CS: A young talent from Peking University, you want me to play professionally?

Chapter 120: After the shift in offense and defense, Team A awakens!
"Okay, so the final score for the first half is 12:3. Entering the second half with such a large deficit, Team A faces immense pressure as they are now on defense. The score disadvantage places very high demands on them; consecutive mistakes could very well result in them losing the first map."

"That's right. So, when it's the defensive side's turn, we hope Team A can perform at their best. We hope they can implement their tactics effectively on the defensive side and perform individually. After all, this map is completely biased towards the defensive side. In previous matches, even if the attacking side was far behind in the first half, the defensive side could still make a comeback if they could execute good tactics and teamwork."

"Let's look at the pistol round first. The pistol round is very important because if the defending side can't win the pistol round, they will be under pressure in the Q area after losing one point. In that case, they will be under a lot of pressure because the score is already on the edge of a cliff. With NA almost having match point, A team has almost no room for error if they want to find an opportunity."

Judging from previous international tournaments, on the Inferno map, if the attacking side is at such a huge disadvantage in the first half, the pressure to catch up in the second half is immense, because their primary focus is the pistol round.

After all, if you lose the pistol round, there's almost no chance of a comeback. Even if you win the pistol round, you need to keep scoring in subsequent rounds to create an economic advantage. Otherwise, with such a large score deficit, it's very difficult for the defending side to close the gap.

After their defeat in the first half, Team A actually adjusted very well. Overall, the five players on their team were quite relaxed, because this was only the first map they chose. Even though their score was far behind in the first half, they could treat it more as a match to find their rhythm and feel for the game.

If they can get back to the defensive side in the second half and execute excellent tactics and teamwork, then even if they don't win the first map, Team A won't be under too much pressure when choosing subsequent maps. This is because in many previous matches, they've tended to have slightly sluggish starts, but they've regained their form in later rounds and their speed in chasing the wind has been quite impressive. However, the biggest pressure for them is facing NA; they can't afford to be careless against such a team.

"Leave three people on the banana path, and then plant one more at the bomb site. I feel like the enemy might rush to B site. If we play a standard default strategy, it will be very difficult to engage them in this attack. So we still need to be careful about their rush to the bomb site."

"Okay, I won't give them the items right away. I'll wait until they give them the items before launching a synchronized counterattack."

"That's right. Let's assume we'll play this tactic for now. If the opponent goes for mid this round, we don't have a particularly good solution. In this pistol round, we have to gamble on the opponent. They won't play a conventional tactic; we can only gamble on a specific spot. If we can gamble that the opponent actually goes for that spot, we can use utility items in an unconventional position to achieve a great effect."

"Keep it up. If you get this pistol point, you'll still have a good chance later on."

Even though the first half score was arguably the largest score difference Team A had faced on a map in a long time, their overall performance was still very good. When they came to the defensive side, they all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, because to be honest, they felt a lot of pressure during the offensive phase in the first half.

Although the attacking side is generally quite proactive, as they can use rotations and deceptive tactics to manipulate the defending side's positioning and personnel deployment during the game.

However, during the offensive phase of this match, all five players on Team A were quite frustrated because, despite trying various tactics, they were ultimately unable to achieve a good offensive result. This put immense pressure on all five players, and the lack of positive feedback over a prolonged period was also quite uncomfortable for them.

So, after the offensive and defensive transition shifted to the defensive side, Team A was actually playing very comfortably. They were in a relaxed state, and frankly, they were playing exceptionally well on this map. In fact, throughout their season this year, their win rate on Inferno has been very high, and they've even managed to score less than 3 points in the first half, while in the second half, they prevented their opponents from scoring more than 3 points either.

Therefore, for Team A, after the transition between offense and defense, there is now almost no pressure. Moreover, their defensive strategy is very clear, especially in the preparation phase of the pistol round.

gla1ve had already made a decision to block the point, based on his vision, he judged that NA was very likely to accelerate their push on Banana in the pistol round. According to their previous data and research, in most cases, pistol rounds don't involve controlling the middle lane or a pincer attack on A1 and the second floor; instead, they choose to quickly break through the front points, especially on the unconventional Banana route. Given this situation, especially with such a large score difference, if they didn't make a bold attempt to block the point, and failed to win the pistol round, the pressure on them would increase dramatically in subsequent rounds. Therefore, they made this attempt due to the pressure of the score difference.

Furthermore, judging from their command, NA is very likely to rush on this map. This is not a reckless or arbitrary attempt, but a choice made based on big data analysis, especially given a very clear understanding of this team.

At the start of the game, the five players on the NA team immediately took large steps to the front of the banana path. After giving them the items, they had already cleared the sandbag area.

From team A's perspective, their rapid rush to the front point was clearly outside the realm of conventional tactical thinking. However, even Li Mo hadn't anticipated that, despite such a significant score disadvantage, they would still make such a bold strategic move. Their heavy defense of point B with four players meant that if they hadn't chosen to break through the opposing team in this pistol round, but instead opted for a pincer attack on point A, or a coordinated tactical maneuver along the middle, the defending team would have been completely defenseless.

Furthermore, judging from the map, given the positioning of the defenders, once they gain control of the bomb site, it will be extremely difficult for the defenders to retake it, even with a full squad of five and the necessary equipment. This is because the defenders lack information about the bomb site, and there are simply too many things to search for. Moreover, the multiple weapons within the bomb site make it almost impossible for the defenders to obtain information about the bomb site and its location without incurring casualties.

After hearing that Team A had five players, Team A remained very calm. They didn't immediately try to counter with a double pull or any items. Instead, they waited until Team A used their items to try and break through the defenses before pulling out their players to count their points. With Team A gaining control of the items, they were in a very difficult position, with all three players at the front point completely eliminated.

Faced with such a powerful item, Team A eliminated three players who were attempting to break through. Even though the two players behind them were able to pull out from the banana lane immediately and weren't eliminated right away, the front point had already been switched, meaning there was practically no chance of a comeback.

"NA didn't have a clear prediction of the opponent's defense on Banana Road. They obviously didn't expect such a bold attempt at this point. The defense of point B with four people, especially the coordination of the three people using the utility at the front and the rear position of the bomb site, and the flashbang provided by the opponent directly caused them to pay a heavy price at the Banana Road position."

"It feels like Team A is incredibly skilled and daring. Normally, when professional teams face a score disadvantage like this, they would almost always opt for a standard defensive formation and tactics in the pistol round. Under normal circumstances, such a breakthrough would allow them to easily capture the front point at the intersection. However, Team A's unconventional tactic dealt a devastating blow. With three players instantly eliminated, even though they managed to trade kills for two of the opposing defenders, it was all in vain for the round."

"We can feel the resilience of Team A against their opponents, and the players' mentality is something we can all learn from. Even with such a large score disadvantage, they still played with great confidence. It can be said that this is largely due to the fact that they called two timeouts in the first half. After winning this pistol round, the situation on this Inferno map is still not completely settled."

After winning the pistol round, Team A opted for a full-on strategy. With such a large deficit, any opportunity to catch their breath would inevitably lead them to invest all their resources in an attempt to close the gap. This is especially true on a map that is extremely favorable to the defenders, where having an advantage in weaponry and utility allows for excellent map control and coordinated utility play at the front.

In the opening stages, Team A's smoke grenades completely covered Banana and Middle, making it extremely difficult for them to gain any basic information or ground control. The defenders only needed to expend a minimal amount of smoke and fire to completely repel the attackers' attempts to gain information about the front points. Furthermore, the defenders' positioning was very cunning, making it extremely difficult for the attackers to utilize their pistol advantage in close-quarters combat to secure kills, as they were essentially denied any opportunities at the front points, playing a very stable and methodical game.

One minute and 20 seconds into the game, their team still had five players, almost all of them huddled near the middle lane. They hadn't managed to take the second floor either, because the opposing team was constantly using utility and flailing left and right to delay their attack. For them, lacking long-range weapons, utility was extremely scarce. If they used too many utility items during the initial push, even if they managed to seize control of the bomb site initially, the defending team would be powerless to stop them during a full-scale rotation back to the bomb site, using their counter-utilities to coordinate a clearing operation.

They were still hesitant for too long. Having already wasted enough time at the front point without any long-range weapons, they couldn't make a long-range turn towards point B, nor could they make a shallow breakthrough. They were now in a very awkward situation, making further attempts extremely difficult.

(End of this chapter)