ESL Halo World Championship Pro League Series Starts Today

After an intense series of qualifiers all over the world, the top 12 Halo teams in the world will meet in Burbank, California at the ESL campus to fight for undisputed Halo supremacy. As well as a share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

The final lineup for the ESL Halo World Championship Pro League Series is as follows:

North America

• OpTic Gaming
• Team EnVyUs
• Team Liquid
• Str8 Rippin
• TMMT Crowd Pleasers (Formerly Pnda Gaming)
• Luminosity Gaming
• Splyce

Europe

• Fab Games eSports
• Supremacy
• London Conspiracy

Australia

• Team Immunity 

Latin America

• SoaR Gaming (Formerly Shock The World)

Group A: TMMT Crowd Pleasers, Supremacy, OpTic Gaming

Obviously, OpTic Gaming has been looking sharp throughout the qualifiers, after finishing in first at the Las Vegas Qualifiers and is favored by many to place high. However, the rest of Group A shouldn’t be brushed off. Many did not see TMMT finishing in the top 6 for NA, the addition of Danoxide to the roster plus a solid performance in Las Vegas earned them a spot at finals. I’m personally very interested in seeing TMMT’s performance at Finals after watching them play through the Las Vegas Qualifier. Supremacy shouldn’t be counted out just yet either. After adding Solar to their lineup, the French team beat out many favored U.K. teams to qualify for Finals.

Group B: London Conspiracy, Team Liquid, Luminosity Gaming

London Conspiracy returned to the Halo Scene with a vengeance after acquiring the Team Vibe roster. LC was beat out of the EU bracket at the hands of Sy, but after their performance at the EU Last Chance Qualifier, it’ll be interesting to see how they compete against some of the top NA teams, especially in their match against OpTic. In addition, new Liquid roster asserted themselves as a dangerous opponent against OpTic during the qualifiers, and anyone who doubted the new Liquid roster after the St. Louis Qualifiers definitely saw the potency in this new lineup after they secured their second place win at Las Vegas. Finally, like Liquid, LG did not perform their best at St. Louis, but returned to Las Vegas with an aggressive performance that earned them their place at Finals. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what Group B does at Finals.

Group C: Splyce, Team Immunity, Team EnVyUs

Splyce was very close to qualifying for Worlds before Luminosity eliminated them at Las Vegas Qualifiers. They managed to come back and become the final NA team to head to Finals after winning the Last Chance Qualifier by taking out CryptiK in a second BO7. It’ll be exciting to see how the young roster performs against EnVyUs, the Fall 2016 champions, in the first match on the main stream. Pistola of EnVyUs had an absolutely deadly performance at Las Vegas, and I’m personally going to be keeping my eyes on his feed at Finals. The Australian team iM will also have their first match against EnVyUs, and after iM’s total domination at the ANZ Qualifier, I’m anticipating a solid performance from the Australian team against the top ranking NA team.

Group D: SoaR Gaming, FAB Games Esports, Str8 Rippin

SoaR asserted themselves as the top Latin American team at Mexico City Qualifiers, but many are doubting the roster’s ability to stack up against the top EU and NA teams. After SoaR’s performance at the LA Qualifiers, I think they’ll put up a fight against the German team, FabE, in their first match at Finals. FabE also struggling against the notion that EU teams aren’t a competition for the top NA teams in Halo, but after their first place win at London Qualifiers, I see FabE putting on a great show to prove those stereotypes wrong. I’m anticipating a great match between FabE and Str8 after the NA team’s tenacious performance in the NA Qualifiers where Str8 came back from the losers bracket in Las Vegas to make it to Finals.

Who are you rooting for? Do you mind that global teams are allowed in the finals? Let us know in the comments below!