Only a month after a lower bracket gauntlet run that saw them earn a close second-place finish at the 2022 Halo World Championship, the roster that formerly competed under the Cloud9 banner has been acquired by Spacestation Gaming for next season’s revenge tour, the org announced today.
The announcement comes a day after the players were released by C9, with questions still surrounding the organization’s future in Halo Infinite for year two.
It was a surprising move, especially after C9 was one of the first major organizations to re-enter the Halo competitive scene when it picked up the original composition of players in October 2020. That lineup—made up of Eco, Stellur, Pznguin, and Renegade—were already proven LAN Major and world title winners in Halo 5: Guardians, and back-to-back victories at Raleigh and Anaheim in the first six months of Halo Infinite proved they were still at the top of their game.
The remainder of their season was less than perfect, with Renegade departing the team to be replaced by star rookie Bound and their Worlds bid ultimately crumbling against the dominant force of OpTic Gaming. But Spacestation is still picking up the second-best Halo team in the world and they’re a runner-up squad that’s hungry to become a winner in the rematch.
The acquisition by Spacestation was not wholesale, however. The team’s head coach, Hoaxer, who stood behind them throughout their time under C9 and won multiple Best Coach awards during the year, has fallen to the wayside in favor of Elamite. Elamite has been the head coach for Spacestation Halo throughout every iteration it took on in 2022, and it remains to be seen if he will be able to replicate the successful environment that Hoaxer created with the team originally.
With the OpTic Invitational fast approaching next month, and the first official Major of the 2023 season in February, time is running out for the currently partnered HCS organizations to announce their new or returning rosters.
