Split Two 2019 OPL Awards

As the season draws to a close, it’s time to take a moment to recognise some of the OPL’s outstanding performers.

This split we have three awards: Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Split, and Most Improved Player. Our panellists voted for three players in each award category to help boil down the region’s amazing talent into its top stars for the regular season (excluding playoffs and gauntlet).

The panellists selected were six journalists internally who have covered the OPL at various stages of the year:

Isaac “Everin” McIntyre
Andrew “Wray Z” Wray
Reece “Ties” Perry
Andrew “Ducky” Amos
Harry “hispanicatd” Taylor
Emma “ammeplays” van der Brug

Votes are awarded to players the panellists believe has had the largest improvement in performance between splits.

Jarod “Getback” Tucker, Dire Wolves: 15 votes

Simon “Swiffer” Papamarkos (Order, 8 votes)
Jordan “Praelus” Fernandes (Gravitas, 4 votes).

Getback managed to build off what would have been a season to forget in split one and managed to build a solid set of performances throughout the second split. Getback has given himself the building block for a successful career, expanding his champion pool and play style under the revitalised Dire Wolves roster.

.@getback71 PogChamp pic.twitter.com/qOyrlECWOc

— LG Dire Wolves (@DireWolves) August 22, 2019

Votes are awarded to players who had the best overall regular-season performance, who fit the criteria of less than four games of experience in any top domestic competition prior to the start of the split.

Robert “Katsurii” Gouv, Dire Wolves: 18 Votes
Mir “Miru” Park (Avant Gaming, 7 votes)
Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami (Mammoth, 5 votes) and Romeo “Thien” Tran (Chiefs, 5 votes)

Katsurii received the maximum amount of votes from the panel, a testament to his breakout debut season in the OPL. He was influential to the Dire Wolves revival, and the bottom laner will now have a highlight play for the rest of his career with a penta kill in one of his first games.

DID SOMEONE SAY PENTA? ? @KatsuriiOCE

?: @OPL Week 3 vs @bombers pic.twitter.com/iaItD7d06s

— LG Dire Wolves (@DireWolves) June 27, 2019

Votes are awarded to players who had the best individual performance over the course of the regular season.

Quin “Raes” Korebrits, Chiefs: 17 Votes

Tommy “Ry0ma” Le (Bombers, 7 votes)
Stephen “Triple” Li (Mammoth, 4 votes)

Raes takes home the coveted MVP award, with his season-defining what a franchise player’s performance should be. Raes has been a highly regarded ADC for several splits, however there is an argument to be made that split two 2019 has been his best season to date. His performance this split may start to further encourage comparisons between himself and Raydere, a legacy Raes is striving to exceed.

A vital quadra kill from @ChiefRaes with the series hanging in the balance.https://t.co/svUa3T4Yw9 #IAMOPL #WeAreChiefs pic.twitter.com/pWZcGnFYqt

— The Chiefs #CHIEF5 (@ChiefsESC) August 31, 2019