Spacestation Gaming have won back-to-back Majors after defending their title at HCS Salt Lake City Major 2024. The hometown heroes took down OpTic Gaming in the Grand Final, completing a marathon run from the Lower Bracket.
Spacestation Gaming win back-to-back Majors
Credit: HCS on X
It was a busy day of Halo for Spacestation Gaming. Their Lower Bracket run saw them take down FaZe Clan and Shopify Rebellion, before finally being matched against OpTic Gaming in the Grand Final. The initial Grand Final finished 4:2 in favor of Spacestation Gaming, but the bracket reset meant they weren’t done there. If they hadn’t already proven their point, Spacestation Gaming managed to go 4:0 in the bracket reset, crowning themselves as worthy champions in Salt Lake City.
SSG’s victory shouldn’t be overshadowed by the myriad of tech issues that affected their Grand Final. They played some fantastic Halo, with Bound and Lqgend in particular delivering the goods when it mattered. By the end of the series, Spacestation Gaming were winning every gunfight, allowing the team to take home their back-to-back Major (and their third overall in 2024). Are they the best Halo team in the world right now? The last few months say yes.
OpTic Gaming Grand Final misery continues
Credit: OpTic on X
Five times. Five times in a row now, have OpTic Gaming finished runners-up in a Halo Grand Final. It’s a genuinely miserable run, stretching back to the Halo World Championship 2023. If it wasn’t some sort of mental block before, it certainly is now. How many times can you really come so close to glory, only to fall at the last hurdle?
Admittedly, OpTic Gaming will feel aggrieved by some of the tech issues plaguing this Grand Final. Several times, their momentum was halted by a tech problem, after which they lost the map every single time this happened. But truthfully, OpTic only have themselves to blame. Tech issues or momentum didn’t cause them to throw a two-flag lead with 1:30 to go on the first map of the bracket reset. Nor did it cause them to completely fall apart mentally during the entire second bracket. This loss is on them.
What next for FaZe?
Credit: HCS on X
Let’s be real: FaZe Clan won’t be pleased with their fourth-place finish at HCS Salt Lake City Major 2024. It’s an improvement over Atlanta, but that isn’t saying much. This is a team that should be challenging for these Majors every time, but realistically, they were outclassed by a vastly superior Spacestation Gaming.
Now, there’s no shame in losing to the eventual Champions. But for FaZe Clan, that should’ve been them hoisting the trophy aloft at the end of the action. The Halo World Championship 2024 is up next for FaZe, and they’ll need it to realistically look at this year as a success. They’ll always have the London Major win, but it’s difficult to take when teams like SSG have three Majors to their name in 2024.
