In the lower bracket semi-finals of the 2017 Halo World Championships, Team Envy and Str8 Rippin were fighting to stay afloat in the bracket. On match point for Envy, both teams’ players showed up in a stellar display of Halo ability.
After a long technical delay, the series resumed with Envy up 3-0. Str8 Rippin would need to hold it down on the Capture The Flag round if it wanted to begin to mount a comeback, and right out of the gate, it looked like it might.
Str8 came out strong, seizing two flag captures on the back of the play of Bradley “APG” Laws, who chalked up the first Overkill of the round. Overkills are a special term for when a player gets four kills in four seconds or less, and the bread-and-butter combo of Assault Rifle and Pistol, Laws set the tone for the match.
Envy weren’t content to cede the round, however, and two players took it upon themselves to shift the odds in their favour. First was Cuyler “Huke” Garland, whose own Overkill set up a flag capture for Envy.
Then, with the score tied 2-2 and Envy running Str8’s flag back for the win, Austin “Mikwen” McCleary showed up and grabbed the third Overkill of the match, clearing the way for Justin “Pistola” Deese to capture the flag and secure the series sweep over Str8 Rippin, 4-0.
Envy advances to face Team Liquid in the loser’s finals, where the winner will take on Optic Gaming in the grand finals of the $US1 ($1) million tournament. In the first round of the tournament, Liquid beat Envy 4-3 to knock it into the lower bracket, but riding the momentum of this match, it’s possible Envy could get some revenge on its way to a grand final.
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