The two top teams from HCS Las Vegas will be heading to Burbank, and each of them bring enough talent to potentially knock out one, if not both, of the bottom two Pro League teams.
Here’s a look at both 3sUp and The Money Matches Team:
3sUP
Chance “MoNsTcR” Duncan, Zeke “Prototype” Martinez, Abel “Rammyy” Garcia , Jonathan “Renegade” Willette
How They Got Here:
If you want to talk about dominance in the Open Circuit, then look no further than 3sUp.
Taking home a staggering 2,410 HCS Points from two Legendary Cup Wins, as well as two top-three finishes, 3sUp was a force to be reckoned with online. They also took their talents to LAN, where they placed top-eight at HCS Orange County, as well as top-six in the championship bracket at Las Vegas, above pro sides Enigma6 and FAB Games eSports.
Prototype essentially leads a team of young and talented guns, as his experience from back in Halo 3 makes him a formidable veteran force. Rammyy and Renegade were both talented enough to have close encounters with the Pro League, and MoNsTcR rounds out an overall packed team with some experience at the Halo World Championship Regional Finals.
Oh, and this team, at the time of writing, is absolutely crushing the Esports Minor League, only giving up one game out of the three matches they’ve won so far.
With all this said, it almost makes you forget that this very same org was invited to the relegation tournament last season, and barely missed the cutoff at third place.
How They Can Get Into the Pro League:
There are two ways you can look at their current fight in the Minor League:
On one end, you can see it as some fantastic prep for the sides they will be facing in Burbank. TMMT, Enigma6 and Allegiance all technically straddle the line between professional and semi-pro by the very nature of being in this tournament.
In that case, this tournament should be 3sUp’s game to lose, as they’ve wiped the floor with the amateur competition and proved themselves in Las Vegas.
However, on the other end of spectrum, this team will have played three competitive matches in six days before the event.
There is something to be said about fatigue at the highest levels of competition, and the question is whether this side will feel it when they travel cross-country, land on Friday night, and compete the next morning.
Regardless, 3sUp has been known to be cold-blooded in games, taking away their series against Enigma6 in a reverse sweep, and Rammyy has come into his own this past Monday by showing how accurate his shots are with the sniper.
If Rammyy stays hot for the weekend, and this team isn’t worn down come Saturday, then there may be no stopping this team from reaching the top flight of Halo.
TMMT
Joe “TriPPPeY” Taylor, Tyler “TireIron” Mara, Tom “Saiyan” Wilson, Jorge “BoamX” Campos
How They Got Here:
Not many in the community were fans of this roster during the Open Circuit season, as there was some chatter about roster changes during the Legendary Cups that made several other semi-pros upset.
Regardless, the team that was formerly known as Contagious and 6S Gaming now is in the hands of the almighty Money Matches, and played spoiler to current Esport Minor League sides Most Wanted, PNDA Gaming, and Dynasty.
By those wins over solid semi-pro teams, its enough to qualify TMMT as a team ready to take a Pro League spot, regardless of the lack of years on this team. Boamx and TireIron technically are the two veterans of this team, with TireIron playing alongside the Dream Team at X Games Aspen and the NA Regional Finals, and Boamx playing with Most Wanted in Orange County and capturing fourth with that side.
How They Can Get Into the Pro League:
Given their first matchup is against Allegiance, they will either have to pull off a fantastic upset, or run the losers bracket and take down both Enigma6 and 3sUp.
The latter seems like more of a possibility, and this team has won matches during online tournaments against 3sUp. As for Enigma6, they were slighted with a 3-1 loss during Las Vegas.
On paper, it seems like a tough battle for this side, however, if they get the right maps against E6 (Slayer on Eden, CTF on Truth) and Allegiance (Strongholds on Eden, CTF on Fathom), then they can easily take home some victories and rattle these Pro League teams.
There are some solid slayers on this roster, with TireIron and TriPPPeY each holding their own in those crossover Free-For-All matches, so if they are able to get hot in that department, then it could cause some trouble for the other teams, as you can’t really play the objective when you are dead.
This team seems like the surprise candidate for a Pro League spot, but Money Matches is a betting licensed company that is known for funding winning teams. If they are the ones throwing their brand on this team, then there may be something to this side in terms of intangibles that will give these semi-pros that coveted league spot.
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James Mattone is a journalist for GAMURS and can be contacted on Twitter –@TheJamesMattone.
