The HCS Arlington Major hosted by OpTic Gaming starts today
(Gray News) - The Halo Championship Series (HCS) Arlington Major hosted by OpTic Gaming starts at the Esports Stadium Arlington today and will go through the weekend. Teams will compete for a $250,000 prize pool, and HCS points to bolster their position in the season-long standings. Pool Play kicks off the HCS Arlington Major today with four pools of four teams.
The host of the Major, OpTic Gaming, has been placed into Pool C alongside Six Karma and Shopify Rebellion. Saying OpTic is the predominant force in the HCS is an understatement. They have not lost a Major in the HCS since May of 2022, a run that includes their season-defining win at the 2022 HCS World Championship.
This level of success is due to their powerhouse roster comprised of Bradley ‘aPG’ Laws, Tommy ‘Lucid’ Wilson, Joey ‘Trippy’ Taylor, and Matt ‘FormaL’ Piper. This foursome’s time together as a team hasn’t been long, given the length of competitive Halo’s tenure, but they quickly found a flow and team dynamic stronger than any of their competitors.
OpTic won the first major of the 2023 HCS season in Charlotte earlier this year but found a bit of resistance from FaZe Clan. In the off-season, FaZe was the team that decided they needed to stop the dominant OpTic front. They dropped everyone but Jonathan ‘Renegade’ Willette from their roster to do this. FaZe then picked up Bradley ‘Frosty’ Bergstrom, Matthew ‘Royal2′ Fiorante, and Paul ‘SnakeBite’ Duarte. This group has the firepower to end OpTic’s win streak and will look to do so this weekend.
FaZe is starting in Pool A, so we will likely see OpTic and FaZe face off in the Winners Bracket. First and second place in each pool go on to the Winners Bracket, while the third-place finisher will be put in the Elimination Bracket. Teams finishing fourth in their pool are eliminated from the tournament. Joining FaZe in Pool A are Sentinels and Quadrant.
Pool B comprises Spacestation Gaming, Natus Vincere (NAVI), and Gamers First (G1). Spacestation Gaming is the squad to pay attention to in this pool, as they finished 3rd at the Charlotte Major earlier this year.
Native Red, Native White, and BitterSweet round out Pool D. Native White should have a solid hold over this pool as they finished fourth in the Charlotte Major. The final spot in each Pool will be decided by Open Bracket play which will take place alongside the initial Pool Play matches. Once those spots are filled, the final matches of Pool Play will be played.
The HCS Arlington Major, Hosted by OpTic Gaming, starts today at 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST and will be played throughout the weekend until Grand Finals on Sunday, July 2nd, at 5 PM CST / 6 PM EST / 3 PM PST.
Go to the official Halo Infinite Twitch Stream A or the official HCS Twitch Stream B to watch the action. FaZe Clan’s first match takes place at 3 PM CST / 4 PM EST / 1 PM PST against Sentinels and will be streamed on Stream B. OpTic Gaming’s first match is against Six Karma and starts at 4:30 PM CST / 5:30 PM EST / 2:30 PST. OpTic’s match will be streamed on Stream A.
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