HCS Raleigh: Complete Pool Play & Open Bracket Recap & Results

ESTNN recaps the Pool Play and Open Bracket results from HCS Raleigh.

The Halo Infinite competitive season is off to a roaring start. Following several record-breaking online tournaments, teams worldwide ventured to Raleigh, North Carolina, to pursue a share of $250K USD in this weekend’s Halo Championship Series (HCS) Kickoff Major. Day one continued a growing trend in Halo Infinite’s early going — unparalleled viewership and a healthy dose of gameplay.

Premiere teams such as OpTic Gaming, eUnited and Cloud9 were just three of 16 teams to earn the right to compete in Pool Play on day one. Other highly-touted squads like Sentinels and Built By Gamers encountered the grueling task of battling through the Open Bracket in hopes of reaching the Championship Bracket. Triumph would not come without resistance, but the best teams rose to the occasion as usual.

Let’s take a look at the road so far and recap the results from Pool Play and the winner’s side of the Open Bracket.

Pool A

3-0 in Pools. We move. #OpTicHalo pic.twitter.com/CWjxl5E61C

— OpTic Gaming™ (@OpTic) December 18, 2021

OpTic Gaming: 3-0
Kansas City Pioneers: 2-1
Chief Esports Club: 1-2
Bing Chilling: 0-3

As many predicted, OpTic Gaming looked untouchable in Pool A. They managed a 3-0 record without dropping a single map along the way. Second place in Pool A went to fellow North American team Kansas City Pioneers, who finished 2-1, losing only to OpTic Gaming.

Pool B

We go UNDEFEATED in our Pool!GGs to @FaZeClan we secured another sweep and move onto WB 2 next! LETS GO TEAM #G2WIN

— Laz | callous (@calloussss) December 18, 2021

G2 Esports: 3-0
FaZe Clan: 2-1
NAVI: 1-2
Divine Mind: 0-3

G2 Esports took care of business in Pool B, handing FaZe Clan, NAVI and Divine Mind a loss en route to a 3-0 performance. While they struggled to close out NAVI, G2 dominated FaZe Clan without losing a map. Considerable favorites FaZe Clan finished Pool Play in second place with a 2-1 record.

Pool C

WE’RE NOT STOPPING. We take the series 3-0 over Quadrant 🔥

We’re 3-0 at the top of pool C. We’ll be back later tonight 😈 #StandUnited pic.twitter.com/wH00o7qeZl

— eUnited (@eUnited) December 18, 2021

eUnited: 3-0
Quadrant: 2-1
Oxygen Esports: 1-2
The Boys: 0-3

EUnited achieved a perfect 3-0 in Pool C, losing only two maps to Oxygen Esports. While Oxygen Esports put forth an admirable 6-3 map count, it was the French squad Quadrant that ultimately took second in Pool C with a record of 2-1. The Boys finished bottom of the pack, losing all nine of their matches.

Pool D

1st seed secured ✅ #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/4kzckLwqFs

— Cloud9 (@Cloud9) December 18, 2021

Cloud9: 3-0
Spacestation Gaming: 1-2
XSET: 1-2
Acend: 1-2

Pool D featured the best collection of teams without question. As a result, many dubbed it the most challenging of the bunch. Cloud9 fulfilled many people’s predictions for them to come out victorious. They went a perfect 3-0 against XSET, Spacestation Gaming and Acend, dropping only two maps on their way to the Championship Bracket. The other three teams finished with a 1-2 record, but SSG held the map count advantage, giving them the second position.

Open Bracket to Championship Bracket (Winners Side)

Won our final round of open 3-0, officially made it to champ bracket yay!!! Waiting for pools to finish

— SEN Lethul (@LxthuL) December 18, 2021

The stories wrote themselves ahead of the Open Bracket play at HCS Raleigh. Sentinels forfeited their Pool Play following the suspension of Mathew “Royal 2” Fiorante for geo-filtering. Initially, the team said they would not compete at HCS Raleigh. That did not last very long as retired Call of Duty pro — Matthew “FormaL” Piper — subbed in for Royal 2.

Sentinels dominated the Open Bracket to the surprise of no one. LethuL, Snakebite, Frosty and FormaL won every map, granting them a spot in the Championship Bracket. Other top semi-pro squads such as Built By Gamers and Status Quo earned the same privilege.

Here are the seven teams who made out of the Open Bracket on the winner’s side: