The first Halo event in two years has concluded with Cloud9 taking home the win in Raleigh over eUnited 4-1. The HCS Major Kickoff produced dozens of insane clips and intense matches. The event itself reached nearly 300,000 live viewers, with fans across the world tuning in to see the top teams battle it out. In the end, though, it was Cloud9 who only got stronger as the event went on and took the championship with ease.
Cloud9 wins HCS Raleigh
Championship Sunday began with Cloud9 taking on tournament favorite OpTic Gaming. OpTic hadn’t lost a map coming into the match, and Cloud9 had looked shaky on some of their previous maps. However, Cloud9 quickly went up 2-0 over OpTic and managed to withstand the Green Wall’s comeback attempt to take the series 3-2.
The veteran roster, led by Jonathan “Renegade” Willette and Zane “Penguin” Hearon, looked unstoppable after defeating OpTic. They got by eUnited in the winners finals with relative ease and then matched up with them again in the grand final.
While some maps were close, Cloud9 were in control for the entire series. Renegade led the way with show-stopping stats and plays alike while Penguin got his first-ever event win in Halo. After the grand final concluded, Penguin immediately went into the crowd to hug his partner and others, signifying how big the moment was for him.
WE HAVE OUR CHAMPIONS!
Congratulations, @Cloud9! #C9WIN pic.twitter.com/Zb81jb4PX0
— Halo Esports (@HCS) December 20, 2021
That moment had an exclamation point put on it when Penguin hoisted the HCS Raleigh trophy over his head and loudly yelled “Let’s go!” to the crowd. Cloud9 become the first champions of Halo Infinite with their win in Raleigh. However, Halo Infinite is still a new game and teams will undoubtedly get stronger before the Pro Series begins in January. Cloud9 have cemented themselves as the top team in Halo for now, though.
