As the end of the regular season draws near, teams in the North American Halo Championship Series: Pro League are giving everything they've got to qualify for the Summer Season Finals. Teams are jockeying for the four coveted spots that earn an invitation to the season conclusion that will be held at LA Live on the weekend of July 30, and with one week left, every game matters. Week 6 was filled with action, and we have it all recapped for you here!
DAY 1
Counter Logic Gaming has been a staple of consistent dominance throughout the season. Much to the dismay of Team Liquid and their fans, Week 6 was no different. The series kicked off on The Rig Strongholds, which has been a sore spot on CLG’s otherwise relatively flawless track record. Although TL has struggled throughout the season, the fact that CLG has dropped this gametype on more than one occasion provided a semblance of hope. That hope was quickly dismissed as CLG won Game 1 with an impressive score of 100-13 and Danoxide finished the game without a single kill.
Weak game type? @CLGaming doesn't care! They take Game 1 and we have a wild goose sighting! pic.twitter.com/2WU3A4dpkp
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 8, 2016
Game 2 was not any kinder to Team Liquid as both teams faced off on Eden Slayer. CLG ran away with the game by controlling power weapons, which led to a 50-31 final score. Team Liquid showed signs of life in Game 3, Truth Capture The Flag, by winning the game 3-2, but CLG answered back in Game 4, Plaza Strongholds, closing out the series with a 100-34 win.
The second match of the night was also the Match of the Week, and was vitally important for both Renegades and Evil Geniuses as they fought to clinch one of the four spots at the Summer Finals. In Game 1, Empire Strongholds, Renegades made a statement with a 100-14 win, but EG struck back in Game 2, Plaza Slayer, to tie the series up and set the stage for a marathon Game 3 of Fathom CTF. These two teams were tied at the end of regulation time, which led to another three minutes of overtime without a victor. This resulted in a full replay of the map that led to overtime and yet another tie. Renegades finally took the game 3-1.
What a filthy play out of @Ninja_TB! #HCS pic.twitter.com/hgonN5rHV0
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 8, 2016
Fathom CTF was the nail in the coffin for EG, and Renegades won Game 4 taking the series 3-1.
Team Allegiance have proved to be a powerful force since the roster change that led to the addition of Heinz. Team EnVyUs, on the other hand, have established themselves as one of the best teams in the league, which led to one of the closest series of the weekend. Team Allegiance were the first to deal a blow, narrowly taking Game 1 of Plaza Strongholds 100-93. nV won Game 2, Coliseum Slayer, 50-41 to tie up the series. Game 3 was just as close, and neither team offered much margin for error. Fathom Capture The Flag ended with a score of 3-2 in favor of Team Allegiance, which briefly gave them a series lead, but nV tied it right back up in Game 4, The Rig Strongholds. Game 5 of Plaza Slayer went down to the wire. Both teams traded blows, but it was nV who closed the series out with a 50-44 victory.
What a series! @TeamEnvyUs wins Game 5 to take the series 3-2! #HCS pic.twitter.com/9dVPqq8TjQ
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 8, 2016
The final series of the night featured the emerging Enigma6 squad up against OpTic Gaming. The first match of the series was Eden Strongholds, and E6 put together probably the most dominant Strongholds performance of the season. They won the game 100-9 and outslayed OG 37-13. Game 2, Coliseum Slayer, was a much closer contest than the first. The score was 48-47 in favor of E6 with 8 seconds left, which forced OpTic to make one final push against a defensive Enigma6.
What a finish! @Enigma6group survives a late push to take a 2-0 lead! #HCS pic.twitter.com/wLY7p9lOC9
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 8, 2016
Enigma6 survived the late push to win the game and take a 2-0 series lead, but OpTic showed resilience in Game 3. They won Truth CTF 3-2 to force a Game 4 on The Rig Strongholds. OpTic were not able to carry the momentum to another win, however, and E6 won the series 3-1.
DAY 2
The second day of Week 6 kicked off with Evil Geniuses against Team Liquid. Both teams were coming off of losses and needed a win in order to bounce back. EG jumped out early in Game 1, Plaza Strongholds, and never looked back. They won the game 100-40 and put together a ferocious come from behind win in Game 2, Coliseum Slayer. EG was behind for the latter portion of the game and with the score at 45-43 in favor of TL, EG put together an impressive push to cap off the win. Game 3 was also on Coliseum, but this time in the form of Capture The Flag. Although the game type was different, the results were not. EG won the game 3-1 and the series 3-0.
A clean sweep for @EvilGeniuses! They take down @TeamLiquidPro! #HCS pic.twitter.com/TfFXmzcPQ2
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 9, 2016
Counter Logic Gaming were the next to take the stage against OpTic Gaming. The night before, Enigma6 put together what seemed to be as close as a team could come to playing a perfect game of Strongholds against OpTic. CLG, unimpressed with how E6 did it, put on another Strongholds clinic against OpTic Gaming. Strongholds on Eden took just over three minutes, OpTic Gaming put up a total of 4 kills, and APG laid a goose egg of his own.
Complete dominance out of @CLGaming in Game 1 against @OpticGaming, winning 100-0. #HCS
No, that's not a typo. pic.twitter.com/fkG9QxUTEu
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 9, 2016
Game 2 and 3 were not much better for the Green Wall, as they fell on Regret Slayer 50-29 and Fathom Capture The Flag 3-1. CLG swept OG 3-0 to end their weekend.
The third series of the night pitted Enigma6 up against Team Allegiance, and the first game of the series was all E6. Enigma6 put on an incredible slaying performance on Eden Strongholds, which led to a commanding 100-37 victory. Team Allegiance played a very tight game of Plaza Slayer for Game 2 and won 50-47. They looked to push that momentum into Game 3, Coliseum Capture The Flag, but the young guns Huke and bubu dubu had other plans. Huke dropped a staggering 31 kills and bubu dubu was hitting highlight shots left and right, which led to E6 capping the last flag with mere seconds left on the clock.
bubu take my dubu! #HCS pic.twitter.com/DUou9P4fBD
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 9, 2016
Just like the first Strongholds, Enigma6 proved themselves superior and won the game 100-79, along with the series 3-1.
Closing out Week 6 of the NA HCS Pro League was Renegades up against Team EnVyUs. Renegades kept nV on their back foot all throughout Game 1, leading to a 100-23 win on Empire Strongholds. The second game of the series, Plaza Slayer, was a better representation of how well these two teams matched up, but went to nV 50-48. Game 3, Stasis CTF resulted in a quick 3-0 win for nV and a 2-1 series lead.
With the chance to close out the series, nV were not able to put together a win on Plaza Strongholds and Renegades dominated their way to a 100-13 victory. Leaving the window open for RNG proved to be a crucial mistake, as they won a tense Game 5 of Coliseum Slayer 50-45.
The series goes to @Renegades! Game 5 goes down to the wire and RNG get the win! #HCS pic.twitter.com/EI1J8mLtF6
— ESL Halo (@ESLHalo) July 9, 2016
As we head into the final week of the NA HCS Pro League, here are the current standings.
Week 7 will be full of action as the top four teams are decided. The fourth spot is still up for grabs and Team Allegiance, Renegades, and Evil Geniuses are all looking to steal a seat at the Summer Season Finals from Renegades. Can Renegades hold off the push from those teams? You can find out by watching live on the Halo Twitch Channel and following along on both Facebook and Twitter!
