Show Show Way

"What was Fnatic going to do? ALEX, holding Jump Platform, gave up scouting A1 and turned to watch Arch instead."

"Was Aether, posted up on A Site's second floor, about to get sold out? Nobody was watching A1 for him."

"What could Aether do? He could only choose one side to push up on; otherwise, he'd have to watch both A1 and A2."

As QUQU commentated, PGL's director locked the camera onto Qin Feng.

Qin Feng was slowly edging into A's second floor with the Sniper Rifle in his hands.

Norwi, behind the pillar on A's second floor, was still shoulder-peeking to guard against a possible push. By chance, though, Qin Feng's scope caught the arm Norwi had left exposed on the pillar's right side.

"Bang." The sniper rifle round screamed out of the barrel.

[Fnatic.Aether killed forZe.Norwi with an AWP]

Norwi's expression changed. He hadn't expected the player pushing A's second floor to be carrying an Aether-sized AWP.

More importantly, once A's second floor was lost, it would be much harder for forZe to attack the A Site Bomb Site.

"It's fine. Keep hitting A. We'll go for an Execute. Once Arch is in position, burn out second floor." Jerry was still calling for an A hit.

In the Livestream Room, QUQU watched Fnatic's defensive setup, still looking worried.

"Guys, Fnatic's still hard to deal with."

"Aether's holding a Sniper Rifle. He can't shoot an enemy at the A1 head-glitch from A2."

"And ALEX at Arch is the first point of contact with the Terrorists coming up Arch."

"This is bad. ALEX is about to get pinched."

"If ALEX can trade one, Fnatic still has a chance."

"He didn't get a trade. The Terrorists just shot him through the wall."

At that, QUQU suddenly let out a shout.

"Aether dropped the AWP and picked up the AK Norwi dropped on second floor?"

"Jerry smoked off the fire at A1. Does forZe still have anyone watching A's second floor?"

"No!"

"ForZe on the Terrorists' side still don't know how many people are defending A Site. They're still worried about Dead Site or CT Base."

"What are you doing, Aether?"

"The Incendiary Grenade just went off, and Aether's running through the fire straight out of second floor?"

"shalfey, who was trying to plant by Short Box, got deleted."

"Jerry had just thrown his fire and didn't turn around either. Aether transferred his spray and took him out."

"Where's the trade from the Terrorists?"

"zorte finally reacted, turned around, and headshot Aether as he came out of second floor through the fire."

"Aether was traded, but Fnatic's players were already in position to retake."

"ForZe dropped the bomb. Fnatic's remaining players didn't give zorte and KENSI a chance to plant."

"Fnatic perfectly shut down forZe's attack, thanks to Aether's performance."

As he spoke, QUQU even stood up and bowed toward the camera.

[The whole crowd is on its feet!]

[Kids don't know any better. He was just messing around, running through fire.]

[666666, God A is insane. I shouldn't have called you out for missing shots just now.]

[Got it. Aether's fire-elemental, so running through fire gives him a buff.]

[Guess forZe didn't expect Aether to drop the AWP and switch to an AK.]

[See that? God A and the snipers back home aren't even in the same league. Even if he misses a few shots, he can still go on a rampage in the rounds that follow.]

The "God A is insane" and "the whole crowd is on its feet" comments almost covered the entire Livestream Room screen.

As forZe called another timeout, QUQU quickly steadied himself, then started praising Aether to the viewers.

"Do you know what makes Aether's AWP so good?"

"Even though he gets the most resources on the team, he always manages to make good use of his AWP."

"Across every match at this Major so far, Aether's Rating hasn't dropped below 1 even once."

"Just look at the decisions he made that round. He's a sniper who plays with his brain switched on."

"You know Dan Zong and Kaze back home, right? Their sniping is really strong too."

"But overall, they're nowhere near as consistent as Aether."

"Kaze and Dan Zong's strength depends on their aim. But when they're on the back foot, you'll often see them make bad decisions."

"But Aether, how do I put it... Most of the time, his positioning is really sound. He makes you feel like this is just how the game should be played."

"I remember Aether started out as Fnatic's secondary AWPer, but Medicine God's AWPing was so wild that they made Aether the team's main AWPer."

"Otherwise, Fnatic probably wouldn't even have made it into the Major's Challengers Stage."

"And whenever the team needs Aether, he always steps up."

"Don't be fooled by his aggressive positioning. It's definitely a tactic Fnatic planned out in advance."

Just as he was saying this, PGL's director cut to the camera in front of Qin Feng.

Qin Feng looked calm on screen, showing no excitement at all despite getting a triple kill.

By contrast, his teammate beside him was so worked up that his face had gone red.

A word flashed through QUQU's mind: routine!

Aether was the polar opposite of the sniper QUQU thought of as the most prone to getting tilted: Pointless.

Since cadiaN often got overly excited during matches, the Chinese community had even come up with plenty of silly memes about him, like "Pointless, my mentally ill patient," "Pointless eats children," and "the Danish cannibal."

Aether, on the other hand, always seemed calm, no matter what—like a real-life hitman who used an AWP to take people's lives.

"I don't even know how to describe Aether anymore, guys."

"Now that's the bearing of a true general."

The viewers in the Livestream Room had naturally seen Qin Feng's unruffled expression too.

[Routine!]

[I get it. God A's actually just a stoic like the sloth Naf, right?]

[Stoic my ass. God A used to laugh all the time on stream. He's so handsome when he smiles...]

[The guy above, I suggest you Show Show Way!]

If Aether's performance that round had given Fnatic a much-needed breather, then KRIMZ's explosive showing in the next round would drag forZe into an abyss.

After the score widened to 6:4, Fnatic's long-quiet poizon finally came alive.

Thanks to their earlier economic advantage, forZe still had a full buy in the eleventh round and chose to take control of mid.

However, their attempt to control mid was completely shut down by a Double-peek from mezii and poizon in Underpass, set up with a Smoke Grenade.

"Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat."

The M4A1 spat fire.

[Fnatic.poizon headshot and killed forZe.zorte with an M4A1]

[Fnatic.poizon headshot and killed forZe.Jerry with an M4A1]

[Fnatic.poizon headshot and killed forZe.Norwi with an M4A1]

poizon's triple kill from the Underpass Double-peek instantly wrecked forZe's plan to control mid.

The two remaining Terrorists had no choice but to Save Guns.

The Terrorists wouldn't have enough money for a full buy next round.

But if they saved two AKs with a full set of Grenades, they might still have a chance to turn the match around with those two rifles.

Fnatic didn't try to hunt them down either.

The score moved to 7:4.

To support the two AKs on the entry, forZe's other three players bought pistols with half armor and a few Grenades.

But those two AKs weren't enough to turn the tide.

From CT Booth, Qin Feng sniped KENSI as he swung out from A1 behind a flash from the light pole.

Meanwhile, ALEX, holding close on A's second floor, headshot shalfey with an M4A1 as he tried to swing out and trade.

The remaining three pistols were no threat at all.

8:4. Fnatic held a four-point lead.