FaZe Clan win their First-Ever Halo Esports Championship at the 2023 HCS Arlington Major
(Gray News) - While many celebrated the 4th of July this past weekend, FaZe Clan was busy solidifying an HCS Arlington Major victory and the lion’s share of the tournament’s $250,000 prize pool. On Sunday, FaZe beat out Spacestation Gaming (SSG) 4-0 in the Grand Finals to close the event.
FaZe and SSG played exceptionally well throughout the weekend. They both finished the Pool Play portion of the Major without dropping a match, and both lost only a single map in this stage. SSG continued their match win streak through the semifinal of the Upper Bracket, where they had to face OpTic Gaming.
OpTic, initially one of the favorites to win the tournament, faired just as well as FaZe and SSG in Pool Play. They earned the first-place position in their pool with a 3-0 match record and a 9-1 map record, gaining entry to the Upper Bracket. In the first round of the Upper Bracket, OpTic looked strong, taking down Native Red with a 3-0 win, but then came their run-in with SSG.
SSG has been on a tear this year, rarely finishing outside the top 3, and OpTic hasn’t lost a Major since September of 2022. The first big series of the Arlington Major was set. OpTic suddenly looked shaky as the series started, and SSG methodically took three map wins ending the series at 3-0. OpTic was sent to the Lower Bracket and had to try and get to Grand Finals the hard way.
SSG moved on to the Upper Bracket Final, where FaZe was waiting. FaZe performed well in their first two rounds of the Upper Bracket. They took a 3-0 win over Complexity Gaming in the quarterfinals, followed by a 3-1 win over Cloud 9 in the semifinals.
The Upper Bracket Final questioned whether the series would go the way of the Charlotte Kickoff Major Upper Bracket Semifinals, where FaZe sent SSG to the Lower Bracket. Unfortunately for SSG, that ended up being the case. FaZe won the series 3-2 with a reverse sweep.
SSG faced their second Lower Bracket Final of the season, and Quadrant was the team they would need to beat. Quadrant had made it to the Lower Bracket Finals by overcoming OpTic in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinal 3-2 and taking out Sentinels 3-1 in the Lower Bracket Semifinal.
SSG stayed strong through maps one and two, finally overpowering Quadrant on the third and final map of the series. SSG won 3-0 and was off to the Grand Final to face FaZe again.
FaZe and SSG were both situated to win their first-ever Halo Esports Championship, but at the end of the day, only one would. FaZe took the first map of the series decisively. SSG didn’t hold back in the following map two Slayer, but FaZe wouldn’t back down and ended up winning. With the series being a best of seven, SSG was two maps back and had to figure out how to stop the bleeding quickly. But as fans had witnessed the entire Major, FaZe wouldn’t roll over. FaZe not only won the final two maps of the series but did so unapologetically.
FaZe Clan walked away from Arlington champions and $100,000 richer. SSG had to settle for second place and $60,000. Quadrant finished in third place and took home $30,000.
With the HCS Arlington Major hosted by OpTic Gaming now complete, fans will have to wait until August for the next HCS Major. Spacestation Gaming is hosting the next HCS Major in Salt Lake City from August 4-6.
Gray Television is an investor in OpTic Gaming.
Copyright 2023 Gray Media Group. All rights reserved.
