Map: Inferno
T: Jiang Yang Himself, Vitality.SpinX, You Know What I'm Starting, Why Did the Sandwich Fall, I'm Changing Too
CT: Stay Calm, Coriander Mixed Rice, Salvation of the Runtian God, People Live for Sakurajima Mai, subanu486
Yang Yu had no idea that yet another discussion had sparked because of him; he was simply going about his daily grind for Rank #1 on Perfect World.
"Is that nuko on the other side?" During warm-up, Yang Yu heard the enemy player 'Jiang Yang Himself' ask.
Shortly after, their own subanu486 replied, "Jiu Ye, show some mercy."
Coriander Mixed Rice asked, "Is that 259 on the other side?"
Seeing this, nuko also replied, "It should be 259 duo-queuing with A Zhong on the other side. Let's go hard this round, guys."
Only then did Yang Yu realize there were three pros in this match.
He had come across nuko on Bilibili before—a highly skilled CS:GO streamer, apparently a former pro player.
On the enemy side, both 259 and A Zhong were also figures in the professional scene.
Yang Yu didn't feel much pressure facing a scene like this.
Because as his rank climbed higher, the odds of running into professional players in ranked matchmaking had increased as well, and he had gradually grown used to it.
The match began soon after. In the pistol round, the CTs secured the win with a rather flashy play.
Facing the Ts' ECO round next, Yang Yu proactively pushed out and even secured a quad-kill.
But just as they thought their momentum was about to take off, A Zhong broke through with a sharp, aggressive push, completely interrupting their scoring rhythm.
However, in the following ECO round, nuko pulled off a spectacular Deagle play, clutching a triple kill to turn the tide for the entire team.
The score became 3–1, and both sides entered the first full-buy round.
A Zhong pressed TAB and asked, "What's going on? Why is this prodigy so quiet?"
At this moment, Yang Yu's score was 4/1, but all four of those frags came from the ECO round—they carried some weight, but not much.
259 said, "He likes holding A, so let's go find him and cause some trouble."
Watching a match replay like this, if you could put yourself in their shoes, you'd be able to clearly sense what the opponent was thinking.
259 also planned to apply some pressure to this kid on the other side, to see what plays he could make under heavy pressure.
...
The first gun round arrived.
From the exchanges in the previous rounds, Yang Yu had already gathered intel that the enemy liked to use the sewer to control mid.
So after some thought, he threw a smoke grenade at the T-intersection in mid from near his spawn.
"Bro, boost me here at mid in a bit. I'll see if I can catch one."
After throwing his utility, he immediately asked his teammate for cooperation.
Coriander Mixed Rice also asked, "Boost from A1 or from Arch?"
"Arch is fine."
The two quickly arrived at mid. Using the slight elevation difference in the terrain, Yang Yu stepped directly onto his teammate's head.
Then he saw a figure flash past the corner near the T entrance by the side path.
(This position is a boosted angle for poaching kills.)
Yang Yu's M4A1 opened fire without mercy.
"Da-da-da!"
[Stay Calm killed Jiang Yang Himself with an M4A1 (headshot through smoke)]
"One-way smoke, one-way smoke!" 259 was experienced after all; the moment he died, he realized the opponent was running a setup.
A Zhong, who had been throwing utility toward Banana, immediately turned and began spraying through the smoke at both sides of mid.
When Yang Yu heard the AK-47s, he also spammed back relentlessly in that direction.
"Da-da-da-da-da-da!"
[Stay Calm killed Vitality.SpinX with an M4A1 (shot through smoke)]
A Zhong was a little dumbfounded. He glanced at 259 and said, utterly baffled, "How did he spam me for a headshot and a bodyshot?"
259 shrugged; there was nothing he could do.
With Yang Yu securing two kills at mid, nuko rapidly took control of Banana. Leveraging their numbers advantage and map control, they soon picked off the remaining Ts.
The score became 4–1.
Their economy was a mess, so 259 immediately called for a force buy.
He also brought A Zhong to the side path.
Inferno had all kinds of one-way smokes. For now, they didn't know which one the kid on the other side was using. Unless they threw a molotov behind the smoke, trying to take mid control would cost too much.
So they chose to take the side path and play slow, gaining control gradually.
259 and A Zhong's side-path control was relatively aggressive and fast.
At the start of the round, 259 threw a VIP molotov, then briefly held an angle to catch any CT pushing mid.
A Zhong said, "I'm taking spiral stairs. Once you get to VIP, we'll sync up."
But just as A Zhong had that thought, 259 warned, "Don't rush. They threw a counter-molotov into VIP; I won't be that fast."
"Yeah, I'm not that fast either. I got flashed."
After warning A Zhong not to rush, 259 saw that the flames hadn't spread to the VIP railing, so he chose to jump directly onto the VIP railing to avoid getting caught by a timing push in the second wave.
However, the instant he jumped up, he caught sight of a CT holding an angle right at the junction between VIP and Boiler.
"Da-da-da-da-da!!"
M4A1 bullets wildly sprayed through the VIP boards, putting 259 to sleep almost instantly.
[Stay Calm killed Jiang Yang Himself with an M4A1 (headshot through the wall)]
"Boiler! Boiler!" 259 quickly called out.
A Zhong also rushed out upon seeing this, but rather than immediately challenging Boiler, he swung out wide and sprayed down the CT holding the A2 corner, heavily damaging him.
After forcing him back, he carefully crept toward Boiler, ready to counter-strafe and fire at any moment.
No one traded the kill?
They didn't trade this? A Zhong thought the enemy was playing rather cautiously. He slowly pushed forward with his AK-47, and while walking silently, he even actively turned to glance back at A2, preventing some freaky lurk from the enemy.
But the moment he turned his head, gunfire erupted from behind him.
"Da-da-da!"
[Stay Calm killed Vitality.SpinX with an M4A1 (headshot)]
"What kind of timing is that?! I turned around for one look and he came out! And how is this guy hiding in VIP!" A Zhong was disgusted by the timing.
He felt that if this kid on the other side had swung out to duel him head-on, he might not necessarily have won.
"That molotov was something. Is there even a spot to stand in VIP?" 259 praised.
With those two dead, the side path collapsed instantly. The remaining three teammates made a last stand in Banana.
The teammates weren't half-bad either; they successfully took Banana and even planted the bomb.
But the numbers disadvantage was too great, and they couldn't clutch out the post-plant.
The score became 5–1.
During the round win, nuko praised, "Nice, green buddy. You've been taking down Jiu Ye and A Zhong consistently these few rounds."
With the enemy pros eliminated, he basically had free rein in Banana, playing with absolute ease.
"Just luck, luck." Yang Yu smiled.
Then he glanced at his spawn position. This round, he had the spawn closest to the A site, giving him plenty of room to make plays.
He opened his mic and said, "I'll look for a play on the side path this round."
"Go for it."
In ranked matchmaking, it wasn't teammates pushing aggressively that was scary—it was teammates who pushed without saying a word and pushed brainlessly.
Yang Yu played with his brain fully engaged and his communication maxed out; they had absolutely nothing to worry about on that front.
When the countdown ended, Yang Yu beelined for mid.
First, he tossed a smoke toward the T-intersection in mid.
He had thrown this smoke in the previous two rounds as well; it was all setup. The goal was to keep the enemy unsure whether he was playing a one-way or masking a rotation toward A1.
After throwing the T-intersection smoke, Yang Yu rushed into Boiler. When passing VIP, he used a small detail—he ran past with his head lowered.
This was a micro-detail he had recently picked up from a ropz Inferno demo: if your spawn position was good at the start of the round, running past VIP with your head down ensured the Ts setting up on the side path couldn't get any info on you.
Yang Yu sprinted all the way until he reached the spiral stairs area before holding shift to walk.
He didn't hear the white door open, so he didn't even hold the angle on it; he simply walked out from the spiral stairs.
He checked below VIP and the middle of mid first—no one.
Following the map's chicken, Yang Yu moved straight toward the white door.
Creak~
The sound of the white door opening rang out. Yang Yu immediately crouched, pre-aimed, and pushed forward.
After cautiously holding VIP for a moment, 259 finally approached the white door to check spiral stairs.
He opened the white door and prepared to peek the corner.
But suddenly, a buzz-cut head popped into view right in front of him.
Yang Yu: "Hello!"
"Bam!"
[Stay Calm killed Jiang Yang Himself with an AK47 (headshot)]
"Where did this guy come from on the side path?!" 259's callout was already cracking.
This sudden enemy appearing in his face nearly scared his soul out of his body.
He never expected Yang Yu to be in this position at this timing.
After securing the kill, Yang Yu didn't panic.
First, he calmly peeked T Bridge, saw no one, then quickly ducked into the sewer.
He felt there should still be someone around T entrance or T bridge. Missing them was most likely a matter of timing.
But Yang Yu had no intention of waiting for him here.
Now that he had pushed deep and thrown the situation into chaos, staying put didn't mean much.
Banana was still a chaotic mess; the attackers didn't have the energy to deal with him right now, so he had to seize this opportunity.
Yang Yu quickly lurked forward through the sewer. He soon peeked toward T entrance—no one.
He stepped out to check Banana.
Two mushroom heads appeared in his vision.
One held a gun, the other held utility.
Yang Yu fired a single tap first, then quickly flicked into a spray.
"Bang!"
"Da-da-da!"
[Stay Calm killed You Know What I'm Starting with an AK47 (headshot)]
[Stay Calm killed Why Did the Sandwich Fall with an AK47 (headshot)]
A Zhong, at the very front of Banana, heard footsteps. He first took down the CT who swung out from Yellow Wall, then turned to duel the CT who had pushed out.
Only to find that the opponent was already gone.
"How did someone get through from the side path?" A Zhong asked, puzzled.
The teammate holding the rear on the side path said, "This guy was too decisive. After taking down Jiu Ye, he pushed straight through the sewer. Didn't give me a chance at all."
The situation had become a 2v4. He prepared to grab the bomb and team up with A Zhong to take down the guy who had pushed into T entrance.
But just as he was about to leave T spawn, he found someone holding the angle at the stairway.
"Da-da-da!"
[Stay Calm killed I'm Changing Too with an AK47]
A Zhong saw another kill feed pop up in the top-right corner, and half his heart turned to ice.
Carrying a 259 in ranked was already an uphill battle; now the rest of the boys weren't performing either.
This round was already in crisis!
259's premonition was spot on.
Under the influence of the terrifying lurker on the enemy's side path, their T-side couldn't establish any effective tactics for the entire half aside from one rush execute.
Even with two pros leading them, they only managed to secure three rounds in the first half.
After switching sides in the second half, they managed to claw back five rounds, but it didn't affect the outcome.
In the end, this ranked showdown ended with a score of 16–8.
When the match ended, 259 looked at the enemy 'Stay Calm's' score of 35/12 and headshot rate as high as 85%, and smiled in resignation.
...