sewer.

"Pop."

Another Scout Rifle shot was fired. Nexa, who had returned to the A site Archway using smoke and flashbangs, was left with only 14 HP.

With control of mid lost and Nexa down to 14 HP, the OG players once again chose to gamble on a site.

Four players gambled on B.

Fnatic, on the other hand, stuck to their default map control strategy.

"There doesn't seem to be much activity on the B site."

KRIMZ, who was controlling B Second Floor with his Mac-10, gave his feedback.

ALEX glanced at the minimap and raised an eyebrow. "KRIMZ, you can scout ahead. If no one's there, we'll take the bomb to B. If you die, we'll hit A directly."

It was common knowledge among most CSGO players that Nexa liked to gamble on sites when at a map control disadvantage.

However, ALEX couldn't figure out whether OG was gambling on A or B this round.

Only the spectators with a God's-eye view could understand who the sole unlucky person was this round.

Of course, it was the electronic... no, KRIMZ.

"Fnatic's IGL is smart, OG is a team that likes to gamble."

"ALEX plans to let KRIMZ on B Second Floor scout ahead first to get information on B."

"Although B site looks calm right now, besides one CT in B Small, there are three other CTs hiding in the bomb site."

Wan Ji Qi watched the unsuspecting KRIMZ with some emotion.

"KRIMZ is about to face a pincer attack from the defending CTs."

"He has too many spots to clear."

"Huh? KRIMZ just threw a flashbang and jumped down from the window."

"Valde in B Small didn't give him any chance at all."

"The CTs in the B site bomb spot didn't show themselves, but KRIMZ likely got information about the number of players in B before he died."

"..."

On the other side, in the Fnatic practice room.

ALEX, who was staring intently at the minimap, realized OG's gambling direction the moment KRIMZ jumped down.

On the minimap, besides Valde firing from B Small, there were two flashing red question marks in the bomb site.

At most one person in the A site bomb spot!

"Hit A directly, there's at most one there. Be careful searching the site so you don't get picked."

ALEX quickly picked up the bomb and headed towards the A bomb site.

"Aether, help me watch B Small later."

"Pop."

Another Scout Rifle shot.

Qin Feng, who was holding the headshot position at the Archway watching B Small, landed a Scout Rifle shot on Valde's arm, drawing a splash of blood.

"Valde in B Small is heavily wounded."

He wasn't worried about his position being flanked by CTs.

Besides Valde, the other two CTs in the B site, even if they had rotated back immediately after KRIMZ died, would have only just reached the supermarket by now.

There was still one police officer whose information was unknown, likely hiding in the back of A1 or A2, making it difficult to pose a significant threat to Qin Feng at the Archway headshot position.

In reality, of course, OG had gambled 4B.

ALEX and poizon cleared the undefended A site and began planting the bomb.

"Beep, beep, beep."

The C4 explosion warning sound began to ring out at a steady pace.

Nexa looked at himself and Wald, both with critically low health, and shook his head. "Let's save, we're both almost dead."

OG chose to save their weapons.

Qin Feng casually picked up the M4A1 he'd found in the Sewer.

The bomb exploded, making the score 3-0.

Qin Feng then tossed the M4A1 in his hand to mezii, spending 4750 to buy a big sniper rifle himself.

"Let's keep controlling mid," ALEX suddenly felt his coordination becoming easier.

All they had to do was coordinate with Qin Feng's sniper rifle to control mid.

He knew deeply that even the best tactics had to be built upon the players' individual aim.

Now, even if OG knew Fnatic wanted to control mid, what could they do?

Could they really let mantuu's sniper come over and kill Aether?

Of course not.

If mantuu had that kind of skill, Fnatic probably wouldn't be playing Mirage anymore.

Sometimes, you know what kind of tactic the opponent is going for, but you just can't defend against it.

North's 16-1 victory over Astralis on Dust II back then was the best example.

Everyone on Astralis knew North would rush A Long at the start, but they couldn't defend it every round.

The problem OG faced now was the same.

OG couldn't deal with Aether's sniper in mid.

And on Mirage, if control of mid and VIP was lost, the Terrorists had practically already won half the game.

Even if Nexa gambled, he wouldn't choose to have all five players push mid.

With their momentum, Fnatic locked in their first half score at 12-3.

OG, defending at the start, only managed a meager three points.

ALEX's face was even beaming with a brilliant smile.

Was 12 points enough?

It was more than enough!

Not to mention that Fnatic would be on the defensive side in the second half.

The caster in the livestream, 6657, was also visibly excited.

It seemed like it had been a long time since a Chinese player had appeared on the CSGO Major stage.

No one expected that Aether, who was unknown just three months ago, had almost single-handedly pulled Fnatic onto the Antwerp stage.

But Aether had managed to do it.

"With a score of 12, Fnatic has a huge advantage."

Wan Ji Qi forcibly calmed his excitement. "Fnatic has practically one foot in the Challenger Stage of the Antwerp Major."

"..."

The second half of the match continued.

In the pistol round, OG immediately executed a fast RUSH on B site, tenaciously winning the pistol round and keeping some suspense in the match.

As for Fnatic, who lost the second half pistol round, apart from Qin Feng, the other players opted for MP9s and Desert Eagles to force a fight.

Unfortunately, although they traded three Terrorists from the attacking side with their force buys, Fnatic still couldn't complete the comeback.

As expected, the score was chased by OG to 6-12.

Qin Feng picked up an AWP, and his teammates equipped him with full gear.

However, before Qin Feng's sniper positioned in mid could even make a play, poizon and ALEX in A site completed a 4-kill crossfire against the Terrorists pushing out of A site.

The bomb dropped, and Wald, who was covering the rear, had no chance.

6-13.

The Terrorists continued to force a fight.

After a simple A site pop flash, ALEX and poizon again completed a 2-for-4 trade on the bomb site, exceeding their mission objective.

The last remaining mantuu didn't even have time to plant the bomb before being taken down by Qin Feng's sniper shot at VIP.

6-14, OG chose to ECO.

With a RUSH B, OG quickly fell to KRIMZ's M4 in B site.

Fnatic reached match point.

First, thank you all for your tips, monthly passes, and recommendation tickets. Thank you very much!!!

Second, regarding typos and grammatical errors, I will check at least 5 times before publishing to strive for accuracy!

Third, can some plots be achieved? I've been watching FPL demos and testing them myself. I only write about things that are theoretically possible. Of course, every extraordinary performance, besides the player's own state, includes more or less mistakes from the opponent.

Above.