By ESL Gaming
The offseason has produced a roster change for every single team in the Halo Championship Series: Pro League with the exception of the battle-tested Counter Logic Gaming. With the roster lock behind us, there are new faces and veteran players all with the same ultimate goal of hoisting the championship trophy at the Halo Championship Series: Pro League Fall 2016 Season Finals. Here are the teams and players we will see in the HCS Pro League Fall 2016 Season.
COUNTER LOGIC GAMING
• Paul “Snakebite” Duarte
• Matthew “Royal 2” Fiorante
• Tj “Lethul” Campbell
• Bradley “Frosty” Bergstrom
CLG added another notch to their belt at the end of last season when they took home hardware at the HCS Summer Finals, and did so in humbling fashion. With the exception of their first series in the HCS Pro League Summer 2016 Season Finals against Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming dominated and swept every team they played. Even their series against C9 featured a sweep of sorts when CLG reverse swept their counterparts. CLG returns with their star-studded roster intent on cementing their legacy among the greatest teams to ever play the game.
ENIGMA 6
• Carlos “Cratos” Ayala
• Jesse “Bubu Dubu” Moeller
• Brandon “Stellur” Boettcher
• Ayden “Suspector” Hill
A second place finish at the HCS Summer 2016 Finals was not enough for Enigma 6 to stick together and they are headed into the Fall 2016 Season with two new faces. Huke and Shooter have both gone their separate ways, making room for Stellur and Suspector, previously from Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses, respectively. Stellur was on the brink of relegation last season, but managed to stay in the HCS Pro League before making his way to join Cratos and Enigma 6. Suspector, although not at the risk of relegation, also finished his season with unmet expectations as he and the rest of EG failed to qualify for the HCS Summer 2016 Finals. Cratos and Bubu Dubu have proven to be a formidable pair, and the addition of Suspector and Stellur leave E6 as candidates for a top two finish yet again.
EVIL GENIUSES
• Cameron “Victory X” Thorlakson
• Jason “Lunchbox” Brown
• Justin “Roy” Brown
• Tyler “Ninja” Blevins
Snip3down parted ways with Evil Geniuses along with Suspector, making room for a duo that has been playing together on and off since 2014. Ninja, known for his breathtaking plays, and the most seasoned Halo veteran Victory X join another powerful tandem in Lunchbox and Roy to form the new EG roster. Twins Lunchbox, and Roy failed to qualify for the Summer Finals last season, while Ninja and Victory X placed last. The twins have proven to be two of the best players in the world, and the playmaking of Ninja with the maturity and experience of Victory X wraps up a roster brimming with potential.
LUMINOSITY GAMING
• Sal “eL TowN” Mohanan
• Brett “Naded” Leonard
• Dan “Danoxide” Terzilli
• Kevin “Eco” Smith
Luminosity making their way into the HCS Pro League is significant for more than one reason. This is the first time that the organization has entered Halo esports, and it also marks the return of fan favorite Naded to the competitive scene. After qualifying for the summer season with OpTic Gaming, Naded decided that he would take a break. He now returns to join eL TowN, Danoxide, and Eco. Danoxide and Eco were both members of the Team Liquid roster that struggled for the majority of Summer Season, but caught fire in the final weeks and dominated at relegation when their tournament lives were on the line. eL TowN has seen his fair share of success in Halo 5 and reunites with old teammate Naded to usher in Luminosity. A second place finish at the Halo World Championships and a third place finish at the Summer Finals has shown that eL TowN belongs among the best. Lastly, the return of Naded reintroduces an ever-evolving narrative: can he win a major LAN event?
OPTIC GAMING
• Nick “Maniac” Kershner
• Bradley “APG” Laws
• Aaron “Ace” Elam
• Richard “Heinz” Heinz Jr.
OpTic Gaming continued to struggle through Halo 5 this past summer with a last place finish in the regular season standings and were sent to the relegation tournament to fight for their place in the HCS Pro League. OG found themselves on the verge of elimination after the first round of the tournament, but fought their way back into the HCS Pro League after defeating Denial eSports 4-2 in the losers bracket finals. Str8 Sick is no longer on the team, and Heinz takes his place for the Fall Season. His impact on Team Allegiance when he joined last season was palpable, and he looks to help revive OpTic Gaming from the lower half of the standings.
TEAM ALLEGIANCE
• Devon “PreDevonator” Layton
• Cody “ContrA” Szczodrowski
• Ryan “Shooter” Sondhi
• Michael “Falcated” Garcia
The slaying power and intelligence of Contra and Predevonator will be joined by Shooter, formerly of Enigma 6, and Falcated from amateur powerhouse Denial eSports. A new face like Falcated may be exactly what Team Allegiance needs to break into the top four. Allegiance ended their season on a 5-3 run after a forgettable 1-5 start. Could the mix of Shooter, a well-versed player and Falcated, a newcomer to the league, be what this team needs to return to the top?
TEAM ENVYUS
• Austin “Mikwen” McCleary
• Justin “iGotUrPistola” Deese
• Eric “Snip3down” Wrona
• Cuyler “Huke” Garland
Team EnVyUs proved to be a potent quarter last season with a third place finish in both the regular season standings and at the Summer Finals. Nonetheless, nV made some blockbuster roster changes to bring on Huke and Snip3down. Snip3down, well known for his historic run while donning the EG logo, joins the electric duo of Pistola and Mikwen. Although Mikwen and Snip3down have not attended a tournament together, they have seen much success together throughout Halo 4 and the beginning of H2A. Huke burst onto the scene after making the move from Call of Duty and has quickly established himself as one of the best individual players in the game. If this roster can get into a rhythm, something that took the previous nV roster some time to do, they could challenge anyone in the world.
TEAM LIQUID
• Tyler “Spartan” Ganza
• Hamza “Commonly” Abbaalli
• Zane “Penguin” Hearon
• Timothy “Rayne” Tinkler
Team Liquid played with fire for the majority of last season, finishing with an underwhelming 2-12 record that sent them to the relegation tournament to fight for their spot in the HCS Pro League. They hit their stride towards the end of the season and managed to surpass OpTic Gaming in the regular season standings, and then rode that momentum to a first place finish at the relegation tournament. Nonetheless, Team Liquid underwent a major facelift in the offseason, with Spartan as the only returning player from summer. Penguin and Rayne were both good players for their respective teams last season, and both performed well enough to make it to the Summer Finals. Both Rayne and Penguin were members of the surprise top four Team eLevate squad at the Halo World Championships, and X Games gold medalist Commonly played with Penguin last season as well. This roster has a good bit of built-in chemistry and should be a lot of fun to watch this season.
The HCS Pro League Fall 2016 Season kicks off on September 14 at 4:30PM PDT and you can catch all the action on the Halo Twitch channel.