CS: The Last Dance, a Dance That Leads to Professional Success

Chapter 66 What if the Legendary Group encounters a Galactic Battleship right from the start? (Double votes requested)

HLTV Post-Match Forum (External Website):

"Wait, he's a rifleman? A rifleman saying he's going to take TOP1?"

"My God, is this guy from CN joking?"

"Top 1 of the year? He hasn't even played a single Legends match yet!"

"Okay, I admit he really did play like a superman in the Challengers group, but dude, let's be realistic, okay?"

"Niko would cry if he saw this interview, I swear! He worked his entire career and couldn't achieve it, and this kid just said it so easily?"

"I like this kid's confidence, really, but it sounds like that middle school kid next door who always says he can make it to the NBA. Good luck, man, you're going to need a lot of luck."

"This guy is either an arrogant madman or a genius who's about to change the game; there's no middle ground."

"."

It has to be said that Meng Lang's statement "this year's TOP 1" and his subsequent calm "I know" were like a depth charge dropped into a calm lake, and the chain reaction it triggered was far beyond anyone's imagination.

Even Gaules, the Brazilian commentator who once set a record of over 70 viewers watching a CS:GO tournament simultaneously, burst into exaggerated laughter after watching the interview:

"Hahahaha!"

"No—! He can't say that! That's insane! I mean, I admire his courage, but... oh my god... it's like a kitten telling a lion, 'I'm going to eat you,' both cute and terrifying!"

"Listen, if this kid named Dark actually gets TOP1 this year, I'll immediately change my stream name to 'Dark is number one in the world' and keep it up for a whole year! I swear! Hahaha!"

"."

The live stream chat was filled with various laughing emojis.

The problem is coming!

Why is the reaction on foreign websites so exaggerated?

To know,
The HLTV Top 20 Players list is the most anticipated event in the CS:GO community every year. Since its inception in 2010, it has become an authoritative benchmark for measuring players' annual performance and a milestone that countless professional players dream of achieving in their careers.

The TOP1 crown symbolizes the supreme throne in the global CS professional scene, the ultimate pursuit of countless talented young players and established veterans. Every year, the release of the list sparks widespread discussion in the global CS community, with fans arguing endlessly about the rankings of their favorite players.

However, it is precisely the selection mechanism of this list and the trends in recent years that make Meng Lang's declaration seem so "horrifying"!
First of all, the selection of the top players of the year is not just based on a single game's performance or simple K/D stats. It is a comprehensive and complex evaluation system. While tournament data is the foundation, the honors won (especially the number of MVP and EVP awards) and the prestige of the tournaments in which the honors were won are the most crucial factors.

There are quite a few of these events every year.

The three major ultra-elite events, not to mention the Cato tournament which has already concluded in the first half of the year.

The second half of the year also includes IEM Cologne and the Rio Major, which are naturally the most important tournaments.

Other competitions such as the EPL and BLAST series finals also carry significant weight and are important factors in the selection process.

Therefore, host Banks kindly reminded Meng Lang that to win the TOP1 title, an outstanding performance at the Antwerp Major alone is far from enough—he must maintain a stable and high level of performance in multiple top-level tournaments throughout the year and win enough MVP honors.

But this is not the main reason why audiences around the world were shocked or even laughed.

What truly made Meng Lang's words sound somewhat like a "fairy tale" was that Meng Lang, a rifleman, said he wanted to take TOP1!

It's important to understand that in the current version of the game, the CS:GO professional scene has been dominated by the Ukrainian prodigy s1mple and the French ultimate weapon ZywOo, with these two snipers completely taking the top spot for the past few years!

No more, no less.

Two for each person.

This also means that whoever gets this year's TOP1 will have one more than the other.

So, is the next person after the two peerless heroes just a rifleman?
No!

Under the weight of the forest, the limits of humanity are reached!
Device, the father of Team A's dynasty, is actually the third in line to succeed TOP!

It is not difficult to see from this that

In recent years, let alone TOP1, even the top TOP positions have been monopolized by top snipers like Senzai and Wanfu!

As for riflemen, even Niko, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest riflemen in history and is known as "the longest river of riflemen," only achieved a TOP2 ranking in 2017, the best HLTV annual ranking of his career.

That was before the Senzai Dynasty had fully risen to power.

Since then, let alone TOP1, no pure rifleman has ever been able to make it into the top 2 of the year.

That's the power of the sniper rifle.

Therefore, when a rookie rifleman who has just made a name for himself in the Major Challenger Series and has not even proven his sustained competitiveness in any S-level tournament seriously says in an interview that his goal is not the Major championship—although that is bold enough in itself—but rather to directly aim for the annual TOP1, which has been almost "monopolized" by snipers in recent years!
The impact and dramatic effect it brings!
That was absolutely explosive!

This is like a young striker who has just debuted in the Champions League and played a few good games, calmly stating in an interview that his goal is this year's Ballon d'Or—and during the peak of Messi and Ronaldo's dominance in football. (Domestically, in live stream room 6657.)

The live stream chat has completely split into several factions:
"Insane! Absolutely insane! But I love it!"

"Oh no! He actually got away with it! What am I going to do if I start to get excited?"

"What are you expecting? Just because Little Bee won the qualifying round with four maggots, do you think you're someone special?"

"Top rifleman? You can dream about anything."

"Please, let's win a Major first, being number 1 is too far away."

After a brief moment of shock and loss of voice, he finally regained his vocal cords and, with a wry smile, spoke into the microphone:
"Brothers... how... how should I put this? TOP 1! Dark really dares to think and say!"

"I'm not trying to be pessimistic, but let's analyze this rationally. First of all, the annual TOP1 should be judged based on the performance throughout the year. It's only May now, and the Antwerp Major is just a big test for the first half of the year. There's still IEM Cologne, EPL, and even the Rio Major in the second half of the year. Every tournament is a tough battle!"

"Secondly, and most importantly... brothers, look at who the top players have been in recent years? They're all monsters wielding AWPs and racking up stats in elite tournaments."

"And to be honest, it's easier for a sniper to survive and put up high numbers, but if a rifleman tries to breach positions, they're too easy to get killed, so it's hard for them to put up higher numbers than a sniper. How can they compete with snipers for the top spot?"

At Jianghai University, Li Shan immediately launched a rocket attack upon hearing this, then sent a dissatisfied comment:

"No, is it really that hard for a rifleman to outperform a sniper? I was thinking that Dark's stats today were significantly higher than some snipers'."

"I don't care! I just think Dark deserves it!"

"."

When he saw this comment questioning him while playing the game, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks to Dark666 for the rocket, may the boss live forever and have endless fun! No, bro, the truth is very simple. Dark's stats were indeed better than Carry's today, but the problem is he can't keep killing like that forever."

"Some viewers commented, 'What if he could?'"

"No, you're being a bit argumentative!"

"If he can really keep killing like this, just look! He's dominating every game! If he can maintain this level of performance and advance from the Legends to the Champions, from the studio to the arena, it means he not only advances, but he's also playing like he's in the Challengers group every day, with ratings of 1.76 or 1.87, and then suddenly dropping to 2.45 every now and then!"

"Yes! He does this every day."

"Hey! I think he can compete for the top spot by the end of the year, okay?"

"But! Dude, I don't think that's possible! This is too ridiculous. He can't possibly keep winning like this, right? I think this is too far-fetched."

"If this really happens, then I can only say that this world is too crazy!"

"As for the reason, I've already explained it before, so I won't go into it again here, okay?"

There's a saying...

"Look at Old Ni, Dark is nothing compared to this! It's a mess!"

In the 6657 live stream, when talking about playing with machines, he changed the subject and continued, "Of course, Dark himself can say that. Which professional player hasn't thought about being number one?"

"Some viewers, who may be new to this competition, have become fans of Dark's performance. All I can say is, calm down."

“Dark will only turn 18 next month. He’s still a kid. He just said some exciting things at an exciting moment. It’s normal.”

"Give him some time instead of putting him on the spot. He just said his goal is to be number one, expressing a good wish, but some people are directly helping him get loans for number one. Do you even believe what you're saying?"

"I think, let's put everything else aside for now and go to the Legendary Group first, and go up against those high-ranking predators, okay?"

"What if we run into a team like FAZE, the Galactic Battleship, in the first round of the Legendary Group? We'll be doomed!"

"That's why I said that CNCS has produced a genius teenager, and it's fine for everyone to praise him, but we should still restrain ourselves a bit."

"And the key point is, this competition isn't a one-person affair."

"Holy crap, bro! When did I become a nun? I don't think I did!!!"

One careless

NiKo fans are attacking me again for playing with the machine.

Ok,

Perhaps it wasn't an accident.

(End of this chapter)