OpTic Gaming is the new Halo World Champion. In the battle for the six-figure prize money, it took an immense show of strength against Cloud9 in the Grand Final.
The eventual winner had dominated the tournament almost at will. With three wins from three group matches, OpTic was one of the favourites and almost relaxed going into the knockout round, where a flawless run to the final followed in the upper bracket. Three 3-0 sweeps in a row against Gamers First, the Sentinels and Native Gaming Red ensured a safe passage to the final.
Cloud9 counters setback with confidence
In the duel for the crown, as in late September, Cloud9 awaited, who had marched through the group stage just as successfully, but had to accept a 2:3 defeat in the quarter-finals of the Upper Bracket against the later Upper Bracket final opponent OpTics.
So it was on to the Lower Bracket, where the US quartet did not allow themselves any more slip-ups. In a total of five best-of-five matches, Cloud9 conceded only two games and advanced to the Grand Final in a similarly commanding manner to OpTic – where they made a remarkable showing.
OpTic stumbles and strikes back
After OpTic had won the first duel in the best-of-seven, Cloud9 stepped on the gas and first equalised the score before the match was completely overturned. OpTic finally had to admit defeat with a score of 1:4 – but as the winner of the Upper Bracket, it still had a chance of winning the title, as the winner of the Lower Bracket has to win two final matches in the tournament format to be crowned champion.
A chance that OpTic knew how to take advantage of. In the second best-of-seven, the organisation played big and mounted an outstanding comeback. A narrow 2-1 win on Recharge was followed by clear victories on Catalyst and Live Fire. With the clear lead behind them, the victory came straight away on Streets with the first match point.
“Legendary” comeback secures title
“I’m so proud of the resilience our team has shown today and over the last couple of months,” said Bradley ‘aPG’ Laws, delighted with the triumph. He “couldn’t be happier”. Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper even described the comeback after the clear defeat in the first final game as “legendary”. The team also received praise from coach Jason ‘Lunchbox’ Brown, who said his charges “deserved it today”.
He was probably referring primarily to the award as Halo World Champions, but also to the handsome prize money. By ascending the throne, the US team secured the lion’s share of the one-million-dollar total prize money: a whopping 400,000 US dollars sweetened the Worlds title for OpTic.