Halo esports is back! The first day of HCS London is in the books, and the excitement within the Halo community is at a fever pitch. Our team at Str8 Rippin reached out to a few dedicated community members to get their insights and predictions for the event. Here are their winners, sleeper teams, and players to watch!

Tsquared

Winner: Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

SSG is looking to start the 2024 HCS season off with back-to-back wins, which won’t be easy. OpTic played them extremely well in Arlington, and at times it felt like they were going to potentially snatch the trophy from SSG’s grasp. Starting the season off with two wins will be extremely hard, but it’s difficult to bet against the Arlington champs if they continue to improve after each tournament.

Sleeper Team: Shopify Rebellion

One of the things I noticed at Arlington was that immediately after their loss to FaZe Clan, Shopify Rebellion was in the hallway of the Esports Stadium venue breaking down the gameplay film. That’s a rare quality and shows their work ethic and how close they are as a team. Right now, it seems hard to break into the top 4, and the question for Shopify Rebellion is whether they can play their best on LAN and push for 1st place, which is always the goal. As of now, this is my sleeper team to win the tournament, but they’ll have to all play their best to make this happen.

Player to Watch: MoNsTcR

We all know that a lot of people are going to watch out for WuTum, but one of the other players to watch would 100 percent be MoNsTcR. Controller has always dominated Halo esports, and this is the first time we’ve seen a resurgence of MnK players. There’s a huge opportunity for growth in Halo esports with the current balancing of MnK vs. Controller, and if balancing changes continue, we’ll see the game grow even more. These two players have the talent to bring in an entirely new fanbase.

Small

Winner: FaZe Clan

Sleeper Team: Sentinels

Player to Watch: Snipedrone

iSpiteful

Winner: Quadrant

Sleeper Team: Bittersweet EU

Player to Watch: WuTum

UberNick

Winner: Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

Sleeper Team: Shopify Rebellion

Player to Watch: Lqgend

HiddenXperia

Winner: Optic Gaming

Sleeper Team: Foe/ITB

Player to Watch: Formal

RealLifeSpartan

Winner: Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

Sleeper Team: Proton Gaming

Player to Watch: WuTum

ReclaimerCR

Winner: Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

Sleeper Team: Proton Gaming

Player to Watch: Gilkey

Ynot B Casting

Winner: Spacestation Gaming (SSG)

Sleeper Team: Shopify Rebellion

Player to Watch: WuTum

And there you have it! The stage is set for another exciting weekend across the pond at HCS London. Whether you’re cheering for the favorites or have a sneaky underdog pick, there’s plenty of action to look forward to.

Who are your picks? Click here to let us know in the Discord and as always - Stay Rippin.