Gamers First’s fairytale run through the losers bracket at the HCS NA Super came to a sharp and sudden halt as they faced off against an OpTic Gaming roster in the Halo Infinite grand finals that had only dropped one map throughout the tournament weekend.
Refusing to add another loss to their impressive record, OpTic swept G1 in a dominant 4–0 display that saw them claim the lion’s share of the $125,000 prize pool.
Every player on OpTic had a moment to shine in the best-of-seven series, made readily apparent by the impressive statistics each laid down in game one alone.
Kicking off the finals with Oddball on Recharge, that first game would be the most convincing win OpTic laid down, with Trippy, Lucid and FormaL all ending a 2–0 victory with 20+ kills each.
While aPG’s role supporting them left less of the slays in his pocket, 14 assists and a leaderboard-topping 6,300 damage made apparent how crucial of a role he played in OpTic’s effortless dismantling of G1.
While OpTic continued to operate as a well-oiled machine in the games that followed, their wins came with far more narrow margins as G1 settled into a rhythm. As the young, unpartnered team had proven in their lower bracket run—confidently taking down eUnited, Cloud9, and Sentinels—they wouldn’t lose their composure in the face of OpTic so easily.
The outcomes of those final three games were dictated by the little moments that had a major impact. In game two’s Slayer on Live Fire, an attempted collapse by G1 while OpTic lead 47–44 could have proved devastating if pulled off.
Yet a twist from FormaL toward Squallaye’s push and a perfect no-scope with the Sniper Rifle transformed the teamfight in an instant, with OpTic having a numbers advantage and the teamwork necessary to clean up the final few kills they needed.
Catalyst Capture the Flag in game three was just as back and forth, and once again came down to a few crucial moments in the closing minutes as the team’s stared each other down, 2–2. An attempted flag run from Bubu Dubu came at the wrong time for G1, sacrificing an Overshield that ultimately fell into the hands of FormaL and manifested into a triple kill for the OpTic player and a total team wipe for G1. With OpTic momentarily granted total control of the map, FormaL was able to run home what would be the deciding flag.
G1’s tournament life was on the line and an early advantage in what would be the fourth and final game suggested there may be a chance for them to extend the series against OpTic.
But, as the King of the Hill match progressed, OpTic clawed back hill captures of their own until the two teams sat at a 2–2 draw once again with the minutes on the clock rapidly dwindling. The battle over the fifth hill spawn in the centre of the map was chaotic, desperation leading to a flood of bodies and grenades but not a full capture.
As the timer ticked down to zero and sudden death began, a late Bulldog acquisition by Lucid gave him the positioning and firepower to get a crucial triple kill against G1 and allowed Trippy to close out the final few seconds needed in the hill for another OpTic victory.
The maps themselves weren’t perfect, but the final score definitely was.
OpTic’s ability to close out highly competitive matches where others failed to do so had given them the edge all tournament long, and the grand finals were no exception. Despite suffering a crushing defeat at the hands of the Greenwall, G1 still held their heads high, making a run that nobody could have predicted that puts them in a promising spot before the Orlando Major.
Talking with the desk after the series, Lucid admitted it had taken a lot of work after Kansas City, where OpTic finished a disappointing third, to get to the dominant form that was on display now.
“We’ve been incrementally building on ourselves, and I think we were already a force of course, but I think the aggression wasn’t necessarily enough and that’s the discipline we’ve been installing in our gameplay,” he said.
“I think today was a good example of how we aren’t really just pure scrapping. We’re here to win and we’re winning because it just makes sense. We have an objective we are striving for every moment in the game and there’s always something to go for, even if it’s something as simple as staying alive.”
The Orlando Major is still over a month away, and OpTic will be spending that time trying to refine their game, as the many newly-refurbished rosters making up the North American region work on getting themselves into competitive shape ahead of the final few LANs of the year.
The Greenwall will be clear favorites after their showing this weekend, but if G1’s run in the NA Super has taught us anything, it’s that the pecking order in Halo Infinite‘s first competitive season can shift at any moment.
Published: Aug 7, 2022 07:33 pm