(Gray News) – Only two teams have won a trophy at majors in the 2024 Halo Championship Series (HCS). Spacestation Gaming (SSG) won this season’s first major in Arlington, and FaZe Clan won the second major in London. Since then, SSG has won back-to-back majors in Atlanta and Salt Lake City. It’s safe to say that SSG is the dominant force on the competitive Halo circuit, and they aren’t showing any signs of slowing down going into the World Championship. But there is one small wrinkle.
OpTic Gaming, a team that anyone following the HCS should know very well, has spent their enter season lurking on the precipice of greatness. OpTic has finished second in every major in 2024. That means they have made it to every major Grand Final in 2024, something SSG can’t claim. Even though this may seem like an accomplishment to be proud of, OpTic is not used to going through a whole season without lifting a trophy.
In 2023, they won two regular-season majors, one in Fort Worth and one in Charlotte. They also finished second at the World Championship. In 2022, the inaugural season of Halo Infinite, the version of Halo currently played in the HCS, OpTic won a regular-season major in Orlando and the World Championship in Seattle. OpTic has been a mainstay in the HCS Halo Infinite era, and fans have come to expect OpTic to earn some hardware during any given season. So why have they not added something new to their trophy cabinet in 2024?
This season started in Arlington, and OpTic made it to the upper bracket finals, where they faced SSG. SSG won that series 3-2. The most notable thing in the series was a tie on the map two Slayer, in which they had to reset the map, and OpTic won the map 50-48. OpTic then fell to the lower bracket final, in which they swept FaZe Clan 3-0, gaining them their first Grand Finals of 2024. The Grand Finals was a best of seven, and OpTic came out swinging, winning three of the first four maps. They lost the map two Slayer 43-50. With only one map needed to win the first major of the 2024 season, OpTic struggled. SSG won the map five Slayer 50-46 and the map six Strongholds 250-3. It came down to the map seven Slayer, where OpTic lost 43-50, giving SSG their first major win of the season and OpTic’s first second-place finish.
In London, OpTic breezed through Pool Play and the first round of the upper bracket. Then they got swept by FaZe in the upper bracket semifinals, which moved them down to the lower bracket quarterfinals. There, they swept Sentinels in the quarterfinals, beat SSG 3-1 in the semifinals, and swept Shopify Rebellion in the lower bracket final, earning them their second entry into the Grand Finals. There, OpTic lost 4-2 to FaZe. OpTic’s only two map wins in that series were on the Strongholds and Oddball.
In Atlanta, OpTic again had zero issues with Pool Play and, this time, swept Complexity Gaming in the first round. In the upper bracket semifinals, they lost to Shopify Rebellion and again found themselves in the lower bracket quarterfinals. They beat FaZe 3-1 in the quarterfinals, had a close call in the semifinals with Pure, who OpTic beat 3-2, and swept Shopify Rebellion in the lower bracket Final. OpTic had reached their third Grand Final of the season and had a shot at revenge for London. OpTic won the first map Oddball 2-0, but SSG had their number and finished the series with a victorious 4-1 result.
Salt Lake City saw a different start for OpTic. They stumbled through Pool Play but still managed to make the upper bracket. However, their opponent in round one was SSG. SSG won two of the first three maps, and it looked like OpTic was going to the lower bracket way earlier than usual. OpTic locked in and won the final two maps, including a 50-36 on the map five Slayer. SSG instead had to deal with the long haul through the lower bracket. OpTic surged ahead, beating FaZe 3-1 in the semifinals and scrapping out a 3-2 win over Shopify Rebellion in the upper bracket final. OpTic was facing their fourth Grand Final of the season, and SSG fought through the lower bracket to meet them for a third time. OpTic had the advantage, with the Grand Finals being a best-of-seven with a series reset. All they had to do was win one of the two possible series. In the first best-of-seven, OpTic lost 2-4, but they managed to win their first Slayer in a Grand Finals this season. In the second series, SSG swept OpTic 4-0 and snatched the trophy away from OpTic again.
OpTic is not lacking in experience and has one of the best possible rosters in competitive Halo. To answer the initial question of why they haven’t added a new piece of hardware to their collection isn’t as simple as pointing at one flaw that can be fixed in a day. It’s more about recognizing a pattern that has unfortunately formed throughout their 2024 season. In the Grand Finals, they struggle to win maps, which is undoubtedly a revelation to many. But more precisely, they struggle to maintain control of maps. In the Grand Finals, they have a 1-4 record in King of the Hill (KotH) and a 1-4 record in Strongholds. In KotH, some of these losses have been close, with a 3-4 loss on Recharge to SSG in Salt Lake City and a 2-3 loss on Live Fire to SSG in Atlanta. But other than their KotH win in Arlington, they have lost 0-3 to both FaZe and SSG the other two times the game mode has been played.
Strongholds further demonstrates this pain point when looking at their previous map records. All four of their Strongholds losses have been against SSG, with the closest being 186-250 in Salt Lake City and the worst being 3-250 in Arlington. KotH and Strongholds demonstrate a team’s skill at positioning and rotation more than any other game mode. An OpTic fan could argue that spawns play a factor and that Oddball could be a better test of rotation and positioning. In Oddball, players must juggle a skull around the map while keeping the opposing team at bay, requiring precise knowledge of maps and potential enemy spawn points. OpTic’s best game mode in the Grand Finals is Oddball, where they are 3-1. But the flaw here is that a team isn’t always subject to entry fragging since Oddball is more fluid around the map. With KotH and Strongholds, the objectives are static, so teams are forced to push their enemy off the objective and vice versa. Teams must be totally in sync, consistently fending off opponents while setting up for the next point. OpTic records show that they seem to struggle here.
If that seems nit-picky, that is fair. Instead, a look at a glaring weak point that is yet to be mentioned but might have been noticed is OpTic’s relationship with Slayer. In the Grand Finals, they have a 1-9 record in Slayer. While no objectives exist in Slayer, positioning and rotational movement still play a factor. Teams work in sync to move around the map to catch players alone or off guard while keeping an eye out for crosses. It also requires teams to move in tandem to attack players holed up in positions when the scoreline gets tight. In these tight moments, it’s crucial to trade and pinch players with as little loss as possible—a similar skill to entry fragging in KotH and Strongholds. It’s vital to map control. OpTic’s Grand Finals records should illustrate their command of these skills at the most significant moments in competitive Halo.
These criticisms don’t mean OpTic isn’t capable or is destined to lose. Overall, they have an excellent record in tournaments against most teams. They are in the upper echelon of competitive Halo and have been there since the beginning of Halo Infinite. It’s more of a potential explanation as to why they falter when they meet teams of an equal caliber at the essential point of a major.
OpTic is going into the HCS World Championship with only one goal: to win. It’s the only thing they have yet to do in 2024, and I wouldn’t be shocked if they find it within themselves to do just that.
Gray Television is an investor in OpTic Gaming.
Copyright 2024 Gray Media Group. All rights reserved.
