The final round.
Perhaps the 6–15 scoreline had put too much pressure on OG. Their attack now looked completely devoid of creativity.
Another fast A-site execute.
Only this time, Qin Feng had his AWP holding the front of A Site.
"Bang."
[Fantic.Aether killed OG.mantuu with a headshot from the AWP]
Before the smoke had even bloomed, mantuu's AWP, holding from A1, went silent as Qin Feng's shot rang out.
Nexa swung out from behind the light pole to trade.
[Fantic.Aether killed OG.Nexa with the AWP]
Qin Feng, tucked near Sandwich, gave nexa no chance.
"Rat-tat-tat."
[Fnatic.ALEX killed OG.valde with a headshot from the M4A1]
Valde had tried to swing out from the A-site balcony for a trade, but ALEX, holding close on the balcony, instantly took him down.
All that remained were little niko and flameZ, who had just thrown smoke and flashes from A1.
Wan Ji Qi was nearly shouting, his emotions surging:
"What? Nexa went down with the bomb! It's dropped on the A1 stairs!"
"Little niko and flameZ are left in a 2v5 clutch."
"Niko tries to swing out for the trade, but Aether snipes him from A1!"
"The smoke at A Site can't stop Aether's AWP from holding this close angle."
"They can't control him anymore!"
"With that AWP holding A1, the Terrorists can't trade at all."
"Exactly. This is Aether."
"OG just can't play anymore."
"There are still three players to deal with at the A bombsite."
"Can flameZ do it?"
"He couldn't get the kill!"
"Aether gets a four-kill AWP round and sends Fnatic straight to Antwerp!"
"That's just ridiculous, guys."
"On the last two maps, Aether practically carried Fnatic to their Antwerp tickets all by himself."
"Let's congratulate Fnatic, and Aether!"
"..."
Before he knew it, Qin Feng had become the butterfly flapping its wings.
Anyone could see that without Aether's dominant performance, Fnatic probably wouldn't have had a chance of making the Major.
A rookie, a last-minute stand-in, less than half a year as a pro, making the Major, top Rating in the open qualifiers... Every part of the story was quickly taking over the headlines of major CSGO news communities.
<Stars Shine Bright: Aether Leads Fnatic to a 2–1 Victory Over OG and Into Antwerp.>
<Goodbye, Peppzor! Fnatic's Aether Makes a Name for Himself in One Match.>
<An Outstanding Debut? Aether Dominates Group A of the Qualifiers with a 1.47 Rating.>
<s1mple Interview: Of All the Players in Group A, Aether Is the Only One Close to My Level.>
<Quiet Until the Moment He Shines: Get to Know the Real Aether, Huaguo's Teenage Prodigy.>
<Thorin: Aether Is Just a System Player; Only m0NESY Can Be Called the Next s1mple.>
To many HLTV viewers, Tyloo seemed to be the only CS team in Huaguo.
And in many people's eyes, Huaguo CS was synonymous with "Cosmetic CS" and "glory."
The fact that Aether, who had dragged Fnatic into Antwerp single-handedly, was a Huaguo teenage prodigy was remarkable news in itself.
And that was without even counting the Huaguo CS fans themselves.
Now they could really say they had "glory"!
The sudden surge in traffic made apps across the country's major communities lag.
[Nexa pulls back his covers at night and finds them full of Aether.]
[Reporting in as a twenty-year Aether fan. I've actually been watching his matches since twenty years ago.]
[I'm planning to stock up on 1,000 Aether stickers and go all in. Am I making the right move, guys?]
[As everyone knows, there can be many players called God A, but there's only one God A.]
[ALEX: Aether and I got 110 kills between us across three maps!]
[System Sniper? I know that one! How many years in a row did that System Sniper's team win the championship last time?]
[Who doesn't know Aether? He's the guy who carried Wan Ji Qi while stomping Huaguo's Second-tier Professionals.]
[C9's Shroud himself: How rude!]
Before this, Qin Feng had only become somewhat well-known among some CSGO fans thanks to his 1v5 in the Huaguo Major Qualifier.
But after the European leg of the Antwerp Major, nearly every CSGO player in Huaguo had heard of Aether and started looking into the story of this teenage prodigy.
The all-knowing netizens soon dug up plenty of information about Aether.
After TBD disbanded, Aether had nowhere to go, so he traveled across the ocean to the UK to find work and began his FPL journey on the side.
That left many people in the community sighing.
If Fnatic hadn't happened to discover Aether, he might still be working at a Chinese restaurant, while smooya was frying fries at McDonald's, the two of them suffering side by side.
Who would have thought that one bold decision by Fnatic would put Aether on the international CSGO stage ahead of schedule—and finally allow Fnatic to redeem itself?
Fnatic had given Aether a chance to shine, and Aether hadn't let them down. He had dragged Fnatic out of the depths and all the way to Antwerp.
As for the players, after Fnatic won, KRIMZ and the others could barely contain their excitement.
"NICE~~~~~~"
"Feng, we're going to the Major! We're about to get our stickers!"
"Antwerp, here we come!"
In the practice room, nearly every player was overcome with excitement.
After the match, each of them gave Qin Feng a big hug.
KRIMZ even smashed the headset he had just taken off.
After a full two years, Fnatic had finally made it back to the CSGO Major stage, their last appearance having been at the 2020 RMR.
Though the road had been tough and full of twists and turns, Fnatic had seized this hard-won opportunity, as if they had finally grasped their future.
Everyone knew that simply qualifying for Antwerp could help the team regain its confidence and face the true top teams there.
Once the excitement had passed, they could finally relax their frayed nerves.
After returning to their rooms to rest, Qin Feng looked again at the system notifications he hadn't checked in a long time.
After beating OG, it seemed he had completed another system achievement.
Qin Feng glanced at the translucent, pale-blue screen in the upper-right corner of his vision.
[Congratulations on your outstanding performance in the Major Qualifier. Reward: 1,000 Dream Points.]
[Congratulations on completing the special achievement: Advancing to the Major Challengers Stage. Reward: One free ten-pull.]
The cost of a ten-pull wish had once again been replaced with free.
Qin Feng pressed the free wish button without hesitation.
Wish in progress...
[ Ding! You received 5 Stamina Potions ] (Common)
[ Ding! You received 1 Recovery Potion ] (Rare)
(Use at any time to restore your body to a healthy state, relieving the discomfort caused by tendinitis, cervical spondylosis, myopia... and more.)
[ Ding! You received 8 Dream Points × 1 ] (Common)
[ Ding! You received 66 Dream Points × 1 ] (Common)
[ Ding! You received 1 European Emperor Experience Card ] (Rare)
(Note: Use at any time to bring you incredible luck the next time you open a case or do a trade-up. At best, you could get a Dark Gold Fire AK661 Template!)
[ Ding! You received the Skill Card: World's Best Utility Player ] (Legendary)
Another jackpot!
Before you continue