Halo World Championship Finals: Day 2 Recap

Day 2 of the Halo World Championship Finals has finished off with the conclusion of group play and the commencement of the eight-team single-elimination bracket. Now, only the final two teams remain: Team Allegiance and Counter Logic Gaming.

With so many great matches throughout the day, shocking victories, and one non-American team in the top eight, today’s events continuously kept us on the edge of our seats. Here are the final group play results from day two:

Group A

Team Liquid (3-0): Map Count (9-0)

• Team Liquid 3-0 Chosen Squad

Team Allegiance (2-1): Map Count (6-3)

• Team Allegiance 3-0 exceL eSports

exceL eSports (1-2): Map Count (3-7)

• Team Allegiance 3-0 exceL eSports

Chosen Squad (0-3): Map Count (1-9)

• Team Liquid 3-0 Chosen Squad

Group B

Renegades (3-0): Map Count (9-2)

• Renegades 3-0 Exile5

Evil Geniuses (2-1): Map Count (8-3)

• Evil Geniuses 3-0 Team Infused

Team Infused (1-2): Map Count (3-8)

• Evil Geniuses 3-0 Team Infused

Exile5 (0-3): Map Count (2-9)

• Renegades 3-0 Exile5

Group C

Team eLevate (3-0): Map Count (9-0)

• Team eLevate 3-0 Denial eSports

Denial eSports (2-1): Map Count (6-3)

• Team eLevate 3-0 Denial eSports

Team Immunity (1-2): Map Count (3-6)

• Team Immunity 3-0 FAB Games eSports

FAB Games eSports (0-3): Map Count (0-9)

• Team Immunity 3-0 FAB Games eSports

Group D

Counter Logic Gaming (3-0): Map Count (9-1)

• Counter Logic Gaming 3-0 Cloud9

Epsilon eSports (2-1): Map Count (7-4)

• Epsilon eSports 3-0 Team Skyfire

Cloud9 (1-2): Map Count (4-6)

• Counter Logic Gaming 3-0 Cloud9

Team Skyfire (0-3): Map Count (0-9)

• Epsilon eSports 3-0 Team Skyfire

Bracket Play

Epsilon eSports was the only non-American team to make it to the single-elimination bracket round. Unfortunately, their time for celebration was cut short when Team eLevate swept them with a 3-0 victory. Renegades was performing at its very best, again the wild card showing that they very well earned their right to be here. They were voted the favorite to win over Team Allegiance, but Brett “Naded” Leonard is looking to earn his first major event victory with his team and overtook Renegades in a 3-2 match.

It wasn’t expected to see Counter Logic Gaming and Evil Geniuses go toe-to-toe so soon, but one of the most anticipated matches at the event was a surprise to see. CLG came out of the gate on all cylinders, as they surprisingly swept EG 3-0.

Team Liquid was at their best level of play today. In their match, it seemed that they’d send Denial eSports home as they started out the series 2-0. Yet Denial didn’t remain on tilt for long as they turned it around for a three game sweep winning 3-2 over Team Liquid. A notable play coming from Jesse “Bubu Dubu” Moeller: The sneaky flag capture and hiding in Team Liquid’s very own base during their CTF match.

Semifinals had quite the story as we got to see Naded get ever closer to getting that first major event win. The series against eLevate initially looked to be in their favor, but Team Allegiance held strong and brought back victories that seemed far out of their reach. Then the match with CLG against Denial was what seemed to be like a David vs. Goliath matchup. Denial started out strong with Slayer, but CLG had what it took to win on objective type game modes. It was this advantage that won them the series against Denial.

This means that our Grand Finals matchup will be Team Allegiance against Counter Logic Gaming. It’s all starting on twitch.tv/halo at 4:00 p.m. PDT, be sure to tune in on any device to learn how to unlock the HaloHWC Req pack which features the Challenger Armor set and the HWC 2016 emblem.

What are your thoughts on the Halo World Championship thus far? Do you think Naded will finally get his first Major Event win, or will CLG continue to dominate the scene? Let us know in the comments below or on our Twitter – @eSportsNation.