"If we win this round, we'll be at a solid 8 points on attack, alright?"
Wán Jīqì said passionately in the livestream. "No problems whatsoever, today's game is all about personal skill and firepower coordination!"
"Well, although we had a bit of trouble finding the rhythm in the mid of the first half, my cousin's series of explosive plays really woke up Steel Helmets' players!"
"Choosing TMD's Nuke, it's the map where my cousin can shine. Let's go get them!"
Wán JÄ«qì was now in âall-out playâ mode, more committed than he was when casting the A-Team matches, sticking to a neutral role.
He actually intended to stay neutral, but after the impressive performance by Steel Helmets in the latter part of the first half, he couldn't help but cheer them on.
They hadn't lost a single round!
Death Park is one of the most unique maps, known for its fast retake speed, which gives CT side an advantage.
As the attacking side, getting 5 points is usually considered good enough.
As a part of Steel Helmetsâ 'extended family', how could Wán JÄ«qì not be excited?
[Today, Iâm totally neutral!]
[Could it be? We might actually crush Liquid?]
[Cousinâs about to crush Banana, let's kick off this great day!!]
[The streamer is definitely leaning towards Young, let's hope they ramp up the intensity!]
[What about those saying Cousin can't make it to the Legends Stage? Speak up!]
[Even though weâre not in Ma Zongâs livestream, letâs hold off on popping champagne, letâs wait and question first!]
[Can you all go sleep already? When you wake up, another big win awaits! (angry)]
The back-and-forth during the first half had the viewers from China fired up.
However, they knew this was just an advantageânothing set in stone yet. No champagne popping just yet.
While they understood their words wouldnât impact the match, sometimes fate can be unpredictable.
...
In Steel Helmets' voice chat, the mood was high after taking such a strong lead in the first half.
But now the conversation shifted to thoughts about the second half and the upcoming side switch. No one was too carried away by the scoreline.
Jiang Yang, in the middle of the discussion, straightened his back and glanced over at Liquid's player booth.
Looking across, he saw Chicken chewing on his fingers, Sloth about to fall asleep, Grim lost for words, Stewie2k talking non-stop, and Redwarm silent like a ghost.
The atmosphere was as low as being in a cold storage, and Jiang Yang couldnât help but feel uneasy.
Though he didnât know what was going on with Liquid, he was sure this kind of mood could only mean good things for Steel Helmets.
Soon, the halftime ended, and both teams returned to their positions.
After the side switch, they were now on the defensive.
The score advantage was huge, but winning the pistol round in the second half was still crucial.
So MO repeated the strategy from halftime discussions: âCousin, you go solo at A, weâll control B with four people to start.â
âIâll flash long and catch anyone speeding up, they'll be blinded."
This map was specialâif the Terrorists wanted to rush A quickly, they would need a lot of time.
Itâs common to leave a solo player at A early on, since if the enemy is spotted, reinforcements will have enough time to rotate.
There was no dissent in the plan, and everyone followed MO's instructions without hesitation.
"Pistol round begins!" Wán JÄ«qì couldnât help but praise, âThis is why Steel Helmets is so good! They buy flashes in the pistol roundâtheyâre so sneaky and cunning!"
His praise had the viewers in the chat laughing, calling out how much they loved Wán JÄ«qìâs "all-out play."
Jiang Yang, playing solo at A, wasnât just waiting around doing nothing.
At the start, he moved to the sewer entrance.
But instead of pushing forward into the sewer, he was gathering intel.
He passed the info to his teammates: "I hear a lot of footsteps at mid, maybe two? Three? Iâm pulling back."
After relaying the information, Jiang Yang didnât rush things.
He was alone at A, and if he got caught out, his teammates wouldnât have any backup.
MO immediately responded, âIâll rotate back, you guys hold B for now, no rush.â
Death Park often had players switching positions and strategies mid-round. Without full confirmation of a push, rotating too early could backfire.
Jiang Yang decided to move to the A long corner, prepared to take action.
âCaptain, you watch A short from the bombsite, Iâll hold A long.â
âWait for the sound. When I hear them, you flash, and weâll retake A long first.â
MO acknowledged with a âHmm,â understanding the plan.
The enemy hadnât launched a full assault yet, indicating they were taking their time.
With three players defending B, the pressure wasnât too high, but A was where they needed to stay alert.
The map was quiet for a while, and Jiang Yang waited for the right moment.
But soon, he heard heavy footsteps coming from A long!
"A long, a lot of them! Brothers, get ready to rotate!"
MO, hearing this, immediately asked, âShould I flash? Iâve got it readyâjust say when.â
They quickly coordinated and were ready.
Jiang Yang didnât call for a flash right away. With so many footsteps, his position would be hard to handle if they rushed in.
He decided to try getting a pick first, then use the flash to help with a counter-push.
"Liquidâs pushing for the bombsiteâsmokes at site, car fire and a flash coming!"
âBut Grim didnât check Cousin's position, did he?â Wán JÄ«qì said with anticipation, âHe really didnât check, Liquidâs totally falling apart!â
Jiang Yang heard footsteps passing by and coolly aimed his gun, taking down Grim in the first position.
As he killed Grim, he peeked and shot again, âFlash now!!â
His goal was to draw attention, letting MOâs flash hit perfectly and blind the attackers.
But his quick reflexes paid offâwhen he peeked, Elige was still watching the bombsite and was quickly taken down with one shot.
As he retreated to cover, he heard the flashbang explodeâtwo of the enemy at A long were completely blinded.
Jiang Yangâs USP went wild, tapping away.
But the enemy, blinded and stumbling, made it hard for him to land a headshot.
"Two left at A long, oneâs nearly dead!" he reported in voice chat, but his task was doneâheâd disrupted their push.
MO rotated from supermarket and cleaned up the remaining low-health Stewie2K with a quick shot, getting the kill.
Now, it was 4v2, and the bomb was dropped at A long.
Liquid was in a tough spot, the bomb was down, and they didnât have enough players to make a comeback.
Steel Helmets closed the pistol round with ease, taking it 9-7.
In Liquidâs voice chat, Grim sounded a bit guilty: âI didnât expect him to be in that spot during the pistol round. Itâs such an unpredictable place.â
It wasnât that he had been undisciplinedâit was just that in a full gun round, top-tier teams would have smoked the right side of A long to clear that spot. But no one expected someone to be holding it in the pistol round.
Thatâs how they got caught.
...
In the second round of the second half, knowing that Liquid was likely to ECO, MO didnât impose too many restrictions on Jiang Yang, who then pulled out a very unusual weapon.
Steel Helmets players turned to look at him, stunned.
"Eh?"
Jiang Yang simply flashed them a bright smile and replied, âIâm going to play sewer.â
The camera cut to him, and Wán Jīqì immediately noticed Jiang Yang's wild choice of weapon.
âWhatâs with that Bizon?â Wán JÄ«qì said with a laugh, "Where did this playstyle come from?"
But deep down, he couldnât help but worryâcould Jiang Yang actually make it work with that Bizon?
As the countdown ended, Jiang Yang entered the sewer, where this weapon could shine.
He threw a fire near the entrance to block any rush attempts, but the enemy didnât seem interested in pushing through.
After the fire cleared, Jiang Yang slowly advanced, reaching a corner and jumping.
Elige had already positioned himself in the corner, armed only with a Glock, waiting to surprise anyone who came through.
And then, the shadow appeared.
Before Chicken could react, he was instantly melted.
[young uses PP14 - Wild Boar to headshot Elige]
In the
, NAF was still lazily AFK, discussing tactics, when a strange noise suddenly rang out.
âWait a minute... where did that Wild Boar come from?â NAF asked, confused.
Who brought this here? Is this still a professional match?
âTheyâre pushing the Lower Tunnels!! The enemyâs got a Wild Boar!â Jige exclaimed in the voice chat, followed by a burst of laughter.
âWhoâs playing with a Wild Boar now?â he said, still chuckling.
NAF quickly rushed to the Lower Tunnels entrance to intercept.
After getting his first kill, Jiang Yang didnât stop moving forward.
It was as if the sound of elegant classical music played in his mind, and with the Wild Boar in hand, he strolled casually like walking through his living room.
Jiang Yang climbed directly out of the Lower Tunnels.
Then he saw NAF holding an angle, so Jiang Yang casually peeked in and out of the stairs in the Lower Tunnels, firing a crazy pre-fire spray.
Shooting from the stairs is indeed inaccurate, but the Wild Boar has so many bullets!
He just sprayed NAF down with the stray bullets.
[young uses PP14 - Wild Boar to headshot NAF]
After being killed, NAF and Elige exchanged looks and laughed in disbelief.
If Jiang Yang had used an MP9, they might not have been so surprised.
But a Wild Boar? This is just... abstract.
After climbing up, Jiang Yang didnât hesitate and rushed to T-side to start his terrorist-hunting operation with the Wild Boar in hand.
At the terrorist spawn, Stewie2K was holding an angle, ready to headshot the wounded Jiang Yang.
But with only a Desert Eagle and no armor, his first shot missed, and he had to retreat into the corner, pressing himself against the wall.
Jiang Yang, with the Wild Boarâs overwhelming bullet count, showed off an unprecedented pre-fire.
Some people are still alive, but theyâre already dead.
Stewie2K couldnât even try to struggle, as Jiang Yangâs pre-fire killed him instantly.
[young uses PP14 - Wild Boar to headshot Stewie2K]
As soon as he secured the kill, Jiang Yang seemed to notice two lines of small text appearing at the bottom of his screen:
'Fire Support Assist +10'
'Offensive Assist +50'
He kept charging forward wildly, but the evil North Americans destroyed Jiang Yangâs money-making plans, gifting DD with a double kill.
The score was now 10:7.
Jiang Yang turned and fist-bumped his teammates, a healthy smile on his face: âI told you I could do it.â
He then sighed, feeling a bit regretful: âWhy didnât the last two come fight me? Why didnât they rush into my counter?â
Watching Jiang Yangâs expression, Wan Ji Qi couldnât help but feel awkward.
âHis reverse ECO strategy is already upgrading, and now the Wild Boarâs out, Iâm done.â
âAnd you canât deny it, heâs actually used the Wild Boar three times this roundâheâs really raking in the money!â
[id accessory covered, this is definitely a perfect C+ match]
[Guess where my Wild Boar is now?]
[Wild Boar, activate!]
[Even my cousin can use the Wild Boar in pro matchesâwhy canât I use it to push B? Tonight, Iâll practice more with the Wild Boar!]
[This wave gave my cousin a huge payout, haha]
[Artistic brotherâs ability to stir things up is really starting to resemble my cousinâs style.]
After the pleasant ECO round, the match quickly entered the first rifle round.
Jiang Yang swapped out the Wild Boar and replaced it with the sniper rifle heâd been longing for.
This round, he was assigned to play A-Long.
However, Liquid didnât seem intent on controlling A-Long from the start, instead moving slowly to control the map.
It wasnât until the timer hit 40 seconds that Liquid started to slow-walk toward the bombsite.
Jiang Yang, in the restroom, decided to peek A-Long and immediately headshot Elige.
He then took out another enemy trying to enter through the mid-restroom, but was finally killed by Stewie2K, who was hiding at A-Long.
Facing top-tier opponents, the individual skill of the enemy was clearly higher.
However, Jiang Yangâs two kills in the restroom were crucial, and even though he was finished off, his job was done.
Liquid couldnât push A anymore and had to rotate. This rushed rotation caused them to make mistakes.
DD and XiaosaGe managed a 1v3 on B-site.
After the side switch, Jiang Yang continued his strong performance with the sniper.
And it was clear that Liquid was starting to make mistakes, as their gameplay began to get more disjointed.
In the next round, Liquid tried an armorless pistol buy.
This time, Jige was on point, landing a perfect headshot on DD.
However, MO, armed with an M4A1, held down the spray and pulled off a strong counter.
Steel Helmets scored another point.
Entering the next rifle round, Liquid tried to speed up on B-site. After a long period of silence, Jige launched a wild spray and broke through, securing the round for them.
Liquid finally regained some momentum.
But Steel Helmets, led by Jiang Yangâs stable sniper performance, didnât let it turn into a one-sided match.
The score spiraled, and before anyone knew it, the score was 15:10.
Steel Helmets had secured match point!
Although everyone knew Liquid wasnât performing well, âthe dead camel is still bigger than the horse!â
After all, this was Liquid!
At match point, the Steel Helmets players were a little excited.
âSteady, keep communicating, donât get caught up in gunfights,â MO reminded.
He then turned to Jiang Yang: âGot any plans for this round?â
Jiang Yang, with the sniper rifle in hand, had been playing aggressively and was thinking of using the sniper to secure some kills.
The team had been moving with Jiang Yangâs pace.
After considering the previous rounds, Jiang Yang said, âHow about you guys control the construction site first? Iâll solo play the opening.â
Earlier rounds had been chaotic with people dropping too quickly at the construction site.
He had a sniper, so it was fine for him to try solo without needing much support.
âAlright, DD and XiaoSuo, you two group up and head to the construction site. Weâll take it first,â MO said without hesitation. B-site pressure was too heavy.
If they could secure the construction site early, B-defense would be much easier.
The countdown ended, and Jiang Yang immediately switched to knife and headed to mid.
However, he didnât jump on the balloon for a peek at the T-side, as he knew the enemy would be wary after the previous rounds.
Instead, he chose to peek mid directly.
He timed the peek perfectly and saw the smoke from T-side pop, with a flashbang flying toward him.
At the same time, a terrorist on the left was preparing for a flash.
The flash hadnât exploded yet, but Jiang Yang calmly aimed, moving his scope onto the enemy and pulling the trigger.
When there was no immediate threat, stability was the best choice.
[young uses AWP to kill Elige]
During the flash peek, Jiang Yang took Elige down with one shot. Eligeâs face contorted in pain.
He didnât know how many times Jiang Yang had killed him in strange ways.
At his level, he could easily deduce the sequence of events based on how he died.
He couldnât understand why Jiang Yang was so bold, peeking mid with a sniper rifle in the early round.
Youâre holding a sniper rifle! Not the damn Wild Boar!
But Elige didnât know Jiang Yangâs thoughts.
After securing the first kill, Jiang Yang immediately repositioned and moved towards A-Long.
His speed was enough to prevent the enemy from catching the timing.
By now, B-control had been secured, and they were back to a 3A2B setup, with Jiang Yang holding an angle on A-Long.
He noticed that no one appeared at A-Long and decided to rotate back to the bombsite.
The restroom was uncontested, and he feared an enemy might sneak up from there.
Although the sniper rifle was one-shot lethal, being rushed was still a danger.
[young's sniping and strategic play proves decisive in the final moments]
âCousin is really smart!â Wan Ji Qi couldnât help but praise, observing Jiang Yangâs instinctive reactions. âHeâs someone with strong instinct. Once he secured the kill, he instantly felt the risk and adjusted his positioning.â
âAfter gaining the advantage, he always adapts to the teamâs positioning. He fills in the gaps without hesitation. He doesnât play as aggressively as S1mple;
S1mpleâs style is even more reckless.â
âFallen was jumping and scouting from A-Long when his sniper shot missed. Steel Helmets realized the enemy was likely coming from A-Short or the Lower Tunnels.â
Knowing the enemy was heading toward A-Short, Jiang Yang quickly communicated with DD and chose an angled position to hold. He was on an off-angle covering A-Short while DD held an angle from the restroom.
Jiang Yang used his sniper as a bait for DD, offering cover while DD could potentially get some kills.
But Jiang Yang was confident in his sniping skills, setting up in an angle that only a young prodigy like him would dare to hold.
As soon as DD called out, âFootsteps in mid-restroom, the enemyâs clearing it,â Jiang Yang focused even more, calmly watching his scope and getting ready to fire.
âThis position Jiang Yangâs in, he can take a shot and rotate in seconds. The key here is DD. Liquid has to clear the restroom, and weâll see how many kills DD can get from that position,â Wan Ji Qi analyzed.
âLiquid hasnât left anyone on B-site, and they havenât controlled construction, so theyâre under pressure. This round is probably going to be an A-bombsite push,â he continued.
The terrorists gathered in the Lower Tunnels, while the A-bombsite was fully ready to explode.
Jiang Yang calmly locked down A-Short, when suddenly a shadow appeared in his scope.
Without hesitation, he fired.
[young + Stewie2K flashbang assist, AWP kills NAF]
âA-Shortâs crowded!â Jiang Yang said after killing one, noticing more enemies coming through. Instead of retreating to cover, he leaned forward while reloading, searching for the next target.
Just as he expected, the sniper rifleâs cooldown ended, and the enemy appeared right in his line of sight.
Jiang Yang quickly scoped in and headshot another player.
âDD, donât move. Iâll bait for you!â Jiang Yang shouted in the voice chat.
With this kill secured, the enemy was less likely to notice DD hiding in the restroom. This would give DD a chance to steal one or two kills.
With match point at hand, this round could potentially win the match, so Steel Helmets played it carefully.
After killing Grim, Jiang Yang quickly reloaded and pushed forward.
Suddenly, footsteps rang out ahead. He immediately peeked out from his angle.
In the back, Stewie2K had thrown some utility, only to hear the sniper rifleâs shot ring out, followed by two of his teammates falling.
Stewie2K rushed forward to try and retaliate, but when he spotted Jiang Yang, he saw him crouching.
Stewie2K immediately fired, but a feeling of doom settled in his chest.
[young uses AWP to headshot Stewie2K]
The gunshot, as ominous as a funeral bell, rang out once again, and Stewie2K collapsed at A-Short.
This meant that Liquidâs A-bombsite push had been completely stopped by Jiang Yangâs sniper rifle.
âAdding in the first kill, Jiang Yangâs already gotten a four-kill streak. Now, only Fallen is left on A-Long, and itâs a 5v1 situation. Fallen needs to clutch a 1v5 within 30 seconds to keep Liquid in the game!â Wan Ji Qiâs excitement was palpable.
âBut Jiang Yangâs not stoppingâheâs charging into the restroom, looking to take that final kill, and get the five-kill ace!â Wan Ji Qi could see Jiang Yangâs burning passion in his every move.
âFallenâs running from A-Long to the restroom, dodging as he goes. But whatâs he dodging for? Jiang Yang isnât fooled by your tricks!â he said, almost grinning.
With the final shot hitting Fallenâs chest, the match came to an end.
The score was 16:10.
This meant Steel Helmets had successfully defeated Liquid in the first match of the Legends stage and secured their first win!
What a stunning victory to start the day!