OPL Split 1, Week 10: Match Predictions

With twelve games across two days already a massive prospect for many fans to navigate, we thought maybe three prediction specialists wouldn’t be enough to cut it this week, and thought we’d go super too. For the first time in 2019, we have Joshua “Swifty” Swift at the writer’s desk breaking down what he thinks of the critical Mammoth v Bombers matchup, as he takes a break from crafting up entire tipping competitions, new websites and even Minecraft servers.

Joining our extraordinary producer in his first Snowball predictions of the year are of course Emma, Harry and Nadette, all of whom are breaking down massive games relating to top spot finishes, potential gauntlet entries and even two teams looking to avoid the wooden spoon for the first time in their history.

Emma’s Feature Match of the Week: Order v Gravitas

Both Order and Gravitas are on the chopping block for gauntlet, and it’s do or die time. With each squad having the chance to have a best-possible finish of third – which comes with the opportunity to play at Rift Rivals – it’s absolutely vital they pick up every win possible. However, since these teams will face each other, there’s nothing like putting everything on the line for these high stakes. This match is sure to be explosive and passionate, as the teams fight for their shot at a place in the postseason.

Gravitas’ have only faced off against Order twice before, and their head to head record is sitting at 1-1. Order have had a rough weekend, going 0-2 against Bombers and Avant Gaming. Gravitas had a slightly better previous weekend, recording a 1-1 round with a win over Mammoth and a loss to Legacy. With such volatile games coming into the final Super Week, it could be anybody’s to win.

Order haven’t been able to find their groove all split, with inconsistent results across the board. They were able to take down the Chiefs in Week 2, but haven’t been able to reproduce those results. Gravitas are similar, with wins against Mammoth and Avant in the past two weeks being dampened by their Legacy loss. Gravitas’ recent results point in their favour, as will my tip. Their ability to work as a team and grab opportunities to win will work in their favour over the weekend.
Gravitas will take down Order on the Saturday games. They have tough opponents across the weekend and will be looking to secure their victory. Order have a similarly tough weekend, and I believe the games on Friday will influence their match against Gravitas.

Emma’s Week 10 Tips:

 

 

Nadette’s Feature Match of the Week: Legacy Esports v Dire Wolves

With OPL Super Week coming up this weekend, this Saturday will mark the third and final meeting of the bottom-placed teams as Legacy will attempt to defend their pride against the Dire Wolves. The Lega-trees comes into the match fresh off a win against Gravitas one week ago, while the Wolfpack remained fruitless, having only picked up a single victory in the entire split. The two teams have different stakes riding on this battle of the veteran orgs in comparison to the others competing for a place in the gauntlet, as well as Rift Rivals.

Both teams are looking to prove themselves on the Rift, with every game on the weekend giving them a chance to either play spoiler and shake up the standings among the other teams or prove themselves among the others in the competition as a legitimate threat for split two. Despite this, I believe the rookie Dire Wolves roster will be able to take the win.

Following a disappointing start for the rookies as they hunted for a team’s identity following the success of their previous roster, the Wolves have shown steady improvement throughout the split, despite their current win ratio. They’ve slowly been moving into a position where they’re able to contest the high tier teams with some extremely narrow losses, and the gap has been shrinking with each match. After an entire rotation of the league since their last meeting, Legacy is within an arm’s reach at merely a place above them and I believe the Dire Wolves will be able reign victorious.
Nadettes’s Week 10 Tips:

Harry’s Feature Match of the Week: Bombers v Avant Gaming

As we enter the last week of the season, we are still uncertain on aspects of the composition for the gauntlet. While the Bombers and the Chiefs have secured the top two, and Avant Gaming has secured their place in the postseason, there is still uncertainty on where these teams will start their run for their chance at playoff glory and a trip to Vietnam for the Mid-Season Invitational.

The match up on Friday evening between the first-placed Bombers and third-placed Avant Gaming will be crucial in setting the top half of the ladder. Both teams come into this game looking to create distance from the teams chasing them and their current OPL positions. A victory for the Bombers will lead them one step closer to the coveted first place and guaranteed grand final seed, a spot in which all OPL victors in current playoff system have earned, whilst a win for Rusty’s boys will help them get ever closer to third, and therefore a bye to the second day of the gauntlet.

This match up should be a good one, and both teams have a goal they are fighting to achieve and therefore they shouldn’t hold anything back. I do see the victory going to the Bombers, but it’ll be closer than possibly expected. While the Bombers are just the better team overall in this match up, Avant have been the agents of chaos and cheese this season, and with them back in form after a bit of an icy streak, a fresh gouda might be in the work for the Super Week. Previous match ups have gone the way of the team backed by the Essendon Football Club, and unless something drastic happens, I expect this match up to go their way once again.
Harry’s Week 10 Tips:

Josh’s Feature Match of the Week: Mammoth v Bombers

It’s a special super week this split in the OPL as I make my writing debut for 2019. I’m a little nervous, but I figure if Wray can do it, so can I. How hard could it be?

I’m looking closely at these two Melbourne teams hitting the Rift first thing Saturday morning. Mammoth coming off an 0-2 week will be looking to redeem themselves desperately picking up wins in that middle-of-the-pack race against ORD/AV/GRV. Bombers meanwhile are still looking for every win they can get to beat the Chiefs to the first seed punch and will not be complacent even with their 16-2 record. The two previous encounters between them and Mammoth saw the combined game time barely surpass one hour total, with dominating wins for the Bombers.

With Topoon and Babip with a collective 0/15 KD against the Essendon squad, on paper it looks like Bombers come away with an easy win. But I cannot discount the amount of OPL playoffs/finals experience across the Mammoth lineup in Triple, K1ng, & Destiny.

I’m still going to #TakeFlight here though, the Bombers have been on fire and even in their two losses to Chiefs have bounced back every time. I don’t see them losing to any teams they’ve already beaten twice this weekend.
Josh’s Week 10 Tips:

 

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The Super Week of the Oceanic Pro League begins this Friday at 4pm. Watch live on the new RiotGamesOCE Twitch channel, find more information and the full fixtures schedule at oce.lolesports.com.

Follow @ammeplays, @NadetteOCE, @hispanicatd_ and @Swift_y on Twitter.