HCS Charlotte Major 2025 tournament preview & best bets

The Halo Championship Series 2025 Charlotte Major is on the horizon, featuring the world’s top Halo esports teams vying for the final A-Tier title of the season.

Running from October 3–5 at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, the event offers a US$250,000 prize pool and six direct invites to the end-of-season Halo World Championship.

The HCS Charlotte Major features a multi-stage format, starting with an open bracket. From there, four teams will proceed to a 16-team pool consisting of four round-robin groups of four.

All pool games are best-of-five, with the top three teams per group advancing into the double-elimination championship bracket.There, all matches are best-of-five, except for the best-of-seven grand final.

Here is our HCS Charlotte Major 2025 betting preview, with the latest Halo odds and expert picks.

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  Fast Payouts

HCS Charlotte Major 2025 outright odds

• OpTic Gaming – +110
• Shopify Rebellion – +110
• FaZe Clan – +1400
• ENVY – +1800
• Spacestation Gaming – +1800
• Luminon EU – +2000
• TSM – +2200
• Cloud9 – +2500
• Complexity – +3300
• Unreal Nightmare – +4000
• OMiT – +5000
• Any open bracket qualifier – +6600
• Majin Club – +8000

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  The bookies' bookie

HCS Charlotte Major 2025 groups

• Pool A – Shopify Rebellion, TSM, Complexity, Open Bracket #4
• Pool B – OpTic Gaming, Majin Club, OMiT, Open Bracket #3
• Pool C – FaZe Clan, Cloud9, Luminon EU, Open Bracket #2
• Pool D – Spacestation Gaming, ENVY, Unreal Nightmare, Open Bracket #1

Teams to watch at HCS Charlotte Major 2025

Shopify Rebellion

As one of the strongest Halo esports teams of the season, Shopify Rebellion are in great shape ahead of the HCS Charlotte Major. They won the last two big events — the Salt Lake City Major and LVT Halo Pro League 2025 Lan Finale — further solidifying their position as serious title contenders in North Carolina.

OpTic Gaming

Despite suffering their first Major loss of the year in Salt Lake City, OpTic Gaming remain one of the leading candidates to lift the trophy in Charlotte. Recent defeats to Shopify Rebellion have added to the idea that OpTic are losing ground; however, the victory over their rivals in TSM Pro Am Showdown #1 would suggest otherwise.

FaZe Clan

While FaZe Clan have yet to win a Major this season, they’ve proved themselves to be the clear No.3 in the HCS with bronze medals from Arlington and Salt Lake City and a runner-up finish at the Dallas Open. More recently, FaZe have played competitive series against SR and OpTic, demonstrating they are not to be ignored.

Spacestation Gaming

Spacestation Gaming have not accomplished much in terms of winning tournaments, yet they should be considered live outsiders on the back of promising recent results. SSG pushed OpTic to a close five-map series in Salt Lake City, and they defeated Shopify Rebellion 4-3 during the LVT Halo Pro League.

HCS Charlotte Major betting picks

Best bet – Shopify Rebellion to win

Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante and his crew have won the last two big events, and they are 4-2 up on OpTic in the head-to-head standings since the LVT Halo Pro League. Two of those matches went the distance, yet the other two — including the recent 4-1 result — were one-sided victories for Shopify Rebellion.

Value bet – FaZe Clan to reach grand final

While they have not accomplished nearly as much as the top two contenders, FaZe Clan have beaten both OpTic Gaming and Shopify Rebellion this season. Fielding a lineup of experienced LAN players – including the former OpTic core – FaZe are an obvious No.3, and just one good game away from breaking into the top two.