A lot can change in the final week of Halo Championship Series (HCS) Pro League. OpTic Gaming and Team EnVyUs (nV), despite sitting at the top of the standings, both want the first seed’s prize money. The rest of the league fights to climb the standings as three teams play for the last playoff spot. Evil Geniuses (EG) won’t make the playoffs regardless of who wins or loses, but a winning final week digs them out of relegation.
Allegiance vs. Enigma 6 | Allegiance wins 3-2
Down 1-2 in the series, Allegiance rallies on Coliseum – Capture the flag (CTF) after their first flag capture. PreDevoNatoR pushes the Enigma 6 (E6) cave, kills two and runs the flag untouched through bottom middle. Although E6 scores first, they can’t recover. Once Allegiance scores two in a row, Falcated clears an open lane on the sniperside of the map for the last capture.
Going into game five Eden – Slayer, Allegiance won a single series of their six game-fives throughout the Fall Season. Allegiance’s seventh game-five slows downs as teams fight at the furthest ends of the map. Suspector snipes from blue platform while Allegiance tries to bring the rocket launcher from the red base. Neither team risk a push, so players hunker down behind cover.
Down six, Allegiance hold red base with a full sniper rifle and a fresh rocket launcher. The power weapons don’t matter as E6 builds the lead again to 10. Forty second remain when Allegiance turns the deficit into a four-kill lead. E6 needs to push. Down to one with 10 seconds left, E6 can’t find the last kill. Allegiance destroys E6’s playoff chances, sending them down into possible relegation.
OpTic Gaming vs. Team EnVyUs | EnVyUs wins 3-0
An OpTic Gaming series win edges them ahead of Team EnVyUs for the first seed. A win on day one won’t decide the seeding for either team, but both teams won’t need to depend on upsets in other matches on day two.
OpTic soars into game two down one game, but they pull ahead early 10-2. Efficient nV sniper rifle play shrinks their deficit to three when the score reaches 32-35. When SnakeBite grabs the Camouflage and shotgun, he pushes the nV spawners around basement. His little spree builds a temporary lead. nV reverses the score using their arsenal of Camouflage, sniper rifle and Plasma Caster to push back outside. The lead swings back and forth as Snakebite again sneaks away with the Camouflage. Despite the early lead, OpTic can’t survive the swings. nV wins 50-49 and takes a 2-0 series lead.
Back to Rig for Strongholds, OpTic extends a triple stronghold capture into a 30-point rally. The spree nets them enough to overcome a slow start, yet their comeback amounts to nothing. nV sweeps the series 3-0 and secure the first seed.
Team Liquid vs. Str8 Rippin | Str8 Rippin wins 3-2
Str8 Rippin needs a lot to go their way to earn a playoff spot. If Str8 Rippin wins and Luminosity loses, that ties them at 6-7. If Liquid loses, they don’t lose a playoff spot, but they might lose the third seed.
Down 1-2 in the series, Team Liquid can’t afford more mistakes on Truth – CTF. Commonly runs the first flag of the game back to the capture point, but he dies in the middle of a ground-pound. He loses the flag capture, but also the Camouflage he picked up along the way. A simple death means more than the endgame scoresheet. The lost flag and Camouflage doesn’t punish Liquid as Spartan helps their recovery with two flag captures.
Str8 Rippin later ties the game at two, but it comes at a price. Ace bounces a wild grenade below a teammate’s feet, kills him and Ace dies with the Fuel Rod. The power weapon turns over to Liquid, and the small mistake assists Liquid’s third capture.
Like week six, Str8 Rippin’s two quick wins turn into a game five on Rig – Slayer. Tied at 10, Eco hides in tower two, waiting for any Liquid players to peek. Everything looks calm, then Commonly uses the remnants of an old sniper rifle to pick off Eco. Liquid collapses, but the score stays close. A minute remains at the 40-kill tie as Camouflage waits bottom middle. Neither teams risk securing it, and so the game heads into overtime.
Spartan crouches in white halls and misses his sniper shot on a player in BR base. The entire Str8 Rippin team scrambles towards barrels, where Eco and Ace combine for four kills around tower one. A minute left, instead of waiting, Str8 Rippin pushes the Liquid team the game ends 50-44. Str8 Rippin survives another reverse sweep to keep their playoff chances alive.
Luminosity Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses | Evil Geniuses wins 3-1
A lot depends on this series. Since Str8 Rippin won their matchup, a Luminosity loss ties two teams for the fourth seed. Luminosity’s higher map win percentage saves them from any possible ties, but two consecutive week seven losses buries them if Str8 Rippin wins both games. If Evil Geniuses wins, they tie Enigma 6 for the sixth seed.
Luminosity’s worst nightmare happens on Truth – Slayer following a game one loss. EG kills eight straight players before el ToWn ends the death spree for Luminosity. From then on, no matter what Luminosity uses or where they push out, they can’t turn kills into leads. EG takes game two 50-40.
Since picking up Stellur, when EG plays game three in a series, they lose. Empire – Strongholds doesn’t change their inability to close and they drop the game 100-19.
With a game to spare and a 2-1 series lead, EG falls behind early on Truth – CTF. Luminosity scores first, but Lunchbox steals one back to keep the game tied. When EG pulls ahead, eL ToWn picks up the Fuel Rod for three kills in the EG base. Although they capture a flag to tie, three die on Luminosity, leaving Danoxide to defend the base alone. He brings down one, yet the flag leaves their base. Naded and Victory X bolt across top middle to save the game, but they both fall. EG ends the losing streak with Stellur, winning their first series in weeks.