Professional Halo just got a massive adrenaline boost, as OpTic has announced they will be returning to professional Halo play.
OpTic Halo is a rebranding of the original, and iconic Envy Halo team that dominated the scene back in the mid-2010s. Envy merged with OpTic on November 8th, after months of talk of a potential merger that stretched back to August. The new OpTic team wasted little time putting their hat back into the competitive Halo team.
They’ve already announced a team to compete in this year's Halo Championship Series, which features all the star players that were mainstays of the old Envy Halo team.
Justin “iGotUrPistola” Deese, Tommy “Lucid” Wilson, Joey “TriPPPeY” Taylor, and Bradley “aPG” Laws all make their triumphant return to the team, and the line-up will mostly remain the same. The team plans to compete in the Halo Championship Series Kickoff Major Raleigh 2021, with the only changes to OpTic Halo being some different team management figures.
Jason ‘Lunchbox’ Brown will take the reigns as the head coach of the team, and will bring a wealth of expertise to the table. A former professional himself, Lunchbox is known to many as the Godfather of Halo.
He has seen success in tournaments like the UGC Halo Classic, HCS Invitational, DreamHack Dallas, and the HCS North America Open Cup. The legendary player will add nothing but unity to this already star-studded team, and will certainly help to make them a formidable force going into this year's HCS.
Another new figure on the backend is Marcus ‘Elumnite’ Lovejoy as the new General Manager of the team. Elumnite will be best known to eSports fans for his time in teams in Denial eSports and Fatal Ambition, where he has been a mainstay staple on the Halo competitive scene for well over 15 years at this point. Elumnite has since retired, and his coaching and managing abilities have frequently led Envy teams to huge tournament wins in games such as Call of Duty over the last few years.
Speaking at a press release, Elumnite echoed his excitement at the opportunity. “I’m incredibly excited to be back in the Halo community.”
“We have worked closely with the team at HCS over the last year to help design the infrastructure for a lasting esports scene that will show off the new Halo Infinite game and the best Halo players in the world for years to come.”
Elumnite finished with a statement that all of us at Strafe.com can agree with. “Bringing the OpTic brand back to HCS is going to be great for fans and future competitions.”
This rebranded OpTic Halo team will make its debut on December 17th, at the HCS Kickoff Major Raleigh.
You can also still purchase Envy skins on Halo Infinite, but you better purchase them now, as they are primed to become ‘super rare’.
According to the Halo eSports lead team, these Envy skins will become ‘super rare as the team transitions to OpTic’.
So, if you’ve been a long-term fan of the legendary Envy team, you’d be best to get your hands on those colors while you still can. If you want to wear the revitalized OpTic skins, they’ll be on the way as the team makes its competitive debut.
