I'm a long time fan of the competitive Halo scene and Halo was my first e-sports passion. Long before Starcraft became popular in the United States, Halo reigned as the supreme e-sport, as console gaming is so incredibly popular in our country. This thread is my attempt at branching the Starcraft, Halo, MLG, and Team Liquid communities.
Also, I should add that this thread isn't finished. I'm trying to compile what I consider to be all the necessary info on Halo, which could pretty much actually be its own wiki. So this is a giant work in progress. Just lettin' ya know ahead of time.
Information
Competitive Halo is played in a 4v4 format. There are some rare exceptions where small tournaments will be played in 2v2, 1v1, and FFA formats, but MLG hasn't held a 2v2 tournament at an event since Halo 1 and 1v1 tournaments since Halo 2 in 2006. In the same way, most of Starcraft is played in 1v1 formats, but some tournaments, such as the Evil Geniuses Master's Cup have a bit of 2v2 mixed in.
Competitive Halo is very much different from Starcraft in a variety of ways. For instance, MLG tournaments are the only events in the competitive Halo community. There are no large weekly tournaments for prize money, or other tournaments. In the two months or so in between events, a lot of teams will trade around players in a hurricane of changes.
Competitive Halo began nearly a year after the release of Halo: Combat Evolved, the first Halo game, in September of 2001. In mid 2002, G4 and Microsoft announced that they would be holding a nationwide FFA with regional qualifiers at Gamestops around the country. While the tournament was more of a cheap spectacle, over 10,000 registered all over the nation to participate. The winner of the tournament, Darkman, established a name for himself as the undisputed best player in Halo, although the community was still severely underdeveloped. Darkman was also the first Halo professional, signing a contract with MLG at its very beginning in late 2002.
MLG started out relatively small. The first event was pretty much a giant LAN party where everyone brought their own Xbox and TV. From there it grew into something much larger. During Halo 2, often called the golden age of MLG, three teams stayed completely dominant: Final Boss, Carbon, and Str8 Rippin. These three teams nearly always met up in the finals. Players such as the Ogre Twins, Walshy, Strongside, Saiyan, Tsquared, Shockwave, and Gandhi reigned supreme at the top of competitive play. Halo stayed as the flagship game of MLG for 50 events straight, until Starcraft 2 was introduced at Raleigh 2010.
Teams
Players
Ogre 2
Tom "Ogre 2" Ryan is the greatest Halo player of all time. His consistency in Halo can be compared to a bonjwa of Brood War. MLG has had 57 events to date. Ogre 2 has 29 1st place wins and 10 2nd place finishes. He also missed 7 events, so making it to the finals of 38 out of 50 attended events is pretty incredible. He has won 5 out of the 8 national championships, with at least one in all four Halo games. Ogre 2 has been known for widely different play styles throughout Halo history. In Halo: CE, Ogre 2 was known as being part of the most dominant slaying duo in the game alongside his twin brother, Ogre 1. During the three years that Halo 2 was on the MLG circuit, Ogre 2 became the undisputed greatest slayer in the game, winning the Overall Player of the Year award all three years. During Halo 2, Ogre 2 played on the greatest Halo dynasty of all time, Final Boss. Final Boss won 18 of the 27 events in Halo 2, and placed 2nd in every other event, barring three events they didn't attend. In Halo 3 Ogre 2 struggled to truly shine, and in 2008, for the first time in his MLG career, he placed lower than 2nd place. In the 3rd and final year of the game, 2010, Ogre 2 finally caught his niche and ended up securing his dominance in his 3rd Halo game straight, winning the last three events in the game's lifespan. In Halo: Reach, Ogre 2 once again took his place at the top of the league on team Instinct, winning two events straight. In Columbus, team Instinct went 21-1 and in Anaheim, they went 21-0, becoming the first team to win a tournament without dropping a game since Final Boss won the 2007 National Championships with a 12-0 record (also a team Ogre 2 was on). All of this culminated with Team Instinct winning the 2011 Providence National Championships this weekend. Ogre 2 has spent the majority of his Halo career playing for Final Boss. Only until earlier this year did he switch to Instinct, his second team ever. Ogre 2 spent a huge amount of his life practicing Halo sitting next to his twin brother, Ogre 1, and they are known for their near supernatural teamwork. In Halo: CE, they were the most legendary 2v2 team, rumored to have never lost a single game together.
Pistola
Justin "Pistola" Deese played Halo 2 at an amateur level, and didn't get his big break until the first year of Halo 3. In 2008, he established himself as a player that can hold his own at the top 8. In 2009, he switched from Ambush to Trigger's Down, and ended up winning three of the five events. He also established himself as the scariest pure slayer in Halo, dropping consistently positive stats and always out slaying his opponents. In 2010, when it became apparent that Trigger's Down was not going to achieve the same success as last year, Pistola jumped ship to team Final Boss and won three out of five events for his second year in a row. After an alarmingly low 10th place finish at the first Halo: Reach event of 2011, Pistola left Final Boss with Ogre 2 and joined forces with Roy and Lunchbox as the two new members of Team Instinct. In Halo: Reach, Pistola has yet again established himself as one of the top slayers in the game, dropping a +729 K/D ratio this season, and winning MVP in the finals.
Roy
Justin "Roy" Brown has played professional Halo since his breakout year in 2007 on Team 5k. Team 5k was a relatively unknown team that had never attended an MLG event but always played extremely well in matchmaking online. Most of the community blamed their wins on strong internet connection and declared them a team of Online Warriors. This idea was quickly squelched when Team 5k attended the 2007 openers in Charlotte and placed 4th. Team 5k would establish themselves as an excellent team, but not a team strong enough to defeat one of the three top tier squads. In 2008 Halo 3 had replaced Halo 2 and Roy was looking for a fresh start. He and his twin brother, Lunchbox, disbanded 5k and joined forces with Victory X and Mackeo, forming Team Instinct. Roy became known for having the most consistent and accurate BR on the pro circuit and was considered one of the most fearsome players in the game. For two years, Instinct would come so close to winning an MLG event, but would never pull through in the finals. Roy finally secured his first (and well deserved) MLG gold in 2010. Since then, his curse has lifted and he has frequently come out at the top of tournaments. Along with Pistola, Roy makes up a nearly unstoppable slaying duo, a duo often credited as being the key to Team Instinct's success.
Lunchbox
Jason "Lunchbox" Brown has always been slightly hidden in the shadow of his twin brother and teammate, Roy. Roy and Lunchbox have teamed together for every MLG event they have attended, and Lunchbox plays quite a less flashy style. While Roy is known for having strong slaying abilities and always going hugely positive, Lunchbox plays more of a support role to the team, always raining shots down on his opponents and putting up a large number of assists. Like Roy, Lunchbox began his professional Halo career in 2007 on Team 5k, and alongside Roy, he created Team Instinct at the beginning of Halo 3. In Halo: Reach, Lunchbox has taken a much stronger role on his team. While he is still usually eclipsed by his teammates, Roy and Pistola in slaying, his individual skill has grown incredibly since his days in Halo 3, and he no longer takes a complete support role.
----------------------------
Well, thats all I really have to say for now. So I guess I'll try to start the discussion off. Anyone catch the championships this weekend in Providence? After watching Nani vs. Leenock I switched over to the Halo stream and watched the rebroadcast. God Instinct is good. Also, the MLG playlist goes zero bloom on Dec. 1st. I'm so ready for this.
Last edit: 2011-12-06 04:48:59
I will cheer for a Slayers Terran over any other player.
Halo 3/2/CE was pretty fun to watch but Reach is just bad so I don't watch Halo at all anymore.. Neighbor was the best player imo back when I used to watch.
Last edit: 2011-11-23 00:29:08
Embrace your dark side or else it might overshadow your bright side.
GreEny K Germany. November 23 2011 00:32. Posts 7263
On November 23 2011 00:27 Kevan wrote: Halo 3/2/CE was pretty fun to watch but Reach is just bad so I don't watch Halo at all anymore.. Neighbor was the best player imo back when I used to watch.
Agreed. I'm hoping that no bloom will spice things up a bit, but I watched a H3 montage the other day and... God I miss it.
I will cheer for a Slayers Terran over any other player.
Sermokala United States. November 23 2011 03:44. Posts 4729
The casters that mlg has are amazingly skilled. The ability it takes to cast halo well is so much above anything else and the people they have doing it are amazing.
btw that picture of ogre 2 and boxer made me squee
Last edit: 2011-11-23 03:46:02
Minerals being mined Minerals being mined
DystopiaX United States. November 23 2011 03:48. Posts 10358
On November 23 2011 00:27 Kevan wrote: Halo 3/2/CE was pretty fun to watch but Reach is just bad so I don't watch Halo at all anymore.. Neighbor was the best player imo back when I used to watch.
Totally agree with this. H2 especially was where it was at.
Rainbow/Davichi/Dal Shabet/APink/Girl's Day, Jisook/Kang Min Kyung/Woohee/Na Eun/Hyeri || REPORT TO THE DANCEFLOOR
GeneralissimoNero United States. November 23 2011 06:34. Posts 228
On November 23 2011 00:27 Kevan wrote: Halo 3/2/CE was pretty fun to watch but Reach is just bad so I don't watch Halo at all anymore.. Neighbor was the best player imo back when I used to watch.
Totally agree with this. H2 especially was where it was at.
Did you used to play on a team called. uh. I think it was Reign of Chaos? Back in 05?
Edit: Actually I think the guys name was Dysphoria. Close.
Last edit: 2011-11-23 06:39:01
I will cheer for a Slayers Terran over any other player.
DystopiaX United States. November 23 2011 06:39. Posts 10358
On November 23 2011 00:27 Kevan wrote: Halo 3/2/CE was pretty fun to watch but Reach is just bad so I don't watch Halo at all anymore.. Neighbor was the best player imo back when I used to watch.
Totally agree with this. H2 especially was where it was at.
Did you used to play on a team called. uh. I think it was Reign of Chaos? Back in 05?
Edit: Actually I think the guys name was Dysphoria. Close.
Lol, definitely never got good enough to go pro. I have a couple friends who got semi-pro (16-32 status) though.
Rainbow/Davichi/Dal Shabet/APink/Girl's Day, Jisook/Kang Min Kyung/Woohee/Na Eun/Hyeri || REPORT TO THE DANCEFLOOR
Sweepstakes United States. November 23 2011 06:55. Posts 89
Would you mind making a blog detailing the different strategies/positions in Halo? Maybe what a typical game is like and what separates the noobs from the pros?
That strategy was made of balls. - Tasteless
MasterKush United Kingdom. November 23 2011 06:57. Posts 568
Tom "Ogre 2" Ryan is the greatest Halo player of all time. His consistency puts any Brood War Bonjwa to shame. MLG has had 57 events to date. Ogre 2 has 29 1st place wins and 10 2nd place finishes. He also missed 7 events, so making it to the finals of 38 out of 50 attended events is pretty incredible.
I find that a bit of a weird statement to make. Not sure you can really make that kind of comparison between Brood War and Halo. Whatever, I guess.
Last edit: 2011-11-23 06:57:58
"Because, maybe, unlike what every whining kid on the internet thinks, terran actually isn't the easiest race? Shocking, I know." - Liquid`Jinro
GeneralissimoNero United States. November 23 2011 07:10. Posts 228
Tom "Ogre 2" Ryan is the greatest Halo player of all time. His consistency puts any Brood War Bonjwa to shame. MLG has had 57 events to date. Ogre 2 has 29 1st place wins and 10 2nd place finishes. He also missed 7 events, so making it to the finals of 38 out of 50 attended events is pretty incredible.
I find that a bit of a weird statement to make. Not sure you can really make that kind of comparison between Brood War and Halo. Whatever, I guess.
While it IS true that he does have a greater statistical consistency than any bonjwa, I get what you mean. Brood War had much more competition. Ogre 2 played on a Final Boss, a team that was by far the greatest, and could consistently beat the second best team, Carbon, who was heads above all other competition.
Would you mind making a blog detailing the different strategies/positions in Halo? Maybe what a typical game is like and what separates the noobs from the pros?
I probably won't make a blog, but I can put something in the OP or create an elaborate post.
Last edit: 2011-11-23 07:11:52
I will cheer for a Slayers Terran over any other player.
Energizer United States. November 23 2011 07:16. Posts 589
Tom "Ogre 2" Ryan is the greatest Halo player of all time. His consistency puts any Brood War Bonjwa to shame. MLG has had 57 events to date. Ogre 2 has 29 1st place wins and 10 2nd place finishes. He also missed 7 events, so making it to the finals of 38 out of 50 attended events is pretty incredible.
I find that a bit of a weird statement to make. Not sure you can really make that kind of comparison between Brood War and Halo. Whatever, I guess.
Yeh, that phrase alone is a troll bait, especially considering Ogre 2 isn't THAT good when compared to other halo pros, more so when you look back at halo 2 as there were a LOT of good halo players.
Ogre 1, walshy, t2, ghandi (isnt he a commentator now for MLG?) etc..
"What a god awful thread post." - First reply to Nada's body thread
Zidane United States. November 23 2011 07:17. Posts 1511
I participated in a few of the MLG Halo 2 tournaments and 2 MLG Halo 3 tournaments, really fun.
Also, It's really sad to see Final Boss still called Final Boss when that is their current composition, how can you be Final Boss without an Ogre.
I stopped following with Reach, maybe Halo 4 will bring me back? I can't really see it happening.
"Would you mind making a blog detailing the different strategies/positions in Halo? Maybe what a typical game is like and what separates the noobs from the pros?"
I don't know about now, but I'm sure it's similar to when I played. It essentially comes down to communication/positioning as a team and quick decision making, almost everyone can shoot to some degree, but not everyone can get a competent team of four together and shoot together.
Your basic strategies revolve around controlling the other teams spawn points, usually forcing a team to spawn in one section of the map, so that the other part of the map is clear to make a flag run, hold the oddball, sit in a hill or pick up a rocket launcher. Weapons/Overshields/Camos, all have a spawn timer(which your team needs to take record of when a weapon was taken, and someone on team keeps track of this and lets you know when it comes back up, I actually think at this point of the games life its pointless as everyone knows how to keep track of 3 min spawns now but whatever), and you need to group and take that weapon as it spawns, giving up map control, means giving up weapon control, and this can spell a quick ending of the game. Teams work together to bring people down, you will rarely see someone go rambo anymore at the top level of play, although it makes great spectacle when someone gets the no-scopes or the killtacular and what not, people move around and shoot together(I don't mean standing on top of each other I mean being near enough to help, but not near enough that your sitting ducks for explosives), you don't want to be in a 1v1 situation. Also, your #1 priority is to get some shots on people, then duck down and stay alive if you stay alive, respawning takes time, and if you have to respawn your not contributing to your teams map position and control. The slayer gametype is the weakest gametype competitively in my own opinion, as it is less about team work, but it's still there, usually you have a spot on the map you set up that gives you a good advantage and has the other team need to funnel out of small corridors or something.
Whichever team that has the best communication and the best map control will ultimately win the game, even if there are better individual players on the other team. In the open bracket of MLG's you can win with pure individual skill probably, and online play, but I was never able too break out of open, I did have one friend who made it to champ bracket who I played in local tournaments with, but other than that. the competition was really fierce.
Also it's hard to compare BW to Halo.. but Ogre 2 has a really crazy record, he dominated Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, has dominated Halo Reach with Instinct lately, he also won a few tournaments in Shadowrun as well.
Last edit: 2011-11-23 07:38:11
Currently Playing: MTG
Season United States. November 23 2011 07:43. Posts 205
Was just thinking of what kind of Halo fanbase there is within the TeamLiquid community myself :D
Oklahoma Halo FTW!! Obituareez was my handle. Followed Halo 2 for the last 2 years of it, then played/followed H3 diligently. Reach sucked the Halo-ness outta me though High hopes for H4 next year!!!
And after reading about the zero bloom playlist coming I may have to take a loosky
I'll frequent, NasD
GeneralissimoNero United States. November 23 2011 08:59. Posts 228
Okay so I was asked to make a blog about Halo strategy and what separates noobs from pros. Well I'm just going to make a post.
There are a few different gametypes in competitive Halo - Team Slayer: This is your standard team deathmatch. Each team tries to kill the members of the opposing team. When you die there is a five second respawn. First to 50 kills wins. Capture the Flag: This is also pretty explanatory. Each team has a flag in their base. The objective is to steal your enemy team's flag and bring it back to your base. When you die there is a ten second respawn. Some maps are first to 3 flags, but most are first to 5 flags. King of the Hill: The map has a marked area called "the hill" which moves every few minutes. Your team gets a point for each second someone on your team is in the hill. When you die there is a ten second respawn. First to 250 points wins. Oddball: Kind of like a game of keep away. There is a skull called "the oddball", and your team gets a point for each second someone on your team has possession of the ball. When you die there is a ten second respawn. First to 250 points wins.
Halo comes down to two things: Individual Skill and Teamwork. Despite how non-complex it seems to simply be good at shooting a gun, its a lot harder than you think. I played over 7500 games of Halo 3, and I was nowhere near a level that it would take to compete with the top pros. In the MLG Playlist, all the pros were rank 50. The highest rank I ever got was 40. The gap between the those ten ranks is astounding. I played against level 50 pros a few times with a friend and went consistently over negative 20. Ugh.
Teamwork is even harder to master than individual skill. There are a few things that go into it. 1. Awareness: Your ability to put yourself in a position on the map that will benefit your team. 2. Calling out: Each map has callout locations to let your team know where your enemies are on the map. Your ability to call out where your opponents are and more importantly to actually listen to those callouts is really hard. Here is a video example of Team Instinct, the top Halo team, and their communication. Skip to about 14:30.
3. Setting Up: This is the hardest and most complex skill to have in Halo, and I would say that only the top 8 teams can even execute it properly. Maps have spawn locations. The typical symmetrical map has two bases with multiple spawn locations on each side. As I said before, most gametypes have a ten second respawn time. As you slowly start outkilling the opposing team, you are able to use the time when they are dead to get into better positioning: a set up. A typical set up will attempt to block some spawn locations in your enemies base, forcing them to spawn in an unfavorable location, where your team will be able to rain down fire on them. There are a few different types of set ups. Some of them are spawn camps, aiming to continuously kill the opposing team on a spawn. Some are objective setups, where you get into an ideal position to defend your hill, your oddball, or to capture your opponents flag.
The standard spawning weapon in competitive Halo has changed with nearly every game. The original Halo had a pistol as a starting weapon; it could kill an opponent with three shots to head, but the accuracy was hard to master, making this pretty hard. In Halo 2 it switched to the Battle Rifle (BR). The Battle Rifle shot in bursts of 3 bullets, similar to the M16 in Call of Duty. 4 shots to an opponent would kill them. The BR stayed in Halo 3. In Halo: Reach they switched to the DMR, similar to the BR, but a single shot weapon, taking 5 bullets to the opponents head to kill them.
It is important to control the power weapons in Halo. These include the Rocket Launcher, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, and Grenade Launcher. Having these allow for better control of the map and easier kills. There are also power ups, such as the overshield and invisibility. These spawn every few minutes, and its important to keep times on them and communicate with your teammates about when they will spawn so you can set up in a better position to acquire them.
Thats all I can think of for now, but obviously there is more to the eye than what it seems with Halo. If you have any other questions, you can ask me.
I will cheer for a Slayers Terran over any other player.
Sherlocks Mind United States. November 24 2011 21:19. Posts 18
Not really a Halo fan but I've checked it out a few times. Pretty interesting to watch. That Ogre guy really placed top 2 that many times? Almost 80% of his placings have been 2nd or 1st. I'd imagine that would be hard to do in any game.
OptimusYale Korea (South). November 24 2011 21:29. Posts 978
Instinct were always my team for halo 3, Loved both Lunchbox and Snip3down...however reach lost the magic of what was Halo 2 and 3....I wish they would move back to halo 3, was much more exciting than reach
andy186 Australia. November 24 2011 21:43. Posts 474
Being a Quake player originally, I just can't bring myself to watch Halo matches. The game just looks way too slow and simple to me. Ofc there has to be skill involved for Halo to be an esports game but it's just not my cup of tea.
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High hopes for H4 next year!!!
![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/d/d5/Slayer_Icon.jpg){kind=icon}
Team Slayer: This is your standard team deathmatch. Each team tries to kill the members of the opposing team. When you die there is a five second respawn. First to 50 kills wins.![[image loading]](http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/d/d7/CTF_Icon.jpg){kind=icon}
Capture the Flag: This is also pretty explanatory. Each team has a flag in their base. The objective is to steal your enemy team's flag and bring it back to your base. When you die there is a ten second respawn. Some maps are first to 3 flags, but most are first to 5 flags.![[image loading]](http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061102212555/halo/images/b/b4/King_of_the_Hill_Icon.jpg){kind=icon}
King of the Hill: The map has a marked area called "the hill" which moves every few minutes. Your team gets a point for each second someone on your team is in the hill. When you die there is a ten second respawn. First to 250 points wins.![[image loading]](http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20061102212518/halo/images/3/35/Oddball_Icon.jpg){kind=icon}
Oddball: Kind of like a game of keep away. There is a skull called "the oddball", and your team gets a point for each second someone on your team has possession of the ball. When you die there is a ten second respawn. First to 250 points wins.
