It was really no wonder the international scene was boiling over!
After all, within the CS:GO ecosystem, the Challenger Stage and the Legends Stage were, in a certain sense, worlds of two entirely different dimensions.
In the Legends Stage, you might draw a random matchup and end up facing an elite powerhouse ranked in the HLTV top ten last year or currently. These were all genuine tier-one giants, with massive coaching staffs and data analyst teams within their organizations.
A rookie like Meng Lang who had just made a name for himself in the Challenger Stage could very easily find himself subjected to relentless analysis in his first match after advancing, with the opponent's research team poring over his match footage to figure out his positioning habits, aim preferences, and utility usage, then subjecting him to all manner of highly targeted setups during the game!
This was also an important reason why so many rising stars in the Legends Stage ended up as a "flash in the pan" or "rapidly faded into obscurity."
But what the hell was today's match?
FAZE Clan—that was an honest-to-god, star-studded Galaxy Battleship! The newly crowned champions who had just stomped G2 and lifted the trophy at IEM Katowice!
And today, they had actually been kicked over cleanly in one stomp by this G2 that had merely swapped in one new player?
Moreover, the match wasn't "sticky" at all. Though it wasn't a blowout like 16–3, a 16–7 scoreline was still enough to qualify as a clean, decisive domination—directly sinking FAZE's roaring Galaxy Battleship!
What the hell kind of script was this?
By now, the official post-match comments on HLTV had long been flooded, completely blowing up:
【God! I can't believe my eyes! G2 today completely tore through FAZE's defense relying entirely on that rookie called Dark! He's simply a monster!】
【Seriously, did karrigan not study Dark at all before the match? He looked like he knew nothing about this rookie! So unprofessional! Or is Dark already so strong that he simply can't be countered?】
【karrigan was really stunned this time; his tactics completely failed. Dark's performance was phenomenal—he deserved this victory!】
【Welcome to the Legends Stage, Dark! You used a perfect debut to tell everyone you belong here! FAZE became your backdrop today!】
【Can someone tell me why a player who just came up from the Challenger Stage makes the Galaxy Battleship look like it's made of paper in front of him! Is he a ship-breaker or something?】
At the same time, the domestic Perfect World CS:GO community's comment section was also thoroughly boiling over:
"Said you wouldn't study him and you really didn't—Da Biao Ge, you're the real deal! (Thumbs up)"
"LOL! Da Biao Zhu really is an honest guy, huh!"
"Holy shit! Why do I feel like Dark's performance today seems extremely familiar with FAZE's routines?!"
"You really can't deny it, especially that mind-game against Ropz—he was even casually playing with a flashbang, completely unhurried, utterly certain Ropz would loop around and come back to die! That mental fortitude is insane!"
"Exactly! Also, Dark's tactical responses to Da Biao Ge gave me the feeling of... 'Nothing special, just practiced familiarity.' So composed!"
"I feel like today it wasn't FAZE that studied Dark thoroughly, but rather FAZE who got studied by G2, or rather by Dark!"
"Damn, which team is the one that came up from the Challenger Stage?! This is too much of a shock to my worldview!"
...
Antwerp Legends Stage Studio.
In the G2 player booth, Xiao Lizi took off his headset, let out a long breath, his face bearing an unrestrainable excited smile. He turned to Meng Lang who was beside him packing up his peripherals and vigorously patted his shoulder. "Played great, Meng! In those last few rounds, how did you know Da Biao Ge would set up his defense like that? Simply godlike!"
Hearing this, Niko, Biao Ge, and m0NESY also curiously gathered around, focusing their gazes on Meng Lang.
In the final crucial rounds of the second half just now, Meng Lang—who usually focused mostly on individual performance in matches and didn't participate much in overall tactical decisions—had instead uncharacteristically offered his brief thoughts over voice chat before each round began, speculating on the defensive default positions FAZE might take and possible aggressive push routes.
Several times, he had actually "guessed" correctly, either allowing G2's attack to avoid heavily stacked positions or letting them catch the timing on a CT push.
At the time the match was white-hot, everyone had simply thought it was intuition brought on by Meng Lang's hot hand or just good luck, without having time to think deeper.
But now that the match was over, recalling it calmly, a wave of astonishment couldn't help but well up in everyone's hearts!
That was FAZE Clan!
The Galaxy Battleship currently roaring across the CS competitive scene!
G2 had suffered at their hands before. Da Biao Ge karrigan's tactics book, famed for its "thickness" and "depth," had once given even an academy-style IGL like Xiao Lizi an incomparable headache.
But playing today, Xiao Lizi had felt an unusually "smooth" sensation, and even later on had actually felt that FAZE's defense was nothing special.
But at this moment, Xiao Lizi also clearly realized just how crucial those seemingly casual remarks Meng Lang had interjected during the match, those seemingly "intuitive" judgments, had been!
That seemed...
not to be luck, right?
But if not luck, then what?
He was just a 17-year-old greenhorn who had just entered the Legends Stage!
Xiao Lizi stared at Meng Lang curiously.
Sensing the curious and inquiring gazes of Xiao Lizi and the others, Meng Lang thought seriously for a moment, then still answered sincerely, "Probably because I study FAZE every day even when I'm sleeping!"
"..."
Everyone was stunned for a moment. Studying while sleeping?
Studying in his dreams?
Immediately after, everyone couldn't help but laugh.
This kid,
his sense of humor was pretty good.
"He wasn't joking!"
Lao Ni, however, smiled as he draped his arm over Meng Lang's shoulder. Grinning, he said to the others, "You guys probably don't know, but Meng was even talking in his sleep this morning, muttering something like 'Against FAZE you gotta take fights, can't play soft'... He really is studying how to beat FAZE even in his dreams!"
"For real?"
Xiao Hai curiously pressed, his face filled with disbelief.
"Of course it's true." Niko nodded with a smile.
Xiao Lizi's face immediately showed some shame upon hearing this.
He had always considered himself quite dedicated. After joining G2, their results in the first half of the year hadn't been good; he often spent large amounts of time staying up late to review matches and study tactics, and he asked himself whether he put in any less effort than anyone else.
But like Meng Lang, studying opponents even in his sleep... he had to admit he probably couldn't do that.
Thinking to this point,
he couldn't help but sigh once more!
As expected!
Outsiders only saw a genius bursting onto the scene!
But where is there any genius that appears from thin air? Behind it all, it was entirely the principle of Heaven Rewards Diligence—every bit of sweat and every bit of effort!
"Alright, guys, time to go shake hands across the stage."
Niko suddenly grinned mischievously, pointing in the direction of FAZE's player booth. "I bet karrigan is already 'eagerly waiting.'"
...
At this moment, the atmosphere in FAZE's player booth was completely gloomy.
Da Biao Ge karrigan leaned back in his gaming chair, his gaze somewhat hollow, his eyes losing focus for an instant!
He looked at the tactics notebook on his desk, yet it was as if he saw it being riddled by invisible AK bullets, torn to shreds and full of holes.
Not only that, but he also felt as if this tactics notebook of his was transparent.
The feeling of being completely seen through.
This was something he had never experienced before.
You must understand: Da Biao Ge's tactics book had always been famed for its "thickness" and "depth." How could it possibly be completely seen through?
Could there really be someone in this world who understood him better than he understood himself?
Da Biao Ge's face began to redden as he thought about it, and his head started to spin a little.
His CPU was about to fry!
The next second, as he raised his head somewhat dazedly, a familiar face had already appeared before him—his former old teammate, Niko.
Lao Ni smiled cheerfully as he shook his hand, then hugged this old friend according to convention. Da Biao Ge was just feeling somewhat warmed when, the next second, Lao Ni's thirty-seven-degree mouth uttered words that were minus thirty-seven degrees.
"Next time... maybe slightly counter our team's rookie." Niko's tone carried banter. "Though, he might not fall for your counter-strategies either."
Da Biao Ge's face instantly darkened a few shades upon hearing this, nearly passing out on the spot.
Immediately after, G2's players came up one by one to shake hands.
Very quickly, it was Meng Lang's turn.
Looking at the young Eastern face before him, Da Biao Ge karrigan's expression was somewhat dazed as he racked his memory.
After thinking, he still couldn't help but ask, "You played great—accurately speaking, extremely great... By the way, have we faced off somewhere before? I feel... a bit familiar, yet also very strange."
Meng Lang's smile remained unchanged as he replied frankly, "Of course we've faced off."
Da Biao Ge was stunned, even more puzzled.
Meng Lang smilingly reminded him, "In January this year, at the Blast Premier Spring Groups. It was my first official match. At the time, I was kicked to death by you guys in one stomp. I was the team's AWPer back then."
Da Biao Ge immediately reacted!
There was indeed such a thing!
But when they played against EG back then, his attention had been mainly focused on those long-established famous players on EG. He hadn't paid too much attention to this rookie who was debuting in a tier-one event.
It wouldn't even have been entered into his database.
It couldn't be helped; there were too many rookies like this on the CS pro scene—come up, play a few matches, get benched again if it didn't work out. Da Biao Ge's database didn't store players like that.
He only recorded opponents worth remembering.
But who could have thought that, in just a few short months, that unremarkable AWPer had actually transitioned into a rifler and, in such an earth-shattering manner, kicked their Galaxy Battleship over on the grander stage of the Major Legends Stage!
Looking at that bandaged right hand of his,
Da Biao Ge was dizzy!
This world was too crazy!
Shaking his head, despite wanting to curse inwardly, he still maintained the bearing of a veteran as best he could. "Your rifling... is excellent! The transition may have been a very wise choice for you."
Meng Lang's smile grew even wider upon hearing this, carrying the unreserved confidence unique to youth. "Actually, my AWP isn't bad either. I'll show you sometime if we get the chance."
"There will be, there definitely will." Da Biao Ge nodded with certainty, his tone also recovering its usual steadiness.
After all, this was just a BO1 loss in the first round of the Legends Stage.
What the Galaxy Battleship excelled at most was returning from hell.
Losing one BO1 hadn't even triggered the Galaxy Battleship's "execution threshold."
Very quickly, Meng Lang also arrived beside Ropz.
Ropz was never a talkative person to begin with, and was even more silent now.
He simply and mechanically shook Meng Lang's hand, but the gaze he fixed on Meng Lang was filled with extremely complex emotions!
In stream room 6657, when Wan Jiqi saw the handshake shot captured by the director, he couldn't help but repeatedly slap his belly, letting out guffaws!
"Hahaha! Che Zhu's expression is killing me! No, no, I gotta show everyone this again. Let me tell you, in today's match, Dark and Ropz had several direct or indirect duels, but do you know which round Che Zhu's expression started to go completely wrong?"
"Exactly! It was that first-half round where Da Biao Ge gave a god-tier call to fake the bomb plant and then rotate. G2 was forced to save. Dark snuck all the way to Iron Plate trying to catch the save, but he actually predicted Ropz hiding in that ultra-vile position in Connector and straight-up checked him!"
"No normal person would check that spot! When the camera cut to Ropz back then, his eyes were already a bit dazed."
"Then there was that later round: Dark was in T Hall and straight-up wallbanged Ropz through the Yellow House metal wall, who was trying to copy his play and catch the save!"
"Hahahaha! Ropz was completely stunned at the time and turned his head to look at the referee! With that look, I'd guess the referee was also thinking, 'You died—why are you looking at me?'"
Wan Jiqi said this while pulling up those two rounds of match replay, and immediately couldn't hold back again, laughing and once more slapping his belly.
"But do you know which round was the most tilting and the most soul-crushing for Ropz?" Wan Jiqi reined in his smile and asked with deliberate mystery, then immediately answered himself:
"Exactly! It was that final clutch of the first half. Dark was on A site and clearly heard the sound Ropz made faking a rotation, but he just didn't move from his spot, forcibly waiting for Ropz to loop a huge circle and run back to A site to die on his own!"
"Wow! After that round, Ropz's eyes went directly vacant. What did that feeling resemble? It was like... all his thoughts, all his movement routes, had been completely seen through! The kind of despair where even the color of his underwear was laid bare!"
The stream's bullet comments also flooded wildly.
"Alright, jokes aside, let's take a look at HLTV's official post-match stats." Wan Jiqi switched pages, and the detailed data for this match appeared on screen.
ID: G2-Dark
KD: 31 / 11
ADR: 145.4
Rating: 1.84
Undoubtedly, Meng Lang's stats were the highest in the server, dazzlingly brilliant—at this moment, on HLTV's official post-match MVP voting page, almost all the votes were crazily being cast for him.
Looking back at FAZE's side, their stats were "paralyzed" very evenly.
Except for Da Biao Ge's slightly lower rating, the others were basically just above 1.0, with kill counts around a dozen or so.
But at this moment, the bullet comments in stream room 6657 were focused on something a bit off:
"Holy shit! 1.84? Is he really boosting in the Legends Stage?"
"Honestly, after seeing Dark's 2.59 rating on Dust 2, seeing 1.84 now leaves me completely unfazed."
"Indeed, I even feel like it's a bit underwhelming."
"My ass! Hasn't Dark's rating this time not dropped below 1.5?"
"A total legit player! Appraisal complete!"
"The key is he always seems to pull out something new. Today's opening USP ace directly left FAZE stunned!"
"Who knows if he'll have more surprises in the next match? I can't wait to watch G2's next game!"
"You know, I'm also an OG Dark fan of ten years!"
...
In the G2 player booth.
After shaking hands, Meng Lang returned to his seat to pack up peripherals with Lao Ni and the others. Today's post-match interview was given to Xiao Hai, who had also performed outstandingly.
He had just sat down when several lines of system prompt information clearly surfaced in his mind:
[Unbelievable! The Host has blasted open the gates of the Legends Stage with a devastating victory, making the entire arena tremble at your sharpness! Where gunfire reaches is the cornerstone of the throne; every kill rewrites the rules of this battlefield. This is not merely victory, but the declaration of a new era—continue burning, and let the world see how you forge sparks into an immortal sovereignty!]
Meng Lang adeptly chose to go all-in again, refusing to claim his win-streak reward now!
However, the system also gave him another small surprise!
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining match performance drop: A-Rank Treasure Chest x1]
He was used to it now.
There was nothing to be done; the system glitch had always treated him as a newbie who had just touched the game not long ago—what kind of newbie goes on a rampage in the Major Legends Stage?
Failing to give some small reward for this kind of performance really wouldn't make sense.
[Opening treasure chest...]
[Congratulations to the Host for obtaining: "A God's Remains" (Hair Dryer Enjoyer)]