Facing COL

On May 2, Fnatic's players wrapped up their less-than-two-week training camp and gathered to head to Antwerp.

Vitality, Imperial, G2, 9z... Many teams competing in the Antwerp Major Challengers Stage had already arrived at the apartment hotel provided by PGL.

Quite a few players had also posted team photos and fired-up messages to fans on their social media accounts.

On their first day in Antwerp, Fnatic didn't schedule any scrims against other teams, giving the players plenty of time to get familiar with the venue instead.

Although there was only a one-hour time difference between Britain and Belgium, the Fnatic players still needed some time to readjust to their new surroundings.

Food, climate, local conditions, the arena... Any number of external factors could affect a player's performance, to some degree.

After Qin Feng got off the plane, he first called his parents back in China to let them know he'd arrived safely, then started getting himself into shape.

He had to maintain his good form.

During the less-than-two-week training camp, the form of his four teammates had remained inconsistent.

And in less than a week, the Antwerp Challengers Stage would officially begin!

On May 8, after their scrim against Vitality had ended,

Samuelsson, the coach who had traveled with the team, studied the analyst's notes in his little notebook, his brow furrowed.

According to the analyst's records, Fnatic had won more than they'd lost in their recent matches.

But whenever Fnatic faced a team with a strong AWPer, the whole team's performance was severely limited.

G2 and Vitality were the clearest examples.

The biggest reason was still the gap in the teams' overall strength.

If Qin Feng lost an AWP duel against ZywOo or m0NESY, the remaining Fnatic players would have almost no chance of winning the clutch.

poizon's form, in particular, was extremely inconsistent.

Fnatic's biggest problem right now was how heavily they relied on Qin Feng's AWP.

"Our opponents in the Challengers Stage aren't that strong. The teams we need to watch out for most are ENCE, Vitality, G2, and Outsiders," coach Samuelsson began, summing things up. "But even if we have a good chance of making it to the Legends Stage, the team still lacks the ability to go further."

"Our team relies too heavily on Aether—even more than Vitality relies on ZywOo."

Coach Samuelsson suddenly sighed.

He was reminded of a joke he'd seen on HLTV.

A host interviewed Big Cousin, asking what the biggest drawback was of Faze as an international roster.

Big Cousin karrigan replied, "The biggest drawback of an international roster is that communication within the team isn't smooth, and the team relies too much on its star players. If the star players can't put on a dominant performance, the team is basically bound to lose."

The host followed up: "Then how does Faze Clan solve that problem?"

Big Cousin answered without batting an eye. "That's easy. We have five star players on our team."

Thinking of that, Samuelsson gave the five Fnatic players in front of him a helpless glance.

In scrims, aside from Aether, who could stay consistent even against strong opponents, the other players hadn't even averaged a 1.0 Rating.

It was rough.

Samuelsson patted poizon on the shoulder. "poizon, even though you're no longer the team's primary AWPer, we still need you to step up and become a pillar of the team's success."

poizon looked a little bitter. "I'll do my best, but I don't know why—my aim's just been really off lately."

KRIMZ turned to look at him. "It's okay, poizon. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. We've already made it to the Antwerp Major. Just enjoy the matches ahead."

Samuelsson nodded and began encouraging the team. "That's right. Don't put too much pressure on yourselves."

"Just making it to the live event in Antwerp means we've got nothing to regret."

"If everyone can perform at their full potential, we're confident we can take on any CS team in the world."

"Tomorrow's opening match against COL is crucial, but we just need to play at our normal level."

"ALEX has already gone over the maps and strategies with you plenty of times."

"Now, we just have to trust that all our hard work in training hasn't been for nothing."

"Let's kick off our journey with a decisive victory!"

"Let's smash them!"

"1"

"2"

"3"

"Let's go!"

May 9.

Six o'clock in the evening, China time.

Two matches in the opening round of the PGL Antwerp Challengers Stage began at the same time.

One was Fnatic, led by Aether, facing COL, led by North America's top AWPer, junior. The other was Vitality, the Hornets, led by ZywOo, facing Kosovo's Bad News Eagles.

Most domestic streamers focused on the match on the secondary stage: Fnatic versus COL.

It was once again the CSBOY livestream on Douya.

"Welcome to the first round of the PGL Challengers Stage: Fnatic versus COL."

"I'm your commentator, Ma Xixi."

"I'm your commentator, Captain Mo."

"And I'm the third wheel, Ming Ri Qing."

"Who are you guys?"

After their familiar opening, Ma Xixi looked at the in-game screen and spoke first:

"Fnatic kept Nuke in the map pool and chose to start on the T side."

"COL aren't bad on Nuke either."

"Fnatic usually wouldn't pick Nuke, so have they prepared some kind of strategy?"

"Check the timer. 51."

"50."

"49."

"..."

"Okay, no problem."

"I see people in chat spamming 'North America's number-one pig, junior.' I have to clear something up here."

"You should know, COL actually did pretty well in the PGL Antwerp Major North American qualifier. They even beat Liquid."

"Plus, this is Aether's first time competing on a LAN stage, so we don't know whether he'll adapt to the pace of the matches."

"Honestly, I'm a little worried about Aether. The match stats show that his T-side AWP usually isn't as terrifying as his CT-side AWP."

[Aether, you're about to face one of the Four Great CSGO Gods: North America's number-one AWPer, the one who goes fifty-fifty with me and misses every shot if you catch him with his back turned—junior!]

[Fake North America's number-one AWPer: junior. Real North America's number-one AWPer: sh1ro.]

[This guy's always been a low-ceiling AWPer. He just doesn't have it, you know? I suggest Junior learn how to use the AWP first.]

As the commentators and chat kept talking, the match began.

mezii still bought Qin Feng a P250.

In the pistol round, Fnatic didn't opt for a standard A Site execute. Instead, they had Qin Feng take the P250 and scout the outside area of A Site first.

After all, COL wasn't a North American team known for its aim.

Even though Fnatic ranked toward the bottom among European teams, they still had a considerable advantage in both tactics and aim over North American CS teams.

"No one close outside or in K1," Qin Feng reported. Using a teammate's cover from the outside fuel barrels, he confirmed that COL hadn't pushed up recklessly.

"We don't have a full outside smoke lineup. Let's regroup and hit A Site, or go through Secret to Garage," ALEX said, glancing at his teammates' positions on the minimap. "Aether, don't keep holding the angle outside. See if you can pick off someone in Secret."

"If you get a pick, we'll have plenty of options. We can hit below Heaven or go to B Site."

"If we don't see anyone, we won't go in. We'll just execute onto A."

ALEX quickly made his call based on the information from his teammates' comms.

Qin Feng nodded and headed straight toward T Lobby. "I'll see if I can take a shot in a bit. If I get a pick, we'll go straight for ALEX's fast hit."

Grim, the fourth man on COL's roster, was the one holding Secret and Garage.

To avoid getting traded out by Ts rushing Garage, Grim chose to peek from the slope with only a small part of his body exposed.

That way, even if a Glock tapped him in the head, he could still fall back to the site with low health.

That didn't stop Fnatic from making their move toward Secret, though.

The first player to peek wasn't Aether, but poizon with a Glock and armor.

When he saw someone, Grim didn't fall back to B Site and give up Garage. Instead, he traded shots with poizon, one at a time.

Confident he had the angle advantage, Grim got greedy and tried to kill poizon before falling back.

Unfortunately, he only landed three body shots before poizon tapped him in the head twice with the Glock.

[Fnatic.poizon killed COL.Grim with a Glock-18 headshot]

COL had lost control of Secret and Garage.

"Beautiful!"

"poizon instantly kills Grim, who got greedy holding Secret and Garage. It's 5v4 right off the bat, and COL has completely lost control of B Site."

"Fnatic don't have any smokes, but whether they go straight down to plant on B Site or loop around below Heaven, it'll be hard for COL to read."

Mo added, "COL still have two CTs on A, and one CT below Heaven who has to worry about enemies coming through Secret. junior, outside in K1, will probably have to get back to the B Site Iron Door or Control Room to defend."

"..."

With a man advantage, ALEX didn't hesitate. He called all his teammates to B Site to plant.

junior hadn't made it back from K1 yet, and the Ts had already broken the Control Room window.

In this situation, the CTs had very few options for a retake.

With Secret and Garage cut off, COL's players could only retake through Double Doors and the Iron Door.

Unfortunately, JT and floppy, who were trying to retake through the Iron Door after dropping down the vent, arrived late.

"ALEX is tucked against the wall in Control Room. Will JT check?"

"JT doesn't check and gets USP-headshotted by ALEX."

"floppy goes for the trade, but he can't get him!"

"ALEX lands another USP headshot!"

"ALEX is actually showing up today."

Ma Xixi sounded surprised.

"The last two CTs are FaNg and junior coming through the B Site Iron Door. They're facing a 2v5 clutch."

"Are they saving?"

"No, junior pushes through the Iron Door to see if he can do anything."

"poizon catches him from Foot Position. What a Steel Helmet of a retake."

"FaNg tries to trade poizon, but KRIMZ doesn't give him the chance."

"1–0. Fnatic take the pistol round."

"..."

After winning the crucial pistol round, Fnatic's players all seemed to relax a little.

ALEX even somehow transformed into the team's hype man.

"Great job breaking the site, poizon."

"You headshotting Grim basically broke their whole defense on B."

KRIMZ nodded along. "Yeah, poizon. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Maybe you'll find your old form again."

As he followed the team on their opening defaults, ALEX reminded them, "COL are a team that like to force buy after losing the pistol round. We absolutely can't let them make a comeback."

"Our analyst mentioned that on Nuke, after COL lose the pistol round on CT, they almost always go for a mixed buy with a Desert Eagle and MP9."

"But they tend to hold close angles with the Desert Eagles, so we don't need to worry too much about getting picked outside."

"Besides, they aren't very good with the Desert Eagle."

"Still, to be safe, we should buy no more than two Mac-10s."

"We can smoke the first line outside to take control of outside and Garage, then see if we can loop around to Heaven."

"..."

As it turned out, ALEX's concerns were mostly unnecessary.

COL did force up with MP9s and Desert Eagles, but they had a disadvantage in weaponry and didn't push forward. Apart from Grim in Secret, the rest of them turtled up around A Site and B Site.

That allowed Fnatic to pull off a successful split onto A from Heaven and the Main Entrance.

The Ts didn't even lose a single gun.

Naturally, every Fnatic player breathed a sigh of relief.

On a difficult map to attack like Nuke, building up the T side's economy was especially important.

Otherwise, even with the 3,400 loss bonus, consecutive losses would still put them in the awkward position of having every round count as two.

The score went to 3–0.

The fourth round was the first gun round on Nuke.

Since they hadn't lost a gun, the Ts still had an unbalanced buy.

ALEX glanced at his and his teammates' weapons.

Two AKs, one Scout Rifle, and two Mac-10s.

"Aether, do you want to buy an AWP?" ALEX asked, checking the team's economy. "Even if you lose it this round, we can still afford to buy you one next round."

Qin Feng shook his head. "There's no need. COL probably can't afford an AWP this round either."

"If they somehow pull off a 5-for-0 and pick up the AWP, they might be able to build their economy back up."

"We have a lot of cheap guns this round, so we can use them to play around with some tactics. If I buy an AWP, it'll slow down our hit."

Hearing Qin Feng's answer, ALEX nodded.

"Okay. We'll smoke the first line outside and go down K1."

"COL know we don't have a full buy, so they'll probably be ready for a rush."

"We'll do the opposite."

"We'll use the AKs in KRIMZ's and poizon's hands to break into K1."

"We'll drop into K1, smoke off one side, and fight as we go. Let's see if we can plant right away."

"We're short on guns this round. Our goal is to drain COL's economy and get the bomb down."

"..."

As the match began, Qin Feng first held an angle on the oil drums with his Scout Rifle.

Meanwhile, after completing their standard defaults, his teammates returned to the outside line at Terrorist Base to set up their Execute with smokes.

At 1:20, three Smoke Grenades flew out, blocking the CTs' vision across the outside area.

The COL players below the third floor chose to spray through the smoke, but failed to deal any damage.

Fnatic's players dropped into K1 without taking a hit.

Ma Xixi, who was commentating, furrowed his brow.

"Fantic are using a short-buy to smoke the outside line and drop into K1. Does that really make sense?"

"As we can see, Grim at the connector and metal stairs has already decided to flank. He'll soon find out that no one's in the lobby."

"junior, holding the main entrance, has dropped straight down the vent and fallen back."

"Can junior hold them off?"

"..."

Thanks to BingerQAQ for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to Linzhi Ge for the 100-point tip.

Thanks to A Rui Wuming for the 100-point tip!!!