“What happened in Apartments?” 4K didn’t sound happy. “How are we getting wiped without even seeing anyone?”
The rest of IHC could understand his frustration.
As the entry fragger, 4K had his retreat routes cut off before the offense could even get underway these past few rounds, leaving him too little room to outplay or maneuver and forcing him into a do-or-die gamble.
Bartak threw up his hands. “Their newbie caught us twice with a one-way smoke.”
“Calm down, calm down.” As the IGL, Blitz was thinking clearly. “He’s playing aggressively in A2, so we’ll play more conservatively and shift our focus to Banana first.”
Having been shut down in Apartments for several consecutive rounds, if they kept stubbornly forcing Apartments, they wouldn’t get much out of today’s scrim.
So Blitz decisively shifted their attacking strategy and placed their focus on Banana.
After the shift, they immediately felt things click.
4K didn’t complain anymore either. Even if he died on Banana, he’d feel pretty damn good about it.
After the consecutive Banana losses, 259 called a tactical pause to think.
Calling pauses to adjust tactics was normal in scrims, but to simulate an official match, they wouldn’t take too long.
Under normal circumstances, 259 would directly adjust their setup, at least making a formation change to 2A3B. But thinking of Yang Yu’s outstanding performance just now, he looked over with an inquiring gaze. “Potato, what do you think?”
“Me?”
Yang Yu thought about it. If he were in a ranked match, facing this situation, how would he break the deadlock?
“Jamyoung, can you help me throw two flashes for Apartments?”
Xiao Ju thought for a moment. “You’re planning to clear Apartments at the start? They’ll have someone holding deep on their side at first.”
IHC adapted quickly. After consecutive setbacks in A2, they slowed down to establish map control, concentrating more forces in the Banana area.
Yang Yu shook his head. “I’ll go look for an opening.”
“Alright.” 259 made the call. “Then leave a set of utility at spawn for A, and start with the usual 3A2B setup.”
The score at the top of the big screen had already reached 7:3.
When the countdown ended, Yang Yu rushed straight toward A2.
At the start, he hurled a smoke directly toward the Mid T-junction. This smoke was to conceal his movement path.
Yang Yu hopped into Boiler, then immediately started the familiar motion of looking straight down. Inside A2, he shuffled sideways toward Spiral Stairs like a crab.
Jamyoung also threw two flashbangs toward Apartments as he crossed.
This round, he had the spawn closest to A. With an excellent starting position plus his movement path, keeping his head down while crossing VIP meant the attackers below Apartments couldn’t detect that he had already crossed.
If he had taken the Bridge, the attackers could have spotted him crossing from above. But he had the best spawn; the attackers would also need the first spawn to not miss this timing. And how many first-spawn attackers, even in pro matches, would run toward the Bridge at round start?
The enemy’s VIP Molotov burned away ten of Yang Yu’s HP, but he successfully reached Apartments.
After reaching the Spiral Stairs area, Yang Yu started walking silently and listened carefully.
Not hearing anyone crossing White Door, he cautiously began pushing forward.
After some thought, he chose to hold an angle at a corner outside Spiral Stairs and began patiently waiting for a victim.
(This position)
Jamyoung’s two consecutive flashbangs startled the two attackers establishing control in Apartments.
Blitz and Bartak had hidden under the Bridge and in the Sewer, respectively. After their vision recovered, they peeked out to scout and realized it was a false alarm.
Only then did the two coordinate and push forward.
Blitz jumped into VIP, while Bartak pushed forward from Spiral Stairs.
At this point in the round, gathering info in A2 was already very late. They hadn’t seen any strange utility in A2 either, so they planned to use a double peek to coordinate their map control.
If they could get info, even a one-for-one trade wouldn’t be a loss.
Blitz had already jumped into VIP. Seeing this, Bartak picked up his pace and walked directly into Spiral Stairs.
However, he didn’t notice that an AK47 was holding the corner to his left.
From Yang Yu’s perspective, he watched him walk straight into Spiral Stairs, completely oblivious.
Yang Yu was amused by the sight.
He switched to his knife and silently followed right behind Bartak, then reminded his team, “Two entering A2. I can kill them both. There should be three on Banana. B site, watch yourselves.”
Hearing this kind of call from Yang Yu, Hanbao over at B site found it a bit strange.
What did he mean by “I can kill them both”?
“Bro, are you some prophet? Making declarations that come true?”
Meanwhile, Yang Yu was practically playing the part of a train groper, sticking right to Bartak’s back.
After Blitz and Bartak met up in A2, they synchronized a double peek from the left and right sides of the A2 long corridor.
After peeking out and finding no enemies, both instinctively breathed a sigh of relief.
They were really afraid this RA newbie would pull another weird trick on them.
But at that moment, a pistol suddenly flew in front of Blitz.
“Where’d that pistol come from? And it’s even a skin with an open cranium.”
Blitz was somewhat puzzled.
Then he heard the AK47’s gunfire ringing out right beside him.
“Ratatatatatat!”
[Stay Calm headshot Blitz with an AK47]
[Stay Calm headshot Bartak with an AK47]
“Where the hell did he come from?!” Bartak’s soul nearly left his body. The worst part was that right after clearing the angle and letting his guard down, he was suddenly killed. He could still feel his heart pounding.
Even the normally composed Blitz was in visible pain. “Where did we miss the timing?”
He realized belatedly that the pistol had been thrown by the enemy newbie, but he couldn’t figure out how on earth the opponent had gotten there.
Logically speaking, with Spiral Stairs and A2 being cleared simultaneously, there was no way they should have missed a timing!
This guy is literally like a ghost!
Can’t we have a few passionate face-to-face duels for once?
Blitz was starting to get a bit annoyed.
……
“Two AKs on second floor. You can come swap guns.” As Yang Yu relayed info to his teammates, a sunny smile appeared at the corners of his mouth.
Throwing that pistol to scare the opponent just now was entirely his own twisted sense of amusement.
“Nice, bro. They can’t even enter your A2,” Hanbao praised sincerely over comms.
Yang Yu was slaughtering relentlessly on his side. Even though they weren’t defending the same area, Hanbao reaped plenty of benefits from it.
Not only did he get info that the remaining three attackers were likely on Banana, but he also knew their attacking intent. Fighting became practically effortless.
Even if the enemy executed a fast push onto B next, taking on three was much easier than taking on five anyway.
But in this round, 4K stepped up. Coordinating with utility in B, he forcibly traded two for two.
However, the trio from A grouped up for the retake afterward and easily closed out the clutch.
“Then how do you want to play the next round?” Jamyoung proactively asked Yang Yu.
Yang Yu’s constant small tricks for breaking deadlocks in Apartments were teaching him a thing or two.
259’s style actually leaned conservative. Whether in scrims or official matches, he played quite steadily.
But he realized that today’s scrim didn’t seem to allow for steady play.
Because it was too easy.
Having a lurker who could constantly apply pressure and break deadlocks in Apartments made their A-site defense comparable to 2018 Astralis versus Liquid.
Yang Yu could also sense that his teammates were letting him take the reins this round.
However, his spawn wasn’t very good, so he suggested, “Jamyoung, why don’t you go clear Apartments this round? I’ll throw flashes for you.”
“Jump on VIP and clear from there? I’ll try.”
The countdown ended, and they set out again.
Yang Yu quickly threw a one-way smoke toward Mid from spawn, then immediately ran toward Arch. The moment Jamyoung stepped onto VIP, he threw two consecutive flashbangs.
Jamyoung threw his own smoke to extinguish the Molotov, then stepped onto VIP and looked toward Apartments.
Above and below the Bridge in Apartments, two attackers were each covering their eyes.
“Great flashes!!” Jamyoung shouted, his hands not stopping as he sprayed a full mag.
“Ratatatatat!”
[Jamyoung + Stay Calm flashbang headshot Blitz with an AK47]
[Jamyoung + Stay Calm flashbang headshot Bartak with an AK47]
“Apartments is clear.” After the satisfying kills, Jamyoung was beaming with joy. “Great flashes, brother!”
Jamyoung didn’t get greedy at all and immediately started falling back from A2.
Meanwhile, Yang Yu called over Mo Siyu, and the two of them boosted each other beside the Mid smoke.
……
Looking at the kill feed in the top right corner, 4K had fallen silent.
It was just a scrim, but how are you supposed to play when every round starts as a 3v5?
Bartak and Blitz also fell silent.
Last round the enemy had thrown counter-flashes but hadn’t actually pushed out, making them lower their guard slightly. They didn’t expect that this round the enemy would go all out—a single retake flash completely wiped out their Apartments control.
So this retake play had been set up since the previous round?
Blitz suddenly felt immense pressure.
The pressure wasn’t just from what the enemy was doing in this match—it was also from RA’s evolution.
In CSGO, a game with such intense competition, watching a team at their level constantly evolving left Blitz under maximum pressure.
“We can’t control Banana anymore. After trading utility with them, we have no chance to execute,” Blitz gave the order. “Turn around and hit A.”
Hearing this, the remaining three attackers started rotating toward A to probe.
The three of them moved silently the whole way, intending to hug Mid, clear the T-junction, and then instantly speed up the execute.
When 4K saw the Mid smoke, he instinctively moved his crosshair to the boost spot at A1, staying on guard.
But at that moment, AK47 bullets came from the upper left of the smoke.
“Ratatatatat!”
[Stay Calm headshot Techno4K through smoke with an AK47]
[Stay Calm headshot sk0R through smoke with an AK47]
The moment 4K saw the muzzle flash, he immediately called it out, only to realize his teammates were already dead.
The remaining ANNIHILATION had been planning to throw a deep Arch smoke toward Apartments, but he hadn’t even made it through Sewer before two kills appeared in the top right.
“Does it have to be this exaggerated…?” ANNIHILATION couldn’t help but swallow.
This kid’s aggression was completely maxed out.
As a CT, instead of holding defensively, he coordinated with teammates to retake Apartments at round start and still wasn’t satisfied, using a boost to pick off two more.
A 1v5 with a minute thirty left—how was he supposed to clutch that?
ANNIHILATION didn’t hesitate and immediately went to save.
But RA gave him no chance at all, pushing to clear the site when the time was right and hunting him down.
When the round ended, IHC called a pause this time.
“Is this newbie even playing the same game? It’s not even that A2 is off-limits anymore—they won’t even let us look at Apartments or Mid?” Bartak reached for the AC remote and lowered the temperature in the training room.
By now he was already drenched in sweat.
He felt fortunate this was a scrim and not an offline match; otherwise, he’d have to check whether he was sweating or pissing himself.
Several consecutive rounds trying to control Apartments, yet they got insta-killed without even seeing anyone.
Getting demolished in Apartments every round was genuinely sickening.
Right now his body was burning hot but his hands were ice cold. He was starting to not know how to play anymore.
“We have to speed things up if this doesn’t work. Pick up the pace and don’t give them time to execute these slow plays,” 4K immediately spoke up.
He also wanted to attack faster and wipe out the guys on Banana.
The problem was that RA’s pace in scrims was relatively slow, purely trading utility back and forth, giving him no chance to get in their faces.
This sense of powerlessness was like locking in Sett in ARAM, ready to stack Heartsteel, only to load in and see five long-range mages on the enemy team—utterly deflating.
He had tried catching timings to force a scrap, but RA’s Banana kiting was like they learned from 369—4K was getting pulled apart until he was numb.
“Alright, let’s try flying A.”
This time 4K was somewhat overstepping in comms, but after all, he was a kid Blitz had brought up, so Blitz could only indulge him.
Not that Blitz couldn’t understand—if he were in 4K’s position right now, he’d definitely be frustrated too, since he had strength but no way to use it.
Soon the countdown ended. IHC grouped up and began charging toward A2, trying to secure some more rounds in the final rounds of the first half.
They wanted to use the group push to speed up and simply run down Yang Yu, who had been roaming A2 like a dragon.
But Yang Yu’s playstyle was more about finding opportunities, not about stubbornly pushing forward.
After consecutive aggressive plays to find openings, this round he had intended to jump onto the perch and hold from an unconventional angle.
But Yang Yu’s movement wasn’t ideal. He failed to get on top twice. Seeing this, he had originally planned to move beneath the perch.
But suddenly Arch was smoked off. Yang Yu glanced at his teammates’ positions—both were at the back of Arch—and couldn’t help him for the moment.
Seeing this, he directly fell back, conceding the Mid T-junction.
At this moment, 259 said over comms, “Nothing stirring in Banana.”
In that instant, Yang Yu realized—something’s wrong!
Something’s off!
There was no movement in Banana at all. The enemy had only thrown a single Arch smoke.
This move had shades of the French Mr. Bean.
But at that very moment, Yang Yu saw a figure flash past in Boiler. He quickly counter-strafed and fired.
“Ratatat!”
Securing one kill, he immediately fell back.
But IHC, whose attack was already prepared, didn’t give an inch and immediately initiated their Apartments rush.
Consecutive flashbangs, coordinated with a Pit Molotov and a site-splitting smoke.
Utility flew in like rain.
“There’s one at A1!!” The killed attacker quickly called over comms. For an Apartments rush, as long as they could get the first kill and tear open the first gap, the tactic was basically a success.
The players in A2 immediately mobilized.
Yang Yu also heard a massive amount of footsteps in A2, realizing that there was no way he could retreat to cover this time.
In a flash, instead of falling back toward site, he moved directly toward the A2 wall.
Blitz, in the first position, swung out from A2. He pre-aimed A1 but surprisingly didn’t see anyone.
Yang Yu used the proximity advantage to gain vision first, and his AK47 roared.
Hearing the gunshots, the other attackers followed one after another, surging straight in.
And after taking down Blitz, Yang Yu moved left again. Since his position was already compromised, he no longer needed any unconventional angles; at this point, avoiding the gunlines from behind was more important.
The attackers in A2 poured out like sardines. The AK47 in Yang Yu’s hand moved like an extension of his arm, bullets constantly striking the heads of the pouring attackers.
“Ratatatatat!”
In about two seconds, the attackers rushing out of A2 were melted by his bullets!
A quad kill!
“Holy shit, this is way too exaggerated. IHC is literally getting treated like dogs!”
Danking watched from behind, the corners of his mouth impossible to suppress.
The usually reserved Xiao Ju at this moment had the exact same expression as Danking.
At this moment, the sound of Yang Yu’s call earlier echoed in his mind.
“They’re flying A.”
“One left, position unknown.”
This is fucking absurd!
He and Mo Siyu had been cut off by utility in Arch. Hearing the A execute, they immediately started rotating back, but before they even reached site, Yang Yu had already killed most of them.
He turned to look at Yang Yu and couldn’t help but laugh again.
Jamyoung must have developed some kind of illness where he laughed every time he saw Yang Yu.
The first half of the scrim ended with an exaggerated score of 12:3.
Jamyoung glanced at Yang Yu’s score again.
Damn, over fifteen rounds in the first half, Yang Yu had gotten a full thirty-two kills.
Truly ridiculous.
Both sides quickly switched sides.
In the pistol round, 259 called a B-site execute, but they lost the scrap.
In the following round, 259 had the team go for an eco.
The scrim soon entered the first gun round of the second half.
As the gun round began, Yang Yu had the first spawn, so naturally he wouldn’t waste this positional advantage.
The moment he left spawn, he lined up and threw a max-distance Molotov from T-spawn into VIP.
Jamyoung held an angle for Yang Yu from the Bridge, occasionally wallbanging the A2 long corridor.
Yang Yu didn’t slow his pace, going straight to the VIP jump spot, then used a silent jump technique to get onto VIP.
By the time he arrived, the VIP Molotov had just dissipated.
Yang Yu raised his AK47 and began pre-aiming for anyone inside A2.
No one was posted in Boiler at first, and there was no movement around the A2 long corridor corner.
His brows raised.
He saw that at the Boiler doorway, a long gun barrel was clearly holding the Mid T-junction.
Seeing this, Yang Yu didn’t rush his shot.
Because he was gathering info on the second player’s position.
Soon, he heard a smoke flying from Arch toward Mid.
Seeing this, Yang Yu made his move.
He broke into a run, jiggling left to prefire the CT in close range who had exposed his barrel.
“Hello there!” Yang Yu called out.
The opponent had been patiently holding the Mid crossing, waiting for the Arch smoke to bloom fully, when someone suddenly burst out of Boiler, scaring him so much his entire body shuddered.
“Boiler!! Boiler!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice cracking.
Before his callout even ended, he watched from death cam as the opponent rushed out of Boiler. AK47 gunfire rang out, and another kill appeared in the top right.
One dropped at Arch and one at A1. Yang Yu didn’t stop, pushing directly from A1.
He tried to find the CT who might be in A2, but after searching around, he found no one.
“A site is clear. Come plant.”
259 couldn’t suppress the grin at the corners of his mouth.
He hadn’t placed many demands on Yang Yu for this scrim—he just let him cut loose and play.
Yang Yu’s defensive performance had exceeded his expectations. He wanted to see how Yang Yu would do on the attack, so he set him loose onto Apartments.
As a result, right off the bat, he tore through the enemy again.
You have to understand—the opponents weren’t some random ranked players, nor were they some high-elo pug stars. They were proper professionals, the current number one team in Mongolia.
Even if they weren’t going all out in a scrim, getting hunted down like this by him…
259 felt like he was dreaming.
IHC’s members had already broken into relieved smiles after the first gun round.
In the first half, they couldn’t establish Apartments control against this RA newbie at all. The opponent was like a ghost—there was no face-to-face dueling whatsoever.
After a few rounds, they didn’t even dare walk into A2 anymore.
Now after switching sides, they finally had face-to-face duels.
But the moment they fought face-to-face, he just insta-killed them. How the hell are they supposed to play?!
At this moment, Blitz just wanted to know:
Where the hell did 259 find this newbie? How had he never known about such a powerhouse in the CNCS scene?
A bit late, sorry, sorry. The first draft of this chapter wasn’t very good, so I scrapped it and rewrote. I’m also trying to wrap up this scrim in one go.