The Halo Championship Series (HCS) Summer Finals kicked off this weekend, and the first day of action lived up to the hype. Four teams clashed for the title of Summer Finals Champion, while four other teams clawed their way through a bracket for a chance to play in the HCS Pro League next season.
Some teams have already been eliminated from the weekend, and Sunday will see the conclusion of the Summer Finals playoffs.
Here's a look at Saturday's matches.
Summer Finals Bracket
Counter Logic Gaming was met with adversity right out of the gates against Cloud9 by going down 2-0 in the series. CLG were able to regain their composure and get back to their winning ways by rattling off four straight wins to advance to the winner's bracket finals with a score of 4-2 and send C9 to the loser's bracket.
Team EnVyUs went head-to-head with Enigma 6, and although E6 had a 2-0 record against nV during the regular season, the live venue led to different results. nV was able to get their first win against E6 with a 4-2 series score, setting the stage for a meeting between C9 and E6 with elimination on the line.
Relegations
Team Liquid finished the regular season while playing their best Halo of the summer, and the momentum carried over to the bright lights of The Novo. Team Liquid not only fought through the bracket to keep their place in the HCS Pro League, but they did so without dropping a single map. Liquid swept eLevate and Denial eSports 4-0 to advance.
Denial eSports came in as a candidate to steal one of the HCS Pro League spots, and they kicked off the weekend well poised to do so. They fought their way to the winner's bracket finals and went up against Team Liquid, only to lose and then force their way to the loser's bracket finals.
OpTic Gaming had an underwhelming start to defending their HCS Pro League spot but had a chance to redeem themselves in the loser's bracket finals. After losing to Denial in their first meeting, OpTic got their revenge when it mattered most and won the series 4-2, keeping their spot in the Pro League.