Valorant: I Am Still the World's Best

Even if the enemy calls a tactical timeout, our side can still speak.

After listening to his teammates boast and pondering the opponent's tactical intentions, it took him a while to speak up: "Knowing that we've got a sniper rifle, they're either going to grab it or avoid it... Given GIA's style, I think they'll avoid the fight. Kang, you give them that information on purpose, then switch snipers."

The members of EDG readily agreed.

They used this tactic against FNC during scrims.

Although the rapid point-shifting ability of the night dew was no longer available, it was still usable to some extent.

The round begins.

The events on the field unfolded exactly as After had predicted.

GIA, originating from the EMEA region, learned from the industry leader Fnc and is also an academic team, so they naturally sought a reasonable solution.

—Avoid the Phantom Horse and refrain from risky gambles.

Zheng Yongkang used the Dark Horse to take down the enemy Skye's [Tiger of the Forest] at the B-point, then passed the sniper rifle to Su Ming and switched to the Madman.

Ten seconds later, GIA used Iron Wall to land a [Mountain Collapse], and with the addition of the smoke from the front point of the Shadow B tunnel entrance, they regained map control and fell silent.

Only the security guard was left at B-channel; the rest of the team headed to A-channel.

After his teammates were in position, nukkye took out his camera and got a head start on the B-channel direct line information.

As soon as the camera was turned on, it showed Jet's arm halfway out. Jet pulled out a short cannon and shot the camera down.

"The sniper is still at B!" nukkye immediately reported.

"Press it!" Cloud immediately commanded.

Stand behind Iron Wall and hold onto [Mountain Collapse and Earth Collapse], waiting for your teammates to silently engage and obtain location information before immediately following up with their skills.

Fit1nho (Raz) carefully aimed, took a deep breath, and pulled out of the A Hall cover by a wide horizontal movement.

Within sight, behind a pillar on the second floor, Raz, carrying a sniper rifle, suddenly appeared.

Fit1nho's pupils suddenly contracted.

The next instant, all that could be heard was the roar of the Dark Steed.

"boom--!!"

Su Ming steadily held his ground, took the hit of the "Landslide and Collapse" attack, and retreated back into cover.

The next second, under the cover of the Viper's [Poison Curtain], he threw out [Surprise Tumble] and jumped to the second floor.

The GIA naturally heard the bomb jump, but couldn't determine whether it was a 'real jump' or a 'fake jump,' and still couldn't pinpoint its location.

"Let's smoke."

Su Ming positioned his camera at the entrance of the A2 building's metal plate and said calmly.

As the toxic smoke dissipated, a blurry silhouette of an arm appeared in the far right of the scope.

Su Ming jolted and instinctively flung the gun away. The instant he fired, he threw out [Surprise Tumble] and bounced back behind cover.

After landing safely, he confirmed that he had sniped Skye on the other side.

"Faster! That was a fast sniper shot!" Su Di, watching the live stream, was amused. He shoved his face into the camera and yelled, "Could you, GIA, have thought of that sniper switch? I didn't even think of that! ...EDG's move was so brilliant, unbelievable!!"

[So depressing!]

[This young player can even snipe?]

[There's some truth to that, isn't there? With a second person who can withstand sniping, it's really harder for the enemy to target them.]

[This game is unplayable; I guess I'll have to save my weapons with this GIA score.]

I didn't even get a shot in; I died in Duel and Information Vanguard, so it's unplayable.

On the map, the three GIA members have retreated back to their spawn point and entered a weapon-saving mode.

The atmosphere within the GIA team is getting a bit stifling.

In the opening match of the World Championship, they were swept five times by a wildcard team that they had underestimated before the tournament. Despite having a lineup that was specifically designed for offense, they couldn't even get a single shot down, and everyone had a negative record. It would be strange if their mentality wasn't affected.

"Next point, I'll go for this sniper rifle."

Cloud gritted his teeth and said.

His decisions were read in two consecutive rounds because he was too fixated on the 'optimal solution'.

...We need to beat them up like idiots.

Round 6.

GIA's standard map control involves exchanging items and confirming the location of the Dark Horse on B2. They immediately fill it with items and speed up the B2 run.

Kang Kang, who had accumulated a full load of items, was taken down, but he managed to survive using [Instant Cloud], buying enough time for Smoggy and Nobody to counter-item and pull him out for a follow-up shot.

Building B2 was in complete chaos. After a fierce firefight, EDG managed to exchange 3 for 4, leaving nukkye to fight off the remaining enemies.

In a 2v1 situation, Su Ming and Qiuqiu double-teamed the police spawn, giving them no chance. Only after the enemy planted the bomb did they push forward, lining up from the police spawn all the way to the bomb site.

Qiuqiu used [Snake Kiss] to clear out the dead spots, and Su Ming faked dismantling the package to lure out the security guards on B2. The two of them then took down the guards in a straight fight.

Despite their specialized offensive capabilities with two forwards, GIA conceded six consecutive points, leaving them in a panic.

The second pause was called immediately.

After only two rounds, another timeout was called. This time, After couldn't read the opponent's thoughts and could only tell his teammates to focus on aiming and communicate more.

The seventh round begins.

GIA used the skills of two Vanguards to aggressively seize B tunnel at the start and control a skill orb.

40 seconds later, the cooldown ended, and they once again seized control of Hall A and took possession of the ball.

With the two skill points controlled, both Iron Wall and Raz's ultimate skills were ready again.

At this point, EDG already knew the opponent's intentions.

This is a tactical rhythm unique to the dual-vanguard system in professional matches.

The standard tactic for two slow-control maps revolves around items that are extremely strong for the two vanguard positions.

Each round typically lasts 1 minute and 40 seconds. At the start, use a skill once, wait 40 seconds for the cooldown, seize map control in the second round, and then wait another 40 seconds for the cooldown before unleashing a barrage of bombs to enter the point.

Therefore, the next attack point will inevitably be the time '20 seconds' before the end of the next round, when the skills are ready again.

"I shouldn't have let them control the ball so comfortably. When they were fighting for B, I should have let you guys control A," Nobody reflected.

His experience as a commander was still somewhat immature, and he didn't react immediately.

"Two big ones, it's hard to catch them, should we put some more in?" Su Ming asked.

"...We can't give it up," Nobody said. "We're a dual-duel system, and we don't have enough utility for retaking. We can't afford to give up any points; we have to trade kills. Besides, it's hard to retake with a sniper."

The reason why it's rare to see a shutout in a game like Variant is due to the impact of the ultimate skill.

No matter how disadvantaged we are, if all five of us save up our ultimate moves, we can always win a point.

The sheer power of the two ultimate moves made it difficult for the Dark Horse to defend itself.

"Should I look for an opportunity?"

After asking a question and receiving approval from the commander, Zheng Yongkang slowly pushed out of B tunnel with his sniper rifle.

He then walked right into a trap that GIA had carefully prepared.

—Two-person unconventional position straight frame.

The jet collapsed to the ground.

Zheng Yongkang slammed his fist on the table in frustration, blaming himself, "My bad, they're going to bring it up now."

As expected, GIA immediately accelerated the download speed in zone B, downloaded the package, and then immediately returned to zone B.

After EDG cleared the empty bomb site with their skills and guns, GIA activated both of his ultimate abilities simultaneously as soon as the bomb was defused.

【Goodnight Fireworks】+【Thunder Sweep】cover the entire bun area.

Su Ming and Qiu Qiu, who were stunned into immobility, were directly killed by the rocket launcher, and Zhang Zhao was also taken down by Skye who was pulled out.

Only Nobody, who was on guard against the enemy flanking from B2, was still alive.

Seeing that victory was assured in this round, Cloud asked his teammate Ironwall for the [Avalanche] ability, pulled the rope up to B2, and killed Nobody.

Up to this point, his behavior had been perfectly normal...

however.

After killing Nobody, Cloud did not stop firing, continuing to unleash his madman bullets directly onto the corpse.

— To whip a corpse.

A huge roar suddenly erupted at the scene.

There was laughter from passersby fanning the flames, cheers from GIA fans, and boos from EDG fans...

【? ? ? ? 】

[GIA is getting impatient; they like to interact after winning just one point?]

This is the quality of white people.

[Good whip! It's meant to whip you bunch of bastards!]

[Haha, is this the big star from Wawapi? Always going out to feed with a sniper rifle?]

[Get out of here, you idiots! If you want to acknowledge a white father, go acknowledge one yourself!]

Stop arguing, let's all stand together against this enemy!

Danking's live stream room has always been known as the Cyber ​​Demon-Suppressing Tower, full of demons and monsters.

At this moment, the comments section was also in complete chaos, staging a classic GO Tile battle.

Danking, used to this, chuckled and said, "GIA is really furious. Trailing by a large margin and still lashing out? Anyone who didn't know better would think they were in the lead... Let's see how EDG responds."

-----------------

The EDG players also saw this blatant humiliation and were quite annoyed.

Kang Kang was the angrier one, muttering about the national treasures that couldn't be broadcast.

Nobody, however, remained calm and offered words of comfort:

"Don't worry, Kang, they're deliberately messing with our mentality. Foreign teams love to use this tactic... The double vanguard's ability to capture points is too strong. Our lineup must take advantage of the skill gaps to push out and regain map control. You did the right thing, but the other side was prepared."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Yongkang nodded, calming himself down.

"Our decision to seize the window of opportunity was correct."

Su Ming calmly added.

"But it needs to be optimized; one person can't be the only one going to catch them..."

"Kang, I'll push it out with you next time."

The eighth round begins.

Having tasted success, GIA continued to employ their unique map control strategy with two Vanguards.

They aggressively seized B tunnel at the start, leaving the security guard and Shadow to control it.

The two vanguards and the duel immediately rushed to outside A.

They weren't worried about EDG pushing out from A, as their own security guards had already placed cameras and tripwires outside A, defining the enemy's attack range.

The only thing to be wary of is the enemy's push forward in the middle lane.

GIA moved to the middle lane, and Iron Wall fired a Flashpoint Blast, securing a gun position. The three of them then moved out together.

The middle lane was deserted.

It seemed as if nothing was amiss.

Just like in the last round, did EDG fail to make any adjustments?

Wait a minute, they're clearly playing mid lane, why isn't EDG's Viper using [Misty Cloud]?

Cloud's years of experience made him sense a danger.

However, before he could even warn them, the [Guiding Falcon] flew straight out of the elevator building and exploded instantly.

Of the three GIA members, only Cloud had a warning and carried Flash away.

The other two ate the white food directly.

Nobody's Skye skill level is very high.

Many casual players are not proficient with items and cannot understand Skye's Instant Flash, so they are always caught off guard by enemies.

Take the instantaneous flashbang in an elevator building as an example.

Many Skye players like to control their birds, fly them out of the elevator building, make a turn, and then detonate them.

This way you won't flash yourself, but you'll be a step too slow.

True Skye masters don't let the bird turn corners; instead, they detonate it the instant it leaves cover, then flick their mouse to backflash and pull it out.

These two instantaneous bursts differ in effect by only a few milliseconds.

But even a difference of just a few milliseconds can be too much for professional players to react to without warning.

After Cloud used Flash, he knew he had to hold off the person who came out to finish off the enemy, otherwise the mid lane would be in trouble.

He was completely focused when, suddenly, the elevator pulled Rez's figure out of his sight.

boom--!

Like something out of a horror movie, Cloud couldn't even fire his gun before collapsing to the ground.

A second later, Su Ming calmly located the target and shot through the wall, killing the Iron Wall who was halfway into cover.

On the other side, the enemy player Rez, who was hit by the flashbang, instinctively used [Surprise Flip] to fly up and avoid the line of fire. He was also pulled out from the B2 building by Kang Kang and sniped directly into the air.

"Nice!"

Nobody exclaimed in admiration and immediately said, "I'll unleash my ultimate! Let's catch the last two! Their economy is going to be terrible!"

The ultimate skill, [Spirit of the Hunter], was activated and surged towards B tunnel, only to be destroyed by two enemy players.

Once the location was confirmed, Smoggy immediately lit up two stars in B passage, one to create a shock and the other to create a suction, restricting positions and blocking the way.

"I'll unleash the dogs when I close the door!"

Zhang Zhao suddenly sneered.

Su Ming and Kang Kang, who were tearing at him, had no time to argue with him; their eyes were only on the desire for the head.

Kang Kang used [Wind Chaser] and [Cloud Strike] to fly into B tunnel, establish a firing line, and gather information. Su Ming threw a grenade to block movement again, and the two simultaneously pulled out cover.

Bang bang bang!

The sound of gunfire rang out.

Perhaps the ID Zmjjkk had a high level of animosity, as both GIA players were focused on Zheng Yongkang and no one paid attention to Su Ming, allowing him to easily collect two kills and secure another quadra kill.

The special effects of the 21-year champion madman's kill made the last security guard kneel down.

After changing his bullet, Su Ming enthusiastically unleashed a hail of bullets at the two corpses.

nukkye: ? ? ?

Your teammates whipped you, so why are you whipping me?