CS: Demon King C, you said I was a genius?

Chapter 225 Eleven Steps

After a day of intense competition, four teams have been eliminated from the IEM Dallas tournament.

Surprisingly, even Chicken's local team, Blue Star, was eliminated in the first two rounds. They were kicked into the loser's bracket by Liquid and then eliminated by Mouz, who were also in the loser's bracket.

This also illustrates how intense the competition was in this event.

G2's opponent in the upper bracket has been determined: M80, the team that eliminated them in the EPL19 tournament not long ago.

It was precisely because of losing that best-of-three series that G2's management was under immense pressure.

The club's general manager even privately confronted Breathing Ming, saying that if the team still didn't achieve results after this round of reinforcements, he could pack his bags and leave.

As for results, we must at least secure a spot in the top four of IEM Dallas.

Although with their current roster, securing a spot in the semifinals of this tournament shouldn't be too difficult for them.
However, there are always exceptions. The MR12 format of CS2 has reduced the margin for error for teams and made them more vulnerable to upsets by weaker teams.

So early the next morning, the day before the competition, Huxi arrived at the training room to study the M80's recent competition demos in order to prevent another mishap.

This kind of thing really has a mental block. For example, G2 tends to get nervous whenever they face NAVI, and their performance is terrible. Even now, NAVI's performance is not good either.

"Hello, Arrow, you're up so early again today!"

When Breath arrived at the training room, he found that Su Zhe had already started warming up with a deathmatch in front of the computer, so he greeted him.

He checked the time on his phone; it was only a little past seven in the morning. Although he was used to it, he still couldn't help but sigh:
"No wonder you've grown so fast. You're the most hardworking genius I've ever seen. Even kids these days don't play games as much as you do every day."

"Ok?"

Sensing that his breathing was speaking to him, Su Zhe, who was listening to music, took off his headphones and said, "I woke up early this morning and came here since I had nothing to do. I heard that Donk has 1.6 hours of gaming time. He works much harder than me, okay?"

Breathing pursed her lips and said, "Who knows how much of his 1.6 hours of gaming time is inflated? I've never seen it."

Su Zhe smiled. He came early today, not only because he woke up early, but also because he had been getting beaten to red in the [Endgame Simulator], so he wanted to come and beat up some ordinary players to get a feel for the game.

He then looked at her and asked, "Didn't you go to bed very late last night? Why are you here so early today?"

He remembered leaving the training room at 1 a.m. yesterday. At that time, he was still writing and drawing on the tactics board, studying something.

I have plenty of energy as a safety net, but breathing is something that takes a lot of energy from my body.

He chuckled and said, "There's no way around it, there's just too much to do, and not enough time."

Su Zhe didn't know what to say after hearing this. He knew that the pressure on him was immense, but he was completely clueless about data analysis and tactical research.

Even if I only need to sleep four hours a day now, it won't help him much. The only help I can give him is probably to get more kills in the game.

After exchanging a few more casual words, Su Zhe turned his attention back to the screen.

……

After a day of preparation, G2 faced off in the group stage finals on May 30th.

If they win, they'll advance directly to the semifinals.

If they lose, they will be relegated to the losers' bracket to compete for a spot in the top six.

CSBOY live broadcast room.

Ma Xixi had just started her live stream when she saw a large number of viewers flooding into the chat room, and she called out:
"The big one is here! Today is G2's revenge match! Let's see if G2's new lineup can maintain its form against M80, a top second-tier team."

"What do you mean by 'guaranteed victory if they don't make mistakes'? Their player Malbus is still very strong."

Although Malbus is not a very famous player, his past professional experience can be described as legendary. You could write a novel based on his story.

He joined the national professional esports team at the age of 13, but in his first professional game, he was crushed 16-1 by the director and a 30-year-old female internet celebrity.

The only point they won was a pentakill ace by Malbus.

He was then accused of cheating, just like Niko's original ambition: to bring Guatemalan CS:GO to the world.

But CSGO is ultimately not a game for one person. Countless professional stars have proven one thing: if you're willing to go to jail, you can only spend your life in jail.

After years of hard work and struggle, he finally joined M80, a team with European command, and made a name for himself.

After hearing what Ma Xixi said, Mo on the other side chimed in, "Yeah, the M80 team's firepower is indeed not weak. You know, even Liquid lost to them not long ago, and they lost three times!"

Liquid failed to qualify for the Copenhagen Major opening match and receive a sticker, and this team also contributed a lot.

Ma Xixi wanted to say something more, but when she saw the camera switch on the live stream, she said, "Alright, the match is about to start. Let's take a look at the draft results for both sides."

……

The M80 immediately banned Nuclear Crisis, a game they never play.

"So, should we release the map of the ancient ruins?" At the competition venue, Huxi began to seek the opinions of his teammates.

“Hmm,” Niko thought for a moment and then suggested, “I remember that M80’s best maps are Ancient Ruins and Fallen Tower. How about we ban Fallen Tower?”

A child nearby teased, "Ban Building, are you afraid you'll fall off when you're making the yellow cloth?"

Su Zhe couldn't help but laugh when he heard that.

During last year's Blast World Championship, Niko died after falling from the elevator while setting up his gun on the bridge below A slope during a match against Mouz.

Moreover, he was the main defender of A-slope on this map, which is the yellow cloth area, and from then on, Niko had another meme.

When executed well, this image becomes a serious yellow cloth; when used in an abstract way, it becomes a humorous yellow cloth.

"Go to hell!" Niko rolled his eyes at the child and made the international hand gesture.

Following Niko's advice, Breathing immediately banned Fallout Tower, as they hadn't practiced that map much lately.

Subsequently, the results for Figures 1 and 2 were also quickly obtained.

The first image shows the town of Purgatory, chosen by G2.

Figure 2 shows the ancient ruins selected by M80.

As for Figure 3, it falls on Anubis.

"Looking at it this way, our chances of winning today have increased even more, all thanks to the maps we've been practicing so hard on lately," my cousin said with a smile as he looked at the final draft results.

"Hmm." He also smiled and said, "But we still need to be careful of the little tricks they have prepared. We still don't know them very well."

Although they had faced each other once before, he had prepared his breathing before the match.

However, these second-tier teams love to use strange and unusual tactics, making it difficult to completely counter them.

The main reason is that top-tier teams are constantly running into each other in various tournaments, participating in many matches and facing off frequently.

A clever trick might be developed today, but it could become a common, overused trick the very next day.

As for the second-tier teams, they'll do anything to defeat the stronger teams. Who knows what they've secretly planned to use to deal with G2 this time?

Besides these, there is another important reason: the current professional teams are really full of slackers!
Although the once-dominant Team A has declined, like a whale falling, everything can thrive. Now, any second-tier international team can skillfully employ various bomb tactics and teamwork.

While star players may have explosive power and be able to catch two or three people in one go, no one can guarantee that they can catch two or three people in every go.

"Who cares about their tactics! I'm on fire today, I'm going to get my revenge for last time!" Niko said, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

After his last loss to M80, he earned another title: "Eleven Steps." In his matchup against slaxz from M80's team, he won once but died eleven times...

"Go! Go! If we win this match, we'll be well on our way to the championship!"

"Let's Go!!"

Everyone bumped fists in encouragement and, following the referee's instructions, began entering the competition server.

Figure 1: Purgatory Town

M80: slaxz, malbsMd, s1n, Swishrt, reck
G2: Hooxi, Niko, huNter, m0NESY, Arrow
As G2's map pick, M80 opted for a defensive start.

"OK, welcome to the IEM Dallas group stage upper bracket final, G2 vs. M80. I'm your commentator, Ma Xixi."

"I'm the commentator, CaptainMo."

"I'm Assistant Asuka Haru~"

"Who are you? Mo, let's check the time!"

Various abstract comments floated across the live stream, but Ma Xixi didn't have the energy to pay attention to them because the match between the two sides had already started.

“M80 started with a 3B2A defensive setup, while G2 opted for a strong flanking attack, leaving only Niko on the banana lane as a safety net.”

"Are the three M80 players playing so aggressively in the banana path? They threw a smoke grenade at the start and now they've thrown a fire grenade in the tree spot. The three of them are grouping up and pulling out from the stone slab to counter-clear Niko."

"Niko! He faced three guns all by himself, got the kill on Swishrt, and then escaped with low health by using a smoke grenade from the terrorist's spawn! How could he possibly get away like that!"

Niko hopped and skipped out of the smoke from the bandits' mouth, while on the side path, after gathering information that there were three people in the banana path, Breathing immediately accelerated:
"Let's go! Fly straight to the second floor! Niko, you just go mid lane and get some information!"

Su Zhe was still slowly making his way downstairs on the second floor, but after hearing the breathing call command, he strode towards the A2 floor.

Meanwhile, Niko, who was preparing to go solo down the middle lane, was pulled out and killed by Reck at the boiler room entrance.

"One boiler room! One connection!" the fallen Niko shouted.

M80 showed him a lot of respect this time. Reck only dared to go out and engage in gunfights after being flashed out by his teammates in the middle lane. This allowed Niko to gather all of M80's defensive positions.

After hearing the message in the earpiece, Su Zhe had no more worries and flew down from the A2 building. While his teammates were setting up A1, he went to check the location of the link.

Sure enough, the CT who had just lost the flashbang in the link quickly replaced him, and Su Zhe immediately moved and positioned himself to fire.

"Bang bang bang~ Pfft!"

Arrow used a Glock to headshot and kill s1n.

Two shots to the body and one to the head, Su Zhe successfully got the kill, but his breathing didn't match A1's reck as he jumped off the cart, and he was directly headshot by the opponent's USP.

In the 3v3 endgame, my cousin is still covering the rear on the side path. Now, there are only Su Zhe and the kid at the A bomb site.

We need to clear the CT scan on A1 now, otherwise it will be difficult to unload the bomb if the child is carrying it.

After a quick consideration, Su Zhe peeked at A1 and found that the other side was probably waiting for their teammates to return to defend, and did not come out to engage in gunfights again.

"Another one's passed through the middle! I'm letting it pass so I can flank from the middle!" came my cousin's voice through the earpiece.

So A1 probably has two people...

Su Zhe quickly moved to the position of the pit to support A1 and said, "Kid, you go plant the bomb, but I can't see the link for now."

"Row."

The child was equally experienced, and ran straight to the dead end to plant the bomb using the cover.

As soon as the bomb was half-buried, he heard footsteps coming from the nearby link.

"Someone's coming to the connection point!"

The child wanted to put down the grenade first, so that even if he lost the gunfight later, he would at least receive financial compensation.

After hearing this, Su Zhe peeked at A1 through the pit again and found that the other side had indeed started to synchronize, and the CTs of A1 had begun to push towards the bomb site.

After glancing at the minimap, I noticed that my cousin was moving slowly and stealthily, trying to get around to the back.

"Cousin! Keep your footing! The entire enemy team is in A1!"

As they were talking, Su Zhe decided to drop A1's CT and move directly to the far left of the pit to check the connection location.

Upon seeing the CT on the other side rushing towards the death point, I immediately located and opened fire.

"Bang bang bang~"

Arrow killed slaxz using Glock.

Thankfully, slaxz didn't buy nail polish, otherwise the kid might have had it patched up.

At this moment, the bomb was finally put down, and Su Zhe, who got the kill, immediately went to the A1 position. After seeing the CT jump out, he instantly flicked his crosshair upwards.

"boom!"

Arrow used a Glock to headshot and kill Reck.

One shot at close range and he's dead!
"Wow! That shot was aimed perfectly! It really showcases the power of numbers!"

"But Malbus followed up with a quick shot and finished off Arrow!"

"But the kid had already set up his gun, and his cousin had circled around from behind. Could Malbus have taken down his cousin? But he didn't have the chance; the kid still managed to shoot him down by the scalp!"

"Thankfully Arrow played well in this pistol round, getting a triple kill! Otherwise, G2 might not have won!"

Holy crap, Xiao Zhe's last shot was way too fast!

[They couldn't hold back; G2's current roster reminds me of a team from 21.]

[Haha, three treasures leading two idiots? Is this a youthful version of peak NAVI or an aged version of youthful NAVI?]

[Xiao Zhe: Why do I need to get three kills to win against G2?!]

【…】

"Damn it! My bad! I should have fired first!" Malbus slammed his fist on the table in frustration after being killed by the child.

"It's okay, it's just a pistol round. You got two kills, which is great," s1n, the team's in-game leader, comforted her.

But then he remembered something and asked, "Xiao Ma, you seem a bit strange lately. Has something happened?"

Malbus shook his head and denied it, saying, "No, everything is fine."

But after he finished speaking, he felt something was off. He remembered a dream he had the night before.

It's about G2 again; he dreamt that he was invited to join the G2 esports team and become the successor to his idol Niko...

It entered the Top 20 list at the end of 24.

This beautiful dream almost made him reluctant to wake up early in the morning.

Then, he looked up at the players' bench opposite him and saw Arrow bumping fists with the G2 players. He suddenly felt a pang of sadness.

(End of this chapter)