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

Chapter 96 The World's Focus! The First Battle of the Champions Group!

Since its establishment in 2016, Green Dragons has not performed well in the CS field, struggling as a second or third-tier team for a long time and failing to leave a deep impression on the world.

But this year is a year of extraordinary significance for this team from the CIS.

The roster has undergone a major overhaul.
While retaining the original core sniper degster and promising rifleman magixx, the team recruited two promising newcomers, s1ren and patsi, significantly improving the team's overall strength.

At the same time, they also rebuilt the command system!
By having "brainpower king" Teacher Da Chao take on the responsibility of command alone, the decision-making process was effectively "simplified".

Compared to last year's somewhat inexperienced and clumsy Green Dragons, this year they have made a visible and significant improvement in overall strength and team synergy!
Well, although it seems they're still a bit short of being truly top-tier teams.
But this year, with degster and magixx forming the absolute core, the Green Dragons achieved a breakthrough in team history at the Antwerp Major. From not even qualifying for the Major main event last year, they have been a dark horse all the way and miraculously made it into the quarterfinals of the championship group!
Team sniper degster delivered a dominant performance, making crucial plays at key moments on multiple occasions.
And Masisi also changed his usual inconsistent performance, showing a rare and stable level of firepower as a top-tier star rifleman.
In addition, there was the strategic planning and support of the brilliant teacher, Wang Dachao.

It can be said that these "three musketeers" were the number one contributors to the Green Dragons' ability to pull off upsets all the way to the championship group. They created a CIS whirlwind in Antwerp with their highly impactful playing style.

However, even so,

When the tournament schedule for the championship group was released, most G2 and Dark fans were initially taken aback, but were actually quite relieved, feeling that the draw was not bad.

Otherwise, whether they run into the suffocating "Black Gold Dynasty" NAVI right after entering the knockout stage, or the resurgent super team FAZE, G2 might not be able to handle it!
Don't be fooled by G2's victory over FAZE in the first round of the Legends Group BO1. In professional CS tournaments, BO1 and BO3 are completely different games!
The BO3 format significantly reduces the element of chance, placing greater emphasis on the depth of a team's tactical map pool and their ability to continuously adjust.

If he were to face FAZE again in a best-of-three series, not only would the outside world be generally pessimistic, but even Leonardo DiCaprio himself would be a little apprehensive, knowing the difference and difficulty involved.

"But this green dragon is not easy to defeat either."

In the temporary hotel lounge of G2, coach XTQZZZ looked at the tactics board, scratched his bald head, and said to the players with a very serious expression.

"Is the Green Dragon... very strong?"

The child couldn't help but ask directly.

In his view, how strong can a team be when even the coach is absent?
"It's not a question of whether he's strong or not."

Little Li chimed in, patiently explaining, "It's precisely because they were the only team in Antwerp whose coach was absent for some reason, yet they still managed to reach the quarterfinals of the championship group. This shows that they're on the rise! They're in an unreasonable and unpredictable upward trajectory! The form, confidence, and explosiveness that such a team displays in matches are often unimaginable and unpredictable!"

The child seemed to understand but not quite, and blinked.

Meng Lang seemed to understand somewhat.

The Green Dragons, without their coach, lacked a systematic tactical plan and on-the-spot adjustments, but instead became a "mud truck," relying on the players' individual abilities and sheer drive to charge forward recklessly and cause chaos!
If this momentum is broken and morale collapses, they will easily be completely demoralized and eliminated at lightning speed.

The problem is, the Green Dragons are currently riding high and unstoppable!
Then G2 could very well be caught off guard and sent flying by this out-of-control "dump truck"!
If you are eliminated in the single-elimination quarterfinals, you're out of the game and there's no second chance.

Seeing that both Leonardo DiCaprio and his coach looked serious and fell silent, Niko couldn't help but clap his hands, giving a signature, slightly reassuring smile as he said:

"Alright, alright, let's not think about that too much. The knockout stage is the day after tomorrow, and our first match is against the Green Dragons. There's no use thinking too much now. Everyone, let's focus on practicing the Ancient Ruins. Don't forget, the Ancient Ruins is a map that the Green Dragons dominate. They're very skilled at playing on that map."

Given that the default ban is the Tower map, G2 isn't very willing to play Nuka-Crisis either, so they'll have to master the Ancient Ruins map sooner or later.

Yesterday's loss to Little Flame on the Ruins map has made all other teams keenly aware of G2's struggles on this map. If they can't master it, they will inevitably be exploited by their opponents in subsequent drafts.

Having secured their spot in the championship group, G2 quickly entered a highly intense preparation state during the remaining precious day.

Coach XTQZZZ leveraged his extensive network in the European CS scene to urgently challenge some second-tier European teams that excelled at Ancient Ruins, initiating a frenzy of training matches.

Meng Lang had successfully "purchased" the ancient ruins simulation training using his accumulated Goat points the night before last. He had been practicing hard in the system's virtual space all night and now finally had the opportunity to practice, verify, and digest the knowledge in real combat!

He played with exceptional seriousness, unleashing devastating firepower!

The result is,

After a day of training matches!
To Xiao Li's surprise, Meng Lang, who had initially struggled to adapt to the Ancient Ruins map when playing with small flames and whose timing and item coordination were not very good, was now rapidly adapting and improving at a visible pace!
His understanding of the map, his choice of movement, and his use of props seemed to have suddenly become intuitive and effective, even overnight.

Even in the final few matches, the second-tier European team known for its ancient ruins, which had arranged a practice match with them, was completely crushed and typed a series of question marks in the chat box:
"Your map is weak?"

"Dark doesn't know how to play the Ruins?"

"WTF? Are you kidding me?"

Coach XTQZZZ was also incredibly surprised!
He personally witnessed Meng Lang spending the last two days, after returning to the hotel, sitting in front of the computer frantically practicing that green ancient ruins map, aside from necessary rest and basic training.

Every time he passed by Meng Lang, the screen was filled with a lush green background, making his eyes almost glow green.

Unexpectedly, in just two days, Meng Lang seemed to have unlocked his full potential, mastering the ancient ruins that had previously seemed quite troublesome, and quickly integrating them into the team's tactical system.

Is it really possible for someone to "create one image every two days and be a master of all images in nine days"?!
Coach XTQZZZ was once again amazed by the young CN player's terrifying learning ability and gaming talent.

Of course, he was unaware that Meng Lang's effective practice time for this diagram was far more than what he had seen during the day.

After everyone else had fallen asleep, in that unseen "simulated training space," the duration and intensity of Meng Lang's "post-sleep training" were the key to his ability to grasp the details and essence of the map so quickly.

Suddenly, XTQZZZ felt even more excited and confident about the life-or-death battle against the Green Dragon that was just around the corner.

……

2022 5 Month 19 Day.

Antwerp!
The weather is sunny and bright!
At seven o'clock in the morning, Da Chao, the brains and commander of the Green Dragons, got up on time. After washing up, he began his daily routine before every important game - taking a walk alone.

He felt the morning air was exceptionally fresh, and breathing in the cool air while strolling along the quiet streets helped improve his brain's processing efficiency and clarify his tactical thinking!

Of course, as always, Da Chao habitually turned on his camera while taking a walk to record a vlog and share his pre-match routine with fans.

"Hello everyone, as you can see, this is my morning walk time."

In the footage, Da Chao's face appears very calm in the morning light.

"Although today's match is the first and very important one, I still decided to go out for a walk in the morning to clear my head."

"You always need to relax a bit before going to work, don't you?"

Teacher Da Chao spoke in a relaxed tone, as if what was about to happen was not a single-elimination tournament that would determine the fate of a Major, but just an ordinary "going to work".

"When the knockout stage schedule was released yesterday, many friends left comments in the comment section of my last vlog, asking me to talk about our opponent today, G2. To be honest, there isn't much to talk about regarding G2."

"Without a doubt, G2 is in incredibly strong form lately, their momentum is phenomenal. We're a brother team that came up from the Challenger Group together, and we've watched them enter a crazy winning streak right before our eyes. This momentum is extremely hot and shouldn't be underestimated. But..."

He changed the subject, his tone still calm and confident, "I think we can still beat them and end their winning streak."

"To be honest, I'm really looking forward to playing against them."

"And then there's their rookie player, Dark,"

Da Chao continued, "He is indeed an outstanding player, young, energetic, and with very strong aiming ability... I must admit that."

"But to be honest, CSGO is not a purely aiming game. There are actually many talented young players like him with strong aiming ability in our Green Dragons youth training camp. I have seen many such 'kids'. There is an ID that looks a lot like his, but they are not yet qualified to join the main team."

"Yes, I mean, they have the marksmanship, but they are not yet ready to enter the top league. They still need to learn how to 'shoot' in the game."

"So, as you heard, I certainly acknowledge Dark's ability to perform well while G2 is on a winning streak; he undoubtedly possesses those qualities."

"But if you ask me how to specifically beat G2 today? I think I don't need to specifically think about how to 'beat' G2. I just need to continue to lead my team, do the right things in the game, and execute our tactics well!"

"Then victory will naturally fall into the hands of me and my team. Yes, victory is sometimes not as difficult as people imagine."

Da Chao smiled at the camera, exuding an indescribable sense of relaxation. "Next, I will take you to appreciate the beautiful scenery of Antwerp in the early morning. If you have any questions, you can leave a message in the comment section of this video, and I will reply to you in the comment section of the next Vlog."

"."

……

At the same time, at the hotel where G2 was staying, Meng Lang got up in the morning and, without fail, went to the hotel gym for half an hour of core strength and cardio to maintain his physical condition. Then he went to the restaurant for a nutritionally balanced breakfast.

Immediately afterwards, he went to the temporary training room, turned on the computer and played two rounds of Faceit ranked matches to get a feel for the game and warm up his skills.

After that, he began to seriously study Green Dragons' recent match demos.

Today, Meng Lang is focusing his attention on Ma Xixi, the player he is matched up against.

After carefully watching several demos of the Green Dragons' matches, he noticed a very interesting phenomenon—based on the previous matches, Masisi often played "one game like a god and another like a ghost," sometimes disappearing for the entire match.

So much so that Green Dragons' opponents did their homework before the match, including "Focus on Degster", "S1ren also needs to be careful", and "Teacher Da Chao's command should not be underestimated"!

As the game progressed, the Green Dragons suddenly taught everyone a lesson!
Who is Magixx in the "Holy crap" section?
"This Ma Xixi... is too funny, her condition fluctuates so much."

Meng Lang stroked his chin, deciding to keep an extra eye on him during today's match to see when he would finally "wake up."

A short while later, Commander Xiao Li also arrived at the training room, greeted Meng Lang, and then sat down in his seat without saying a word.

He lowered his head, biting his pen, and based on the results of his discussion with the coach yesterday, picked up his thick tactics notebook and began to plan and deploy the various tactics that might be used today in more detail.

He would occasionally furrow his brow, appearing very absorbed in his work.

As Meng Lang watched Xiao Li's diligent and even somewhat anxious appearance, he happened to come across a video on his phone that was a morning vlog by Teacher Da Chao with Chinese subtitles, which was reposted from YouTube by Perfect Community.

Watching the guy in the video, with his pointed head and distinctive features, leisurely strolling in the park and referring to today's life-or-death battle as "going to work," Meng Lang couldn't help but chuckle.

"This feeling of relaxation...it's absolutely amazing!"

He sighed softly.

The comments section was also filled with various expressions of envy and playful banter:

"Holy crap! I'm so envious of Superman's incredible relaxed look!"

"It feels so numb. I don't even feel as relaxed and comfortable as him when I'm rushing to work on the subway in the morning."

"It's hard to imagine that Green Dragons made it into the Major championship group with this guy who had a pointy head and was taking a stroll before the tournament, all without a coach!"

"Seriously, the Green Dragons are simply the top 'god team' at this Antwerp Major!"

"What a coincidence! Isn't G2 also a legendary team known for its 'divine and demonic' characteristics in previous years?"

"Wow! The first round of the elimination tournament today is a battle of the 'god teams'! This is going to be a huge hit!"

"."

Meng Lang found these comments amusing.

He turned to look at Li Zi, who was still frowning and scribbling in his tactics notebook, and handed him his phone, saying with a smile, "Li Shen, relax a bit. Look at our opponent's commander, they're so relaxed, they treat playing the game like a job."

Leonardo DiCaprio took the phone, quickly watched Superman's "Buddhist" vlog, and remained silent for a moment.

He immediately shook his head with a wry smile, handed the phone back to Meng Lang, and didn't say anything more.

But he knew in his heart that the Green Dragons were only leading a group of young men forward in the absence of their coach, and they were like barefoot men who had nothing to fear.

No matter how far we go, it will be a record-breaking achievement for the team, and we have no psychological burden whatsoever.

That's why Da Chao's mindset was so "relaxed," treating the game like "going to work."

But he is different.

G2's roster boasts such impressive strength on paper, with the club making huge investments and possessing a full complement of coaches, analysts, and other personnel, raising high expectations from the outside world.

If he doesn't make thorough preparations before the match, summarizing, digesting, and applying all the information, data, and tactical possibilities to his match command,
If they win, that's fine, but if they lose, the pressure from management and fans will probably be off the charts.

In other words, even if Da Chao loses, at most he'll "go home."

If Leonardo DiCaprio fails to produce decent results at this Major, given the G2 management's track record and their demanding standards for performance, he might have to start looking for a new job in the second half of the year.

From this perspective, in terms of pre-match mentality, Leonardo DiCaprio, who carries more expectations and pressure, seems to be at a disadvantage compared to Delonte González, who is playing with less pressure.

But he didn't want to care about all that!
All he wants to do now is to do as much pre-match preparation as possible, thoroughly research his opponents, formulate tactics, and arrange the details.

That way, even if he loses in the end, he won't have any regrets.

……

In the evening, the lanterns are lit.

The G2 team arrived at the main stage of the Antwerp Major – the magnificent Sportpaleis Arena – by the club bus.

As soon as they got off the bus, they were surrounded by enthusiastic fans who had been waiting outside the venue.

Antwerp is located in the heart of Europe, making it convenient for fans from all over the continent to attend the games. The venue is also just a 30-minute drive from Brussels Airport, making it easily accessible.

Countless people held up support banners and posters, shouting out the contestants' IDs.

Just as Niko predicted, Meng Lang now enjoys a large following, with many fans holding up signs with his ID and shouting his name, asking for autographs and photos.

After a brief stop outside to fulfill some fans' requests, the G2 team, led by staff, entered the massive arena that can hold 2.3 people.

The sights here are enough to awe any first-time visitor:
The circular stands were packed to capacity, filled with a cacophony of voices!

Countless spectators held up their phones, their flashlights shining like a sky full of stars, transforming into a shimmering sea of ​​light. Accompanied by deafening cheers and battle songs, the air was filled with an atmosphere of fervor and anticipation.

Everyone is waiting for the contestants to appear!
……

Douyu platform, live stream room 6657.

Its popularity has already exceeded 700 million, and the barrage of comments is like a waterfall.

The familiar sound of playing with the machine rang out:

"Alright, good evening, everyone! Next up is the first match of the quarterfinals of the 2022 Antwerp Major Championship Series! It's G2 Esports versus Team Spirit! I'm your commentator, Ma Xin, here to provide commentary for this match!"

After starting to play on the machines, he shifted to a more comfortable position, patted his belly, and continued cheerfully:

"I'm sure everyone has been looking forward to this match for a long time! Especially many Dark fans, who are really looking forward to Dark's first large-scale offline tournament performance."

"But here, I need to put on some armor for everyone first! Dark, who will only turn eighteen next month, is basically a 'kid'!"

"Think about it, last year he was playing in some second or third-tier leagues in North America, and today he's standing on the stage of the Major championship! This is his first major stadium tournament!"

"All I can say is that the atmosphere, pressure, and impact on the players' performance in online competitions and offline venue competitions are completely different!"

"Many young athletes are so nervous when they enter a venue with tens of thousands of people for the first time that they might even malfunction or wet their pants!"

"Just imagine, 23,000 people shouting together, that sound wave, that pressure, it's really terrifying! It's normal for your hands to shake, if your hands don't shake, then there's something wrong, right?"

"So what I'm saying is that I hope Dark's fans won't have too high expectations or put too much pressure on him. Today, everyone should just enjoy the game! Enjoy the match, having fun is the most important thing!"

"Alright, without further ado, we can see that the contestants from both sides have begun to enter the arena!"

(End of this chapter)