CS: You are only 16 years old, and you want me to make a comeback?

Chapter 109 Knockout Round Begins

Saturday, September 2022, 2.

Katowice weather forecast: cloudy to sunny.

The holiday for the Katowice group stage has ended successfully, but in fact G2 only took a break on the first day to go out for a small gathering. The rest of the time was more about preparing for the game and training hard.

The main reason was that it had been raining in Katowice during the few days of the holiday, which made them have little desire to go out.

Jiang Yang's daily schedule has been quite regular these days.

I get up around 8 am to warm up, then play ladder ranking until the afternoon, review games or practice with the team, watch Jame's game videos in the evening, and exercise in my free time.

Every day is fulfilling and happy.

He also discovered that the "experience in escaping snipers" he had gained from Sh1ro was also applicable to Jame.

Because the playing styles of both of them are inclined towards "information sniping". If they set up a position and miss a shot, they will try to peek if they have props. If they don't have props to claim the shooting position, they will basically retreat to the second point.

Then, as you retreat, if your teammates in front of you fail to fight well, you will start to protect your guns.

Jiang Yang was thinking about Jame's positioning and preparing for the possibility of targeting Jame in the next game.

However, while he was watching the POV, he was also learning Jame's first point positioning on defense.

Although Jame plays conservatively, his sniper hit rate is very high and extremely stable.

Among all the front-line snipers, he may not be the best sniper, but he is definitely the sniper with the highest hit rate.

This is due to Jame's excellent positioning and setting up on defense.

Although Jiang Yang doesn't like Jame's passionless playing style, he will still take the initiative to learn from Jame's strengths.

"You really take it to heart." Little Leo exclaimed in amazement.

Jiang Yang smiled and said, "We have to compete this afternoon, so let's sort out our thoughts."

During the training in the past few days, they took the initiative to discuss the idea of ​​releasing Jiang Yang to hunt down the opponent at the appropriate time.

He only proposed a possibility, but Jiang Yang actively made a lot of preparations.

Leo really likes the feeling of having his ideas recognized and taken seriously by others.

As a commander, isn't the happiest thing to be recognized for your understanding of the game?

So he likes Jiang Yang very much.

He has outstanding talent in CSGO, but he does not have an uncomfortable personality. Instead, he respects the ideas of every teammate.

This is simply a conductor’s dream teammate!

"Then I'll wait to use your 'ultimate move' in the afternoon game." Little Leo patted Jiang Yang on the shoulder and returned to his position to prepare again.

Jiang Yang finished watching the video of Jame's game, then took the bread from the table and started eating.

While eating bread, he casually took out his cell phone to kill time.

After a few days of fermentation, the forum was full of posts about the upcoming knockout rounds.

[What is Young's level in the first-tier? I felt like I had no presence when I first joined, but how come he's getting stronger and stronger? ]

[Among the newcomers last year, he was the best]

[Both he and m0nesy are highlight reel makers, but young's performance is more stable. m0nesy still has the common problem of new snipers, and his simple guns often miss.]

[He is indeed exaggerating. I recently watched a video of my cousin leading a VP duo in the ladder, and they were killing everyone in the game.]

[His performance in the match against Team A was truly horrible. He made all kinds of crucial plays and crushed Team A]

He then saw a stat chart posted by netizens after the game against Team A that day, which showed the influence of several people on the field.

Although Jiang Yang's data is not the highest, his influence is the first.

This shows that he fired many key shots.

Jiang Yang felt it was okay. He was not the type to play conservatively. He liked to take the initiative to find opportunities for the team.

Hot-blooded CS is the most interesting CS game!

Then, he also saw netizens discussing the grouping format for the upcoming knockout rounds.

[In Group A, the match between Faze and Red Star is very interesting. Whoever wins will advance to the finals.]

[What? Where did you put Team X of the top four? ]

[The only designated top four in the world, are you kidding? ]

[I hope to see Team X break the semi-final curse. They have been stuck in the semi-finals for many games in a row, which is quite speechless.]

Heroic's predecessor was called Team X, and later it was renamed Heroic.

However, most netizens still like to call them Team X. Under the leadership of Cadian, this team is famous for its dynamic defensive style of play and has solid first-line strength.

But their team members are not likable, and because of the coaching bugs they exploited in the online era, they formed a global away team.

As for the results, it's very embarrassing.

Their dynamic defensive style of play can produce results, but they always feel like they lack some quality and often end up being eliminated in the semi-finals of major tournaments.

Therefore, Team X also has the title of 'the world's only designated top four'.

In the discussion between Faze and Red Star, more people tend to think that Red Star will win.

This team, the champion in the online period, only lost to NAVI in Katowice. Many Red Star fans believe that the members of their team have also accumulated offline experience, and they have a great chance of advancing in the next game.

Jiang Yang thinks that Faze has a great chance of advancing.

Although they are substitutes on Faze, these guys are all star players, and each of them is a crowd pleaser offline.

The existence of offline audiences is like giving them a buff.

Jiang Yang continued to read and saw a post discussing G2.

[The match between G2 and VP is quite suspenseful]

[Why is it so suspenseful? Isn't G2's current state a perfect match? Basically, they will just push forward and win.]

[G2, you never know when he will give you a big wave, and VP is really good at the first line]

[Don’t you know? In VP’s games, it’s not surprising to lose or win.]

[VP has an old tradition, the odds are in place, and the championship is crushed]

[I hope G2 can successfully advance, and then NAVI in the semi-finals can also take a big tonic pill and win the championship smoothly]

Jiang Yang saw someone posting the win-loss chart of NAVI’s recent match against G2 below.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who noticed the problem between G2 and NAVI's win rates.

However, facing NAVI, that is not what they need to consider right now.

But to be honest, playing against VP is indeed a bit stressful.

Although VP is not a true T0 level team, they are the toughest one among the first-line teams.

Once some areas are not handled properly and the VP seizes the opportunity to get the economy running well, they may be able to take it all away in one wave.

All the necessary preparations have been made, and we are just waiting for the game to start in the evening.

However, compared to pressure, Jiang Yang felt more anticipation.

After all, the next one was the offline competition he had been dreaming about. …

10:30 pm China Time.

CSBOY waited patiently in the live broadcast room, and finally saw the game appear on the screen.

The contestants from both teams appeared one by one in the contestant channel behind the stage and began to wait for the host's call.

The UFO Stadium, which can accommodate tens of thousands of people, was packed. The spectators who came to watch the game were waving their glow sticks and were in a very good mood.

Although the Little Bees were eliminated, three of the four major traffic teams successfully advanced. In today's round of six to four, they can enjoy watching two teams.

Moreover, the situations of these two teams are a bit special now, and they are not fully staffed teams.

But not all the members were fully staffed, and they all made it to the knockout stage.

They really want to see what level these two teams can perform at now.

The official host of IEM walked in from the backstage wearing a baseball jersey sold by ESL, looking quite relaxed.

"Hello, dear audience and friends, welcome to the IEM Katowice knockout stage, this is the center of the UFO Stadium."

The host walked to the brilliant trophy, pointed to the lower part of the trophy and said:
"After five days of fierce competition in the group stage, a total of six teams have come to our big stage. Only one of the remaining six teams can leave and leave its name on the trophy in Katowice!"

The Katowice competition is a little special. The original trophy needs to stay in Katowice. Players can take away the copy and engrave their own ID on the original trophy.

The later teams can also see the name of the previous champion from the original trophy.

It is an honor for every player to be able to leave his or her own ID on this trophy.

"Well then!" The host stretched out his hand and began to give instructions. "Next, the two teams for today's first match are about to take the stage!"

"are you ready?"

The audience responded with their passionate shouts.

The host also stretched out his voice and shouted: "Then let us invite Virtus.pro!"

……

In the contestant channel, Jiang Yang could hear the cheers coming from the audience even across the stage.

The VP members walked towards the stage one by one, and the cheers became more intense.

I felt a faint vibration from the soles of my feet, and the passionate cheers seeped into my whole body little by little through my feet. It seemed as if the blood was slowly ignited, and my whole body began to feel numb, and the roots of my teeth felt slightly itchy.

Jiang Yang rubbed his hands. It wasn't because he was cold, but because he had goose bumps all over his body.

NIKO patted Jiang Yang on the back and said, "Yang, are you ready? Welcome to your first offline competition!"

Leo turned around from the front of the team and said, "Don't be stressed. Get ready today and let the whole audience cheer for you!!"

Jiang Yang closed his eyes and made all the adjustments, he was eager to try.

At this moment, the host's voice came through the player channel: "Then let us invite Virtus.pro's opponent today!"

“G——2!!!!”

The giant door in the center of the stage opened again, and the spotlight above their heads was shining on them. At this moment, they became the center of attention.

Jiang Yang had a feeling that "the world's focus was on him".

Within the field of vision, countless points of light are flashing.

In the ears, there are those passionate shouts that make your blood boil.

The screams and cheers at the scene were even more exaggerated than when VP appeared.

Jiang Yang turned to Hunter and said, "As expected, offline competitions are more interesting!"

Hunter leaned close to Jiang Yang's ear and shouted, "What did you say? I can't hear you!"

The popularity of G2 in Europe is really exaggerated. The audience can't stop cheering. If you don't shout loudly, you can't hear it.

It took a while for the cheers to die down, and the host said:

"They are all teams that have come here after fierce competition in the group stage, but in today's match, there is only one spot for promotion!"

He began to stir up the atmosphere: "Who do you think will have the last laugh today?"

"Is it VP??"

"Or G2?"

“Let’s wait and see!!!”

There was constant cheering in the Flying Saucer Stadium, and fans of both teams were cheering for their home team, even though the game hadn’t started yet!
Jiang Yang also followed the team to the left side of the stage and entered the contestant seat.

After arriving at the player seat, Jiang Yang clearly felt that the state of the team members today was different from before.

NIKO has always been content with just doing his job well.

But today he took the initiative to call them to his side, and then they all hugged each other and formed a circle.

(This posture)
NIKO looked around at everyone and said, "Guys, today we officially enter the knockout round. Every match from now on will not be easy, but now that we are officially offline, I hope you enjoy this stage."

“Officially reaching the quarterfinals actually proves that we have the ability to win the championship, but so do our opponents. Every game from now on is a possibility of winning or losing. Whether we can continue to move forward depends on ourselves!”

Then he looked at Jiang Yang: "Although the time is short, the next game will be a test of our training and hard work during this period. We need to use all our strength to deal with it!"

"Don't feel any pressure. No matter what the result is, just show the level we achieved during training. That's enough!"

"If we still can't defeat them, it means our opponents are too damn strong! They deserve to win!"

These words are quite powerful.

Does Jiang Yang feel pressured?

This kind of competition will definitely happen. After all, there are so many people watching in the audience, what if they don’t perform well.

Or what if you perform well but still fail to win?
But NIKO's words even acknowledged the level of his opponent, which is quite encouraging.

He patted Jiang Yang on the shoulder and said, "Next, I'll say 3, 2, 1, and everyone say G2!"

"3, 2, 1!"

"G2!!"

Amid the inspiring cheers, Jiang Yang unknowingly immersed himself in the game.

"come on! Come on!!"

"Let's kill VP first today!"

Amidst applause and various swear words, everyone took their seats one after another and began to quickly warm up and debug the equipment.

On the other side of the stage, VP did not make such exciting and encouraging preparations.

Because for VP, it is important to keep a calm mind and perform what they have prepared during training.

That's enough.

Both sides are making final preparations for this knockout match in their own way.

……

　There is another chapter tonight

　　
　
(End of this chapter)