The 2017 Halo World Championship Finals has come and gone, but it brought some of the best moments to date in competitive Halo history. For the competitors, the event was the conclusion to several months of practice and competition. For spectators, it was wondering if anyone could topple OpTic’s Halo 5 reign. Sporting a one-million-dollar prize pool, an all-star casting crew, and some insane matches, the 2017 HWC Finals had no shortage of great moments. These are my top five.
Tom “TSquared” Taylor and Dave “Walshy” Walsh. Both legends of their respective craft, and monsters of Halo 2. Amidst the trash talk and in-game shenanigans at the HWC Finals, they took a break to reminisce of some vintage trash talk of the Halo 2 era. Referencing this clip, TSquared spoke of an embarrassing time when Walshy went after him with dual-needlers at an MLG tournament. At the time, Walshy was competing with legendary team Final Boss. In a time before fines and player discipline, trash talk was on another level. It was great to see these two talk about times past, and their passion for Halo competition.
When you are Str8 Rippin, and your backs are against the wall, the last thing you want is a red-hot Austin “Mikwen” McCleary on the opposing team. After going down 0-3 against Team EnVyUs, Str8 Rippin looked to bounce back in Fathom CTF. Their chances were bleak, but Str8’s resiliency had been on display all weekend.
The game started strongly in Str8’s favor, and the overkills flew as Envy eventually tied the game up. Going for the win, Envy’s Justin “IGotUrPistola” Deese grabbed the final flag, and headed for his base. Mikwen provided a perfect escort, and killed the entire Str8 Rippin team, clearing the way for the winning flag capture. The play perfectly underscored the lethality of Team EnVyUs, and ended a flawless series to progress them further in the bracket.
When Str8 Rippin and Crowd Pleasers met in Round 1 of bracket play, everyone knew sparks would fly. Crowd Pleasers contained notorious trash-talkers Carlos “Cratos” Ayala, Brett “Naded” Leonard, and pterodactyl impersonator Dan “Danoxide” Terlizzi. These players were eager to knock Halo veteran Aaron “ACE” Elam and the rest of Str8 into the losers bracket early.
The series started heavily in favor of Str8, as they quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead. Crowd Pleasers were not content with a sweep, however. Cratos and crew answered with 3 straight wins, and forced a Game 7 against a stunned Str8 Rippin. As the crowd cheered in disbelief, the entire team gave Str8 the look of doom right before the deciding match.
In game 7 Regret Slayer, each team traded blows until Str8 capitalized on an overshield spawn, and pulled away. Upon victory, ACE was so excited that he hopped his way across the stage to shake the hands of Crowd Pleasers. This entire series was a back-and-forth battle, with a very satisfying end. The passion and personality clash between the teams is unmatched.
In Game 4 of OpTic Gaming’s Grand Finals sweep over EnVyUs, Bradley “Frosty” Bergstrom decided to have a little fun. His team was well on their way to defending their world title, and he wanted to show OpTic’s dominance to the world.
Love it or hate it, disrespect and competitive Halo have been inseparable since the beginning. At the end of the day, the players are friends, and what happens in-game, stays in-game. The showmanship exhibited by Frosty adds a layer of personality and excitement to the narrative, and is welcome in my opinion.
This was hands-down the best moment of the tournament for me. When tied 2-2 in a series between championship contenders, a glitch is the last thing on the mind. For Eric “Snip3down” Wrona, however, a rendering glitch allowed him to see through a wall, and set up a critical snipe on Tim “Rayne” Tinkler.
The greatest aspect is the reactions from both Snip3down himself, and the casters. Snip3down is so confused that he throws his hands up in disbelief mid-game. The casters are caught off-guard and lose their train of thought. Meanwhile the crowd is going crazy. The irony of a glitch making its debut during a million-dollar tournament is lost on nobody, and is incredibly hilarious as a result.
clips courtesy of twitch.tv/halo
These are my top-five moments from the 2017 HWC Finals! Did I miss anything amazing? Let me know in the comments!
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