Halo Championship Series Pro League – Week 4 Day 1 Recap

After a two week break from the Halo Championship Series (HCS) Pro League, teams return with new players and LAN practice. While teams did not compete online, four pro teams and various players participated in a mid-season LAN in Orange County, California. The open bracket tournament saw OpTic Gaming protect their position as the best Halo team in the world.

With the Fall Season returning to its weekly schedule, teams hope for a top-four spot for the Fall Season Finals.


Luminosity Gaming vs. OpTic Gaming | OpTic wins 3-2

OpTic Gaming kept their dominant roster intact, but Luminosity Gaming made an unexpected change by dropping Eco for Evil Geniuses’ (EG) Victory X. The change reunites two long-time Halo veterans – Naded and Victory X – in their first match against the world’s best.

Luminosity’s changes make an immediate impact as Victory X helps start the series with a win on Fathom – Capture the Flag (CTF). Although OpTic captures the first two flags, Victory X turns the game around with the Camouflage. His sneaky play starts a run of three unanswered flags for Luminosity.

The series goes to game five where OpTic steals a win from Luminosity on Rig – Slayer. Both teams trade kills up until the 25-kill mark, but OpTic Lethul uses the sniper rifle to build a small lead. The game ends with time and not kills, the final score recorded at 48-45 for OpTic.


Enigma 6 vs. LOL | LOL wins 3-1

Unlike Luminosity’s roster change, Enigma 6 (E6) parting with Stellur comes as no surprise following contract disputes. Also, somewhat expected, Shooter’s return to E6 brings together most of the second-place roster from the Summer Season. LOL, despite playing multiple matches with Renegade, recruits a familiar face in Eco. The LOL roster of APG, Heinz, Eco and Ace matches the same Team Liquid roster of the Halo World Championships back in March, 2016.

LOL headed into the two-week break looking like a way different team, going 2-0 in week three. Despite dropping the first game on Coliseum – CTF, LOL storms back with 50-45 win on Slayer – Plaza. E6 brings the game within three kills when Cratos grabs the sniper rifle, but the deficit buries them. APG finishes with an 18-9 kill/death spread – a huge improvement from his early season struggles.

The series ends on Fathom – CTF, where LOL captures two quick flags. E6 controls the Railgun throughout the match and saves their flag multiple times in LOL’s base, but it doesn’t matter. LOL wins 3-0 and continue their hot streak.


Evil Geniuses vs. Team Liquid | Liquid wins 3-1

Unlike five other teams in the Pro League, Liquid stayed with their roster throughout the HCS Orange County LAN and into week four. EG started the Pro League strong beating OpTic during week one, but they collected staggered wins and losses since. To improve their consistency, EG dropped Victory X for Stellur.

The series begins on Truth – CTF where Liquid out-slays EG by a huge margin. Penguin leads Liquid with 26 kills, while Commonly captures all three of their flags to win the game 3-0.

EG bounces back on Rig – Slayer with strong play from the twins, Roy and Lunchbox. Liquid takes a small lead halfway through the game, though it also marks their collapse. Roy finishes 15-7, ahead of his brother Lunchbox who finishes 13-7. While Stellur and Ninja struggle to pull even, low death counts from the twins save the game for a 50-36 win.

The series never shifts back in EG’s favour as Liquid shutdown the series on Fathom – CTF. Spartan’s Killtacular wipes the EG team, out-slaying them again for a 3-0 CTF win.


Allegiance vs. Team EnVyUs | EnVyUs wins 3-0

Allegiance lost a strong player in Shooter, yet their lacklustre performance stems beyond one player. Str8 SicK fills in for their week four series against EnVyUs (nV). nV, another roster unaffected over the break, crush the Allegiance squad by huge point margins. Although Allegiance kept the score on Rig – Strongholds the closest, nV pulls away with a 100-48 victory.