After a scintillating end to the HCS Pro League Fall 2016 Season, the wait for the Halo World Championship 2017 has seemed nigh unbearable. However, after a holiday offseason break that was anything but uneventful, that wait is over and the action is ready to commence in St. Louis for the opening round of the Halo World Championship 2017 Qualifiers.

Punctuating an exciting lineup of top Halo teams and players from around the world are arguably the odds-on favorites to win it all: OpTic Gaming and Team EnVyUs. OpTic wields the defending World Championship squad of Snakebite, Royal 2, Frosty and Lethul, but nV are defending a title of their own, as reigning NA HCS Pro League champions Snipedown, Pistola, Huke and Mikwen took down that very same OpTic quartet in the NA Fall 2016 Finals. Sweetening the taste of this growing rivalry is the fact that amazingly, both of these rosters enter the HaloWC unchanged from the previous season. And whether they will admit it or not, both nV and OpTic represent the bar that all other teams are competing to reach – and hopefully surpass.

The road to the Halo World Championship begins here – hope you’re ready.

TOP STORIES

Clear vision – While OpTic Gaming remains in a prime position to qualify for HaloWC 2017, it would mean even more to defeat Team EnVyUs along the way, and prove that they’re just as dangerous as they were a year ago.

Feeling green – While Team EnVyUs standouts Mikwen and Pistola might still be basking in the glow of an HCS Pro League season title, the Halo World Championship still represents a big bit of unfinished business for the duo. Both Mikwen and Pistola failed to qualify for HaloWC 2016, and are determined to not suffer the same unceremonious exit this time around.

Mad science – Evil Geniuses has a new roster and new energy about them as they enter the St. Louis qualifier as EG drops both Ninja and Stellur to pick up Contra and Predevonator to join Roy and Lunchbox. Fans who #bleedblue might no doubt feel like it was an eternity ago when their heroes were capturing X-Games Gold, and will be hoping that these new roster changes will translate into a return to glory at the HaloWC.

ROSTERS

With the dust barely settled on the Halo esports offseason, let’s take a look at the freshly-minted rosters of many of the most important teams to watch next weekend.

HCS PRO LEAGUE TEAMS

Luminosity

eL ToWn

Victory X

Ninja

Trippey

Evil Geniuses

Roy

Lunchbox

Contra

PreDevoNator

Team Liquid

Rayne

Penguin

Eco

Stellur

Team EnVyUs

Mikwen

Pistola

Snip3down

Huke

Str8 Rippin

Ace

aPG

Heinz

Renegade

OpTic Gaming

Snakebite

Royal

Lethul

Frosty

Enigma6

Cratos

Nemassist

Naded

Str8 Sick

OPEN BRACKET TEAMS

Team Allegiance

Commonly

Danoxide

Spartan

Suspector

SetToDestroyX

Burton

Calm Mentality

Blaze

TiZoXiC

cE.Fs Starboys

Domey

Bain

Dynamics

Ryno

INFUEGO

Qsurf

Nexivm

I thorium I

DoCtErPiLgRiM

EVENT INFO

Venue

Gateway Convention Center

1 Gateway Dr

Collinsville, IL 62234

How to Watch

Catch all the action on Jan. 20-22 from the HaloWC 2017 St. Louis Qualifier at Twitch.tv/Halo.

Format

Open Bracket: Double Elimination Best of 5 matches Top 8 teams advance to the Championship Bracket

Championship Bracket: 8 teams from Open Bracket + 8 Pro Teams from Pro League Double Elimination Best of 5 matches until Grand Finals – Grand Finals is Best of 7



Prize Pool

Overall: $50,000

1st - $20,000

2nd - $10,000

3rd - $6,000

4th - $4,000

5th - $3,000

6th - $3,000

7th - $2,000

8th - $2,000

ON-AIR TALENT

As always, for all updates on the Halo Championship Series and Halo esports, follow @HCS on Twitter, and keep it locked to Halo.gg on the web.