With the start of a new competitive Halo season beginning this weekend, I decided to write a brief history of the esport’s tournament placings.
The early history of competitive Halo goes hand in hand with the careers of some of the scene’s most decorated players, Ogre 1, Ogre 2, and Walshy.
In the early days of 2002 and 2003, some initial Halo: Combat Evolved tournaments rose up,attracting the attention of many halo players. Often referred to as the first official competitive tournament prior to MLG taking over the scene, Halo50k was won by The Dream Team lead by Zyos. Zyos would go on to win seven total Halo: CE events in his career and was later a member of Team FFA and Str8 Rippin.
Though Halo 50k resulted in a third place finish for the Ogre twins, the following tourney (Halo50k2) saw them win under the Shoot to Kill (STK) banner, beginning their first reign over competitive Halo by winning 4 tourneys in a row.
This success prompted the formation of Team FFA, a collection of individually skilled players who came together solely to dethrone STK. Team FFA was headlined by Walshy and included Zyos, KillerN and Gintron.
Team FFA succeeded in their goal, winning back to back tournaments over STK. Following MLG Atlanta 2004, Walshy and KillerN left Team FFA to team with Ogre 1 and 2 forming Team Domination for the rest of competitive Halo: CE. Team Domination closed out the season winning the final four tourneys, culminating in the 2004 New York Championships. This was to be the first of multiple national championships for the core three of Walshy and the Ogres.
The 2005 season started off with a roster change for the squad, with Saiyan getting picked up over KillerN. The team also went back to referring to themselves as Shoot to Kill.
2005 was the inaugural season of competitive Halo 2, marking the start of the golden age of professional Halo.
This roster would win the first eight events of Halo 2 (switching their name to Team 3D in the middle of their run) before finally dropping in the grand finals to Str8 Rippin at MLG Philadelphia 2005. Though Team 3D quickly regained their footing, this win for Str8 gave famed Halo pro Tsquared his first event victory (that Ogre 1, Ogre 2 and Walshy also attended). Tsquared would remain a top player throughout most his Halo 1, 2 and 3 career, being the only competitive Halo player to have double digit first, second, and third place finishes*.
Team 3D followed this loss by winning the final six events of the season, including the championships at MLG New York. The core three of Walshy and the Ogres had won back to back Halo National championships and 18 of the previous 19 events they attended.
The 2006 season started off as if the dominance of this roster would continue. Walshy, Ogre 1, Ogre 2 and Saiyan, now playing under the famous Final Boss moniker, would win the first four tournaments of the year.
For the first time in a long time however, the Final Boss roster finally met their match. At MLG Orlando, team Carbon consisting of Karma, GH057ayame, Ghandi and Shockwav3. Carbon had consistently been the second and third place team during Final Boss’s unprecedented run, losing to them in the previous five events.
This event win was not a fluke for Carbon however. The next tournament, MLG New York Playoffs 2006, Carbon backed up their performance with another win for the season. This marked the first time a team other than those consisting of the core three of Walshy and the Ogres had won back to back tournaments in Halo esports since Walshy did so against the Ogres back on Team FFA in Halo CE.
The next tournament was the 2006 Championships in Las Vegas. The event hosted the largest prize pool to that point in Halo esports history with $180,000 up for grabs on the 4v4 side of things.
Carbon and Final Boss breezed their way to the Winners Finals to face each other. Carbon yet again got the best of FB, winning the series 3-1. In the Grand Final, Carbon held off Final Boss in a grueling 10 game series that saw Carbon win 6-4 and walk away with $100,000. (*disclaimer: Grand finals back then used to be a continuation series, best of 11. So the grand finals started 3-1 Carbon up, with both squads each winning 3 games in the finale).
In the off-season, Final Boss dropped Saiyan from their team in place of Strongside. Strongside had previously been a member of Carbon, getting dropped right before Carbon went on their 3-peat of tournament wins. Carbon on the other hand kept the same roster heading into next season.
2007 Final Boss is often hailed as one of, if not the best competitive Halo team ever. Though the team did not have the same level dominance that the Ogre twins and Walshy enjoyed during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, finishing second 2nd at two events, the squad absolutely dismantled the competition when it mattered most.
To begin the 2007 season, FB put their 3-peat of second place finishes behind them, winning back to back tournaments at MLG Charlotte and MLG Meadowlands. Carbon would not sit down however, defeating Final Boss in the finals at MLG Dallas. FB returned to form immediately, winning MLG Chicago over Str8 Rippin in the grand finals while Carbon dropped to fourth. Str8 would flip the result in MLG Orlando though, beating Final Boss in the last event before Nationals (Carbon had yet another fourth place finish).
MLG Las Vegas Championships 2007 is where Final Boss cemented their legacy as the best Halo 2 team, and possibly the greatest Halo team ever. While Str8 Rippin and Carbon battled one another in a tough 10 game loser’s bracket final, FB cruised their way to the grand finals. When Carbon emerged as Final Boss’s challenger yet again, the famous roster completed the sweep, winning the 2007 Championships without dropping a single game during the entire tournament. Watching that squad at that event was insane. Ogre 1, Ogre 2, Walshy and Strongside played practically perfect Halo and blew even their top competition out of the venue.
Halo 2 would feature one more bonus event following Las Vegas Championships, where Final Boss would yet again prevail, this time over the Str8 Rippin squad.
With the first Halo 3 event months away, Final Boss looked to be the clear favorites to continue their dominance of the esport.
*Counting events where some top players did not attend as well as including 3rd/4th place finishes
