Match Predictions: OPL Split 1, Week 2

Not to fear however – our expert panelist are here to help heading into the second week of the competition as the power of each organisation is still being revealed. From a massive clash between the Chiefs Esports Club and the victorious Bombers, both of whom collected two wins in their opening weekend, to teams looking to stake their claim for a playoff slot early, Harry Taylor, Emma van der Brug and Bernadette Wong break down the key match-ups across the weekend.

Nadette’s Feature Match of the Week

After a successful opening weekend in the first split, the Bombers and Chiefs enter the second round both boasting a perfect game record. If neither team drops a game on Friday evening, one of these two teams will be exiting Week 2 without a single game loss, potentially setting the pace for the next few weeks of the competition.

The explosive new Bombers roster took to Summoner’s Rift in an undefeated opening weekend, taking home some clean and convincing wins against Mammoth and Order. As long as they don’t get too cocky at the top of the ladder they’ll continue to produce outstanding results, regardless of who they’re up against.

With the Snowball Esports’ Scuffed Tips heavily on their side last weekend, the Chiefs roster proved they could meet the fans’ expectations in their matches against Avant Gaming and the Dire Wolves – the bottom of the standings after the first week. If they carry themselves with the same confidence as they did in their first two games, the Chiefs will prove to be strong competition against the high-flying Bombers.

This clash on the Rift will be quite the match to watch, and is placed conveniently after both team’s outstanding performances last weekend. Ideally, both teams will utilise the momentum of their previous victories to push forwards, however I believe the Bombers will take the clean sweep this weekend and come out on top.

Nadette’s Week 1 Tips:

Emma’s Feature Match of the Week

Order against Gravi-tas (c’mon Spawn, it’s not too hard) will be an interesting match as we’ll get some insight into how the standings begin to fall into place this split. With only a single win separating most teams on the ladder, these next few weeks will be crucial for teams to get ahead and extend their leads.

Order have had a rough start to the season, finishing 0-2 after clashes with the Bombers (2-0) and Avant Gaming (1-1). The Melbourne organisation showed a lot of fight in their second match against the Bombers, where a Baron steal from birthday boy Samuel “Spookz” Broadley kept them in the match and spiked the gold lead in their favour for a time. Their first game against Avant was rough however, with the winning squad coming into the contest with a clear game plan that overturned Order. The defeated team showed a lot of improvement heading into their second match however, and after they shake off the cobwebs of the off-season I believe they’re going to be coming into the rest of the split with guns blazing.

Gravitas had a slightly less rough start to the season, finishing 1-1 after the opening round of fixtures. Their first game of the year resulted in a win against Legacy Esports off the back of a strong overall team performance. The team had great impact across the map, managing to snowball the game through a host of objectives to swing the gold lead heavily in their favour.

In their second day the newcomers fell to an impressive showing from Mammoth, where even a three-item (four if we’re counting boots) Vladimir couldn’t save them.

I think this match will be one to watch because of how both orgs come into the game. I’m curious to see how Order can regroup after a difficult start to their campaign, and I’m interested to see if Gravtias can regain their momentum after tripping up against Mammoth.

I’ll be tipping Gravitas this time around – I think they have the chance to show the Order boys how it’s done as they get back on the path to success.

Emma’s Week 1 Tips:

 

 

Harry’s Feature Match of the Week

If you had asked me a week ago if I was going to cover this matchup I probably would have had a laugh, because I assumed it was going to be an easy 2-0 against 0-2 record clash with Mammoth having a clear advantage. However, after last week’s games this game now sees two teams come in with a 1-1 record, something that wasn’t at all expected.

Before the split started I had somewhat written Avant Gaming off. I thought the team was decent on paper but didn’t pack the punch needed to really do damage in the league, and I expected them to end up stagnating and flailing outside the league’s playoff positions. They did manage to prove me – and about 85 percent of tippers – wrong however, as they opened their account with a convincing win against an Order side that many thought were going to be vastly superior. They then copped a loss to the Chiefs on Saturday afternoon, but held firm and were well in with a chance before they were on the wrong side of a team ace 18 minutes into the game.

Mammoth started their season against arguably the hardest of opponents in the Bombers, and things didn’t end up going in their favour with the Bombers controlling the game seemingly from start to finish. Saturday was a much better outing for them, as they rolled to a victory over Gravitas that began from the very first minute.

Both of these teams have something to prove this Friday – Mammoth need to show they are actually able to live up to the hype their super-roster has created, whilst Avant needs to show they are able to consistently hang with the league’s big dogs and that their win wasn’t just beginners luck. I ultimately believe this will end up going to Mammoth as I believe they have better overall raw skill, but I also expect to see Avant making them work hard for it.

Harry’s Week 1 Tips:

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The OPL returns this Friday at 4pm AEDT, when the Dire Wolves look to earn their first win of the split against Gravitas. Watch live on the new RiotGamesOCE Twitch channel, find more information and the full schedule at oce.lolesports.com.

Follow Emma, Nadette, and Harry on Twitter.