VS forZe

May 11, fourth round of the Antwerp Challengers Stage: Fnatic versus forZe.

8:30 p.m. China time, Douyu livestream room 52327.

"The match is officially underway. Welcome, everyone!"

"This is the 2–1 match in the PGL Major Challengers Stage. The winner will advance straight to the Legends Stage of the Antwerp Major."

"I'm your commentator, QUQU!"

QUQU's booming voice reached every viewer in the livestream room as the match began.

"Here we go! First map is Mirage, and Fnatic are starting on the Counter-Terrorist side."

"Standard defense. Nothing fancy."

"ForZe are setting up for an A Execute, drawing attention before sneaking through Underpass."

"Underpass... Oh, no, two players are pushing up. Can shalfey hold his ground?"

The PGL broadcast director had already switched to Aether, who was holding close in Underpass.

From the Fnatic players' perspective, all of Mirage lay quiet.

"Hm? Has forZe got something special planned for us?" ALEX asked casually from the back of Underpass.

"They're executing onto A Site, but there's only one Smoke Grenade on CT Base," pozion added from behind CT Booth. "Don't rush the retake. We haven't seen the bomb."

Qin Feng, holding Dual Pistols close in Underpass, and ALEX, holding a USP from farther back, stayed firmly in position.

"We can move through Underpass now." After a moment's hesitation, forZe's in-game leader Jerry decided to send his teammates through first.

shalfey hugged the wall on the right side of Underpass, carefully jiggle-peeking in case an enemy was pushing up.

All he saw was a pair of Dual Pistols waiting for him.

"Pop, pop, pop."

Three quick shots. Qin Feng didn't land a headshot, but shalfey still lost most of his health.

"shalfey spotted someone and took 40 damage. Does he still dare to swing out and take a duel with Aether?"

QUQU was commentating with such energy that he was fully immersed in the action.

"If the CTs are pushing up, there's definitely more than one of them in Underpass."

"I'm not coming over. You come to me."

"You come in, you come out! You come in, you come out!"

"Woo! Aether takes shalfey out with a Jiggle Peek!"

"You can prefire with this thing and spray. This gun is so busted."

"A pistol that can spray!"

"zorte, coming out of T Spawn toward Mid, gets taken out by ALEX too."

"The remaining Terrorists have no choice but to force their way onto A Site and plant."

[Dual Pistols! Finally, God A's using them again!]

[We'll restore Fnatic's glory, no matter the cost!]

[Classic!]

With shalfey in Underpass and zorte in Mid dead, forZe's three remaining players couldn't hold back any longer. They went for a fast push onto A Site.

Fnatic were in no rush with a 5v3 advantage. The CTs on Jump Platform and CT Base had even fallen back to hold their second angles.

There was no one at the Bomb Site, so forZe could only fake a plant at CT Base.

pozion didn't peek.

Jerry kept faking the plant.

pozion still didn't peek.

But when Jerry went for a real plant the third time, the CT rotating from B was already at CT Base.

pozion and KRIMZ swung together from CT Base, instantly taking out KENSI, who was holding an angle, and Jerry, who was planting.

Jerry was so angry he nearly passed out.

What kind of timing was that?

So you won't come out unless I actually plant, huh?

With forZe's last two players dead, the score went to 1–0. Jerry gritted his teeth and called for a force buy after losing the Pistol Round.

Without a plant, the Terrorists only had $1,900 in loss bonus. With TEC-9s and Desert Eagles, forZe went for a fast push up B Second Floor.

Fnatic, however, opted for a steady 2-1-2 setup.

At the start of the round, KRIMZ took his M4A1 to Wan Ji Qi's position, while mezii held close beneath Second Floor with an MP9.

Before forZe's players could even leave Exit Point, they were hit by two full-strength grenades. The only survivors, zorte and Norwi, fired a few token shots from B Second Floor before quickly becoming two more bodies lying neatly alongside their teammates.

As expected, the score went to 3–0.

Fourth round. ForZe's first Gun Round. Thanks to the money his teammates had saved, zorte was able to buy an AWP.

"I'll check A1 and see if I can get a pick." After checking his position, zorte decided to head to A1.

Knowing they were up against Fnatic, forZe had naturally spent the night reviewing Fnatic's footage.

Everyone knew Aether liked to hold the angle from VIP on Mirage with his AWP.

zorte didn't want to challenge Aether, who was in great form.

"If I can pick someone off, we might be able to speed up the push onto A Site." Even after picking up the Sniper Rifle, zorte couldn't hide his desire to kill.

"Bang."

[Fnatic.Aether killed forZe.zorte with an AWP headshot]

Unfortunately, when he took aim at A1, he didn't get a pick. Instead, Qin Feng had just climbed onto Jump Platform and took him out with a single AWP shot.

ForZe now had to face a 4v5 right from the start.

Jerry suddenly had a bad feeling.

Almost all of their pre-match plans for Mirage had revolved around figuring out how to counter Aether's AWP.

But today, Aether seemed unusually aggressive.

In fact, Jerry wasn't wrong.

The real problem was Qin Feng.

Against a team like forZe, which didn't have a particularly strong star player, Qin Feng knew his AWP had plenty of room to shine.

Yesterday, he'd spent at least six hours analyzing the usual positions of every forZe player with his Fnatic teammates.

ForZe had started the tournament with a 2–0 record, and they deserved credit for their consistent team play and lack of any glaring weaknesses.

But at the same time, one reason most people hadn't rated them highly before the event was that they had no truly outstanding star player.

When faced with an AWP that could strike from anywhere, forZe's lack of a star player would become increasingly apparent.

Qin Feng understood that rather than wait for an Execute to force him off his angle, he was better off playing aggressively and trying to get the first kill.

Fnatic wanted him to take the initiative.

Yesterday, against Vitality, Qin Feng might have worried about losing a duel to ZywOo's AWP if he played aggressively.

But against forZe today, he could hunt for picks without any pressure.

ForZe looked like a team without weaknesses, but Aether's aggressive push had clearly thrown them off.

Looking at the AWP lying at A1, Jerry had no choice but to call for a fast push onto A Site.

Because their economy had been tight in the third round, forZe only had two Smoke Grenades. Jerry eventually told his teammates to smoke off Connector and Jump Platform.

What they didn't know was that Qin Feng, having gotten the first kill on Jump Platform, had already returned to his AWP angle at CT Base.

"Is forZe going for an Execute onto A Site?"

"But they don't have a full set of utility, because they're short on grenades and wasted Smoke Grenades earlier."

"They know Aether's AWP is on Jump Platform. Are they smoking off Jump Platform and Connector before rushing the Bomb Site and CT Base?"

"This is bad! Aether already rotated back to his AWP angle at CT Base."

"What can forZe do? They're forcing it."

"Three coming through A1, one through A2."

"Flash over the lamp post! It doesn't blind Aether at CT Base."

"Jerry swings out at A1 and gets picked off immediately."

"The Terrorists are still rushing the AWP at CT Base."

"shalfey, coming up from Second Floor, gets traded out too."

"Aether's on three!"

"Are they still coming out from A1?"

"They're forcing it?"

"Aether doesn't miss! Four kills!"

"The last Terrorist doesn't dare to come out, but Aether actively goes looking for him!"

At that, QUQU drew in a sharp breath.

Enough to speed up global warming by just a tiny bit.

"He's actively hunting!"

"Five kills!"

"ACE!"