Halo eSports discussion

[wittyscorpion]

Not sure if there is any interest on this topic, just throw it out here to see if we can get a discussion going. If not, I will just let the thread die at this post

Last week a roster hurricane hit almost every team, creating huge amount of drama. It all startes with lxthul leaving EG, THE dominant team in H2A era last year to join CLG, after CLG dropped OGRE2, a player many halo esports fan consider as the GOAT. That triggered a domino effect and cause several teams to cramble for roster change, and quite a few solid players to end up team-less. It is a huge mess and quite melodramatic.

This all happened at a crucial time, as Sunday's (yesterday) online qualifier is the the last one to decide 15 of 16 spots of the NA regional (the last one will be decided by the Last Chance Qualifier), where the top 8 finish can go to the Halo World Championship and have a shot at the 2 million+ dollar prize pool. The entire drama are documented at teambeyond with this post from Sinp3down from EG, and went on and on for 100+ pages: teambeyond.net/forum/topic/10851-halo-world-championship-teams-seeds-and-discussion%E2%80%8F/page-872#entry656144

The new CLG team did win the qualfier with convincing performance, including EG in semifinal and the top seed AE in final, making them the top contender for the Halo championship.

Lots more drama ahead. Bros, if you follow Halo eSports, which team are you going to root for? Which team do you think will win the HWC?

[blackbarney]

I'm rooting for Scumpi

[eLantern]

I've always been a fan of Snip3down, Lunchbox, and Roy from back in Halo 2 and 3 days; so, perhaps Evil Geniuses, but I've also enjoyed watching Naded, Snakebite, LethuL, Ace, Ninja, iGotUrPistola, OGRE2, Cloud, Hysteria, and Goofy over the years too so it really doesn't matter to me all that much who wins. Honestly, I just wish I was good enough to be competing in a game I love for a prize pool of $2M.

[wittyscorpion]

I did not really get into Halo eSports until H2A last year. Since H2A, I have been rooting for Ninja, mainly because he has good showmanship on Twitch and as a result accumulated a sizable viewership, which is good for Halo's popularity.

For HWC, I am going to root for Ninja's team (Renegades - RNG), followed by Evil Geniuses.

In terms of predictions, I think top 4 would end up being AE/CLG/EG/RNG, because based on what I have seen so far these are the teams that have both the talent and the chemistry to go all the way.

Among these 4, IMHO the likelihood of winning the championship is as follows in ascending order:

At #4 - Renegades: Ninja is a big X Factor on this team. He is an impulsive player by nature, and that could either make or break the team's chances. At this point however, they are probably best categorized as a dark horse that can beat the other 3 when "on", but may lack the consistency required to win the championship;

At #3 - Allegiance eSports: currently sitting at #1 seed, AE demonstrated their firepower through the 5 online qualifiers. However, They won their matches mainly through slaying, and that may not be enough, especially in objective game types when they are falling behind;

At #2 - Evil Geniuses: EG is not nearly as dominant in H5 vs H2A during online cups, but that may not mean much when the time of LAN tournaments comes. The team is very disciplined, and in the next a couple of months of grinding before HWC they may have the biggest improvement as the result of that;

At #1 - Counter Logic Gaming: although the current roster was just formed last week, it is a serious force to be reckoned with. Their slaying power is very strong, and they also have EG's discipline for comebacks. The roster mania caused by Lxthul switching from EG to CLG is a shady move which will make this team a unpopular choice among fans, but that move strengthened themselves while weakened almost everybody else (except for AE which is unaffected). The net result is that they are now the best looking team.

For other teams, including the teams outside North America, I have to say none of them have a real chance. Except for perhaps EnvyUs, if Pistola and OGRE2 can somehow get back to top form in their dominating days.

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Appendix 1: time table

Jan. 29 - X Games Aspen (LAN, $30,000 prize pool, 8 teams total with 6 from NA, including the 4 mentioned above)
Feb. 6 – Last Chance Online Qualifier (to decide the 16th and final slot for NA regional)
Feb. 19-21 – North America Regional Finals
Mar. 15-17 – Halo World Championship Prelims
Mar. 19-20 - Halo World Championship Finals

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Appendix 2: NA Regional participants

halo.esportspedia.com/wiki/Halo_World_Championship_NA_Regional_Finals_2016#Participants

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Appendix 3: Prize pool

Total = 2 million and growing

Champion: 40%
Runner Up: 20%
Semi finalists: 10%
5th - 8th place: 3%
9th - 16th place: 1%

[wittyscorpion]

Halo 5 at XGames starts today, it is significant not only because it is the first time the top NA teams face each other in a LAN setting, but more importantly earning "Gold Medal" at XGames sounds like a once in a lifetime opportunity too cool to pass up.

By getting featured in XGames, Halo 5 will also get some broader media coverage at ESPN. The actual competitions will only air on Twitch/MLG/WatchESPN, but highlights will be aired on ESPN TV channels.

Preview on ESPN.com: espn.go.com/esports/story/_/id/14665732/x-games-halo-world-championship-aspen-invitational-tour-preview

Stream schedule (Thursday & Friday = group matches, Saturday = Playoff & Championship, Sunday = All Stars exhibition. All Star voting poll can be found here):



XGames detailed schedule: news.xbox.com/2016/01/28/halo-x-games-aspen-2016-full-schedule/

[wittyscorpion]

Had some great time watching XGames Invitational. The final of EG vs. CLG is going down as one of the best finals in Halo eSports history. If you missed it, you can catch it here:

[eLantern]

Didn't get the chance to watch much of the tournament this weekend, but thanks to your post I did get to watch the grand finals match-up today. Good match.