Match Predictions: OPL Split 1, Week 1

The Oceanic Pro League is barrelling into its first weekend of 2019, a weekend that will see two fixtures played out for each team in the competition after Riot Games announced the tournament Down Under would be moving to the best-of-one format in the new year.

Without further ado however, let me introduce our lovely predictions panel for the upcoming OPL season – Harry Taylor, Emma van der Brug and Bernadette Wong.

These three fantastic writers have already had a heavy hand in telling the story of the Oceanic off-season, as well as painting the picture for an interesting and much welcome return of the league through the season previews we have just released.

Nadette, Emma and Harry will, for the most part, have the privilege of guiding you through the lead-up to each OPL weekend, speaking about their feature match for the week and putting their tips in front of you for the whole world to see. Harry even has crowned himself ‘Superior OPL Analyst @ Snowball’ through his Twitter name as of the time of this being written.

While that statement remains to be seen, you have to wait no longer to see what our tipping trio have coughed up for you in the returning week of the league – the new kids on the block facing old hands, two league favourites coming face-to-face for the first time, and two organisations that have battled for the throne across countless years adding another page to their rivalry.

Thank god the OPL is back.

Nadette’s Featured Match of the Week

This Friday it’s out with the old and in with the new as Gravitas makes their Oceanic Pro League debut against veteran organisation Legacy Esports. The long-standing Legacy moves into this season with a completely new lineup of players boasting varying levels of experience between them, after 2018’s roster almost made a miracle run through the gauntlet at the end of the previous split.

Despite major positives for the new roster, including such as Eldin “Guts” Skenderovi? returning to the OPL for the first time since his stint on Team Exile5, the team has already had a major setback in regards to their starting lineup. Damian “Yuzuki” Tu has left the organisation, with William “Crayzee” Dobie set to start in his place in the first two fixtures of the season. This forced change will likely inhibit their ability to ‘Fly As One’, as the team is forced to find a replacement for their once-secured starting member.

On the other side of the Rift, Gravitas’ debut lineup features some of the region’s finest players and management, with the roster likely to send ripples through the ocean as they seek the first win of the split in Friday night’s game.

The new kids on the block will find the match-up to be in their favour, but I don’t doubt Legacy will do everything in their power to keep their early dreams alive. Still, with numerous advantages over the revamped Legacy roster, I believe Gravitas possesses high chances of snatching the win away from the boys in green.

Nadette’s Week 1 Tips:

Emma’s Featured Match of the Week

These rosters are both full of proven Oceanic talent, as well as a one up-and-coming player on each team. Bombers’ new roster looks very impressive, with three of the members having worked together in the past – Jake “Rogue” Sharwood (support), Tommy “Ry0ma” Le (mid lane), and Victor “FBI” Huang (ADC) were all a part of the old Sin Gaming roster.

With Choi “Balkhan” Hyun-jin (jungle) hailing from South Korea and having never played a professional League of Legends game in his career, it will be interesting to see how he performs in the high pressure environment of top-level play. With Min “Mimic” Ju-seong (top) being a force to be reckoned with in the top lane, it will be interesting to see which lanes Bombers will put their focus on.

Mammoth have also put together a star studded roster consisting of Calvin “k1ng” Truong (ADC), Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw (support), Stephen “Triple” Li (mid lane) and Leo “Babip” Romer (jungle), who are joined by Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon (top lane). Topoon has been recruited up from the Dire Cubs, where he played for them for a split with success coming in 3rd/4th. This roster has consistent performers in it, and it should stack up nicely against the Bombers.

This match looks like it’ll be a fantastic one to watch, and definitely one I’ll be tuning in for – I believe Bombers will put a lot of focus into the top lane and I feel that will be the main lane to keep a close eye on. All the other matchups I think could go either way, but I’m putting my eggs in the Bombers’ basket.

Emma’s Week 1 Tips:

Harry’s Featured Match of the Week

It has been somewhat of a tradition to start the Oceanic Pro League season off with a Chiefs Esports v Dire Wolves clash in the opening week, and this year will be no different. In prior years, however, the first fixture between the two has acted as a preview of what we would – and should – be seeing from the best of the best that Oceania has to offer, but this year is already beginning to look different.

Whilst the Chiefs can still be looked at as the perennial powerhouses they have always been, the Dire Wolves have taken a drastically different approach to their lineup in 2019, going with new young talent instead of the tried and true veteran formula of previous campaigns.

With the Dire Wolves going for young blood in 2019, it looks like a year of rebuilding and development for the boys based out of the Sydney Cricket Ground, and while the team is by no means underwhelming – it includes bonafide star Brandon “BioPanther” Alexander alongside 2018 OPL part-timers Toby “UDYSOF” Horne and Andrew “Anderu” Baihn and top OCS prospects Jarod “Getback” Tucker and Ian “Corporal” Pearse – this roster is not anywhere near the same calibre as the org’s 2017 and 2018 iterations that bossed the OPL.

This first meeting should be an easy win for the Chiefs on Friday evening, as they boast a lineup that vastly outshines that of their opponents. While they did lose Leo “Babip” Romer, Tommy “Ry0ma” Le and Mitchell “Destiny” Shaw in the offseason, they retained the massive talents of Brandon “Swip3rR” Holland and Quin “Raes” Korebrits and added to their star-studded core with Legacy’s Brandon “Claire” Nguyen and Jordan “Only” Middleton, as well as another OCS talent in Bill “Eyla” Nguyen to round out a roster that should be contending for the title come the end of March.

The Chiefs will only be undone if they don’t respect the Wolves in their opening fixture of 2019, simply because not giving an opponent the respect they deserve will almost always backfire.

Harry’s Week 1 Tips: