The moment that the Halo esports community has been anxiously awaiting is nearly here. The 16 teams have been drawn into four groups, and in just seven days the best Halo players in the world will converge upon the Halo World Championship in Hollywood, California for the chance to become World Champions, and to earn a share of the $2.5 million prize pool. We’ll be taking a deep dive into each of the four groups to see what lies ahead, and you can click here for a much larger image of the above group image. Now let’s check in on Group C.<\/p>\n
GROUP C<\/p>\n
TEAM IMMUNITY
\n\u2022 Benno
\n\u2022 Junior
\n\u2022 Seduce
\n\u2022 Voltage
\n\u2022 Coach: Darku<\/p>\n
What originally looked to be a promising weekend for the talented Australian team took an unexpected turn just days before traveling to the United States. Team Immunity announced that due to injury, Heff would no longer be attending the Halo World Championship. Junior, previously of Team Prime, would be taking his place at the biggest tournament of their lives. Heff\u2019s injury was not just a loss of leadership, but one of consistency as well. Heff carried a 4.48 KDA and averaged 6.5 APG prior to their showing at the Halo World Championship Tour: Sydney. His absence will be felt, but the ANZ team has much to be confident about. They are undefeated in Strongholds (8-0), and carry a .866 win percentage (13-2) in Slayer gametypes throughout the season, including HWC: Sydney. Immunity is poised to improve as they will be coming stateside a few days prior to the event in order to bootcamp against the top teams in North America. It is a tough group to predict, but Immunity has a good chance to upset some teams if they can transition to the new roster well.<\/p>\n
DENIAL
\n\u2022 Contra
\n\u2022 Huke
\n\u2022 PreDevonator
\n\u2022 bubu dubu
\n\u2022 Coach: Elumnite<\/p>\n
Whether or not the world was ready for it, Denial eSports roared through Columbus to show that they were not just a young and talented roster with promise. Their message was clear: We are good. Really Good. And we belong among the best. After an unforgettable weekend that included eliminating two of the most prolific players in the history of Halo, and upset after upset, the Wolfpack descends upon Hollywood having shed the title of the underdog. The compelling thing about this team is that, although they have players hitting no scopes to finish games that will haunt their opponents forever, they are also a well-rounded team that performs well as a unit. Their slaying prowess is well documented (Denial averaged 34.8 kills per game during the bracket stage in Columbus) and what sets them apart is that they are able to convert that slaying into objective control, something not all teams do well. There isn\u2019t enough that can be said about how valuable Elumnite and his knowledge is to this team. As one of only two teams to take a map off of Counter Logic Gaming in Columbus, Denial should benefit greatly from practice time before Worlds.<\/p>\n
FAB GAMES ESPORTS
\n\u2022 Speed
\n\u2022 Doodle
\n\u2022 Kimbo
\n\u2022 Monkey
\n\u2022 Coach: Mose<\/p>\n
FAB Games eSports started off their weekend at the HWC Tour: Cologne with a 2-0 sweep of Millenium before dealing the final blow to Team Dignitas and knocking them out of the tournament. The German squad then went on to play Pulse in a nail-biting best of five that went down to the final game. Game 5, Regret Slayer, was exactly what FAB E needed, winning it 50-37. But that was the end of the road for FAB E in Cologne, as they were eliminated by exceL eSports in the semifinals, but their performance was enough to send them to Hollywood to play against the best of the best. Their strength lies in their Slayer gametypes, and it all starts with Kimbo. He led the team with 216 kills and a KDA of 1.39. FAB E doesn\u2019t perform nearly as well in objective gametypes (4-4 in Cologne), and if their opponents can lock down Kimbo, it may prove to be a long weekend for the team.<\/p>\n
ELEVATE WILDCATS
\n\u2022 Swift Kill
\n\u2022 Calm
\n\u2022 Rayne
\n\u2022 Penguin
\n\u2022 Coach: Chig<\/p>\n
After making headlines from their change of organization, eLevate acquired an immeasurable pool of wisdom by landing Halo veteran Chig as their coach. eLevate was the only other team at Columbus besides Denial to take a map off of Counter Logic Gaming, which shows promise for this roster as they head into Hollywood. They\u2019ve gotten a late, and arguably unsuccessful start to practice, although that might not bode well in a group this competitive. eLevate has been consistent all season by always securing a top 16 placing, and Chig will only make this talented team better. Making it out of this group won\u2019t be an easy task, however, and it should be a good fight.<\/p>\n
This group should have some very close matches, and could be a real test for the teams. Make sure you tune in to the Halo World Championship<\/a> March 18 through March 20 to catch all the action live<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The moment that the Halo esports community has been anxiously awaiting is nearly here. The 16 teams have been drawn into four groups, and in just seven days the best Halo players in the world will converge upon the Halo World Championship in Hollywood, California for the chance to become World Champions, and to earn … <\/p>\n