It seemed like it was just another week in the Halo Championship Series, as most of the matches on the first day went as expected. LOL kept its winning streak alive, OpTic Gaming and Team EnVyUs came out victorious, and Evil Geniuses continued their freefall in the rankings.
However, there were a few moves that happened before tonight’s matches, and a few fresh faces appeared on some teams’ rosters. As a reminder, teams are only allowed one mid-season transaction each. Here are the transactions that happened during the mid-season break:
Cory “Str8 Sick” Sloss: F/A -> Allegiance
Ryan “Shooter” Sondhi: Allegiance -> Enigma6
Braedon “StelluR” Boettcher: Enigma6 -> Evil Geniuses
Cameron “Victory X” Thorlakson: Evil Geniuses -> Luminosity Gaming
Kevin “Eco” Smith: Luminosity Gaming -> LOL
Unfortunately, this marked the end of Jonathan “Renegade” Willette’s time in the Pro League, as he was only a substitute for LOL. I would not be surprised if he joins an open circuit side and fights his way back into the league though.
How did those teams fair with their new members? Let’s go to the matches:
Match One: Luminosity vs. OpTic Gaming
Game One: CTF – Fathom
LG started on the backfoot, giving up two flags to OG in the first five minutes.
That’s when Visal “eL TowN” Mohanan made a mad rush for the counter-cap, and was rewarded with a few kills and a comeback spark. He would finish with two caps and a 18-11-15 clip.
After a few minutes of a stalemate, LG was able to pull one by way of their new acquisition Victory X 8:30 into the game, and pulled the last flag right around the 10 minute mark to seal comeback win.
Game Final: LG 3 – 2 OG
Match Score: LG 1 – 0 OG
Game Two: Slayer – Regret
Repeat after me: You cannot beat OpTic on Slayer, unless you are EnVyUs online of course.
Anyways, Tony “LethuL” Campbell Jr. had fun with a 2.00 K/D and eight magnum kills, and it was a run-away win for OG in this one.
Game Final: OG 50 – 31 LG
Match Score: LG 1 – 1 OG
Game Three: Strongholds – The Rig
Strongholds games usually don’t take very long, but not tonight, as this one ticked dangerously close to the nine minute mark with both teams fighting tooth and nail.
The kill statline went in favor of LG by one kill, but both teams traded leads throughout the match and LG was able to come out on top after somehow fending OpTic off in the waning minutes of play.
Game Final: LG 100 – 80 OG
Match Score: LG 2 – 1 OG
Game Four: CTF – Truth
OG seems to shine on this map, and I’m not sure if it is because of it being a Midship remake of Halo 2 or what.
Getting two caps in a span of two minutes from a minute into the match, OG jumped out to an early lead and, unlike game one, fended off a Luminosity squad hungry for a comeback.
Side note: Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante may still have a Canada connection, but he is still dirty with a magnum, getting 13 kills in this match, more than half of his total (22).
Game Final: OG 3 – 1 LG
Match Score: LG 2 – 2 OG
Game Five: Slayer – The Rig
It was heartbreaking for LG fans to see Slayer as the deciding game mode against OpTic, however LG kept it pretty close thanks to an 11-4 run in the early game.
This allowed them to jump out to a 16-11 lead, but OG surged back to take the lead and game five, slowing down the game in the final minute rather than running around for the last two kills.
Royal 2 shined with his 2 K/D, making his average game of 12 kills count with little to give to Luminosity.
Game Final: OG 48 – 45 LG
Match Final: OG 3 – 2 LG
Match Two: LOL vs. Enigma6
Game One: CTF – Coliseum
LOL proved last week that they are not a joke anymore, and even though they dropped this first game against E6, they still fought hard in the mid-game to get a comeback going.
Two flag caps by Jesse “bubu dubu” Moeller in 90 seconds defined the early game, and it took a team effort to allow Bradley “APG” Laws to fight back with two of his own.
After a three minute stalemate, it took a team sweep by Enigma6 to get the final cap of the game potted in, with bubu dubu getting all three caps in this one, along with a 13-6-6 statline.
Game Final: E6 3 – 2 LOL
Match Score: E6 1 – 0 LOL
Game Two: Slayer – Plaza
Another slow start from LOL was seen in this second game, but the team then jumped out to two solid runs in the mid-game, besting E6 7-3 at the three minute interval and 9-1 at the five minute interval.
These mid-game bursts allowed LOL to maintain their steady lead, and take the bounce-back game against E6.
Game Final: LOL 50 – 45 E6
Match Score: LOL 1 – 1 E6
Game Three: Strongholds – Empire
This game is a lesson of how kills can sometimes not matter in objective game modes.
Despite getting outshot 55-50, LOL was able to make clutch kills and use strong rotations to get three total controls in this match.
That allowed them to take home this game three win, as Aaron “AcE“ Elam led the way with 18 kills and 10 assists, and every kill came from standard weapons and loadout.
Game Final: LOL 100 – 71 E6
Match Score: LOL 2 – 1 E6
Game Four: CTF – Fathom
Enigma6 got a win on their statistically weakest game mode in game one, but by the time this game rolled around, LOL was going at full speed with momentum.
It was a combined effort from the ex-OpTic squad to get the shutout, as AcE and Richie “Heinz” Heinz both had double digit kills in this one.
LOL is on a three game win streak. Be scared. Be very, very scared.
Game Final: LOL 3 – 0 E6
Match Final: LOL 3 – 1 E6
Match Three: Evil Geniuses vs. Team Liquid
Game One: CTF – Truth
TL made a statement win over EG, shutting them out 3-0 and making their last two caps of the game in a span of a minute.
Hamza “Commonly” Abbaali used a HAMY gamertag in this one, and it’s fitting, considering he went HAM with all three caps and a double-double.
Game Final: TL 3 – 0 EG
Match Score: TL 1 – 0 EG
Game Two: Slayer – The Rig
The Geniuses still proved that TL has a good amount of work to do before they can take away Slayer games, crushing them by 14 and making an 11-1 run at one point in the match.
The wonder twins Justin “Roy” Brown and Jason “Lunchbox” Brown combined for 28 kills and a 2 K/D in this one, with Roy putting in work with five kills on the plasma caster.
Game Final: EG 50 – 36 TL
Match Score: EG 1 – 1 TL
Game Three: Strongholds – Empire
Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses swung this game back and forth, with five total controls had between both sides.
However, with the game tied at 70, Commonly made a great defensive play and the team made a 30 point run to secure game three.
Game Final: TL 100 – 70 EG
Match Score: TL 2 – 1 EG
Game Four: CTF – Fathom
Yeah… This Liquid team sure can play CTF.
Despite a stalemate for most of the game, TL was dominant in the kills department, outslaying EG 92-69.
This helped them take their initial cap seven minutes into the game, as well as their final two cap bursts made by Commonly and Zane “Penguin” Hearon.
With this win, Team Liquid is now 8-3 in CTF play during this season, the most wins out of any other team in the league.
Oh, and Tyler “Spartan” Ganza had a ridiculous killtacular in this game. Props to him for making my jaw drop.
Game Final: TL 3 – 0 EG
Match Final: TL 3 – 1 EG
Match Four: Team EnVyUs vs. Allegiance
Game One: CTF – Coliseum
I’m really sorry Allegiance, but you just got dealt a horrible hand this week. You had to play an nV squad, who probably wanted to punch a hole through their next opponent after taking second at HCS Orange County.
Three minutes and 35 seconds is all it took for nV to win this game of CTF, with the wizard Justin “Pistola” Deese getting 11 kils and just one death, while Austin “Mikwen” McCleary secured all three caps.
Game Final: nV 3 – 0 ALG
Match Score: nV 1 – 0 ALG
Game Two: Slayer – Regret
nV was able to make a 13-5 run to start this game, and held on tight against ALG to secure their win.
It was a team effort from the boys in blue, with the team getting 36 assists in total and each player got either 12 or 13 kills in this game.
#TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork
Game Final: nV 50 – 40 ALG
Match Score: nV 2 – 0 ALG
Game Three: Strongholds – The Rig
Despite ALG fighting hard in the early game, and even grabbing a 28-13 lead at one point, nV just proved to be the better team in this series, taking back total control and cruising out to their sweep of Allegiance.
Eric “Snip3down“ Wrona was the MVP of this match, with a 21-2-7 statline, as he completely wrecked ALG with the railgun.
ALG has only won one match this entire season through seven matches played, but on the bright side, they still brought back a legend in Cory “Str8 Sick” Sloss, and their social media memes are the still dankest of the Pro League.
Game Final: nV 100 – 48 ALG
Match Final: nV 3 – 0 ALG
And that will do it for the first day of week four.
What do you expect for day two of play? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, and for all your Halo and esports updates, make sure you are following us on Twitter, @GAMURScom.
James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted by email at jamestmattone@gmail.com or on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
Image Credit: Halo Waypoint
