In light of the Halo World Championship that took place in March, 343 Industries partnered with ESL to produce the first ever Halo Championship Series: Pro League. Some of the best teams in North America qualified and were put through a seven-week gauntlet that will culminate with the Summer Finals this weekend.
The top four teams will go on to face off for a chance at being crowned the North American Halo champions while the fifth and sixth teams are safe until next season. The bottom two teams will be forced to fight their way back into the HCS Pro League through a relegation-style tournament where two top amateur teams will be waiting to contend for the spots.
Here's what you need to know heading into the Summer Finals.
The top contenders
Counter Logic Gaming
Paul "Snakebite" Duarte
Matthew "Royal 2" Fiorante
Bradley "Frosty" Bergstrom
TJ "Lethul" Campbell
After the dust of the regular season settled, four teams remained but one team stood head and shoulders above the rest. Counter Logic Gaming, winners of the Halo World Championship in March, finished in first place with only one blemish on its otherwise perfect record. Heading into the HCS Pro League, CLG dominated the conversation, along with the competition by not dropping a single series.
But as people began to wonder if the team would ever lose, CLG were handed its first series loss by Enigma6. Luckily, the team didn't drop a series again to wrap up its regular season with a six-series win streak. CLG bled only slightly but this squad has been the standard of consistency since its formation and is still heavily favored to take the event.
Enigma 6
Carlos "Cratos" Ayala
Cuyler "Huke" Garland
Jesse "Bubu Dubu" Moeller
Ryan "Shooter" Sondhi
Enigma6's season has been plagued by highs and lows, but it caught fire at the right time. The first time we saw this roster was at the PAX East Invitational and its debut was underwhelming at best. A last place finish, which included a loss at the hands of Optic Gaming, was the low point of its season while taking down CLG and finishing in second place established it as one of the best teams in North America. E6 enter the Summer Finals on a wave of confidence and is the team most likely to dethrone CLG.
Team EnVyUs
Austin "Mikwen" McCleary
Justin "Pistola" Deese
Visal "el TowN" Mohanan
Timothy "Rayne" Tinkler
Team EnVyUs arrive at the Summer Finals as the third seed. It was the first to show CLG have dents in the armor by taking the team to five games in Week 4. Does it have the potential to do so again? With Pistola and Mikwen, talented players who were left out after failing to qualify for the Halo World Championship, the team will be looking for revenge. It's shown that it can hang with the best, but the team has a hard time closing out series. It might explain why Envy carries a losing record against the rest of the teams in the top four.
Cloud9
Tyler "Ninja" Blevins
Hamza "Commonly" Abbaali
Cameron "Victory X" Thorlakson
Zane "Penguin" Hearon
Ninja is one of the most well-known and, at times, most dangerous players in the HCS Pro League, and Victory X has been competing since 2005, which brings maturity and experience to the roster. The team almost didn't make it into the Summer Finals and left its fate in the hands of Counter Logic Gaming, which was slated to compete against Evil Geniuses. Luckily, CLG swept EG 3-0 and secured the team's spot.
Fighting for their lives
Team Liquid
Tyler "Spartan" Ganza
Braedon "Stellur" Boettcher
Kevin "Eco" Smith
Dan "Danoxide" Terlizzi
Team Liquid were one of two teams to make its way into the HCS Pro League and were winless until Week 4. The higher ranked of the two relegated teams gets to choose which amateur team it'll face in the tournament. Team Liquid upset fourth place Renegades to finish the season 2-12, the same record Optic Gaming finished with. Due to map win percentage, Team Liquid enter the tournament as the seventh seed and its late season heroics should provide the momentum it needs to defend its spot.
Optic Gaming
Nick "Maniac" Kershner
Aaron "Ace" Elam
Cory "Str8 Sick" Sloss
Bradley "APG" Laws
Fan favorite Optic Gaming were the last team to make its way into the HCS Pro League through the Last Chance Qualifier, and now it has to prove it belongs with its performance in the relegation tournament. Its last place finish means that it lacks the luxury of choosing its opponent and will have to address its gameplay if it wants to remain among the best.