As champions of the tournament, the team walked away with $400,000 in prize money and 200,000 points. The win is the first Halo LAN tournament victory for OpTic players like Tommy “Lucid” Wilson and Joey “Trippy” Taylor.

The tournament, which was organized by 343 Industries, came to an end with OpTic Gaming becoming the apex Halo team in the world. The Seattle Convention Center played host to the grand final that saw the Jason “LUNCHBOX” Brown-led team record a 4-0 scoreline in the best-of-five series.

OpTic Gaming had an almost unsullied run during the Halo World Championship with only one map loss. Cloud9, on the other hand, dropped to the lower brackets of the tournament after being defeated by Native Red in round one.

The best-of-seven match started with an overtime win by OpTic in Capture The Flag. Despite their opponent’s win, Cloud9 seemed to be in total control of the next four maps and bagged a 4-1 series victory that reset the bracket.

The squad’s newest player, Adam “Bound” Gray, continued his amazing play during the match, which placed him consistently ahead on the leaderboards. With Kevin “Eco” Smith in charge of strategy, the player helped the squad execute pushes by grabbing the opening kills.

Toward the end of game two, Bound executed a triple kill and gave a similar performance in game three. He produced back-to-back double kills using Heatwave, which earned Cloud9 their win in the round. At the end of the series, Bound reached an impressive 1.46 K/D ratio and 99 kills.

Cloud9 boosted their chances of success in the series after the team shut down Lucid. Previously, the player was awarded the season MVP, but he only averaged 62 overall kills at the end of the series. Lucid’s kill count was the lowest among OpTic players.

His performance in the series indicated a breakdown in OpTic’s coordination for a Greenwall lineup. The NA team were previously applauded as being one of the most synchronized squads in the league and seemed to come alive after the grand finals of the event was reset. The opposing squads faced off in another best-of-seven match that day.

Both Lucid and Joey “Trippy” Taylor were integral to their team’s win in all four matches in the series. In game two, OpTic Gaming had already bagged the win after Slayer on Catalyst’s 50-30 conclusion.

Cloud9 previously lost a match on the map when they faced off against Native Red on Saturday. The loss led the team to lose the entire series and move to the elimination bracket of the tournament.

Their match with OpTic Gaming was no different, and the team started on the map with a sturdy opening strategy that earned them a 0-5 lead. The gap between the squads widened and reached a 6-16 scoreline by the end of the match.

OpTic’s team fighting and fervor seemed to tether Bound, who had previously spearheaded his team’s victories, and he ended the series with a 6-13 K/D. Due to the efforts of Lucid and Trippy, OpTic fully made use of every power weapon and sandbox opportunity they came across. They were able to transform map control into objective control.

Trippy executed 16 kills and topped the leaderboards due to assists by Lucid, Matt “FormaL” Piper, and Bradley “aPG” Laws. Using the Shock Rifle, Lucid reached 27 kills in the last two rounds of Oddball in game one.

FormaL performed outstanding rotations in game three using Heatwave and Sniper, which was converted to a Killing Spree. This led to OpTic getting ahead of Cloud9 by 50 points despite the opponent’s initial position.

In a post-game interview, Lucid revealed that he was not certain his team had been put in a similar position as the recent game and said he was incredibly proud of them.

“I feel amazing right now. I feel absolutely amazing,” Lucid said.

“That grit that we showed… I don’t think we’ve been put through that just yet. I’m so proud of the team right now and what we were able to do there. We just pulled it off, boys. We did it.”

FormaL, who is also a world champion in Call of Duty, moved to Halo esports after Infinite was released. The player shared his teammate’s sentiments and admitted his relief that his decision had paid off in an amazing way.

“These past couple of years have been pretty tough in Call of Duty, so this was just like a dream come true,” FormaL said.

“I’m just really proud of us. I’m happy we took it home.”

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Sentinels finished in first position, claiming 40% of the prize pool ($140,000). Cloud9 finished second and OpTic Gaming in third place, earning $84,000 and $42,000 respectively. With its conclusion, Halo Infinite’s North American Pro teams will be on hands for another Major in four months.

The HCS Orlando is expected to take place during the end of September, running from the 23 to 25, while the 2022 Halo World Championship final follows in October. The dates for the event were released at the beginning of the season when the schedule of activities was revealed to the public. The information withheld then were the venues for both of the competitive tournaments, which have now been released.

The HCS Orlando Major takes place in the month of September and is going to be held at Orange County Convention Center, while the Halo Championship will be held at Washington State Convention Center from October 20-23. The dates and venues were confirmed in a tweet by the Esports and Viewership Lead at Microsoft/343 Industries, Tashi Hasandjekic.

Similar to Kansas City and Raleigh, the Orlando Major will be the third and final Major operating with pool play, open bracket, and international rosters. The Major also features the same $250,000 prize pool that might be increased due to crowdfunding through the HCS esports skin bundles.

On the other hand, the Halo Championship which is being hosted in Seattle has a total prize pool of $1,000,000. Taking place in the home of 343 Industries and Microsoft, it’s no secret that the developer of Halo has big plans for the Halo Infinite’s first World Championship event.

Although the dates for ticket sales for both the Orlando Major and the Halo Infinite’s first World Championship events are yet to be known by the public. It is confirmed that the tickets will be available in June. For attendants looking to experience the event in a spectacular way, VIP packages will be made available as well.

In a reply to a tweet, Tashi stated that the team is looking to put up something special for the Halo World Championship. He stated that being the city where Halo and Xbox were created, it’s only right to go all out with the display and organization.

“Yes, there will be VIPs, still determining what’s in the packages. For HaloWC we want to do really special stuff since it’s in Seattle where Halo and Xbox are made.”

During the wait for the 2022 HCS Orlando and Halo World Championship, fans who are interested in watching other Halo Infinite Esports can look forward to other international regional LANs such as the European Final; HCS Valencia taking place between July 1-3, 2022. Also, in the same month, HCS Mexico City will be held between July 22-24.

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