By Official HCS -
The North American HCS Pro League saw incredible competition from top to bottom, with the only remaining Finals spot still undecided until the very last match of the season. Veteran players showcased their experience, while new stars began to emerge. Rivalries were renewed and champions stood tall as the eight HCS Pro League teams proved week after week why they were among the top esports teams in the world.
Unsurprisingly, the top seed is held by the defending Halo World Champions, Counter Logic Gaming. Though the Summer 2016 Season did expose a few scattered moments of vulnerability, CLG still finished the season atop the standings, and look poised to hoist the competitive Halo hardware once more. Enigma6, Team EnVyUs, and Cloud9 – fresh off their acquisition of the Renegades roster – round out the final four, with each team fighting tooth and nail to dethrone the reigning champs. As the only HCS Pro League Team to have beaten CLG during the Summer 2016 Season, many consider E6 the top threat to accomplish such a feat, but every team in the final four has the potential to put on a show when they need to most.
No matter what the outcome, one thing is for sure: some of the absolute best competitive Halo play in the world will be on display in southern California this weekend, and you aren’t going to want to miss a single match. Here’s how the schedule breaks down for all of this weekend’s action:
WHERE TO WATCH
You can check out all the action from our live studio audience by purchasing tickets here, but if you can’t be there in person, you can catch it all streamed live on Twitch.tv/Halo and Halo.gg.
July 30, 12 p.m. PST – Kicking off the action on Saturday, the Top-4 will begin their Finals journey with CLG taking on Cloud9, and Enigma6 meeting nV in the opening round of the Winner’s Bracket. In addition, Saturday will also showcase the conclusion of the Relegation Bracket, as Team Liquid and OpTic Gaming, who finished 7th and 8th respectively in the Summer 2016 Season, defend their positions against Elevate and Denial Esports – the top two teams from the NA Open Circuit Finals to determine who will take the final NA HCS Pro League spots in the Fall 2016 Season.
July 31, 12 p.m. PST – The Summer 2016 Season’s top four North American HCS Pro League teams – CLG, Enigma6, Team EnVyUs, and Cloud9 – will battle it out in front of a live studio audience at the Novo Theatre in Los Angeles, CA for Halo esports glory in a best-of-seven double elimination tournament to determine the Summer 2016 champion.
NA SUMMER 2016 FINALS BRACKET
CASTERS
Calling all the action will be an all-star squad of casters and analysts: Kyle “Elamite” Elam, Andy “Bravo” Dudynsky, Richard “Simms” Simms, Daniel “Gaskin” Gaskin, Tom “Tsquared” Taylor, and Mike “Strongside” Cavanaugh all bring an extensive wealth of knowledge and experience to the booth, giving viewers and attendees an exciting inside glimpse into top-level Halo play. To help set the table, we caught up with Gaskin and Elamite to get their thoughts on the top four players to watch in the Finals, and what difference they might make.
4 TO WATCH FOR
DAN GASKIN (GASKIN)
Huke – “Highest KDA across the board and been doing some filthy things with the sniper as usual. Hoping to see even more insane shots in the Finals.”
Frosty – “Frosty’s positioning and movement is some of the best around. I'm expecting him to bring out some sort of crazy map jump especially for Finals.”
Pistola – “I still think he has so much more to offer and will thrive in the LAN environment.”
Ninja – “How couldn't you watch this guy? His passion is unquestionable and he has the highest KDA on Cloud 9; if they are to have any chance of finishing higher than 4th, he'll play a large part in that.”
KYLE “ELAMITE” ELAM
“Frostbite” – “Look for Frosty and Snakebite to continue the dominance from the Halo World Championship going into the Summer 2016 Season Finals.”
“Hukedubu” – “No surprise here – this duo finished in the Top-4 at the Halo World Championship, but put up a better fight for Top-2 than we even saw in the Finals itself. Look for these two players to come out swinging and try and exact their revenge on CLG.”
As always, for all the latest updates on the Halo Championship Series, follow @HCS and @ESLHalo on Twitter.
