OpTic Gaming Wins Halo NA Pro Series 2, Defeats Cloud9

As the Halo Championship Series pushes ever onwards, the small Pro Series events continue to be entertaining mini-tournaments for fans of the franchise. This weekend, the NA Pro Series 2 took place, with all of the core NA teams of the HCS stepping up to compete for a relatively small prize but huge bragging rights. It was a considerably tense event that ended with OpTic Gaming sliding into first place, almost effortlessly beating Cloud9, the best HCS team in the tournament thus far.

Unfortunately, it does seem as though Halo Infinite is already dying out as 2022 pushes on. While there’s plenty left in the Halo Championship Series, the following behind the game itself continues to drop dramatically. Since launch, Halo Infinite has seen a massive drop-off, and a lack of attention to the game from the developers, 343 Industries, is giving many fans a tangible cause for concern.

Read on to get a full breakdown of OpTic Gaming’s performance at the NA Pro Series 2 event.

Raising The Greenwall

Since the 2022 Halo Championship Series kicked off, we’ve seen a powerful rivalry taking place between OpTic Gaming and Cloud9. At almost every event, including the valuable HCS Majors, it has been a neck-and-neck display between these two teams. Last year, OpTic stormed into action and secured the first two Open Series events against Cloud9 with back-to-back wins. Then, in 2022, Cloud9 responded in kind, picking up two Pro Series wins back-to-back, leaving OpTic Gaming standing cold in second place.

Then, at the NA Regionals in February, Cloud9 punished OpTic Gaming again, securing the top prize. Since the start of the year, every key event in the HCS bar one has resulted in an OpTic Gaming vs. Cloud9 final, but this weekend, OpTic secured yet another victory against Cloud9, netting the top spot at the NA Pro Series 2 tournament. It resulted in a minor prize, just $1,500 and advantageous seeding at the Pro Series 3 event, but against Cloud9, every win is huge for OpTic Gaming.

Throughout the Pro Series 2 event, OpTic Gaming proved to be an overwhelming force to be reckoned with. In fact, only one map was lost by the team during the entire event, with the boys in green effortlessly decimating Power Circle, Gamers First, G2 Esports, and then beating Cloud9 twice, back-to-back. It was a tense weekend for all involved, both OpTic Gaming came out on top, without question.

Is The Future Of The HCS In Danger?

There are concerns regarding the future of Halo Infinite, and by association, the HCS. At the Xbox Showcase event in June, there was no mention of the future of Halo Infinite, and fans are worried that there is nothing in the pipeline for Microsoft’s flagship shooter. With each passing week, the player count shrinks further, as does the exposure of Halo on social media platforms and streaming platforms.

For instance, as 2022 goes on, the number of viewers tuning in to the HCS events is fewer each time. At the Kansas City Major in April 2022, Halo’s esports following peaked, which is encouraging, but since then, we’ve seen a very visible decline in viewership. While there are plenty of events left to come this year, there are obvious concerns at play for followers of the HCS. If you’re interested in Halo betting, these are the upcoming events you should be keeping an eye on:

• Europe Regional Champs (1st – 3rd July)
• Mexico Regional Champs (22nd – 24th July)
• North American Super (5th – 7th August)
• Orlando Major (23rd – 25th September)
• Halo World Championship (20th – 23rd October)