With HCS Daytona wrapped up and OpTic losing for the first time since Fall Finals, the Halo community is now looking forward to the Pro League. However, one spot still remains in the league and there’s more than a few teams in the running to snatch it. Let’s take a look at the three most notable contenders that will be competing this weekend in the Last Chance Qualifier.
ERA Eternity
Roster:Â Hamza “Commonly” Abbaali, Ezekiel “Prototype” Martinez, Hunter “BabyJ” Schline, Dillon “Randa” Randa
Commonly was a player that most of the community assumed would end up on a team with a Pro seed. Instead, he ended up teaming with Prototype, BabyJ and Randa. Prototype has been an excellent main slayer since the days of Halo: Reach and continues to lay down consistent damage. BabyJ, on the other hand, has risen through the ranks since the release of Halo 5. These two players together challenged multiple pro teams such as EG and Splyce as Team Cryptik last season. This season, they’re joined by Commonly. Commonly is often seen as one of the best objective players in the league and continues his role on this squad. He always aggressively pushes flags and strongholds, forcing enemies to return to their base in order to force Commonly out.
At Daytona, ERa finished 9th-12th. Meeting EG in the first round of the Champ Bracket, ERa fell 3-1. This is reason for worry, as EG are likely only a top 8 team. Dropping to the loser’s bracket, ERa was knocked out by Str8 with a crushing 3-0 defeat. Again, Str8 is only a top 6 team, so ERa’s chances against the other two squads on this list are not particularly good. They’ll have to pull together and have a miracle run to take the Last Chance Qualifier.
Oxygen Supremacy
Roster:Â Ryan “RyaNoob” Geddes, Troy “DasTroyed” Dusman, Cody “ContrA” Szczodrowski, Kyle “Nemassist” Kubina
Yet again, RyaNoob returns to cause chaos among pro and amateur teams alike. With DasTroyed, Nemassist and ContrA going huge in the slaying department, RyaNoob is left to make his crazy objective-oriented plays. The other most notable player on this squad is ContrA. Formerly of EG, ContrA also gave up a guaranteed Pro League spot in order to compete with this squad.
OS also competed at Daytona and after fighting through the open bracket was still able to go home with a top 6 finish. The first round in the Champ Bracket saw OS go head-to-head with Luminosity Gaming. In a move that shocked many, Luminosity lost 3-0 and was swept into the loser’s bracket. Meanwhile, OS went on to challenge Str8. Str8 also fell to the lower bracket with a 3-1 loss and later finished 5th/6th. Oxygen Supremacy went on to face Team EnVyUs, the squad that ended up winning Daytona. In a thrilling series, OS was defeated 2-3.
For being a squad for such a short amount of time, this was a huge accomplishment. Once in the loser’s bracket, OS seemed to run out of gas and fell 0-3 to Splyce. If Oxygen Supremacy can work on their endurance, they are the only likely squad that can challenge the next roster on the list for the final Pro League spot.
Splyce
Roster:Â Jesse “bubu dubu” Moeller, Ryan “Shooter” Sondhi, Jonathan “Renegade” Willette, Anthony “Shotzzy” Cuevas-
Castro
To nobody’s surprise, Splyce is the most likely candidate to win the Last Chance Qualifier. Renegade and Shotzzy have proven themselves as two of the deadliest snipers in Halo 5. The slaying numbers that they can put up if they both have good games is jaw-dropping. Both bubu dubu and Shooter have also shown that they are no slouches in the slaying department either. However, both also are consistently making smart support and objective plays, despite Shooter specifically making some questionable decisions every now and then.
At Daytona, Splyce proved that picking up Renegade was the right call. Their overwhelming slaying ability and individual play led them to a top 4 finish. Splyce fell to the loser’s bracket early with a 2-3 loss at the hands of Liquid, although the series was very close. Splyce had managed to beat Liquid in the groups stage, however. Once in the loser’s bracket, Splyce managed to send both Luminosity and Oxygen Supremacy home with decisive victories. In the LB semi-final, Splyce was within inches of defeated Liquid and making it into the top 3, but fell short in the end. They lost the series in game 7, 3-4. With Renegade still a new member of the squad, more time together will only benefit them. They are the most likely to take the Last Chance Qualifier, with their only apparent challenge coming from Oxygen Supremacy.
Who do you think will take the final Pro League spot? Is there another team outside of these three that are realistically in the running? Let me know!
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Header image by Splyce.