Encountering Big Potato

[Can't accept it.jpg]

[European Emperor, take my spear!]

[Just arrived, is the streamer a shill hired by Mr. Valve?]

[Newbie wants to know how much this all-blue Fire-Kissed AK is worth.]

[It's not a matter of how much it's worth, it's just really rare...]

[Who's rare? Who are you calling rare? Who are you calling rare?!]

[Let me educate you all, the previous Field-Tested Dragon Lore sold for 150,000 USD. God A's is Factory New. At the same time, this gun is the only Factory New Dragon Lore in the world. Souvenir Dragon Lores are nothing compared to this gun.]

Without rushing, after replacing his previous Field-Tested Fire Serpent AK with the blue-tipped Fire-Kissed AK, Qin Feng glanced at the dense barrage of comments.

"Heh, I told you long ago my luck was great."

"It's a shame I'm a sniper. I should have bought a Knight's Dragon Lore."

"Selling? If I go pro, I definitely won't have any plans to sell my items for now."

While chatting with his viewers, a soft sound came.

A FPL ranked match had been found.

After entering the room, Qin Feng glanced at the information of both teams.

Team ZywOo: ZwyOo, Aether, gade, Rico4top, Zarwoo1996.

Team siuhy-: siuhy-, SZEEEEJN, Jimpphat, xertioniiic-, mhL_.

In a small FPL match, Qin Feng's opponents were the entire Mouz youth team, Mouz NXT.

And his own teammate was the chosen son of French CS, the great potato ZywOo.

The map was finally decided as Ancient.

Taking advantage of the side switch to Terrorists, Qin Feng took the opportunity to glance at the comments scrolling on the bullet screen.

"This match, it's truly a shame if you guys don't see it."

"The opponents are strong, it's the entire Mouz NXT team, a team at the mid-to-lower tier of the second division."

"Of course, I estimate we'll still dominate them, ZywOo and I."

[God A: Dominate. ZywOo: Dominate!]

[ZywOo is really diligent. I heard he usually maintains his form by playing ranked matches.]

[There's a cheater in the server, and I won't say who it is.]

While chatting, the first pistol round had already begun.

The five Terrorists chose to buy body armor.

"Going B?" gade casually asked, looking at the direction the five were facing.

"Yeah, we can go straight out B door, five of us stick together and push B from the B ramp." ZywOo replied in fluent English.

"Tsk, ZywOo's English is even better than mine now." Qin Feng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

It had only been two years, and ZywOo's English level was still stuck at the "I don't know" stage.

"Do you want me to take the entry frag?" The random player Rico4top glanced at ZywOo, who was closest to B site.

"Thanks, no need." ZywOo, as always, showed no arrogance. He switched to his knife and walked directly towards the B site bombsite.

Then...

[ZywOo used Glock-18 to kill siuhy- with a headshot.]

[ZywOo used Glock-18 to kill Jimpphat with a headshot.]

The B site, defended by two players from Mouz NXT, was quickly overrun.

Qin Feng hadn't even fired a shot.

[666, opening thunderclap. God A, can you suicide with the console KILL command? I want to see ZywOo's first-person view.]

[He's being disciplined.]

[Vitality and Fnatic both made it to the Challenger Stage of the Major. Maybe in a few days, I'll have to clash with God A's sniper.]

After planting the C4, Qin Feng even took the time to glance at the scrolling comments.

It was because his four teammates had already set up positions to defend against the CTs' retake.

"Careful, there are a lot of footsteps coming from the CT spawn direction." gade, hiding in the back of the B site, warned.

"Okay." ZywOo, holding the picked-up USP, peeked out from a close angle at B site.

"Bang."

[ZywOo used USP to kill mhL_ with a headshot.]

Before xertioniiic-, who was retaking from CT spawn with mhL_, could even react, ZywOo had already retreated back to the close angle at B site.

Defending the planted bomb in a 5v2 situation, the Terrorists naturally gave the CTs no chance.

The score is 1-0 to start.

In the second round, Mouz NXT chose to force buy.

Although Qin Feng's AK at the A main site only got a one-for-one trade, his teammate at the back successfully picked off the CTs rotating from behind the triple box.

Defending a 3v4, Mouz NXT decided to save their weapons, but gade's Mac-10 managed to take down two of them.

The score naturally moved to 3-0.

Knowing the CTs were on a full buy this round, the attacking team didn't hesitate and opted for the safest opening: defaulting mid.

Qin Feng, peeking out from A ramp, managed to instantly kill SZEEEEJN who was trying to go through the donut, but was quickly finished off by xertioniiic-'s sniper rifle from mid-hall.

"The CT going through the donut mid is dead, but there's still a CT sniper holding mid-hall," Qin Feng said, then switched to ZywOo's perspective.

"OK." ZywOo nodded upon hearing the team comms. Instead of throwing a smoke to block mid-hall, he grabbed his AK and strafed out.

[ZywOo used AK-47 to headshot kill xertioniiic-]

"What a XANTARES peek," Qin Feng muttered, watching ZywOo's perspective.

From Qin Feng's first-person view, ZywOo's play seemed simple.

He peeked out, stopped instantly, and got the headshot.

But he knew that if he switched to xertioniiic-'s perspective, ZywOo's shot would have been absolutely terrifying.

Qin Feng hadn't even heard the sniper shot, meaning xertioniiic- had almost no time to react.

And the moment ZywOo peeked out, his crosshair was locked precisely onto xertioniiic-'s head.

This was definitely not luck.

It was terrifying pre-aim and prediction.

[666, as expected of ZywOo, one shot.]

[Sniper rifle, huh? Holding, holding, holding, holding your Steel Helmet.]

[Thanks God A, I know God A intentionally traded to let us see ZywOo's first-person perspective.]

[God A 4-2, ZywOo 8-1. In less than four rounds, God A and ZywOo have combined for 12 kills, truly God A!]

"Don't spread false rumors, I haven't even bought a sniper rifle yet," Qin Feng replied to the floating comments during his death timer. "Besides, 4-2 is decent, they're considered a second-tier international team after all."

In the game, for the remaining three members of Mouz NXT, it was a 3v4 clutch situation.

mhL_ was holding mid-hall with an M4A1 from ramp.

mhL_ glanced at his teammates on the minimap, one at A site's box and another at B site's stairs. "Want to push back? This way is too passive."

siuhy-, scouting from B site's stairs, nodded. "Don't hold the bomb site. Let's push mid through the dog hole and B main. Otherwise, no matter where they go, it'll be a local 4v1."

xertioniiic-, who was taken down by ZywOo, complained, "ZywOo is seriously insane, he peeked and killed me while I was holding the angle with my sniper."

"If your gamble fails, you can come back to mid-hall and pick up my sniper for me."

"Okay." Jimpphat nodded, and also comforted xertioniiic-. "Bad luck to get one-tapped. If he hadn't hit the headshot, you would have killed him."

Meanwhile, in the attacking team's comms.

Due to the FPL environment, communication in the team voice chat was quite active.

Mid was now controlled by ZywOo. As long as the Terrorists didn't make any major mistakes, they would likely win the fourth round.

"Haven't seen anyone at B main or B slope. I still have my Mac-10, I'll go mid to trade guns," gade said, looking at his Mac-10 and abandoning control of the B site entrance.

"Yeah, we can push mid," Zarwoo1996 also shared his opinion. "We can go through the donut or ramp, but the donut is too easy to get ambushed. Why don't we go ramp instead?"

Rico4top, the last remaining player, quickly retreated from the front of A hall towards A main.

The Terrorists thus gathered in mid.

However, by sheer coincidence, the CTs also chose to push mid.

Mid instantly turned into a chaotic 7-man brawl.

"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat." A burst of gunfire erupted.

[Jimpphat used M4A1 to headshot kill gade]

[Zarwoo1996 used AK-47 to headshot kill Jimpphat]

[mhL_ used M4A1 to kill Zarwoo1996]

[ZywOo used AK-47 to headshot kill siuhy-]

[Rico4top used AK-47 to kill mhL_]

The Terrorists instantly completed a 2-for-3 trade, winning the fourth round.

ZywOo then picked up xertioniiic-'s AWP that had fallen in mid-hall.

[It's over, God A. Big Potato picked up the enemy AWP, you don't have a sniper to play with now.]

[Little Potato, you're really going to get angry this time.]

"It's fine, God A. You can carry the bomb and follow ZywOo. Once Big Sweet Potato finishes killing, you can plant it. I call this tactic the 'Let ZywOo Play' tactic."

"It doesn't matter," Qin Feng said, smiling as he looked at the rapidly scrolling bullet comments. "I'm not arrogant enough to think I'm better than ZywOo. Besides, I've always been a fan of Big Sweet Potato."

"And the 661 looks good too, right?"

During the preparation phase, Qin Feng frantically spammed the F key (inspect).

"Clack."

Suddenly, the sound of a dropped gun echoed from the game.

A AWP suddenly appeared before Qin Feng's eyes.

It was the very one ZywOo had picked up mid-map just moments ago.

"For me?" Qin Feng asked in the team voice chat, a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Yes," ZywOo's voice came through Qin Feng's headphones. "I know you, Aether, Fnatic's sniper. I've watched your demos, your sniping is very strong. Also, I think the AK kills faster."

Qin Feng: ...

Listening to Big Sweet Potato's voice, he could already picture ZywOo's honest, simple smile on the other side of the screen.

But what was this about the AK killing faster?

Was he not even considering the opponents as people?

They were the entire youth team of Mouz, after all.

The viewers in the bullet comments were even more amused.

[Amazing, God A, getting Big Sweet Potato's approval!]

[Bold prediction: Big Sweet Potato thinks God A's rifles only know how to dry peek and then play on his phone.]

[AK kills faster? That's the real intention showing, no wonder Big Sweet Potato rarely snipes as a Terrorist in FPL.]

[Calm down, God A. Vitality is your opponent in the Major. Big Sweet Potato must want you to let your guard down.]

[Stop the baseless hate, upstairs. What bad intentions could Big Sweet Potato have?]

After 0.5 seconds of thought, Qin Feng still threw his Dark Gold 661 to ZywOo. "Then, I'll go to B site to watch the ramp and stairs."

"Okay, they'll probably buy half-buys again this round. We'll default and hold. We still need two people to contest mid. Their utility should be limited this round." Gade, who had inexplicably taken over as the Ts' in-game leader, spoke up.

"OK." The two random players also voiced their agreement with Gade's calls.

The preparation time ended. Qin Feng picked up the sniper rifle Big Sweet Potato had given him and headed towards the B ramp outside the B gate.

The defending CTs hadn't thrown any utility to contest the B connector or B entrance.

"The Ts aren't pushing mid either. ZywOo, be careful of A site pressure," Gade said, glancing at the minimap. "We can..."

[ZywOo killed mhL_ with an AK-47 headshot.] [ZywOo killed siuhy- with an AK-47 headshot.] [ZywOo killed Jimpphat with an AK-47.] [ZywOo killed xertioniiic- with an AK-47 headshot.] [SZEEEEJN killed ZywOo with a Desert Eagle.]

A series of screen-filling messages interrupted Gade's command.

Big Sweet Potato's somewhat simple voice came through the team chat after the kill feed subsided: "The enemy team of 5 pushed A Hall. You can go plant at B."

"Oh, there's one person left to pick up my AK. He might run towards spawn. You guys can try to intercept him."

Gade: ...

It seemed like his command was no longer needed.

Why not just let ZywOo finish off the remaining enemy?

The only two random players on the T side, Zarwoo1996, happily took the bomb and headed to the B site to plant.

Unsurprisingly, the score became 5-0, and Gade successfully retrieved SZEEEEJN's AK-47.

The first half seemed to be one-sided.

Qin Feng's sniper locked down any CTs trying to peek, while ZywOo's AK-47 became an unstoppable force against the Mouz youth players, breaking through their defenses.

Even when the Mouz youth players managed to pick up a few rounds through advantageous off-angles and trades, the Ts quickly found a way to counter.

That method was to have Gade and Zarwoo1996 act as the entry fraggers, while ZywOo's AK-47 and Qin Feng's sniper would clean up the remaining CTs at the bomb site.

As long as they could achieve equal trades, the CT defenders stood almost no chance of successfully retaking.

Even if the defenders managed to gain a numbers advantage at the bomb site, Qin Feng and ZywOo could often clutch the round with their individual skill, playing outnumbered.

Throughout the entire first half, the Mouz youth players struggled to perform at their usual level.

Ultimately, the first half score was locked at 11-4.

With Vitality and Qin Feng leading their teammates, they secured a 7-point lead on the difficult T side.

"A bit strong, everyone." Qin Feng took a deep breath and looked at the data on the game panel.

After the first half's 15 rounds, Zywoo's KD had even reached a terrifying 25-9.

And he, as the team's main sniper, had only managed 15 kills.

[ZywOo and God A are stomping Mouz NXT with randoms, so playing in matches must be easy for them, right?]

[Don't say that, Shushu is really strong with randoms. So the question is, Vitality must have great results.]

[Shushu? Pure cheater! Who is this guy? Oh, he's been TOP1 for two years? That makes sense.]

Qin Feng looked at the bullet comments and suddenly felt a bit melancholic.

Vitality might be the opponent they'd face at the Antwerp Major in May.

If his sniper rifle were to face Zywoo, could Fnatic really gain an advantage with a single-core sniper?

Moreover, even someone as strong as Zywoo couldn't guarantee leading Vitality to victory.

Qin Feng knew very well that ALEX and KRIMZ, among others, were unlikely to be better than apex or Magic Boy.

"Aether?"

"Move it, the second half has started."

His teammate's call pulled Qin Feng back from his thoughts.

Mouz NXT, as the youth training team for Mouz's main squad, ultimately showed their resilience in the second half.

They even managed to chase the score to 11-9.

That was until Qin Feng and Zywoo each got a sniper rifle.

The terrorists on the attacking side had no room to play anymore.

Whether it was control of mid or control of A site, the terrorists on the attacking side were at a huge disadvantage.

Even if they managed to plant the bomb, the terrorists found it difficult to deal with the retake from two sniper rifles.

It was just ridiculous.

But this was the reality Mouz NXT was facing.

I noticed a duplicated section later and apologize; it has been corrected. Please refresh.

Thanks to Shuhuzaiwu for the 500-point tip.

Thanks to Tang Song Yuan Ming Qing for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to Deng Feng Lai for the 100-point tip.