OPL Split 2, Week 9: Match Predictions

Don’t worry though as we’ve got you covered to ensure you can win bragging rights in your tipping league. You’re in good company as I’m sitting in first place for the Snowball league.

Check out what myself, Ducky and Isaac have picked, or use an 8-ball, you’ll probably have a better tipping score than Fish.

Dire Wolves vs Avant Gaming

Andrew: Last time we saw this matchup Avant looked promising and the players themselves said afterwards they felt that they could have done better and potentially come home with the series. I think this time around however the Dire Wolves will be navigating through this series with more confidence, going from strength to strength since then.

With that said, the Wolves do have a handy 4 points in hand – perhaps they are allowed to take their foot off the gas and coast into MEO.

W: Dire Wolves 2-0

Ducky: Avant threw out some curve balls last week against ORDER, but they’ll need to bring sliders, fastballs and knuckle balls to have a chance at beating the Dire Wolves.

I was a major critic of BioPanther, but now I think he’s a solid Raydere Medal chance. He has completely blown my expectations out of the water, and I’m happy to be proven wrong. This should be a walkover though, and Dire Wolves should have first place wrapped up by 7pm Friday.

W: Dire Wolves 2-0

Isaac: All hail the kings baby – the Dire Wolves have proven domestically they are unbeatable in their current form, and an Avant Gaming squad looking to avoid the relegation scrap is unlikely to be their undoing this weekend as the defending champions begin preparations for the upcoming gauntlet.

Frae and DarkSide have both been interesting in recent weeks, and definitely will be exciting to watch, but coming up against Triple and k1ng makes it difficult to show anything too special.

All that said, feel free to come back here and tell me I’ve cursed the Dire Wolves if Avant pull out the upset. I just don’t think it’s a reality as the green machine rolls on.

W: Dire Wolves 2-0

Legacy vs The Chiefs

Andrew: Can we finally find a name to call this series? I’ll nominate it as “The Old Firm” – two founding OPL teams battling each other like two old, firm friends… okay back to the drawing board and someone else can think of a better title.

Legacy need to come up big in this series to make their final dash for playoffs, it’s always a grudge match between these two and Chiefs with a 2-0 have the ability to really inflict pain into the hearts of fans of the Tree.

I’ve got this pencilled in as a 2-1 Chiefs win but this could very well be a sweep for the boys in blue. Chiefs have the better players on the rift and Legacy will need a MVP performance from Claire to get the job done.

W: The Chiefs 2-1

Ducky: Legacy have shown us that this split they can look like the first placed team and the last placed team in the space of 1 series. Against Chiefs, who are vying for that top spot (requiring Dire Wolves to win no more than 1 of their games against Avant and ORDER), every point will be crucial for Carbon’s men who currently sit in 6th based on points.

I think Chiefs will come away with the win, but Legacy will find a way to take a game to sure up their points. It all relies on how Raid and Decoy do down bot. If they can hold their own, Claire can carry a game or two.

W: The Chiefs 2-1

Isaac: Every league in the world has it’s ‘El Classico’, where two titans of the competition come head to head and all eyes turn to the contest to see which club will reign supreme. For the Oceanic Pro League, Legacy against the Chiefs is that titanic clash, ever since the two teams first met on Summoners Rift in the opening match of the 2015 season.

Despite the Chiefs looking to solidify a strong seed for the gauntlet in second place, and Legacy trailing behind in the search for a confirmed finals run, these matches still pack all the same spice and venom that a top of the table clash would bring.

The history of the fixture, and Legacy’s sheer determination to secure points and make it into the gauntlet one way or another, will likely see this go to three despite the difference in calibre each organisation has shown this split.

W: The Chiefs 2-1

Tectonic vs ORDER

Andrew: While it would be fun to poke fun at ORDER about how this series went down last time, I don’t think lightning will strike twice. ORDER look a more complete unit since that display and Tectonic seem to be on a downwards slide after such a promising start to the season.

Just how much have things changed since that massive upset over ORDER? Well after we controversially ranked ORDER 7th in our Power rankings the week after Tectonics big upset I reckon there’s a chance that after this series Tectonic will be dreaming of a 7th place finish and that’s grim.

Tectonic have a new jungler which I find to be a little controversial given Sybol has been ORDER’s kryptonite, and it seems awkward to make a roster change with two weeks of the season remaining.

W: ORDER 2-0

Ducky: Tectonic and ORDER have had polar opposite seasons. While Tectonic were fast out of the blocks, they have faltered in the last few weeks. ORDER stumbled out of the blocks, but are set for a 3rd place finish after all hope seemed lost.

Tectonic have replaced the underperforming Sybol with Dire Cubs’ jungler UDYSOF, and while this change will be positive for the team, I can’t see them overcoming their issues to take 2 series off ORDER this split.

Not to mention it was announced this week ORDER now have the services of Inero, which combined with ChuChuz’s draft skill shown in their Avant series last week, makes for some of the best support staff in the OPL.

W: ORDER 2-0

Isaac: An interesting mid-week pick up for Tectonic in the form of Dire Cubs jungler UDYSOF may give the cellar dwellers a spark of momentum when it comes to their match against ORDER, but being welcomed to the OPL by Spookz – especially just a week after his shining performance against Avant Gaming – will be no easy task for the youngster.

The Cubs alumni will certainly be one to watch as both teams get onto Summoners Rift, but with Tectonic’s slump likely to continue as the split draws to a close, and ORDER still hunting that third place finish to confirm their gauntlet standings, there’s little doubt this will be a clean sweep for the Melbourne squad.

W: ORDER 2-0

Bombers vs MAMMOTH

Andrew: Somehow with a 2-6 record Bombers are in 4th place tied with MAMMOTH and this very difficult for me to grasp. They’ve taken some games off the bigger teams and have secured some clean 2-0 wins over Tectonic and Avant but I tell you what they would have to be considered one of the least threatening potential playoff teams aside from maybe Avant.

I’m forecasting MAMMOTH winning this series 2-1. If Bombers can get the win though it really does shake things up coming into playoffs – practically securing their playoffs spot and showing they can take a series from a playoff contender.

W: MAMMOTH 2-1

Ducky: I will forever lavish in the fact that Bombers were a top 4 team. Yes, if you look at the OPL site, while they are only 2-6 on match record with 10 points, they still have the 4th placed spot. God bless the alphabet. Bombers have always somehow managed to take games off the other higher ranked teams, even though they have looked shaky and inconsistent.

MAMMOTH will be looking to prove that their super squad is truly a top 3 contender, and dismantling the Bombers will go towards serving that. However, I’m going to serve up an upset here. Seb looked on some good form last week, and if he shows up again this week, I think MAMMOTH won’t be able to keep up. Plus, I still want to believe.

W: Bombers 2-1

Isaac: This match sees both teams enter level in the standings as confirmation of playoffs loom, but despite the Bombers being placed higher than MAMMOTH due to their points haul the squad has actually won one game fewer than their trailing rivals.

Because of that, technically a MAMMOTH 2-1 looks like an upset on paper, but with a 3-5 record over Bombers’ 2-6 the team simply has more experience closing out games in their favour.

Chippys and Juves will be key in the coming weekend’s match. Look to them to provide major impact through the top side of the map, with MAMMOTH’s top laner likely given the freedom to control the tempo through a carry selection.

W: MAMMOTH 2-1

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The OPL continues tomorrow for week 9 of the split, Friday 10th August at 5pm on Twitch, or at oce.lolesports.com.