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

Chapter 362 Snake and Rat: "Young Ladder can't beat us!"

The morning of the Rio Major semifinals.

Jiang Yang had just lost a Faceit ranked match despite being in excellent form. After the match, looking at his record of one green-ranked player carrying four red-ranked players, he sighed deeply.

"What's wrong? Why are you sighing? Keep going! This is nothing!" Broccoli's voice came through the voice chat, full of enthusiasm despite being eliminated.

Jiang Yang looked at his 33-17 KD and then at Broccoli's 7-19 KD, and said, "I just wanted to relax, but you're just a pure actor."

Jabbi and Stavn, the first and second ranked players on the opposing team, had 22 and 21 kills respectively, yet they still managed to win the game.

This made Jiang Yang quite unhappy.

Since there was no other way to put pressure on the three strangers, the natural next step was to put pressure on Broky.

“I really wasn’t acting,” Broky retorted. “I’m still getting into character.”

Broccoli perked up, "Isn't it normal for me to be preparing for a Major?"

Jiang Yang rolled his eyes. "Come on, are you preparing for the next Major?"

Broky chuckled.

After being eliminated from the Legends group, he went through initial confusion and pain, but has now calmly accepted the fact that Faze is out.

"We're one of the earliest teams to prepare for the next Major," Broccoli joked. "So, can we play another game?"

Jiang Yang rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm going to fight to the death."

Running the ladder with Broky was like carrying a heavy load.

Although Broky has toned down his item usage a bit, he's practically openly showing off. He plays ranked matches more aggressively than deathmatches, and Jiang Yang is finding it hard to carry him.

Instead of suffering in ranked matches, it's better to find your shooting touch in deathmatch and prepare for the afternoon's game.

Jiang Yang entered a deathmatch, and Broky didn't rush to leave TS Voice.

"To be honest, you're really wicked. You even made SH1ro cry. You went way too far."

Broky didn't watch the Falcons' first round of matches, but the image of sh1ro shedding tears on stage after being eliminated moved many people.

As a professional player, Broky could understand sh1ro's feeling of helplessness. Even though he felt he was at his peak, capable of carrying the team in matches, he still couldn't overcome that insurmountable obstacle.

Yes, he had felt that same feeling with Jiang Yang.

In other words, he has actually experienced more than sh1ro.

Starting with Cato this year, Jiang Yang, as a substitute for G2, snatched the Cato championship from their grasp.

Although they got their revenge against GL in EPL, he was completely outmatched in the matchup, and the encounter in Antwerp was even more brutal.

Jiang Yang not only completely dominated him in his matchup, but also snatched the Major trophy right in front of him, causing him to develop a mental block.

In this Rio Major RMR, the Falcons simply swept them.

Even though Broky is in great form this year, and some people predict that he can enter the TOP10, he still feels a sense of despair when he faces his friend.

However, Broky's inherently eccentric personality allows him to handle these emotions very well.

Occasionally, I would play duo queue with Jiang Yang in the ladder, which was just a small act of revenge in some ways.

"SH1ro was moved by the support of his teammates and fans, what does that have to do with me?" Jiang Yang said, refusing to take the blame.

Broccoli then opened the KFC, took a bite of an egg tart, savoring the rich aroma, and casually asked, "Are you still training like crazy here? Are you planning to be torn apart by Team X?"

Jiang Yang methodically killed the professional players in the deathmatch server, saying, "There's nothing I can do. You guys were eliminated so early. After I finished RMR, I thought the finals would be Falcons vs Faze."

"A galactic battleship colliding with a space battleship, what an interesting scene."

"That's quite interesting." Broky sneered. "After the finals, one of NIKO and Big Brother will definitely have their Dao heart shattered, and they might even retire on the spot."

NIKO and Big Brother are currently tied for first place in the 'Major runner-up medal holder' position, both having lost two Major finals.

If the final is really as Jiang Yang said, then someone will realize their dream and break through their inner demons, while the other will be completely shattered.

That scene was a bit too cruel.

Jiang Yang replied, "Actually, we could have played against you guys in the semifinals, then we wouldn't have had such a painful scene."

"We still lost in the end, huh?" Broky complained. "You're such a noob."

This time, Faze's elimination was a major upset for the entire CS:GO community. However, after watching Falcon's matches for a few days, Broky knew clearly that their current form was no match for Falcon.

He was in pretty good form at the Rio Major, but he struggled against the other FaZe players, especially when compared to Falcon, where the difference in performance was even more obvious.

Unless a miracle occurs, it will eventually fall to the falcon.

For Broky, whether or not he makes it to the playoffs is not very meaningful if he doesn't win that major trophy.

"Stop talking about this useless stuff. What are your plans for playing Heroic this afternoon?"

"Don't let things go smoothly all the way to the semifinals and then suddenly collapse."

Even though he was eliminated early on, as a friend he still hoped that Jiang Yang could lift the Major trophy.

"You can rest assured," Jiang Yang replied. "What I said in the interview wasn't just empty talk."

"Opening champagne before the game, you're quite an interesting guy," Broky joked.

But he knew in his heart that Jiang Yang was not just talking nonsense. From RMR to the semi-finals, Falcon's impressive record gave him the confidence to say such things.

"You'll find out whether the champagne was opened or not after you finish watching the game," Jiang Yang chuckled.

"Alright, I'll definitely watch the match this afternoon," Broky said. "If you don't play well, I'll bring the demo and roast you."

"You just need to start your live stream and make money," Jiang Yang replied confidently.

After Broky exited the voice chat, his hands also left the keyboard.

The morning training is almost complete, and I've finished preparing myself in terms of physical condition.

He started to relax and casually browse the forum.

I noticed that a lot of people were discussing the match between NAVI and Black Panthers on the first day of the knockout stage.

[How could I, Old Pig, die?! My Old Pig, step forward and do something about it!!]

[I can't believe NAVI ended up losing 1-2 to Black Panthers. S1mple was the worst player of the match. Is this still the CS:GO I'm watching?]

I have a feeling that S1mple's era is coming to an end.

The Black Panthers played exceptionally well in that match; playing at home, they seemed to be fighting with their backs against the wall.

Jiang Yang turned his head and asked, "NAVI lost to Black Panthers!"

The schedule was quite tight, and they couldn't watch every game. Jiang Yang only recently learned about his opponents.

Hearing this, the breathing person who was watching the demo replied, "1:2. S1mple's condition is extremely poor. He suddenly disappeared. If he had stepped up and performed well, the result might have been different."

NIKO commented, "KASCRATO has been playing quite well recently, with a rating of 1.35 across the tournament, ranking fourth among all players. S1mple just suddenly disappeared for one game, which made it very difficult for the other players on NAVI."

NAVI, hailed as a strong favorite to win the championship, was eliminated on the first day of the knockout stage, which is truly regrettable. Just a year ago, Black Panther was still a toy for NAVI.

However, in just one year, the world of CS:GO has undergone tremendous changes, and Black Panther has been able to defeat NAVI.

"NIKO, where are you ranked?" JKS asked curiously.

“My average stats are 1.37, tied for second with Sh1ro.” NIKO paused for a few seconds, then countered, “Why don’t you ask who’s in first place?”

JKS said matter-of-factly, "Young, who could have performed better throughout the tournament?"

He didn't know the specific data, but he did know that Jiang Yang had an absolutely outstanding performance, so he didn't need to ask who was number one.

There's absolutely no need to consider who the MVP of the entire tournament is.

Jiang Yang's stats are so good that if they lose now, the Major organizers might still award him an MVP medal.

Of course, JKS doesn't think they'll lose in this state.

"What are the ratings of the members of Heroic?" JKS suddenly wanted to do a big survey on Heroic.

“Their rankings aren’t very high.” NIKO looked at the information on her phone. “But there’s one thing that’s special: their data is very stable, all in the 1.0-1.2 range.”

NEO frowned slightly. "The data is so close?" "It's more stable than we expected," NIKO said.

"An extremely high lower limit coupled with a not-so-outstanding upper limit, that's very Heroic." Jiang Yang felt that this was Heroic's style.

“Then this afternoon’s game won’t be so easy,” NEO said thoughtfully. “If Heroic has any obvious weaknesses, we can exploit those weaknesses and break down their defense.”

"But if all five players are in similar condition and their defensive lines are of similar quality, then we will face greater pressure in our attack."

NEO continued, "However, our defense is much more comfortable..."

"Why?" Breath asked.

The experienced NEO replied, "Without such a high ceiling, their offensive power isn't as prominent, making it more difficult for them to break through our defense."

"So we should focus more on how to attack, because Heroic's dynamic defense is not easy to break."

Dynamic defense is Heroic's most brilliant tactic, with its extremely high floor and discipline making it a headache for many physical teams.

They were able to leverage their numerical advantage through dynamic defense.

Three people can't defend a minefield, but Heroic can use dynamic defense to move another person back to defend a minefield in advance. Three people can't defend a minefield, but four people can, and that's a completely different story.

Therefore, the opponent we are about to face today, Heroic, will still put some pressure on Falcon.

“I don’t think it’s a big problem,” Jiang Yang replied thoughtfully. “Dynamic defense is an excellent idea, but the prerequisite for dynamic defense is map control.”

"Heroic needs to have a chance to gain control of the map to face us."

Dynamic defense requires information to be available; otherwise, it's just gambling, in which case the Falcon would be a formidable opponent.

Taking control of the map from this group is no easy task, especially since they are eager to seize control of the map.

NEO did a lot of research for this game. He then led the Falcons to review Heroic's defensive habits and classic tactics, leaving them with a general impression.

They don't need much preparation before the match; they just need to avoid being targeted too much.

As for this, the strategy of using devices to counter sniper rifles and Jiang Yang to fight rifles has already been successfully adapted to the C9.

It seems that Heroic will have a tough time today.

……

Inside the Rio Olympic Stadium, the first best-of-three (BO3) match of the second day of the knockout stage kicked off.

Because of the different map pools, the Black Panthers, playing on their home turf, suffered a slight disadvantage in the draft phase. Taking advantage of playing on home turf, the Black Panthers were full of passion, and the audience at the scene also wanted to overwhelm the outside team with their momentum.

But after a short while of the match, Black Panther and the audience noticed that the outside group remained calm and composed despite their cheers, and Jame's face was completely unmoved.

He was like an emotionless robot, constantly directing the team to make default decisions, detonate bombs, and score points.

Even when Black Panther catches up in points, I never see any disappointment in this god-like guy.

With Jame's extremely reasonable economic control, Black Panther couldn't figure out the opponent's economy at all and was often stunned by Jame's sudden use of a sniper rifle.

Even though Black Panther managed to win back a map in Map 2, Outside remained unaffected, methodically winning Map 3 and advancing to the finals amidst the groans of the crowd.

"It feels like VP is even more terrifying than before. This slow, aggressive style of play is really constipated, but with Jame's clear thinking, it's also very solidly strong," NIKO praised.

These players still prefer to call outside VP.

VP's offensive strategy in this match was more of a strong default.

Aside from the occasional burst of bombs, they typically aim to compress the game into a 30-second opening, sacrificing time to prevent the defenders from gathering more information.

Finally, another round of bomb detonation.

VP's current playstyle has a feeling of building up strength until the end, and then going all in at once.

Falcon felt that they wouldn't gain any advantage by tactically clashing with VP.

"Let's put VP aside for now and focus on Heroic," device said. "If Cadian wins, we won't even have a chance to face VP."

His words revealed a strong hostility towards Cadians.

This mainly stems from internal conflicts within Denmark.

Device comes from Astralis, formerly Denmark's best CS:GO team, while Heroic is Denmark's second-best team, so there is a competitive relationship between the two.

In addition, there was a conflict between Team A players gla1ve and cadian.

As gla1ve's former teammate, device naturally sided with gla1ve, and consequently disliked cadian as well.

“That’s right, it’s time to take over Heroic.” Jiang Yang said, putting away his phone, just as he heard the host shouting, “Falcons—”

He stepped from the dimly lit players' tunnel into the brightly lit arena, where a massive roar of cheers filled his ears. The lit-up phone cameras seemed like stars, responding to his confident and radiant face.

Amidst the cheers of the audience inside the stadium, Jiang Yang led the Falcon team to the players' seats.

Even after the knockout stage opening ceremony, the host will still call them in, but they will not stand on the stage for pre-match interviews.

Jiang Yang settled down and began a quick warm-up on the practice map. After killing 500 bots, he felt he had hit the mark.

Suddenly, he heard the Viking war cry ringing out in the stadium. He looked up and saw that it was Heroic's captain, Cadian, leading the audience in chanting.

This is Cadian's favorite interactive action, and the atmosphere at the scene is incredibly lively right now.

Seeing this, Jiang Yang suddenly wanted to do something mischievous.

He took off his headphones, stood up, clapped his hands at the audience in the stadium to attract their attention, then counted "1, 2, 3" with his fingers, followed by a booing gesture.

Heroic players' bench.

Cadian, sweating profusely, interacted with the audience, chanting Viking War Cries. He was having a blast, experiencing the charm of the offline competition.

But when he shouted "Ho!" again, he found that the sound in the audience suddenly became quieter, and many people booed.

This sudden change puzzled him, and then, following the audience's gaze, he saw Jiang Yang making a "booing" gesture.

Noticing Cadian's gaze, Jiang Yang, having successfully pulled off his prank, laughed heartily, then sat back down and put on his headphones.

Cadian smiled as well.

That kid is pretty naughty.

It's just a bit appetizing.

He sat back down and clapped his hands to draw the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Brothers, we've lost count of how many times we've played in the semifinals. We've fallen at this hurdle so many times."

"But our opponent today is probably the team with the strongest individual skills, a team with three top-ranked players. The pressure we face head-on may be much greater than we imagined!"

"Even with such a strong team, we still ended up in the same position as them! This proves that we have the ability to defeat them, and each of us will play a huge role in the game!"

Cadian looked at his teammates beside him: TeSeS, sjuush, jabbi, and stavn, his eyes filled with trust.

"I believe you are the best professional players. Your individual skills are no worse than the opponents. Even if the opponents are a group of top-ranked players, we still have a chance to beat them!"

Upon hearing this, stavn immediately replied, "Actually, the other side isn't that scary. Jabbi and I even beat Young in ranked today. He wasn't in that good form."

Upon hearing this, TeSeS thought of the falcon competitions he had recently watched.

Young's form was practically on fire... oh no, it was already on fire yesterday playing C9.

Isn’t this scary?
Jabbi responded, "Young couldn't beat me at all in ranked matches today!"

TeSeS was about to say something when he heard cadian clench his fist and encourage them, "That's right, that's it! We're going to crush them in no time!"

"Let's take Falcons home!"

After Cadian finished speaking, Stavn and Jabbi echoed him with shouts and sat back down in their seats, ready to go.

TeSeS's words were immediately swallowed back down.

He then looked at Stavn and Jabbi.

Now we can only hope that they are truly in that state.

……

(End of this chapter)