‘Chiu on This’ is a short and regular opinion blast

Earlier today, G2 was playing against HellRaisers on Dust2. It was a close game as both teams showed up to play, in particular both sides star players had a good game. However there was one play in particular that stuck out to me because of it perfectly exemplifies how much impact a player can have without firing a single shot.

The round I’m talking about is on G2’s T-side in round 26. Both teams fought for long control with Hellraisers coming out on top. This left G2 in a 3v4. However in the midst of that fight, shox was able to take control of the mid doors. From that point, it’s hard to differentiate between who was making the calls as either shox or Ex6TenZ could have done it.

Regardless of who made the call, the play he makes and the reasoning behind it is immaculate. Taking this position cuts off any rotations from the A-site to the B-site. The team already knows that there were three players at long and because Shox had pushed up so early, he can surmise that there was only one at B. So despite the 3v4 situation, if G2 hit the B-site, it will be a 3v1 in that scenario.

Splitting B would be the natural reaction if we look at the raw numbers, though the reality of the game was different. ISSAA was having a killer game as a B Anchor. So even in a 3v1 situation, it is likely he’d get at least take one or two players with him. That leaves G2 in a 50/50 or an unfavorable postplant position.

So instead of going with a typical play, Shox exploits the fear of HellRaisers. After waiting for the other two players to get in position near short. From there Shox starts to pressure CT-spawn with a smoke and flash, the team naturally starts to rotate. G2 then exploit that rotation and hit A.

Shox essentially won that round through map positioning, exploiting fear, and rotations. In a game where Shox dropped 42, I thought this was a brilliant moment of how impactful he was even during times where he didn’t frag the other team.

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