"junior threw a smoke grenade to block K1. Fnatic's players will have to wait for it to clear."
"Are they backing off?"
"The smoke's cleared, and they haven't backed off. What's junior planning?"
"Going around behind them?"
"This is bad. Fnatic's players are all heading toward Yellow Gate and Control Room. junior's cutting them off through the vents, and nobody's watching their backs."
The situation on the server wasn't looking good for Fnatic.
junior had already spotted the tops of two players at K1 from beside the vent exit.
"This is it. junior's about to become COL's hero..." Ma Xixi stopped halfway through his sentence.
"Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat-tat-tat." Bullets poured from the M4A1, but they didn't deal even a single point of damage to Fnatic's players.
Twenty shots into their backs, and he still couldn't kill anyone.
He gathered information, maneuvered cleverly, and got behind them—all in one smooth sequence! But...
His utterly bizarre aim had thrown away the Counter-Terrorists' excellent position.
A giant "DANGER" seemed to appear above junior's head.
"Oh my god."
"Everyone familiar with junior knows he tends to miss with the Sniper Rifle. I didn't expect him to miss all twenty shots with a rifle, too."
"poizon just turned around, controlled his AK spray, and headshot him instantly."
"COL's player at the connector, over by the metal panels, has already started rotating back to B, but the Terrorists have taken the B Site Bomb."
"Fnatic have used their smoke grenade and Incendiary Grenade to block the connector. Will the remaining CTs from COL still try to retake?"
"..."
[If I were in there, I'd have gotten at least one. I could've done it.]
[There's always a great junior moment every match. Glad I tuned in.]
[Thank you, junior.]
[COL, please don't win. My Diamond Coins are riding on you.]
At the players' desks, junior looked thoroughly aggrieved.
If only he'd taken two more steps forward and shot the Terrorists while they were fully exposed.
After getting killed on that flank, he'd practically forced his remaining teammates to save their guns.
As expected, COL's remaining four players chose to save their guns.
The score reached 4–0.
Fnatic's weapons were a far cry from the previous round—they'd upgraded their entire arsenal.
ALEX picked up the M4A1 junior had dropped, while mezii and Qin Feng each bought an AK.
Once the buy time ended, Fnatic immediately set their sights on COL's A Site Bomb.
A coordinated A Site Execute signaled the start of Fnatic's attack.
With 1:40 left on the clock, COL's defenders at A had already been battered by a barrage of utility.
Fnatic's sudden acceleration in the Gun Round had caught COL completely off guard. FaNg and Grim, holding A, didn't seem ready to counter the utility at all.
"Aether didn't buy an AWP. Is Fnatic going for a fast hit?"
"mezii pushes out through Iron Door and takes a shot to the head from FaNg on Yellow House."
"Wow, FaNg only has time to fire once before Aether, who came through Iron Door with mezii, instantly takes him down with a single shot."
"junior's up on the third floor? Aether takes him out too."
"Aether's rifle is vicious."
"Grim's holding Iron Door from the site."
"Grim can't do anything against Aether."
Ma Xixi couldn't help laughing, showing off his skills as a "neutral commentator."
"Now that's what you call aim."
"Let Aether show you the aim of Huaguo CS."
"Pure aim diff."
"The remaining COL players choose to save their guns. Fnatic take an early 5–0 lead."
"Is five rounds enough?"
"They're in a terrible spot!"
[They're in a terrible spot, guys! A terrible spot!]
[Xixi's the most neutral streamer I've ever seen.]
[Fnatic's five straight rounds can't hide their weak-team slump. COL taking zero rounds shows their true strength.]
At COL's desks, floppy reluctantly called the first timeout of the match.
Going down 5–0 on the Counter-Terrorist side of Nuke was a disastrous start for COL.
Throughout the PGL Major North American qualifiers, even Liquid had struggled to put them under this much pressure.
"Let's take a timeout and slow their momentum." As floppy spoke, he suddenly sighed and looked toward their coach, T.c, behind him.
For some reason, their coach hadn't offered a single suggestion today. Instead, he'd been laughing nonstop behind the players' desks.
After the brief timeout, the match resumed.
But COL's timeout didn't seem to help at all.
Even when junior bought a Sniper Rifle, Qin Feng kept picking him off outside.
Even Grim, the team's strongest rifler, couldn't fight back.
Fnatic controlled the pace of the entire first half.
14–1. Fnatic had delivered a flawless performance on the Terrorist side of Nuke.
Of course, the most absurd part was that Qin Feng hadn't died once all half.
Even in the round they lost, Qin Feng had saved his Sniper Rifle when the round timer ran out.
"Oh my god, Aether finished the half with thirteen kills and zero deaths?"
"I'll be damned, is this really the Terrorist side of Nuke?"
junior really couldn't land a single shot on Aether.
[Aether: I will die not once and end the match!]
[Bold prediction: Aether is actually playing real-life CSGO, with only one life.]
[This is the upside of coldzera not being here. No matter how badly they lose, it won't be 16–0.]
The second half had even less suspense.
After easily winning the pistol round, Fnatic ended the match with a quick aggressive push.
16–1. Fnatic comfortably defeated COL and secured a valuable win.
Qin Feng's KD was an astonishing 15–0.
"Oh my god, Fnatic seem to be in much better form than they were in the qualifiers."
"God of Medicine is fragging like crazy—22–8."
"How did Aether go 15–0 without dying once?"
"That's ridiculous."
But the astonishment wasn't limited to the Chinese audience. Many viewers and commentators from Europe and North America were amazed, too.
Especially the North American commentators.
"I never expected junior, North America's best AWPer, to get completely outplayed by Fnatic's Aether."
"Can Huaguo's CSGO scene really produce an AWPer this strong?"
"It's hard to believe."
"Looking at this, COL's chances of advancing don't seem great."
"Keep in mind, Fnatic are only a mid-tier team in Europe."
"..."
After politely saying goodbye to their opponents, Fnatic's players returned to the team area.
Their 16–1 win over COL had obviously put everyone in a good mood.
"Feng, that was incredible. You didn't die once in your first Major match."
ALEX walked at the front, marveling at Qin Feng.
But soon, he collected himself.
"Everyone, don't relax. Once the first BO1 round is over, we'll still have a match in the 1–0 pool."
"We won't know who our next opponents are until this round is completely over, but we still need to keep our form up."
"poizon was dominant this game, too. 22–8. He went on a rampage."
"Our next opponents could be very strong. It's a match in the 1–0 pool, after all."
"But don't put too much pressure on yourselves. In a Swiss-system tournament, we'll still have plenty of chances to adjust."
"We need to believe we deserve a spot in the Legends Stage."
"..."
Before you continue