Adversity can come in many forms. In the case of the Australian Halo squad Team Immunity, adversity manifested itself in the form of an injury that resulted in a last-second roster change before the biggest tournament of the season.
Matthew "Heff" Hefren of Team Immunity suffered a hand injury, which forced Team Immunity to attend the 2016 Halo World Championships with Teddy "Junior" Joe Jr. in his place. Aaron "Benno" Bennett was floored at the way things played out.
"With Heff's injury so close to worlds last year, we were all in complete shock," Benno said. "We committed so much time into practicing with Heff, and we were forced to basically start again."
Much to its dismay, Team Immunity was not able to adjust quickly enough to make a deep run in the tournament. Immunity went 1-2 in groups with humbling 3-0 losses to Denial and eLevate, both teams that finished in the tournament's top four.
Immunity was sent back down under with a year to think about what could have been. Benno and the rest of the roster decided to take some time off after the tournament to reflect.
Those memories, coupled with unfinished business from 2016, are the fuel that drive Benno and Team Immunity heading into the 2017 Halo World Championship. Team Immunity decided to travel stateside before the tournament for boot camp and prepared by scrimming its North American counterparts.
"We feel this is the most competitive roster we could assemble to compete in North America," Benno said. "We have played a couple of scrims as a team and have been reminded how disciplined NA teams are. It really is a reminder every time we play good teams here, we can't play lazy at any point in the game, or we'll get punished."
Benno's passion for Halo began at the start of the series with a Halo edition Xbox his parents bought him. He played 2-on-2 games via LAN with people on his block. Those games eventually led to Benno competing in his first Halo: Combat Evolved tournament, and that continued well into the Halo 2 era.
"I played Halo 2 competitively but took a break in the final year of H2 and decided to wait until Halo 3," Benno said. "After a year break I came back refreshed and fell in love with Halo 3 and decided to take it more seriously as competitions in Australia were becoming more frequent, and the community was constantly growing."
"Every time we play good teams here, we can't play lazy at any point in the game, or we'll get punished." Aaron "Benno" Bennett, Team Immunity
As Benno established himself as one of the better players in the Oceanic region, he began to compete at a global level. North America has historically been known as the pinnacle of competitive Halo, so it makes sense that Benno eventually found his way to MLG Columbus 2010, his first North American event.
"There was a thread on the forums in the weeks leading up to the event which created so much hype for us heading over to our first major event," he said. "We played the first seeded open team, Yellow Dragons, in first round and took them out. I remember an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie" chant started in the crowd behind us after we won. That would have to be my favorite moment so far."
He and Team Immunity hope to craft even better memories starting Friday.
"We believe if we are playing well as a team," he said, "we can beat anyone on the day."
The group draw was less than kind to the Oceanic squad. Team Immunity drew a group with Team EnVyUs, winners of the 2016 Fall Finals, and Splyce, top-eight finishers at ME Las Vegas and winners of the Last Chance Qualifier.
"It's a tough group, that's for sure. nV and Splyce both have a lot of talent in these rosters," Benno said. "I think it's going to come down to the game types and how we match up with them."
And if Team Immunity can get past those teams?
"Obviously If you don't go into the event thinking you can win, you never will," Benno said. "However, we would be happy with a top-four finish."