HCS Pro League: Fall 2016 Week 5, Day 2 Recap

Allegiance finally earned another win on their record. Team EnVyUs was able to avenge their only loss of the season by beating down Team Liquid. Both Enigma6 and Evil Geniuses are falling, and they faced off tonight to stay clear of the relegation zone.

Let’s break down each of the four matches tonight:

Match One: Allegiance vs. Team Liquid

Game One: Strongholds – The Rig

Cody “ContrA” Szczodrowski went on a ridiculous killing frenzy and then some to start the game, which pretty much helped Allegiance on their strongest mode.

Solid triple caps, power weapon control, and just simply outplaying Team Liquid basically caused the rout in this one, with Allegiance not looking like a last place team. 

Game Final: ALG 100 – 16 TL

Match Score: ALG 1 – 0 TL

Game Two: Slayer – Plaza

Team Liquid kept it close during the first half of play, only winning by three at the 25 kill mark. Liquid then pretty much put the hammer down and went out to a 14-4 run, before fully closing out the second game. 

Game Final: TL 50 – 40 ALG

Match Score: TL 1 – 1 ALG

Game Three: CTF – Fathom

TL took the first two caps of the game, with Zane “Penguin” Hearon getting a solid killing spree with the railgun.

ALG was able to answer back with a single cap, but could not get the game tying flag thanks to Team Liquid outslaying them consistently.

Game Final: TL 2 – 1 ALG

Match Score: TL 2 – 1 ALG

Game Four: Strongholds – Eden

Welp, the fact that this is ALG’s best mode didn’t mean much to Team Liquid anymore.

This game was a blowout, brought to you by Tyler “Spartan” Ganza getting 17 kills and a game high three captures.

Game Final: TL 100 – 4 ALG

Match Final: TL 3 – 1 ALG

Match Two: Team EnVyUs vs. Luminosity Gaming

Game One: Strongholds – Empire

Luminosity was able to take advantage of EnVyUs on their weakest mode, jumping out to a 55-0 run to start the series.

nV did win this map against TL yesterday, but LG just proved to be (stats-wise now) the best team online in Strongholds.

Game Final: LG 100 – 21 nV

Match Score: LG 1 – 0 nV

Game Two: Slayer – The Rig

LG tried to slow this game down against the relatively fast nV, but the boys in blue were the first to the halfway point of 25 kills.

Luminosity was able to swing momentum back onto its side for some of the midgame, however a late nV lead tied up the series at one. 

Game Final: nV 50 – 44 LG

Match Score: nV 1 – 1 LG

Game Three: CTF – Truth

With nobody to defend the fuel rod in the middle of the map or the blue flag, nV was able to take both to get a strong 1-0 lead.

An incredible display of carbine magic from Justin “iGotUrPistola” Deese helped him get the second cap for his team, and he wound up getting his third cap to shut out Luminosity. 

Game Final: nV 3 – 0 LG

Match Score: nV 2 – 1 LG

Game Four: Strongholds – Eden

nV got a strong 24-1 start, but LG was able to take back control with authority and got out to as much as 85 points before nV tried to battle back…

And somehow, some way, they were able to take map control and rally back for the series win. It was pretty much strong rotations and a timely reset of Blue Bend that won this for nV, who desperately needed to win out of this Strongholds match to fend off the stingy LG side. 

Game Final: nV 100 – 93 LG

Match Final: nV 3 – 1 LG

Match Three: LOL vs. OpTic Gaming

Game One: Strongholds – The Rig

OG and LOL traded leads to start, with LOL getting a triple cap at one point to get a bit of juice against their old organization and pulling out the early 38-18 lead.

OpTic was able to get back control though, and pulled an easy one out in game one, with Bradley “Frosty” Bergstrom leading the way with an 18-5-9 clip.

Game Final: OG 100 – 50 LOL

Match Score: OG 1 – 0 LOL

Game Two: Slayer – The Rig

Well, OG was not going to be dropping this one… It seemed.

It was 5-5 at one point in this game, but OpTic then turned on the jets to make it 23-10.

LOL was not going to go down silently though, as Kevin “Eco” Smith got a nice killing spree and Aaron “AcE“ Elam pretty much had the dirtiest MLG airborne no-scope ever.

Unfortunately, those efforts were not enough to down OG, who hogged the snipers and shut down LOL’s hopes at a close series.

Game Final: OG 50 – 35 LOL

Match Score: OG 2 – 0 LOL

Game Three: CTF – Truth

LOL took the first flag capture of the game, with both teams not realizing it was not slayer anymore until three minutes into the game.

OpTic got a great spawn, and pretty much took advantage of that to take the game tying and the go-ahead counter-cap a short while later. Frosty then had plenty of time to run back the final cap of the series thanks to a Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante double kill.

Much like their first encounter in the pro league, new OpTic bested old OpTic, and continues to sit in second place behind nV. 

Game Final: OG 3 – 0 LOL

Match Final: OG 3 – 0 LOL 

Match Four: Enigma6 vs. Evil Geniuses

Game One: Strongholds – Plaza

In this battle at the relegation line, both teams started out by changing leads, and went on consecutive runs as the game headed towards the halfway point.

A few moments later, Enigma6 had total control and almost doubled up the Geniuses when this was all over.

Game Final: E6 100 – 53 EG

Match Score: E6 1 – 0 EG

Game Two: Slayer – Plaza

E6 was able to take the first lead and hold it consistently, but Evil Geniuses challenged well with former Enigma6 member Braedon “StelluR” Boettcher getting a killing spree to tie things up 26-26.

Tyler “Ninja” Blevins then became the hero, getting a hat trick to pump his team up and get them the lead 41-36.

From there, the Geniuses were able to hold their lead, and at the very least, force a game four.

Game Final: EG 50 – 41 E6

Match Score: EG 1 – 1 E6

Game Three: CTF – Coliseum

Two near team sweeps by E6 got them the first two captures of the game, and it seemed like they had total control of this game…

But EG was finally able to launch a comeback, playing aggressively and despite being outslayed, tied the game up at two caps each.

Jesse “bubu dubu” Moeller just wanted to get out of the relegation zone though, and ran the game-winning flag through Maze to secure the cap. 

Game Final: E6 3 – 2 EG

Match Score: E6 2 -1 EG

Game Four: Strongholds – The Rig

Another trade of leads began this game, but the Geniuses were able to pull out with a 28-6 run with only a small answer from E6. 

EG had an interesting set-up for a bit, sandwiching the Basement with BR Base and Nest bases under their control, but finally normalized as they ticked towards the mid-way point.

Enigma6 attempted one final push once EG hovered around the 95 point mark, but StelluR was able to clutch up a reset and complete his killing spree to force the fifth game.

Also, Justin “Roy” Brown attempted to clamber but fell off the map in this one, prompting the Twitch chat to lose it.

Pros: They’re just like us. 

Game Final: EG 100 – 77 E6 

Match Score: EG 2 – 2 E6

Game Five: Slayer – Coliseum

For the only game five of the night (which means the stream ended before midnight on the east coast), and the third game five in a row for the Geniuses, EG was able to start with a 14-6 run in the first three minutes.

Enigma6 pulled it right back around the 20 kill mark, thanks to bubu dubu having sniper control and 12 kills at the time to get his side up 33-23. 

It was then Ninja who had solid sniper play, and he helped EG bring it level at 39. But Enigma6 was able to slow the game down enough to pick off the Geniuses, and bubu dubu got his 16th kill for the series winner.

And once again, it was a game five heartbreak for Evil Geniuses… And EG fans probably got a heart attack watching this game because of how close this was.

Game Final: E6 50 – 43 EG

Match Final: E6 3 – 2 EG

And that will do it for week five. Are the Geniuses now doomed for the relegation tournament after six straight Pro League losses?

Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, and for all your Halo and esports updates, make sure you are following us on Twitter, @GAMURScom.

James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted by email at jamestmattone@gmail.com or on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.

Image Credit: Halo Waypoint