The highly anticipated Fall 2016 Season of the North American Halo Championship Series: Pro League kicked off this week. With roster changes abound, the offseason was marked by some news that shook up the Halo 5 competitive scene. OpTic Gaming released their team hours before the beginning of the Fall 2016 Season and turned around to sign the world champion Counter Logic Gaming roster instead. With organizations and rosters shifting, the season is already full of action. Here’s everything that happened in the first week of play.
DAY 1
Luminosity vs. LOL
Luminosity made their Halo debut this week against the freshly org-less ex-OpTic roster. With no organization backing them, Maniac, APG, Ace, and Heinz opted to play under the name LOL to start off their season. LOL struggled right off the bat and quickly fell behind in the series 2-0 after losing Strongholds on Plaza 100-70 and Slayer on The Rig 50-35. Although down heavily in the series, LOL managed to put together an impressive game of Truth Capture The Flag. They controlled the map and suffocated Luminosity to close the gap on the series 2-1. LOL were not able to continue that momentum and lost Game 4, The Rig Strongholds 100-37, and the series by a final tally of 3-1.
In their first #HCS series, @Luminosity takes down LOL 3-1! #HCS pic.twitter.com/J4Nu0PgNkZ
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 15, 2016
OpTic Gaming vs. Enigma 6 Group
E6 were the only team to take a series off of the legendary team of Lethul, Frosty, Royal 2, and SnakeBite, and finished second in the HCS Pro League Summer 2016 Finals. Nonetheless, roster changes took place that left only two members from last season with only Cratos and Bubu Dubu still donning the E6 logo. On the other side of the map, a group of familiar faces wore a new set of colors. The new OpTic Gaming squad continued their dominance of the Halo 5 scene with a clean 3-0 sweep.
The new roster debut ends in a sweep! @OpTicGaming wins 3-0! #HCS pic.twitter.com/60nwXCe4ON
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 15, 2016
Evil Geniuses vs. Team Allegiance
Both EG and Team Allegiance changed their lineups during the offseason, and the two new rosters met in the closest series of Day 1. Team Allegiance came out of the gates swinging with a 100-50 win on Empire Strongholds, but the lead was short lived. EG answered back in Game 2, Plaza Slayer by winning with a close 50-42 score to tie the series 1-1. Game 3, Truth Capture The Flag, was a marathon of a game that ended with under two minutes on the clock. Late game heroics gave EG a 2-1 lead heading into Game 4, Plaza Strongholds. Team Allegiance forced a Game 5 with a 100-87 win, but were not able to capitalize on that momentum. Ninja and Roy both had monstrous performances on the way to a series win for EG.
Highlights out of @ninja_TB! #HCS pic.twitter.com/H3SUPg888A
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 15, 2016
Team EnVyUs vs. Team Liquid
Team EnVyUs and Team Liquid came into this season with high expectations. nV’s excitement stemmed from their new roster and the fact that they were able to take a scrim off of the world champions, while Team Liquid looked to improve on their finish from the end of last season. Casters and fans alike expected this to be a close series, but the final score was anything but that. Team Liquid took Game 1 on The Rig Strongholds 100-46. nV built a considerable lead in Game 2, Eden Slayer, but TL roared back from a 16 kill deficit to win 50-47. Game 3 was another close one that required a full replay to crown a winner. Commonly and the rest of Team Liquid sealed the victory and the series 3-0.
It took a replay but @TeamLiquidPro sweeps @TeamEnVyUs! #HCS pic.twitter.com/UhUIBwayKs
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 15, 2016
DAY 2
Enigma 6 Group vs. Team Liquid
Day 2 of the NA HCS Pro League started off with a bang. E6 struggled through their series in Day 1 while Team Liquid swept their foes. However, E6 showed up on Day 2 and won Game 1 Truth CTF 3-2. Team Liquid answered back with a win of their own on Eden Slayer, and both teams traded blows throughout the series. Plaza Strongholds went to E6 and Team Liquid tied the series up again on Stasis CTF, forcing a Game 5 on Regret Slayer. In the end it was E6 who secured the Game 5 win 50-44.
Game 5 and the series goes to @Enigma6Group! #HCShttps://t.co/7drnSmNLYE pic.twitter.com/7XD3pS8NJ0
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 16, 2016
Luminosity vs. Team Allegiance
The first game between Luminosity and Allegiance was over almost as quickly as it started. Luminosity started strong with two quick flag caps on Coliseum CTF, leading them to a 3-1 score and a 1-0 series lead. Team Allegiance fared better on Coliseum Slayer and tied up the series. Team Allegiance were not done, however, and took Game 3 as well in humbling fashion. They won Plaza Strongholds 100-16 and turned to Fathom CTF for Game 4. Luminosity gained a respectable lead and looked poised to win the game before Team Allegiance put together a furious comeback as time expired to take the win 45-44.
What a finish! Game 5 goes down to the wire and @Luminosity comes out on top! #HCS https://t.co/7drnSmNLYE pic.twitter.com/17kDtDOEND
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 16, 2016
Team EnVyUs vs. LOL
LOL played their second series of the week with Ryanoob in place of Maniac. Although working with a sub, the series started off no differently than their series on Day 1. nV had complete control of the map from beginning to end and took a 1-0 series lead after a swift 3-0 win on Fathom CTF. LOL put up a better fight on Game 2 Truth Slayer, but nV took over and pushed the score to 2-0 in their favor. Game 3, Empire Strongholds, was utter dominance out of nV. They won the game 100-14, and the series with a 3-0 sweep.
It's a clean sweep! @TeamEnVyUs sweep LOL 3-0 to close out their week! #HCS pic.twitter.com/e8GuboeDkZ
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 16, 2016
OpTic Gaming vs. Evil Geniuses
The final series of the weekend between OpTic and EG started off with Fathom CTF and, as has happened in the past, both teams fought to multiple ties before getting to a sudden death situation. After the dust settled EG emerged with a 1-0 series lead that was quickly given away as OG won Plaza Slayer to tie the series. That would be their only win of the series. EG won both Empire Strongholds and Truth CTF to take the series against the defending World Champions by a final score of 3-1.
They pull it off! @EvilGeniuses hand @OpTicGaming their first loss of the season! #HCS pic.twitter.com/HcziM0uQ0t
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) September 16, 2016
COMING UP
The first week of the NA HCS Pro League Fall 2016 Season set the tone for an action-packed season. Stay tuned to ESL Halo on Facebook and Twitter for updates as the season goes on and watch Week 2 live on the Halo Twitch channel next Wednesday and Thursday starting at 4:30PM PDT!
