2016’s Halo World Championship series got underway Friday, March 18, featuring 16 teams competing in 4v4 matches for the honor of grabbing glory, a slick trophy, and the lion’s share of the $2,500,000 prize money. The matches rotated between Capture the Flag (CtF), Team Slayer (TS) and Stronghold (SH).
Eight teams hailed from the United States: Counter Logic Gaming, Denial eSports, Evil Geniuses, Team Allegiance, Team Liquid, Renegades, Team eLevate, and Cloud9. The four European teams include: exceL eSports, FAb Games eSports, Epsilon eSports, and Team Infused. Two Australian teams made the cut: Team Immunity and Exile5. Finally, the games welcomed Chosen Squad from Latin America and Team Skyfire from Asia.
With the first two days of the Championships written off to history after March 19, the third through 16th finishers’ fates had been sealed, and only the top two teams remained to be decided. Those teams were Allegiance and Counter Logic Games, both from North America.
The final glorious matches were streamed live yesterday, March 20. CLG wrecked the competition with no losses whatsoever until the semifinals, where they beat out Denial eSports 3-2. With two thrown games the only blemish on their otherwise spotless record, CLG went on to pound Allegiance 4-0 for the championship and $1,000,000 grand prize.
Congratulations to the members of CLG for their blowout victory, and well played to all others. Here’s hoping I never have to face any of them in a firefight.