Rostermania is alive and well, and Tyler “Spartan” Ganza finally has a team to show for it after a lot of uncertainty following the Fall Season Finals in Burbank.
According to a tweet from Ayden “Suspector“ Hill, the former Enigma6 member will be teaming up with Spartan as well as another ex-Team Liquid player in Hamza “Commonly” Abbaali and former LG hitman Dan “Danoxide” Terlizzi ahead of UGC St. Louis.
This news was confirmed by Spartan on his own Twitter moments later, and included that the team will be without an organization to start the season.
Can’t wait for this season w/ @Commonly @Spartan @LG_Danoxide we have so much potential, and this is the exact fresh start I needed ❤????
— Ayden (@Svspector) December 30, 2016
Excited for this Halo World Championship 2017 season alongside @Commonly @LG_Danoxide @Svspector
We’ll be searching for an org 🙂#HCS
— Tyler Ganza (@Spartan) December 30, 2016
In a follow-up tweet, it was confirmed that Casey “StrobeFPS“ would be the team’s coach.
Deemed the “Problem Solvers” before they are picked up by an organization, this team will not be given pro team status heading into UGC St. Louis, the first 2017 Halo World Championship North American Qualifier event, as Spartan confirmed via Twitter.
We do not hold a Pro Seed so we will be going through the AM bracket and Online Qualifiers 😀@Commonly @LG_Danoxide @Svspector
— Tyler Ganza (@Spartan) December 30, 2016
This puts the team in an interesting position of entering through the open bracket along with many semi-professional and amateur teams, however, it is certain that this squad will be a favorite to emerge from the bracket in St. Louis.
Team Liquid broke up after the Fall Season finals, where they finished third after losing to OpTic Gaming, winning a seven game series against Str8 Rippin, and being swept out by Team EnVyUs. Liquid currently holds Zane “Penguin” Hearon and Timothy “Rayne” Tinkler, and it is unconfirmed, but assumed, that they will hold a pro team spot at UGC St. Louis.
Spartan and Commonly produced well during the Fall 2016 season, with Commonly being a solid set-up man ranked top-five in assists per game, and Spartan slaying well with a top-15 K/D. The two combined to help Team Liquid surmount an impressive 15-6 capture the flag record, with Spartan tying Paul “SnakeBite” Duarte’s league high of 24 flag returns and Commonly being second in the league for defends with 28.
Joining these two will be two other solid slayers, with the young gun Suspector being top ten in K/D last season, and Danoxide being top three in damage per game. Suspector also hit top ten last season in flag captures with 10, three less than Commonly’s number, and Danoxide was a solid force in stronghold rotations, holding a top ten spot in captures. Danoxide is also known for his incredible accuracy, boasting a perfect in every three out of four games, which was just below his former teammate Braedon “StelluR” Boettcher.
Looking at straight statistics, this team rivals that of nV and OpTic last season in terms of slaying, with all players but Commonly finishing above a 1.00 K/D last season, as he finished just below the mark with a 0.97. Commonly still brings solid slaying power, though, and his objective play is sure to round out a team of sure shots.
Overall, this slaying powerhouse would be a smart pickup for an organization looking to cash in on the Halo esport before another $1 million World Championship, and a mix of experience within this roster is sure to give way to a blend of talent and strategy in the 2017 season. The popularity of these players is also sure to bolster the following of whichever org grabs this team, with Spartan holding over 20,000 followers on both Twitter and Twitch, and the team holding over 45,000 Twitter and 35,000 Twitch followers combined.
With OpTic and nV expected to stick together and attend UGC St. Louis, an event with three qualifier spots for Worlds, the third spot is definitely up in the air. However, this team is definitely in the hunt to make an open bracket run and punch their ticket to the World Championship.
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James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
Photo Credit: James Mattone
Statistics courtesy of Halo Data Hive and HCS Stats
