Competitive Halo is back at the HCS Charlotte Major 2025. As the HCS circuit for Halo Infinite hurtles towards the finish line, all eyes were on North Carolina, with the action getting underway on the first day of Pool Play.
Prior to the tournament, the HCS Charlotte Major 2025 had its favorites and underdogs locked in. Now, following the first day of matches, could the top dogs handle the pressure? Or were the dark horses able to pull off any shocks?
Favorites OpTic and Shopify Rebellion make a perfect start
It’s clear to just about everyone that OpTic Gaming and Shopify Rebellion are the big favorites for the HCS Charlotte Major 2025. There’s simply a gulf in quality between the top two and everyone else right now – a huge disparity in firepower that the rest of the teams can’t make up for. Those hoping for an upset, look away now: Pool Play went exactly how you might’ve expected for these two teams.
Shopify Rebellion were quick out of the gates in their opener vs. TSM, only dropping a single Slayer map in a convincing 3:1 win. Royal2 was the undoubted star of the show to kick things off, putting up 102 Slays across the series. They then followed this up with a flawless 3:0 vs. Complexity. Strongholds, Slayer, and CTF – it didn’t matter; Complexity didn’t look remotely close to winning a single map here. It was the dream day for Shopify Rebellion, who are looking to go back-to-back on LAN following their Salt Lake City Major win a couple of months ago.
OpTic’s first day of Pool Play followed a near identical formula at the HCS Charlotte Major 2025. An easy 3:0 win over OMiT to start things off, which OpTic will hope is a sign of things to come. A tougher test vs. Majin followed, but OpTic still got it done in 3:1 fashion to secure a 2:0 opening day in Pool Play at the HCS Charlotte Major. Shoutout to Lqgend, who really showed his quality in the second series with 93 Slays and just 58 deaths. It’s this undeniable x-factor that makes all the difference in series like this.
Spacestation Gaming and FaZe Clan start clean in Pool Play
Most would agree that Spacestation Gaming and FaZe Clan represent the best of the rest at HCS Charlotte Major 2025. Big names on both rosters, but neither has properly put things together so far this year. Their start here was always going to be intriguing.
Over in Pool C, FaZe Clan had been dealt quite a tough hand with both Cloud9 and Luminon (ex-Nemesis). That only makes their start all the more impressive, taking down both to keep a perfect start to Pool Play. Their first series against Luminon was settled by the finest of margins, with FaZe Clan winning out two Slayer matches by just three and two kills respectively. FaZe Clan have SnakeBite to thank for their win, the star coming alive at the final moment to decide this one by himself. Cloud9 was a more straightforward affair – 3:0, although again, FaZe Clan managed to claw across the finish line in a Slayer match by just a single kill. Still, 2:0 on the day – FaZe Clan are here to compete.
Spacestation Gaming were the big winners of 2024, but their roster this year hasn’t evoked quite the same fear factor. You can see that in their start to the HCS Charlotte Major 2025. Two wins, clean on paper. But looking closer, things were not quite that simple. Things kicked off with a 3:1 win over Unreal Nightmare, a team that SSG really shouldn’t be dropping a map to in an ideal world. They followed this up with a 3:2 win over ENVY, although, like FaZe Clan, Spacestation Gaming won their deciding Slayer match by just a three-kill margin. A win is a win, but it doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that they can go on and compete for the trophy at the end.
You can see all the HCS Charlotte Major 2025 Pool Play Day 1 standings below:
Pool A
- Shopify Rebellion – 2:0
- TSM – 1:1
- Complexity – 0:2
- TBA (Open Bracket LB Team 2) – 0:0
Pool B
- OpTic Gaming – 3:0
- Majin – 1:1
- OMiT – 0:2
- TBA (Open Bracket LB Team 1) – 0:0
Pool C
- FaZe Clan – 2:0
- Cloud9 – 1:1
- Luminon Gaming – 0:2
- TBA (Open Bracket WB Team 2) – 0:0
Pool D
- Spacestation Gaming – 2:0
- ENVY – 1:1
- Unreal Nightmare – 0:2
- TBA (Open Bracket WB Team 1) – 0:0
