OpTic walked away with a Major win and a World Championship in the 2022 season.
After nearly five months, another Halo Infinite Major was finally in the cards with the HCS Orlando Major. Following the lengthy break, OpTic Gaming came out in top form, tearing through Groups before dominating theChampionship Bracket, losing just four maps throughout the entire event. Here’s a full recap of how the $250,000 event played out.
First Major since Kansas City in April.
OpTic dominated the penultimate LAN event of 2022.
$250,000 USD prize pool.
Five months since the last big HCS LAN event and we finally had another Major in the first full year of the Halo Infinite cycle. Rosters were shaken up, organizations departed the scene, and GAs were still all the talk. But it was finally time to crown a new champion after an extended wait and OpTic was quick to take the throne.
Squads from four distinct regions flew into Orlando to push through the Open Bracket, Group Stage, and eventually, the Championship Bracket. But it was ultimately the Green Wall that proved stronger than the rest.
HCS Orlando Major: Final Placements (Top 12)
Placement
Team
Prize
1st
OpTic Gaming
$140,000
2nd
Cloud9
$84,000
3rd
FaZe Clan
$42,000
4th
Sentinels
$21,000
Top 6
G2 Esports
$11,000
Top 6
eUnited
$11,000
Top 8
Oxygen Esports
$7,000
Top 8
Gamers First
$7,000
Top 12
Natus Vincere
$3,150
Top 12
Team WaR
$3,150
Top 12
Native Red
$3,150
Top 12
TSS Esports
$3,150
HCS Orlando Major: Results
Friday, September 23 (Group Stage)
A Stream
Group
Match
Group A
OpTic 3-0 Acend
Group D
eUnited 3-0 Spacestation
Group B
G1 3-0 Quadrant
Group C
Sentinels 3-0 G2 Esports
Group A
OpTic 3-2 FaZe
Group D
Cloud9 1-3 eUnited
B Stream
Group
Match
Group B
G1 3-2 N8V Red
Group C
Sentinels 3-1 NAVI
Group A
FaZe 3-0 Acend
Group D
Cloud9 3-0 Spacestation
Group B
N8V Red 2-3 Quadrant
Group C
G2 Esports 3-1 NAVI
C Stream
Group
Match
Group A
FaZe 3-0 Chiefs
Group D
Cloud9 3-0 JLINGZ
Group A
OpTic 3-0 Chiefs
Group D
eUnited 3-1 JLINGZ
Group A
Acend 3-0 Chiefs
Group D
JLINGZ 3-1 Spacestation
D Stream
Group
Match
Group B
Quadrant 3-0 Cintanegra
Group C
G2 Esports 3-0 Cruelty
Group B
N8V Red 3-0 Cintanegra
Group C
NAVI 3-0 Cruelty
Group B
G1 3-0 Cintanegra
Group C
Sentinels 3-0 Cruelty
Saturday, September 24 (Group Stage & Championship Bracket)
Group
Match
Group A
Chiefs 0-3 Fnatic
Group A
Acend3-1 Fnatic
Group A
FaZe 3-0 Fnatic
Group A
OpTic 3-0 Fnatic
Group
Match
Group B
Cintanegra 0-3 Oxygen
Group B
N8V Red 3-2 Oxygen
Group B
Quadrant 0-3 Oxygen
Group B
G1 3-0 Oxygen
Group
Match
Group C
Cruelty 0-3 TSS Esports
Group C
NAVI 3-1 TSS Esports
Group C
G2 3-0 TSS Esports
Group C
Sentinels 3-0 TSS Esports
Group
Match
Group D
Spacestation 3-0 Falling Esports
Group D
JLINGZ 3-1 Falling Esports
Group D
Cloud9 3-0 Falling Esports
Group D
eUnited 3-0 Falling Esports
Series
Match
Winners Bracket
OpTic 3-0 Oxygen
Winners Bracket
eUnited 3-0 G2 Esports
Winners Bracket
Sentinels 1-3 Cloud9
Winners Bracket
G1 1-3 FaZe
Winners Bracket
OpTic 3-1 eUnited
Winners Bracket
Cloud9 1-3 FaZe
Series
Match
Losers Bracket
Chiefs 2-3 Proton Gaming
Losers Bracket
Falling Esports 0-3 Team WaR
Losers Bracket
Cruelty 0-3 Complexity
Losers Bracket
Cintanegra 0-3 Anime Demons
Losers Bracket
Spacestation 3-2 Proton Gaming
Losers Bracket
Quadrant 2-3 Team WaR
Losers Bracket
Fnatic 3-1 Complexity
Losers Bracket
TSS Esports 3-0 Anime Demons
Losers Bracket
NAVI 3-0 Spacestation
Losers Bracket
Acend 1-3 Team WaR
Losers Bracket
N8V Red 3-0 Fnatic
Losers Bracket
JLINGZ 0-3 TSS Esports
Losers Bracket
Oxygen 3-2 NAVI
Losers Bracket
G2 Esports 3-0 Team WaR
Losers Bracket
Sentinels 3-0 N8V Red
Losers Bracket
G1 3-0 TSS Esports
Sunday, September 25 (Championship Bracket)
Series
Match
Winners Bracket Finals
OpTic 3-0 FaZe
Losers Bracket
Oxygen 2-3 G2 Esports
Losers Bracket
Sentinels 3-2 G1
Losers Bracket
Cloud9 3-0 G2 Esports
Losers Bracket
eUnited 2-3 Sentinels
Losers Bracket
Cloud9 3-0 Sentinels
Losers Bracket Finals
FaZe 1-3 Cloud9
Grand Finals
OpTic 4-1 Cloud9
HCS Orlando Major: Streams
The HCS Orlando Major kicked off at 9AM PT | 12PM ET on Friday, September 23 and ran late into the evening with the final matches starting at 4:30PM PT | 7:30PM ET. Both Saturday and Championship Sunday began at the same times and followed a similar schedule.
As always, games featured across four separate broadcasts. Most of the action could be followed on the main Halo Twitch channel, while various other matchups were shown on HCS, HCS Red, and HCS Blue.
HCS Orlando Major: Format
Keeping in line with the typical HCS LAN event format, the Orlando Major was split into multiple stages. At the lowest rung was the Open Bracket where dozens of teams battled in an enormous double-elimination bracket. Their goal was to reach the top eight and in doing so, earn a spot in the next stages. The top four advanced through the Group Stage while the remaining four advanced straight to the Championship Bracket.
In the Group Stage, 20 teams competed for seeding. The better they placed in their respective group, the better starting position they had in the Championship Bracket, at least on paper.
Finally, it all culminated in the Championship Bracket with 24 teams going head to head in a double-elimination tournament. All games were best of five except for the Grand Final series which was best of seven.
Of note for Orlando, the top 12 teams in the Championship bracket secured a spot at the $1m Halo World Championship event in October.
HCS
