OPL Split 1, Week 5: Match Predictions

Within the ranks of the tipsters, Andrew “WrayZ” Wray continues in his guest role for another week, and now he has a contender for his self-proclaimed title of the Best Armchair Analyst in Oceania. While Emma “ammeplays” van der Brug has wisely stayed out of the argument, Harry “hispanicatd_” Taylor has decided to go up against one of Snowball’s illustrious leader.

The in-house battle for the tipster top spot sees Harry breaking down the contest between the Dire Wolves and Gravitas, both teams on the rise in recent weeks after a mixed opening month in the OPL, while WrayZ takes on the task of finding a winner in the table-topping match-up of the Chiefs Esports Club and the Bombers.

With mouthwatering games across both days this weekend, it’s sure to be an interesting round as the second set of round-robin fixtures kicks into high gear.

Emma’s Feature Match of the Week

OPL fans last saw this match up in the opening week of the split, where Order had a surprising season start with an 0-2 record, while Avant Gaming chalked up a solid 1-1. Since then much has changed, with Order and Avant on equal footing in third place with 5-3 records heading into Week 5. I’m really looking forward to seeing the progression of both these teams in this match up.

Both these teams seem to be on an equal power level, in my opinion, with Order just edging Avant out after doing what AV could not, beating the Chiefs. This has proved to me that the Melbourne organisation has the ability to bounce back well, and that they take each match as an individual game. This mentality has really put them into a good standing in the leader board and the team is cementing themselves as a strong contender for the season.

Avant have also shown themselves to be a solid team, but they’ve come unstuck when the pressure is on. Gunkrab had an amazing start to last week’s game against the Bombers, but the lineup couldn’t keep the snowball going against the first placed team, who stalled long enough to take the win out of Avant’s hands. I’m predicting after Order’s loss last weekend against Gravitas they will come back with a vengeance, and will have the upper hand through their thirst to get the bounce-back victory.

Emma’s Week 5 Tips:

 

Harry’s Feature Match of the Week

This week I cement my claim as the best armchair analyst in this column, as I look to consolidate a three point lead on Wray, a five point lead on Emma and a six point lead on the currently-absent Nadette on the Scuffed Tips leaderboard.

We start the fifth week of the OPL with a clash between defending champions the Dire Wolves, and new boys on the block Gravitas. Both teams have found themselves wallowing in the lower half of the ladder, with the Wolves sitting in last place at 1-7, while Gravitas have moved into sixth with a 3-5 record.

While the Wolfpack has seen their play improve in leaps and bounds over the course of the season, last weekend saw them play the top two teams in the league, and fall to another 0-2 weekend. Friday night saw them against tied-first Bombers, and although they kept toe-to-toe with their opposition deep into the game, a decisive teamfight saw the Bombers claim Ocean Drake, Baron Nashor and eventually the win. Saturday saw them face the Chiefs, which saw them compete in a sloppy dogfight of a contest that put the Wolves into the lead until the mid-game. It wasn’t until Quin “Raes” Korebrits put his carry pants on to bring the Chiefs back into the winner’s circle.

Gravitas saw themselves go 1-1 last weekend, finally getting a win in the positive column with an upset victory over Order after Cassiopeia slithered her way out of the perma-ban prison and into Julian “Raid” Skordos’ ready hands. The Gravitas bot laner was able to show Oceania why the Serpent’s Embrace has been on lock down so far, as he and the rest of the team were able to get the win and snap their four-game losing streak.

Both will be looking for this win as it will be critical to their success this season – this game should be a closer affair than we saw in Week 2, where EGym’s boys were in front for basically the entire game. However, I still see this once again ending in Gravitas’ favour as they look to continue their fresh winning ways.

Harry’s Week 5 Tips:

 

Andrew’s Feature Match of the Week

Alright, so I missed the mark last week, but how’s the sporting cliche go? Form is temporary, class is permanent? Well I’m hoping the same applies to my tips.

Speaking of form and class, both these teams ooze both in spades, and they’re both in red-hot form. That’s right, this week we’re spoiled with a top of the table clash. Both teams are currently on a 7-1 record with the Chiefs edging out the head to head over the Bombers, after winning their previous match up.

Both teams won all their games last week, closing out all their victories before 35 minutes, including two under the half hour mark, which goes to show they have to problems closing out games. If both teams have the same record, and are coming in to the clash in similar form however, how do we pick who wins? Do the Chiefs have the Bombers’ number after winning in their last encounter? Well, maybe.

The big point of difference in the first encounter between these two teams was the bot lane, and to say Quin “Raes” Korebrits popped off would be underselling his performance – he picked up first blood, first turret, ended the game 11/0/4 and a lazy 320 creep score, and earned over 18k gold from the match. Victor “FBI” Huang did manage to try and play his damaging role to match, netting 20.6k output overall, but his poke damage paled in comparison to Raes’ overall impact on the game.

If you think the Chiefs’ bot lane can terrorize the Bombers again, the Chiefs are your pick for this week, because if it’s happened once it can certainly happen again. Teams that have given Raes an inch this split have suffered the consequences as he continues to punish teams through his excellent team fighting plays.

The problem is I think it’s unlikely the Bombers bottom duo gets exploited as badly this time around, which really makes it difficult to split these teams. There is a slim chance Ju-seong “Mimic” Min gets to shine on a carry, but we’ve seen Brandon “Swip3rR” Holland’s tank play over the years be able to hold even the strongest of threats at bay.

I’m tipping this game as a coin-flip that will be decided by the 30 minute Baron contest – that’s how close I’m seeing this match. If I’m right, and I have to pick someone to win through the Baron pickup, then I’ll pick Jordan “Only” Middleton for the clutch smite-secure. Chiefs, in a nail-biter.

Andrew’s Week 5 Tips:

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The OPL’s fifth week begins this Friday at 4pm, when the Dire Wolves take on Gravitas. Watch live on the new RiotGamesOCE Twitch channel, find more information and the full schedule at oce.lolesports.com.

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