The Halo Championship Series this year has gotten off to a great start so far. The HCS North America Regional Finals are just about to kick off this weekend. This is the culmination of one of the opening rounds of the event.  It is the first big event for Halo Infinite in 2022, we’ll have to see how it plays out and which teams are coming out ahead.

This is what’s going on with the event:

HCS North America Regional Finals

The HCS has been running across 2021 and 2022. This is the premier esports event for Halo Infinite. It’s achieved a level of success above what Halo has managed in esports for some time. The HCS has been a strong success so far. The NA regionals are one of the higher-level events so far. This is the regional finals for the second split of the tournament.

The teams in competition here are drawn from the Pro Series and Open Bracket qualifiers. Over the course of the weekend, they’re going to be competing for a share of a $125,000.  prize pool.

So far in the HCS, Cloud9 have been pretty dominant in this region. They have an undefeated streak which they’re looking to defend at this tournament, so most eyes are going to be on them for the event.

This is how the event is going to work in terms of format, what teams to look at, and how you can get drops with the event:

HCS North America Regional Finals – Format & Schedule

The HCS North America regional finals kick off qualifiers. These are from open signups. However,  only the top 8 move foreyard to Pool Play.

The Pool Play round is going to be played as a round robin, with four groups of four teams taking part. While 8 qualified teams are in here, they join the 8 seeded teams. The top team from each group will advance straight to the Championship upper bracket 2^nd round, and the 2^nd and 3^rd teams will head to the 1^st round. The 4^th placing team will begin in the lower bracket for round 1. All of the matches in this stage are played as a best of 5.

Those are the early rounds. However, it is the final bracket that most players will be looking at. This is stage where things are getting really interesting. The Championship bracket is a double-elimination bracket. The top-ranking teams from groups naturally have an advantage here, but even those start in the lower bracket can work their way up if they play things right.

The schedule is a little convoluted, check out the tweet below for the specific times and groups breakdown.

What Teams to Watch at the HCS North America Regional Finals

The HCS North American regional finals are going to be an exciting start for the year’s action. In terms of what teams to watch for esports betting, Cloud9 are clearly the standout going in. Cloud9 have had an amazing run so far in the HCS and they are definitely the team to beat. However, there are some competitors that look solid too. Sentinels have had some solid results in previous qualifiers and the last pro series. FaZe have also been strong recently and might take the step up at this regional.

HCS Drops

The HCS North America regional finals are going to be a fun experience to watch, but Halo’s devs are rewarding viewers too.  Official streams from 11-13^th will have drops of a HCS skin for the assault rifle, sidekick, and battle rifle. You get these at one hour watched, two hours watched, and three hours watched.

A nameplate and emblem can be earned through partnered costreamers over the event too. This will be awarded for one hour watched on these streams. The final drop is during the Grand finals for the event on February 13^th.  This is going to be unique pose called HCS Celebration.

Those are all of the drops you can grab over the course of the HCS North America regional finals. Make sure you spread your viewing out if you want to grab all of them.