The two sides began the scrim by banning maps.
After a round of pick-ban between them, the three maps locked in were Inferno, Mirage, and Dust II.
It was worth mentioning that professional scrims were different from official matches.
In official matches, the first to win 16 rounds won, but scrims required all 30 rounds to be played. That was because the purpose of a scrim was to hone teamwork, test lineups, and execute tactics.
Not to decide victory or defeat.
Fixing it at 30 rounds ensured that each half would be played for the full 15 rounds, giving both the attacking side and the defending side ample practice and testing.
Map one, Inferno.
Meng Lang’s proficiency on this map was average. It was good enough to bring out in a match, but only just.
It was far from the level of his Dust II, or his current Mirage.
By the end of the first map, Meng Lang’s K/D was 23/13.
It looked fairly decent, but with all 30 rounds played, 23 kills really was only fairly decent—the top fragger on Inferno was blameF from the opposing Team A, who finished with 35 kills and a 1.57 Rating, the highest in the server.
He was the well-deserved MVP of the match.
In fact, if scrims were judged by wins and losses, G2 had already lost the first game.
Not far behind them, coach XTQZZZ, who had been watching the whole time, looked at Meng Lang’s back and wrote three keywords in the quick notes on his phone.
Conservative, steady, firepower... acceptable.
At the same time, over at Team A’s bootcamp site, the atmosphere was rather relaxed.
“EZEZ!”
“Did that Dark come to G2 for a trial to take Jackz’s spot?”
“Seems like he’s a CN player demoted from EG over in North America.”
“Feels pretty average. Not much different from Jackz!”
“.”
The five players of Team A chatted and commented in high spirits.
However, this relaxed atmosphere was soon about to end.
The second map, Mirage.
After all 30 rounds were played, Meng Lang directly racked up a K/D of 44/15, with his ADR reaching a terrifying 107. For several rounds in a row, he picked up multi-kills and streaks.
This left the coach and his teammates completely stunned!
One had to know that in professional matches, everyone’s positions were assigned.
On the T side, Meng Lang played support. His main job was to throw utility and coordinate with Cousin and Old Ni, the two entry fraggers, on attacks. He did not have first contact.
And on the CT side, Meng Lang was the main B-site defender.
Mirage’s B site often faced heavy utility executes, and holding against greater numbers while waiting for teammates to retake was common. The pressure was immense, and it was very easy to get instantly blown up.
And when the opponent did not hit B, it was also easy to go an entire round without seeing anyone.
Simply put, whether on the T side or the CT side, Meng Lang’s position leaned toward support, the kind of role that was not very conducive to getting kills. Yet even so, he still finished with the highest kill count in the server.
When playing T,
Meng Lang often had teammates die after he finished throwing his utility. As long as he had an AK carried over from the previous round, he could charge in and, relying on terrifying counter-strafing, crosshair placement, and spray transfers, pick up multiple consecutive kills.
As for playing CT as the main B-site defender,
he basically managed to kill at least one every time the Ts attacked, then survive long enough to stall for his teammates’ retake.
Sometimes, when his aim was feeling hot, he did not even need his teammates. He would simply collect them all himself.
Team A had been forced to save for one round because Meng Lang killed four of them in one wave. After that, they simply gave up on hitting B and went A for several rounds in a row.
Meng Lang could only rotate back, missing out on quite a few kills. Otherwise, he could have killed even more.
Of course, even so, Meng Lang, with the highest Rating, was still the MVP of this game!
“Guys! Well played!” Little Li clenched his fist.
“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you.” Old Ni smiled, looking deeply relieved.
“Bro, your AK firepower is way too fierce!” Cousin could not help but exclaim exaggeratedly. “How about you play my position next map?”
“No, no, no.”
Meng Lang smiled and waved his bandaged right hand. “Everyone played well! I just got lucky and caught a few more. Let’s go, G2! GOGOGO! Map three, let’s show Team A some real color!”
Not far behind them, coach XTQZZZ, holding a thermos as he watched, looked at Meng Lang’s back and once again wrote three keywords in his quick notes.
Humble! Can pull the team together! Firepower... a little explosive!
Next was map three, Dust II, which was also Meng Lang’s signature map.
“On the next map, play according to your own rhythm. You don’t have to keep holding there the whole time. You can be more proactive. I’ll call and coordinate with you at any moment.”
Esports was, of course, ruled by strength.
Thanks to Meng Lang’s outstanding performance as the main B defender on Mirage in the second game, right as Dust II began, Little Li spoke to Meng Lang in a gentle tone.
“Okay, understood.” Meng Lang nodded.
After that, he indeed did not betray this trust.
On Dust II, starting as CT, Meng Lang displayed the side of himself worthy of being called the Sand Emperor.
Although he did not always have the bonus of his signature weapon, the AK, under the effects of [Spider Sense] and the bandages suppressing his hand injury, Meng Lang still displayed the talent of an eighteen-year-old prodigy from CNCS.
One had to know that his [Reaction] stat had once ranked among the world’s top-tier T0 level, but his [Game Sense], which was only 71, had once become a drag on him.
But now, [Spider Sense] made up for the lack of game sense in “another way.”
In certain situations, he could even “see” danger.
In this game, Team A chose to open on the T side with a utility execute toward B—they knew Meng Lang was the main B defender. After stumbling at B on Mirage last game, they wanted to get their revenge right from the start.
At the start, the Ts harassed lower A, then at the forty-second mark, smoked B doors!
A full execute RUSH B!
“People coming B!”
The moment Meng Lang, holding B tunnels with dual pistols, heard footsteps at B2, he immediately gave his teammates the info, then threw a smoke toward the entrance of B tunnels to buy time!
“Hold them!”
“Everyone rotate B, quick!”
Old Ni, who had gone long A for information at the start, hurriedly called out. Cousin, the Kid, and the others also swiftly prepared to rotate.
However, before the CT players could even reach B, all they heard in their ears was a burst of “tat-tat-tat” from dual pistols!
The upper-right corner of the screen suddenly turned into a waterfall of kill feed.
[Dark killed blameF with a headshot using Dual Berettas!]
[Dark killed Xyp9x with a headshot using Dual Berettas!]
[...]
One!
Two!
Three?
What... Dark was still killing?
Four!
Five!
Until the final kill appeared!
Five-kill ACE!
Behind him, coach XTQZZZ abruptly put down his thermos and stood up. His eyes widened sharply, and his face seemed unable to suppress its shock and surprise!
He had practically watched with his own eyes as Meng Lang, this young player not even eighteen years old, unleashed a lightning-fast wave of dual-pistol crosshair placement, directly spray-transferring and melting all five Ts who had sped out of B tunnels under his gunfire!
Young people really did have fast hands!
But that was not the main point!
The main point was that Team A was a team known for its utility. This accelerated B hit had been designed—they popped a flash before exiting the smoke, then popped another flash the instant they came out. It was essentially a double-flash entry into B.
The first flash baited you into turning away!
The second flash made you fully blind!
Yet coach XTQZZZ was shocked to see that, after Meng Lang turned away to dodge the first flash and his view snapped back, his whole body suddenly seemed to jolt!
The next moment, as though someone were fighting him for control of the mouse, Meng Lang’s view suddenly snapped back again, dodging the second flash at the absolute limit!
Only then came the shocking scene afterward, where his dual pistols melted five enemies. With one wave of crosshair placement and spray transfer, he forcibly turned the entrance of B tunnels into a “serving window”!
But this...
Wasn’t that a little too absurd?!
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