What Tom “Tsquared” Taylor can only describe as “insane,” today’s Halo matches decided the final three teams that will be out to Burbank for the finals or relegation.
Here were the four final matches of the Fall 2016 Season:
Match One: Team Allegiance vs. Team EnVyUs
Game One: Strongholds – The Rig
On despiration day for Allegiance, all four players rose to the occassion to take the first game away from the nV super team.
Michael “Falcated” Garcia stepped up in particular, with an 18-8-10 clip and solid objective play.
Game Final: ALG 100 – 56 nV
Match Score: ALG 1 – 0 nV
Game Two: Slayer – Plaza
ALG had another surprising lead in this one, but nV finally woke up and delivered a crushing blow to Allegiance’s chances of leaving the relegation zone.
Eric “Snip3down“ Wrona had a killing frenzy to cap a 17-6-6 game, and it was mostly thanks to his phenominal sniper play.
Game Final: nV 50 – 42 ALG
Match Score: nV 1 – 1 ALG
Game Three: CTF – Truth
nV got the first two caps, but ALG showed some life with nine minutes left to go and held off several final cap attempts…
But they could not prevent the flag that will doom them to the relegation tournament, as ALG cannot mathematically make it out of it after this point.
On the bright side, at least I get to buy ALG Chad a drink in Burbank for all of his work doing stats.
Game Final: nV 3 – 1 ALG
Match Score: nV 2 – 1 ALG
Game Four: Strongholds – Eden
ALG just could not recover after having their non-relegation tournament bound dreams destroyed. They finally got some points at the 67 point mark and had a triple cap at one point, but it just wasn’t enough to come back in the series decider.
Game Final: nV 100 – 39 ALG
Match Final: nV 3 – 1 ALG
Match Two: Enigma6 vs. Str8 Rippin
Game One: Strongholds – Plaza
Enigma6 got off to a hot start, and while Str8 Rippin bit back, we were tied up at 75 even in a game that sees either both or neither teams most likely going to the HCS Finals/Relegation weekend.
A 25-2 run by Str8 ended this match, with grabbing Bradley “aPG” Laws 18 kills and six captures
Game Final: STR8 100 – 77 E6
Match Score: STR8 1 – 0 E6
Game Two: Slayer – Regret
Another tight game followed up a back-and-forth Strongholds, but the late push this time was by Enigma6, who took the last few kills as the game slowed down in E6’s favor.
Game Final: E6 50 – 45 STR8
Match Score: E6 1 – 1 STR8
Game Three: CTF – Truth
It looked like a slow game at first, but two quick caps from Enigma6 set the tone for a quick sweep in game three…
Until STR8 had a solid set-up to get a double cap of their own. This led to the golden flag opportunity, where STR8 Rippin ran a relay to come back from down 2-0.
Game Final: STR8 3 – 2 E6
Match Score: STR8 2 – 1 E6
Game Four: Strongholds – Empire
Str8 Rippin got dangerously close to crushing Enigma6, until E6 turned it around at the 92 kill mark.
It was too far into the game though for them to come back, and Str8 Rippin went from relegation bound to potentially heading to the HCS Finals.
Game Final: STR8 100 – 32 E6
Match Final: STR8 3 – 1 E6
Match Three: OpTic Gaming vs. Luminosity Gaming
Game One: Strongholds – Eden
OG came out to a 33-0 run, only to be answered by LG being the first to 50 up six points.
Luminosity then continued to hold OpTic to 44 points, taking home game one with authority.
Game Final: LG 100 – 44 OG
Match Score: LG 1 – 0 OG
Game Two: Slayer – The Rig
Once again, OpTic started strong, but wound up fizzling to Luminosity and had the score tied at the 25 kill mark.
The #GreenWall stood tall though, bringing order back to their game and tying the series up with some smarter play in the second half.
Game Final: OG 50 – 38 LG
Match Score: OG 1 – 1 LG
Game Three: CTF – Truth
OG wasted no time getting their first two caps within 90 seconds, and while Luminosity got back a flag, a well-timed counter by OpTic Gaming put LG one game away from missing out on a trip to the Los Angeles area.
Game Final: OG 3 – 1 LG
Match Score: OG 2 – 1 LG
Game Four: Strongholds – The Rig
The good news for Luminosity: they were 4-1 on this exact game type, while OpTic was 2-2 coming into this.
The bad news: OpTic was rolling, and no matter what history said, OG was taking this series away from LG and ruining their hopes of making it to Burbank.
The worse news: I guess the high school reunion between Visal “eL TowN” Mohanan and I will have to wait…
On the bright side, we get to possibly see Str8 Rippin face off against OpTic in Burbank, which is sure to spark some intense storylines.
Game Final: OG 100 – 22 LG
Match Final: OG 100 – 22 LG
Match Four: Team Liquid vs. Evil Geniuses
Game One: Strongholds – Plaza
For the final series of the fall season, game one brought the fire from Team Liquid, who came out and dominated 56-9 to start the match.
The Geniuses crawled their way up towards the 50 point mark, but it just was not enough to get this first game in the series.
Game Final: TL 100 – 47 EG
Match Score: TL 1 – 0 EG
Game Two: Slayer – Coliseum
A back-and-forth affair saw teams tied towards the mid-game, with Evil Geniuses pulling away late to try and still get the one game win they needed to avoid relegation…
But Team Liquid made it come down to the last kill, and slowing down the game enough to pick off the last one proved to be the difference maker.
Game Final: TL 50 – 49 EG
Match Score: TL 2 – 0 EG
Game Three: CTF – Truth
Evil Geniuses showed some life by taking the first cap of the game after three down for TL, and taking back the lead after conceding a flag to TL.
Liquid was able to tie it up at two, and after several failed attempts from both teams, the Geniuses finally got the golden capture.
Enigma6 was sent to relegation, and the Geniuses live to fight another season no matter what.
And now, a message from Tony “LethuL” Campbell Jr. on behalf of Braedon “StelluR” Boettcher. Sometimes, revenge is a dish best serve via Twitter.
Humility
(noun) | hu-mil-i-ty
The quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people; the quality or state of being humble. pic.twitter.com/dxCAMnwd9j
— OpTic Lethul (@LxthuL) November 11, 2016
Game Final: EG 3 – 2 TL
Match Score: TL 2 – 1 EG
Game Four: Strongholds – Empire
Because they locked down sixth place in the last game, any win would be gravy for Evil Geniuses, and they put the exclamation point in with a tight game of Strongholds with a late comeback.
Game Final: EG 100 – 92 TL
Match Score: EG 2 – 2 TL
Game Five: Slayer – The Rig
The Geniuses weren’t expected to take away a game against Team Liquid, let alone a series, and yet they took home the reverse sweep against a team that will compete in the finals…
… WAIT, Team Liquid never won a game of Slayer on The Rig all season? This might be a problem in Burbank.
Also at this point, it would have been primetime for Tyler “Ninja” Blevins to then start a celebratory 24-hour drunk H1Z1 stream, but alas, we can’t always get what the people demand. See also: Team Liquid skins.
Game FInal: EG 50 – 38 TL
Match Final: EG 3 – 2 TL
And that’s it. No more fall season Halo in terms of in-season play. Man, this feels so weird. Anyways…
How do you feel this fall season of Halo went? And what are you looking forward to at the fInals in Burbank?
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.
