OPL Split 1, Week 3: Match Predictions

The difficulty of the first 16 matches on Summoner’s Rift in Oceania have been backed up by the fact that pundits like Nich “NichBoy” Richardson and Gravitas coach slash caster Bryce “EGym” Paule have been munching on chillies after messing up their tips on the OPL desk, and so there’s all the more reason to listen to some of the best tipping experts Snowball’s League of Legends department has to offer.

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to get Arkangyle, Deln, Euphoraz or pIeS8899, the four fantastic tippers that currently lead the Scuffed Tips competition, but we’ve got the next best thing: Harry Taylor, Emma van der Brug and Bernadette Wong are back again to dissect the biggest matches from the OPL this weekend, including both Avant Gaming clashes as the ice-cold boys in blue continue to shock Oceania, and a huge clash between old kings the Chiefs and would-be contenders Mammoth.

Nadette’s Feature Match of the Week

This week’s fixtures cough up another conveniently placed clash between current Oceanic Pro League titans, this time as the Bombers and Avant Gaming face each other on the Rift this coming Friday. As of week two’s standings, both teams currently sit atop the leaderboard alongside the Chiefs, with records of 3-1 each.

The Bombers sat comfortably in the lead with an undefeated record until their match against the Chiefs on Saturday evening last weekend, and the loss now means the boys will have to reset from that previous week’s offering and show the rest of the league their loss was nothing but a stumble. The star-studded roster must carry themselves into the third week, utilising their previous momentum in search of redemption.

With all my personal expectations blown out of the water, I’ve quickly grown to realise and believe Avant is capable of tipping everyone’s Scuffed Tips on their heads; their innovative compositions allowed them to go undefeated last weekend, and in the past two weeks Avant have proven themselves a force to be reckoned with – the Bombers won’t be receiving any special treatment from that quarter.

Although I’ve tipped the Bombers in all their matches so far this split, this time around Avant Gaming has earned my vote.

Nadette’s Week 3 Tips:

Emma’s Feature Match of the Week

Armed with Silver mechanics and a bunch of enthusiasm, it’s time for more scuffed™ predictions from your resident very average tipper. I totally nailed last week’s tips and scored a whopping three out of eight, so you could kind of say I’m a big deal ‘round these parts. Now that that’s out of the way however, onwards to this week’s featured match.

There must be something in the water – or the iced coffee in Avant Gaming’s case – because they are playing some sweet League of Legends in the early weeks of the split. The roster has shown a lot of discipline and an ability to stick to gameplans, which has earned them their equal first place standing with an impressive 3-1 record. Last week they went up against Mammoth and the Dire Wolves, where they had a dominant performance and earned themselves two wins. It feels like Avant, aided in part by Zack “Rusty” Pye’s coaching, have adapted the quickest to the best-of-one format, with some considerably cheesy picks like Mordeskaiser and Olaf already appearing in their selections.

Legacy Esports have had a considerably rougher start to the split with a 0-2 record last weekend. They faced the Bombers (3-1) and Mammoth (2-2), both of whom were tipped as title favourites before the season had begun, and they were in for some tough games from the word ‘go’. Mammoth, after losing to Avant on the first day of the weekend came into their match against Legacy swinging and with a vengeance, showing no mercy to the poor trees. I thought the Legacy squad held up well however, and I believe they will use these losses as fuel to improve and overcome their future opponents.

This match is a face-off between two old goliaths of the OPL, and is sure to be a clash that’s going to provide even more insight into how the standings will begin to fall into place. With both teams having a lot to prove early on, it will be a match to watch for sure – can Legacy rebound from a rough weekend, or will Avant continue to prove their surprising domination on the Rift.

I believe Avant has what it takes coming into the third week, and they will take the victory on Saturday night.

Emma’s Week 3 Tips:

 Harry’s Feature Match of the Week 

Saturday afternoon will see the first of hopefully many clashes between two of the league’s major heavyweights – Mammoth and the Chiefs.

The Chiefs Esports Club start the third week of the league joint top of the table, while Mammoth trail just a single game behind, and with both lineups going 1-1 last week they’ll be looking for a two win weekend to put them back on track in the brawl for the top spots.

Friday evening saw the Chiefs running into a resurgent Order, which led to a 32 minute tussle before Spawn’s boys picked up their first win and handed the Chiefs their first domestic loss of 2019. Saturday afternoon’s fixture saw the Chiefs fair a lot better, as Raes and Eyla led the team to a statement victory against title-favourites the Bombers, showing us truly how close and hotly contested this league is going to be.

Much like the Chiefs, Mammoth’s Friday night wasn’t all too hot as they faced the high-flying Avant roster led by Shok’s surprise Mordekaiser pick which saw the team run amok over the Mammoth boys and take the win – a victory that saw the team’s mid laner declare he was “the f***ing lich king” after the game. Saturday was a much better result for them, as they ran a train over the Legacy lineup in a short but bloody affair.

I believe this match will go in favour of the boys defending the shield, the boys who formerly played in blue before their switch to that sweet black and grey. Swip3rR’s boys seem to be a more consistent unit both in terms of how they play at a micro and macro level, and this will pay dividends as they claim the win over Mammoth this weekend.

Harry’s Week 3 Tips:

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Find out if our amazing analysts have got some of their tips right this week when the OPL returns at 4pm AEDT, kicking off with Mammoth against the Dire Wolves. Watch live on the new RiotGamesOCE Twitch channel, find more information and the schedule at oce.lolesports.com.

Follow Emma, Nadette, and Harry on Twitter.