In the latest Ties’ Takes, we look at the fallout from the OPL finals, and explore a couple of the more interesting storylines that we saw emerge from Split 1’s Finals run, including the idea of how player hubris could change the course of a series.

Post Mortem

In a region with a rich history of gallant underdogs and fanciful gauntlets runs, at the end of the day the story of Oceania tends to be that the Chalk always wins. And so it remained last week, when the Dire Wolves’ hype train came barrelling from the lower bracket into the much more fancied Legacy roster. I had predicted “the fastest best of five in OPL history” and it looked I may have been scrambling to do some maths at one point, and after a valiant but ultimately token resistance, Legacy closed them out.

There were a number of threads that I found interesting from the finals that you could pick at, should one have a mind to. The first one is that I can’t quite place my finger on how we got to this point. As a fan, I almost feel cheated that we were denied the OPL-classico grand final we seemed to be drawn inexorably towards.

This is not intended to, though it doubtlessly does, take anything away from the Dire Wolves who displayed a feat of endurance and resilience that only feels overshadowed by the Sin Gaming and Order runs of years previous due to the current playoff format and that it started with a loss.

• Read more: Order forge OPL history with 9-1 miracle gauntlet run

I also don’t intend to use this as a dry way of pointing out that “Of course this is different, everything is different in the current environment.” Rather, it felt like that once we all realised that Legacy and the Chiefs were either the two best, or two of the three best, that we all settled in for an entertaining split of “who is going to win the race to third” among the rest of the teams while we waited for a grand final treat we had not seen in some years.

And then it didn’t happen. All the emotional preparation and investment I had put into the split fell by the wayside and it just felt…anticlimactic that it wasn’t Chiefs/Legacy.

I’m not mad about the resulting match, we got to see the Wolfpack make an accounting for themselves that didn’t seem possible. I had written them off. We’ve seen the infamous ‘Kai Kerflop’ on more than one occasion as Ben “Kai” Stewart’s teams would spiral their seasons into the gutter.

At the beginning of the season, I was utterly convinced we’d see it again. At the regular season’s end I was utterly convinced we were seeing it again. Then they lost their first playoff match and I was banking the sentiment.

Still and through it all they found another gear. Even though 3-1 doesn’t read good on paper, I still think there were more positives than negatives for the Dire Wolves when you look at the totality of this playoff run.

And what more can be said about James “Tally” Shute that hasn’t already been gushed about? I think the comparisons to the end of Simon “Swiffer” Papamarkos’ playing career are apt, and not just because they both had a mean Galio. What I love about both of these players, is that when they were on the picks like Tally’s Cho’Gath, or the aforementioned Galio, they exploit the biggest advantage they have left – brain gap.

It isn’t a case of not having the hands anymore – both players have the totality of career and individual plaudits to show that. The thing that I love most about these mid picks is that it’s identifying the biggest differential that the player has over basically all of their opponents – experience and knowledge – and exploits it mercilessly.

It really pleases me to see Oceanic teams identify the different ways you can win a match other than trying to take skillcheck matchups and just hoping to press buttons better than the other team. The “don’t worry, I’ll dumpster this guy” approach feels like it is opted into far too often, as we saw throughout this playoffs.

Solo Lucian Blues

One of the main examples we could see from this is the curse of the solo lane Lucian pick. It actually started spritely enough, with Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney picking up a couple of wins on it, and Pentanet.GG picking up a couple of losses. After getting bounced with it twice, PGG actually took it for themselves and it had a decent, yet unspectacular, showing for them in a losing effort to the Wolves.

This became the story of it as the season played out, and is part of the reason why I don’t like it. You pick it to bully lane and pressure early towers, but the tradeoff for this is heavy in a competitive environment. It forces your jungler’s hand to shadow the Lucian (as we saw Park “Croc” Jong-hoon making time for Romeo “Thien” Tran in the playoffs), risking early Dragon control going out the window. If you don’t get your own jungler into the mix you risk the enemy jungler crashing Lucian’s party and ruining the point of picking a lane bully in the first place.

Then, even if you get through laning phase with the bully ahead as planned, you need the composition to be spiking at the right time to take advantage of this plan so you can begin to take objectives and accrue leads before the other composition begins to do what it wants to do.

In my opinion, it’s taking the path of most resistance. Too much needs to go right to make the solo lane Lucian worth its investment. Further, we saw the pick absolutely crushed in the playoffs with a 0-4 record with Harry “Haeri” Kang (twice), Thien and Chazz all unable to make the pick work. It’s inconsistent with how the playoffs tended to go – teams take fewer risks in the early game and wait for more controllable outcomes in teamfights, as evidenced by the longer game times.

We see this across Esports and traditional sports that things slow down and teams go for outcomes they can control over unpredictable risks. This doesn’t seem to be the place you want a solo lane Lucian. You want him in those early skirmishes and dominating the chaos. It isn’t just here either, globally the solo lane win rate reads like a disaster: 39% in LCK, 36% in LPL, 25% in LCS, 20% in NA Academy – only the LEC has a positive record, with two wins from its two matches (regular season records).

Winning is already hard. I don’t see any reason that teams should make it harder on themselves.

There’s nothing more dangerous than a 2-0 lead…

Normally this adage applies to traditional sports, but it seemed in the playoffs this split that it applies to the OPL as well, because no team closed out a 2-0 lead into a sweep. Three times teams had the chance, and each time they couldn’t get it done.

It could very well just be something as straight-forward as the desperation of being put in the 0-2 hole, but I’ve encountered a little of the attitudes of pro players when they’re ahead and feeling good about themselves. Accordingly, I formed the theory that players permitted themselves a little hubris and decided that it wasn’t just enough to be beating them in the series, they needed to show that they were better players. They had to win with style.

So, I enlisted the help of former OPL analyst, OCS head coach, and Snowball contributor Callum “CDM” Matthews to have a look at these three games and see what we could find.

PSA: must be logged in to a Riot account to view match history

Avant 0-2 Order

Match History

This first game is probably the closest thing to proving my hypothesis. The Lucian mid pick rears its ugly head here, and it left the Order composition begging for magic damage. The Lucian started out only okay, then things rapidly got worse, comparatively and composition-wise. The Syndra was up over 500 gold at 10 minutes, which is not ideal to say the least. The gold difference was even, negligible at 20 minutes. While better than down 500, this still is not where the Lucian wanted to be.

And things went from bad to worse there. I would have liked to have seen an Orianna here, but just anything to keep the Sylas and Olaf honest with their resistances would have worked.

Dire Wolves 0-2 Order

Match History

This game is tragic. You may remember game 4 as the one with tragic gameplay, with the early kill for Swip3rR’s Rumble negated by the Wolfpack turning around Order’s effort to ram the advantage down their throats, but this one is tragic because after three bans and three picks each, Order have got them. They had them.

They got the Senna/Maokai pair to get the funnelled heavy tank and late game Senna passive damage combination, and even managed to secure the Trundle into Olaf matchup that went so well in game 1.

But after the second ban phase they take Corki, allowing Shok one of his signature picks in Cassiopeia. Then Dire Wolves throw the curve ball with Malphite, but it actually doesn’t matter here, Order are still fine. As Callum pointed out, this draft is still excellent for Order – if they can take Gangplank last.

I can only assume that Swip3rR’s Gangplank wasn’t current, because instead they flex the Maokai to the top lane for a new support in Tahm Kench and now Order’s damage is cooked. It’s too little, it’s too late and without the wave clear, global threat and most importantly the zone control that Gangplank provides by 23 minutes they’ve given up the baron, their small lead and ultimately the game.

This one I don’t think was hubris, by any stretch. But it’s an interesting case study in how one pick could have changed so much in this game.

Dire Wolves 0-2 Legacy

Match History

This one is a form of hubris, but not the one I had in mind when I formed my idea.

The genesis for this game comes from Game 1. I don’t know what piece of candy that Legacy’s coach Jensen Goh dangled out in front of Dire Wolves to distract them, but it sells them up the proverbial river. Legacy blind the Trundle jungle in the R1/R2 rotation… and Dire Wolves oblige them by picking the Olaf for them. Madness.

Kai proved that his team can adapt and they won’t make the same mistake twice though. When Legacy start on the AD/Trundle opener at R1/R2 in game 3, the Wolves respond with Kindred…and Legacy are basically doomed. Leo “Babip” Romer does the best he can on the Trundle pick as the map explodes around him, but he’s powerless. He’s down roughly 750 gold to his direct opponent at 15 minutes, and it’s nearly double that just five minutes later.

I think Legacy thought they could dictate the terms of this draft to Dire Wolves, and Dire Wolves showed that they wouldn’t be pushed around. At least for this game, given they handed Legacy a reasonable Trundle matchup by B1’ing Jarvan in game 4 and letting them go right back to their nonsense.

So at the end of these games, I was left with a hypothesis that couldn’t be proved from this sample size, but I still feel like there was a lot to learn about the way that teams handled being in this scenario. I’ll be looking to bring you some examination of trends like the 0-2 deficit in future editions of Ties’ Takes.

With Split 1 in the books, and moves already being made for Split 2, the time has come for teams to put the learnings they will have taken from their own experiences like these and make the push for the World Championship.

Next time on Ties’ Takes, we’ll begin looking at what each of these teams would, could or should be looking for as they make this push.

Follow Reece “Ties” Perry on Twitter.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

After initially being snubbed from the inaugural Teamfight Tactics Galaxies Championship, Oceanic players will now have a way to qualify for the colloquially dubbed “TFT Worlds” through North America.

Despite having a larger player base than Japan, Turkey, and Latin America, Oceania were snubbed of a spot in the initial TFT Galaxies Championship plan. However, on May 1, Riot announced a backflip of their plans, incorporating OCE into the North American qualifiers.

The top four OCE players will be invited to the 24-player OCENA final in September. However, they won’t qualify directly from ladder, instead using a fused ladder-qualifer model to determine who deserves to represent the region in the finals.

The top 32 players, based on nine weeks of ladder ranking starting on May 19, will be invited to a closed qualifier.

They will then play three rounds in a single elimination tournament. However, it’s unclear how exactly groups will be seeded, and how many series’ players will need to play.

The top four players from the OCE qualifier will then join NA’s best 20 for a chance to get two seats at the global Galaxies Championship.

The OCE qualifiers will only be open to players residing in the region. While the server has become a hotbed for Taiwanese and South East Asian players in the absence of TFT Mobile servers for their respective regions, only players residing in Australia, New Zealand, and selected Pacific islands will qualify for the closed finals.

The Teamfight Tactics Galaxies Championship is the first major Riot-backed esports endeavour in the autobattler’s 12 month history. 16 players from 10 regions across the world will be competing for $200,000 in the first TFT Worlds, as Riot looks to expand its esports ecosystem in 2020.

More information about the TFT Galaxies Championship can be found on the LoL Esports website.

Imagery supplied
Produced by Josh Swift

Ground Zero has a chance to become the first Contenders team in the new format to go undefeated across all four weeks of action, netting yet another win against the Sydney Drop Bears in Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 Week 3.

The win was one of their most dominant, yet again only losing one map in their run. After sweeping ScrimBux, they had a slight hiccup on Oasis against Mindfreak, before turning up the heat against the Drop Bears in the final.

However, the team wasn’t as confident as they were in previous weeks. According to Felix “ckm” Murray, the break had thrown the team off slightly, and scrims were looking closer than ever before.

“This [win] is especially sweet,” the veteran DPS told Snowball Esports. “We weren’t feeling as ahead this week in scrims as we had in other weeks, so to pull up on match day like we did is a good feeling.”

It’s been a triumphant return for arguably Australia’s most storied flex DPS. After announcing his retirement in mid-2019, he’s come back with vengeance after the World Cup with Ground Zero, and has found the perfect balance between competitive Overwatch and his studies.

“I started planting seeds with Signed and Unter at BlizzCon about this season to slot back into Contenders,” he said. “So far I’ve been able to manage my time well enough, really just means sometimes I have to sacrifice some social activities when things get busy.”

The four weeks off gave Ground Zero time to refine their strategies ?— no matter how far ahead of the rest of the region they seem. On top of that, it gave them a chance to refine their communication, after a mad scramble before the start of the season saw many teams alter their rosters drastically.

“Communication has been a struggle for a while,” he admitted. “It’s really only been coming together recently and we have tons of work to do on that front still.

Regardless of how their communication might be behind the scenes, it’s almost impossible to see a flaw in their play. Their flexibility has allowed them to navigate whatever hero pool is thrown at them, and they have the ability to play counters better than their opponents can play their comfort.

This will become ever crucial with the release of Echo. Overwatch’s latest DPS is now unbanned, and while the Week 4 hero pool hasn’t been confirmed yet, if she is available to play, Ground Zero are ready to pick her up with open arms.

“I think the thing that makes Echo interesting is that she’s a strong dive and poke character, meaning she’ll be able to slot in as a key hero in numerous comps,” he said. “If she’s meta I assume everyone will be jumping on the chance to play her, since she’s fun as hell.”

Contenders Australia Week 3 – Top 5 ???

HD: https://t.co/g2dfJvHa9h
Full VOD: https://t.co/y1xeMe3LAx#overwatch #esports #contenders #australia pic.twitter.com/KcKQEn542R

— Blizzard Esports ANZ (@BlizzEsportsANZ) April 29, 2020

With only one week separating them from a perfect run in the new format, ckm stated Ground Zero aren’t getting too far ahead of themselves. There’s still a job to do, and if anyone can do it, it’s ckm and their veteran roster.

“Obviously we’re not getting too ahead of ourselves,” he said. “Things can change quickly with the fast changing metas. Provided we stay on top of our practice we should be good.”

In other results, Warriors broke into the top four for the first time this season, and locked their place in playoffs, after NoWeaver failed to submit a roster in Week 3. The French organization parted ways with their old roster during the mid-season break, but still currently hold the slot.

Kraken Esports Club also made their mark, jumping straight from Open Division into the top eight after taking down PowerAnchors in the round of 12.

Paradigm Shift, ScrimBux, and Athletico currently hold the final three playoffs spots, but with some teams hot on their heels, next week is going to prove ever crucial.

Contenders Australia 2020 Season 1 will return for Week 4 on May 11.

You can follow ckm and Ground Zero on Twitter.

Produced by Josh Swift

ESL and DreamHack branded events will be exclusively broadcast on Twitch following this year, as the Turtle Entertainment companies have announced a partnership that turns the streaming platform options exclusive from 2021.

In an announcement today, esports giants ESL and Dreamhack have announced a three year deal with Twitch which will see CS:GO, Starcraft II and Warcraft III tournaments broadcast exclusively on the streaming platform for 2021 and 2022.

Whilst Twitch will operate as a non-exclusive partner alongside YouTube for 2020, this will see tournaments, such as the ESL Pro League, Intel Extreme Masters and DreamHack Open, move to a single platform for 2021 and 2022.

As well as their global tournaments, ESL also operates competitions within the SEA / OCE region, with the ESL ANZ Championships offering players from the three featured titles a chance at qualifying to international events to compete with the world’s best.

pic.twitter.com/hKoxKqQZSI

— ESL (@ESL) April 28, 2020

ESL teased the new partnership on Twitter

The plan is for Twitch to work directly with ESL and Dreamhack to provide a hub for their competitions. The partnership will springboard coordinated broadcasts and sponsorship efforts into the new decade.

Frank Uddo, Senior Vice President at ESL Global Media, said live streaming esports had belonged to Twitch in recent years.

“As we continue to host some of the world’s largest esports tournaments, it feels only natural to work even closer with Twitch to provide the best gaming experience for fans, as well as safeguard the future of the esports industry.”

Alongside the ESL ANZ Championships, ESL have also begun hosting weekly cups for Starcraft II and Warcraft III.

The weekly competitions are held Tuesday nights (for Starcraft) and Saturday days (for Warcraft). Both tournaments have a $100 prize pool and have open registration for anyone based within the SEA / OCE region.

As the battle for content access heats up and each streaming platform jockeys for positioning, this deal is one that stands out for the old guard of esports standing firm with each other.

In the current environment, it is noteworthy as well that Twitch has opted in with the TO that is promoting grass roots participation for those joining in from home. We’ll see as this deal plays out how this maneuvering benefits both sides.

Produced by Josh Swift

Legacy’s drought is over. After ten crownless campaigns— including four grand final defeats, three bronze-place finishes, and a year best left to distant memory ?— one of Oceania’s storied founding fathers has finally claimed the throne in 2020 Split 1.

For many, it was a foregone conclusion as the season began in earnest. 2019 had seen one of the league’s original titans slip into a battle to avoid the misnomer of the spoon. Those struggles were forgotten as Legacy assembled a roster dripping with Oceania’s top talent.

Chief among them stood returning champion Leo “Babip” Romer. The youngster, once dubbed “Baby Bip” as he trained under veteran Pro League jungler Tim “Carbon” Wendel, had thrown off the mantle to become an OPL king.

The beginning of 2020 saw Mammoth crumble as their stars ventured overseas for international conquests, however, and Babip’s eyes turned home. He, alongside reigning MVP and 2016 victor Quin “Raes” Korebrits, signed as the core of the squad.

Joined by Mammoth’s Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon, rookie pickup Jonah “Isles” Rosario, and lauded LCK trainee Jang “EMENES” Min-soo ?— the latter of whom would not last the split ?— the team marched to a 6–0 record. Only arch-rivals the Chiefs remained close.

Then, the season imploded, at least on paper. The world went into lockdown due to COVID-19. The Pro League, like many other League of Legends tournaments around the world, entered a state of limbo. A short Week 7 marked the high-water mark of the chaos.

The spreading global pandemic wasn’t the only moment in the season that threatened to derail Legacy’s march to the title either. EMENES, who had been one of the best performers in the OPL up to this point, was punted from the starting roster.

The official line was Legacy would not “compromise values” for star players. Between the inked release, it was clear there had been backroom drama forged by the Korean rookie. Despite his early strengths, he was quietly shown the door.

• Read more: Ties’ Takes – Emergency Back-Up Mids

Enter James “Tally” Shute. Formerly Order’s top lane, and before that Legacy’s bot laner, the OPL veteran had found himself teamless for 2020. According to sources, he was preparing for a big swap back to ADC. Instead, he was thrust into Legacy’s mid lane.

He clicked nearly immediately, outside of a “two week transition period,” Legacy bot laner Raes revealed. Many saw Tally’s hurried recruitment as a stop-gap method. Instead, he became the leading voice in the center of Summoner’s Rift.

“Having Tally join when he did definitely helped us a lot, I think,” Raes told Snowball Esports after the championship victory. “He’s communicative and has a ton of experience, and it helped us to have someone that could lead from mid lane again.”

At the same time, Legacy thrived in the online environment. There were a few slip-ups ?— before heading online, Tally’s debut weekend slipped to a 1–1 result with a major upset from one of the lower teams ?— but overall it was near-smooth sailing.

According to Raes, the shift was almost “more relaxing” than the usual rigmarole of Pro League life. Not having to travel made it “much easier on game days,” and the removal of the “long wait” in the studio eliminated any nerves the team may have had.

“That really was the only difference for us, that we didn’t have to travel anywhere for matches on gameday,” Raes explained. “Gameplay-wise it wasn’t that hard. Maybe we played better and I did not notice, but overall it was just better. We went better.”

The final weeks were like the seasons of old. Legacy and the Chiefs duelled for the top spot, with each trading it out across the bumper final rounds. A landslide 17–2 win in the very last game of the split, however, handed first-seed to the Trees.

Legacy only played two series in the playoffs after earning the top spot in the regular season. The first was an edgy 3–1 victory over their arch-rivals once more, with a “Baron throw” from Raes the only difference-maker in the overall scoreline.

“I was very confident. They always failed to perform when it mattered, and yeah… that seemed to happen again.”

The eventual champions then got to watch from the sidelines as the Chiefs locked horns with the Dire Wolves. It was an epic five-game series, and Legacy got to watch their arch-rivals ?— dubbed by Raes “the biggest threat” ?— fall out of contention.

It was a moment that Korebrits says “sealed the title” for the team: “Going up against the Dire Wolves [after they beat the Chiefs], I was very confident. They always failed to perform when it mattered, and yeah… that seemed to happen again.”

And so, Legacy were crowned Oceanic Pro League champions for the first time. It took a four game series against the Dire Wolves on April 24. It took a role-swapped mid laner settling into the team, and it took battling through new online conditions, but Legacy triumphed.

And yet… Raes admits it feels a little “hollow.” He’s happy, that’s for sure. But there’s just that next step missing from the puzzle: the 2020 Mid-Season Invitational, originally slated to be held in May, was first moved to July, then binned altogether by Riot Games.

Korebrits knows he’s standing in a special moment. It’s the first time in four years he’s been an OPL champion. It’s the first time ever Legacy have tasted success in Australia & New Zealand’s top-level League of Legends competition. But it’s not enough.

“Obviously it feels good… it’s been a long, long time. But I can’t help but think about wanting more. The situation… the massive exodus of good players to America, and Europe, and the fact MSI is cancelled. It doesn’t feel as rewarding,” Raes admitted.

“We had a fantastic split. We worked hard to get here, and win. I think we had some of the best players in the league ?— Ji-hoon [Topoon] was robbed of Most Improved this season I think, and Jonah [Isles] should have got the tip for Rookie of the Split. We had a fantastic season.

“It’s just that little bit more, you know? Before winning the title, that’s what I wanted. But for me it’s like 40% winning the title, 60% going international again, for the first time since 2016, to get the chance to prove Oceania isn’t the worst region in the world.”

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel for Raes though. The 2020 World Championship is still full steam ahead, Riot has confirmed. There’s expanded slots for China and Europe, and OCE has retained its Play-In seeding. It makes Split 2 all the more exciting.

“We’re going to win again,” the now two-time champion bot laner said. “I don’t feel insane about winning this Split 1 title, but I know how much it means to our progress. We’ve only gotten better, and we will again. I want to take Legacy to the international stage.”

It’s an ambition shared by Legacy founder Tim “Carbon” Wendel, who has lived through the trials of tribulations of the trees since their classic wars with the Chiefs. He was there when the OPL was founded, and now he’s seen his team bring home the silverware.

“We are extremely excited to have earned our first OPL title, and to do it with a mix of former players and new talent makes it even sweeter!” he said. “It’s a shame MSI isn’t going ahead, but I’m choosing to take that as extra motivation to get to Worlds.”

Legacy have ticked that first box they’ve chased for so long: they are now Oceanic Pro League champions. Now their eyes are fixed on the World Championship.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

Gravitas top laner Jackson “Pabu” Pavone will be swapping allegiances ?— and roles ?— for OPL Split 2 2020, replacing Paris “Souli” Sitzoukis in the jungle for the struggling squad.

The OPL roster shuffle is kicking off with a bang, with a move set to shake up not just one, but two roles in the region.

Storied top laner Pabu, previously of Abyss, Avant, and Gravitas, will now be taking up a role swap into the jungle to replace Souli for Pentanet.GG, sources have told Snowball Esports.

Souli, in his first full split in the OPL, has struggled to find his footing. The hyped-up Pentanet roster fell flat, missing playoffs after a string of poor performances saw the team fall to sixth in the final days of the OPL.

Pabu, on the other hand, helped Gravitas find their footing late in the season. While they eventually finished in seventh, his stats were noticeably better than the likes of David “Beats” Nguyen-Dang and Lachlan “N0body” Keene-O’Keefe in the top lane in the five games he played.

He might not be known competitively for his jungle skill, but solo queue is a different story. He has ranked up multiple accounts playing jungle, peaking as high as 600 LP Challenger on his jungle-only account.

He will also bring a new set of skills to the role not necessarily seen by other junglers in the region. The fact he has played multiple lanes to the top of solo queue could prove to be the competitive edge Pentanet need to elevate themselves to playoffs in Split 2.

It is not yet known where Souli could be landing in the OPL off-season.

Follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for the latest OPL offseason news.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

Six Masters is almost upon us, with action kicking off in just under 24 hours. There’s some absolute belters awaiting Siege fans that could determine just how the final placements shape up in seven weeks.

The off-season for ANZ Siege is over. Rosters have been shuffled, and a new order is being set. The Six Masters is set to determine who is the second-in-line behind Fnatic, and the first week of action is set to be explosive.

Every week, we will be breaking down what you should expect from the week’s action with our expert predictions. Now, I can’t talk about these predictions without introducing our panel for the tournament. We’ve brought on five of ANZ Siege’s brightest minds (and me) to deliver you tips and analysis heading into each week of action.

• James “Devmarta” Stewart: Caster
• Michael “Guzz” Gurrie: Caster
• Brandon “Raven” Langiano: Caster
• Alex “Skye” McCallum: Observer
• Jess “Jess” Bolden: Analyst

While this piece will be an overview of our general predictions for the week, we will also have our own tips running alongside these. Be sure to check out Snowball Esports’ Twitter tomorrow for the full rundown.

Wildcard vs. SiNister

Prediction: 1-1 Draw

First up on the card is an absolute rip-snorter of a match ?— quite possibly one of the most exciting we will see all season. Wildcard and SiNister have just come off hard runs in Pro League, finishing in fourth and fifth respectively.

While it was a fall from grace for the second ANZ representative at Six Invitational 2020, Wildcard have also been working in some new talent in the background. Bolstering their forces with Onyxian’s Jonathan “Gio” Luciana and Kanga’s Patrick “Pat” Wines (formerly Thumbnail), Wildcard will be looking to keep marching on and improving their form as time wears on.

“With Wildcard yet to prove that their new roster can keep them at the top of ANZ, and Sinister off the back of a flawless end to Pro League, any result is possible.”
James “Devmarta” Stewart

SiNister, on the other hand, are on hot form. Their fifth place might not speak volumes, but they were dead last before the SI break. Since then, they’ve dropped one map ?— sweeping the tail end of Pro League, and taking out the LPL Pro Grand Final against LFO 3-1.

With both teams relatively evenly matched heading into Tuesday’s opener, the jury is split. While we know the peaks of Wildcard can make them the best team in ANZ, this new roster must prove themselves to scale to the heights of their pre-SI selves. If they can, then it’ll be a rough day at the office for SiNister.

Elevate vs. LFO

Prediction: Elevate 2-0

Results-based analysis would lead you to believe that Elevate should trounce LFO. After all, Elevate are arguably the best team in Six Masters in the absence of Fnatic, while LFO made it in through the Open Qualifiers.

However, this matchup could still prove to be a worthy fight. LFO did make it through mostly unscathed, dropping one map in their five-match run through the qualifiers, and did make it through to the LPL Pro finals against SiNister.

The former Oddity roster will have the odds stacked against them though when matched against Elevate. While they took a while to find their feet after adding Trent ‘Worthy’ Rose, they pulled back a top-two finish in Pro League Season 11 with clutch map wins over Fnatic and TBD.

While an Elevate win is expected, expect LFO to put up a fight. This is the perfect opportunity for the underdog squad to start making a name for themselves, and really punch their names in  ?— either as a full core or as individuals ?— for a possible appearance in Pro League Season 12.

TBD vs. Kanga

Prediction: TBD 2-0

TBD and Kanga is another game that might seem like a done deal on paper.

Kanga’s roster has struggled since being gutted by various top-table Pro League teams at the end of last season. The loss of Worthy and Thumbnail disrupted the bit of momentum they were building before the SI break, leaving the team floundering at the bottom of the ladder.

TBD, on the other hand, seemingly went from strength to strength. The ex-Mindfreak roster had a shaky start to play, before pulling it back after the break in tight games with Fnatic, Wildcard, and Elevate, cementing their status as a top four team in ANZ Siege.

TBD should take this game comfortably, but with more time with their new roster under their belt, Kanga should look better than they did at the end of Pro League.

Ferox vs. Pittsburgh Knights

Prediction: Split between Knights 2-0 & 1-1 draw

Now, we come to the matchup that has divided the panel the most. Ferox’s return to Rainbow Six with the old Fury roster is one of the biggest moves of the Pro League off-season, while Knights are looking to build off Pro League Season 11 with the same roster.

The new Ferox roster builds on the old Fury roster with a mix of veteran and young blood. While Todd “Todd” Francis has been around the top for years, this Six Masters marks Deptra’s real break into the top flight.

The previous matchup between these two rosters saw Knights walk away with a 7-5, 7-2 win at the tail end of Pro League Season 11. However, we’re yet to see what this new-look Ferox roster can do.

Tips-wise, the panel has been evenly split between a Knights win and a draw. While the Knights have the record against Ferox’s roster, their off-season moves could prove to be the X-factor that elevates this team into the top four of Six Masters.

Six Masters 2020 kicks off on Tuesday, April 28, at 7pm AEST with Wildcard vs SiNister. You can catch the action on the official Rainbow Six channel.

Be sure to follow Snowball Esports on Twitter for all your Six Masters content throughout the season, including tips, analysis, and interviews.

Legacy Esports find themselves three maps away from achieving something they have spent the last five and half years attempting—their first Oceanic Pro League title.

Throughout the years, Legacy has been a team that has kept close in the fight for the title, but always seemed to stumble either at the final hurdle or just before short. The org has clinched four second-place finishes and four thirds in the first four years of the OPL. They were forever a title hopeful, but were always outshone just when it mattered most.

2019 was an exception to the norm. After the 2018 team dispersed across the league, Legacy picked up a team of rookies and not-as-seasoned veterans. The lack of experience showed in their results, with a 6-15 record in Split 1, they finished 7th, above only their grand final opponents the Dire Wolves. The team then fell to a 1–20 split in the second half of the year.

This past summer saw a return to form. They picked up defending champion Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon, as well as Carbon’s prodigal son Leo “Babip” Romer from Mammoth. They also obtained a big scalp in the form of bot lane star Quin “Raes” Korebrits, a former long term player for rivals The Chiefs. Legacy round out their lineup with rookies Jonah “Isles” Rosario and former LCK trainee Jang “EMENES” Min-soo.

The team, naturally, boasted a lot of hype and expectation heading into the split. As one of the top teams on paper, it was expected this team would make it far. While they did, it was far from smooth sailing.

First there were the visa delays for head coach Jensen Goh. Whilst he was able to work with the team in a remote capacity—like most of the world is doing now—he was unable to be there where it mattered most on game days.

They were lucky enough to have access to a second coach in James “Denian” Goddard, however. He was able to step into the role of stage coach for the first couple of weeks before Jensen arrived. With results unaffected on the Rift, the team clocked up a 6-0 record in the first three weeks of play.

Even with these issues resolved when Jensen was released from the ‘visa prison,’ other problems arose. A series of issues with mid laner EMENES emerged and came to a head after Week 5. He was released from the team, with head of esports Tim “Carbon” Wendel explaining in a statement that the decision was made “in the best interests of the team and with a view to creating an environment capable of sustained success going forward.”

• Read more: Ties’ Takes – Emergency Back-Up Mids

In his place stepped in another prodigal son, James “Tally” Shute. Previously a top laner and bot laner at the competitive level, he stepped into a new role to ride out the season in the mid lane.

If you asked anyone in the community, you would expect a transition of play style and a learning curve, but according to Legacy, it was anything but.

Snowball Esports spoke to both Tally and Babip about this change. Babip admitted it was “super easy adjusting to Tally.

“I already knew from past experiences playing with him that he had good communication and always had something beneficial to add to discussions.”

Babip says the only real change came in terms of champions and match ups. “I supposed the only challenge is Tally having a non-traditional champion pool,” he continued. “However, he was able to pick up champions on the other side of the coin that most Oceanic mid laners could not pick up.”

Tally agreed. It was “pretty similar to what I was used to,” the role swapping star said. “Mid and top lane share a lot of the same fundamentals so most of the change was just me learning new lane matchups and getting used to actually playing a useful role.”

The second half of the split saw Legacy achieve a 9-2 record. It was smooth sailing towards the top of the Pro League. They didn’t fall out of top two the entire split.

Another change came after Week 7 to the league with COVID-19 travel restrictions coming in place, moving the league online.

Legacy didn’t slow pace though, coach Denian explained. Once again, it was smooth sailing.

“There really wasn’t any adjustment needed,” he said. “The guys already played in the gaming house day in day out so, if anything, they should be more comfortable.”

Legacy’s path to the final through the new playoffs format has been short. An 18-3 first place regular season saw them net a first round bye on the winners side of the bracket, meaning they only had to play a singular series against a Chiefs side coming into the second half of a back to back to make the big dance.

They won this series with a comfortable 3-1 performance where—besides a costly blunder at Baron during Game 2 cost them their Nexus—they were able to win with relative ease.

This saw a week of rest and scouting for the team, being able to protect their picks whilst their opposition slugged it out, showing their cards in getting the chance to face them.

Even though there is no football right now, @adelaide_fc still has a Grand Final to prepare for. Tomorrow, the eSports team @legacyoce will battle for the Oceanic League of Legends crown. https://t.co/8ftPfFYTVQ @nickibarnet @OPL #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/o6KD9ohBTT

— 7NEWS Adelaide (@7NewsAdelaide) April 23, 2020

For Jensen Goh, it allowed them to scout a change in their opponents, the Dire Wolves play style.

“We got to see how they have switched up their play style into a ‘nothing works lets just ARAM’ approach,” he said. “It’s a stopgap that covers for a lot of their weaknesses they had shown around their limited champ pools, team fighting mistakes and failure to bring people to be in position for objectives.”

“At the same time having the chance to play and refine that approach through the gauntlet does accelerate their development however,” Goh added.

Both Jensen and Denian noted the Dire Wolves may not be coming into the final in the best shape. Denian added the extra games “might [even] hurt them from a fatigue perspective.”

Legacy comes into this week cool, calm and ready. They have a perspective on what they will see from their opponent and are ready to expose that.

This match will be nothing short of explosive. With a team stacked full of talent they will want to do their best to live up to the expectations and win it all, this is a game not to be missed.

Tune into the OPL grand final today at 4pm AEST.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

The Dire Wolves are an organisation that has tasted success. The organisation has two League of Legends World Championship runs and four Oceanic Pro League titles under their belt. Once again the title is within reach. This time, regular split winners Legacy Esports stand in the way.

In the past, the Wolfpack have been Oceania’s team to beat. Their dynasty was forged across a four-split run that saw them net silverware in every split in 2017 and 2019. The core roster for the team was one of the dominant the region had ever seen.

Then, 2019 arrived. The Dire Wolves shifted focus, and with it came a huge roster shuffle. They kept top laner Brandon “BioPanther” Alexander at the time ?— he’s now departed to Pentanet ?— and a roster of Challenger Series talent was built around him.

This shake-up saw them crumble in the standings. They sunk to a 1–20 record in Split 1. Their fortunes were a little better in Split 2, but a first-round exit in the Gauntlet at the hands of an unstoppable Order outfit put a fullstop on a year to forget.

Off the back of 2019’s struggles, the Dire Wolves pulled the plug again. Ryan “Chippys” Short returned at the beginning of 2020. He was joined by Park “Mir” Mi-reu, Avant’s breakout mid laner Ari “Shok” Greene-Young, and a bot lane assembled from bot laner Ha “Vital” In-seong and support pair Andy “Cupcake” van der Vyver and Daniel “Decoy” Ealam.

Chippys is no stranger to the Dire Wolves squad. He played under their banner during 2017, when the team made their Worlds debut. He was also clad in dark green when the team lifted their 2018 Split 1 title. Now he’s back, and he says it “feels good.”

“It feels good to be back on my old team. All my success has been on this team, and heading into these finals there’s another opportunity for success,” he told Snowball Esports.

However, even with success, the top laner feels like he was “too confident [in the past],” which resulted in “inconsistent performance.” Learning from the past is what Chippys is working on now, and he’s “prepping every minute, every day, to make sure [he’s] ready.”

Week 9 of the Pro League saw the transition from live studio games to a fully online schedule due to the current ongoing climate surrounding COVID-19. This markedly affected many teams, including the Dire Wolves, who departed the Esports High Performance Centre.

Since their departure from the Sydney Cricket Ground locale, their form has dipped. It’s something the whole team has noticed, including head coach Ben “Kai” Stewart, who broke the situation down while speaking to Snowball.

“It [adjusting to online matches] was the hardest thing I think I personally, and likely the whole team, has faced in a while,” Kai explained, and added they had attempted to keep their work and home separate. It’s something he strives for due to his traditional sports background.

For him, the key to success is making sure “training doesn’t feel like training.” As they battled this, form slipped. Kai admitted it wasn’t ideal, especially because it’s “lovely to have some momentum” heading into playoffs. But regardless, Dire Wolves are ready.

“It’s not like we got worse. I could still see flashes of how good we are. All the info, plays, mechanics, macro was still in the boys, we just lost what made us good ?— not being afraid of making a mistake,” the Wolfpack coach said.

“They needed to play without restraint, and to trust the four other players to follow (each other) into the thick of it” and regardless of the outcome, to “get into a position to play from again.”

The finals run for the Dire Wolves has been a real testament to their fortitude and ability to adapt in any situation. Their first series was against the Chiefs, who they fell 1–3 to after the wolves were overrun in the first game by the Chiefs.

Luckily for the Dire Wolves, their finals campaign didn’t end there. They fell into the losers bracket and took on Order.

The series ended up at match point in favour of Order heading into game three, but with the steadfast mental fortitude of the Dire Wolves, they clawed their way back from the edge of defeat and took them down in the best of five.

Our head coach @DireWolvesKai gives us insight into his thoughts on the @LegacyOCE squad in the lead to our grand final this Friday!#wolfpack | @udysof | Powered by @LGITMonitorsAus pic.twitter.com/N6Srp68FxD

— LG Dire Wolves (@DireWolves) April 23, 2020

After the mammoth effort by the Wolves, they still had to face down the Chiefs, who had already tasted success over the Wolves earlier in the playoffs. In their second matchup, the Chiefs weren’t going to make it any easier for the boys in green to get through.

These games were full of excitement and chaos, leading to another exciting five-game series. In the end, however, the Dire Wolves came out on top and claimed their seat in the final.

Adapting in a best of five is one of the Dire Wolves strengths, and that has been shown in their previous playoffs matches. They’ve played half the amount of games in a regular OPL split in one week, and are not short on practice heading into the final best of five against Legacy.

Chippys shared that “we adapt well to whatever we need to win”, and as an example of that, “many of the champions we played we haven’t had a single scrim on.”

Playing so many playoff games is a double edged sword. On the one side, Kai shares, “we’ve been pushed to five games twice now” and in doing so, they’re getting “more game practice and more pressure practice.”

“However, Legacy have played four games compared to our fourteen, and this allows them to scout us. Lucky with the new players on my team we never run short on unique strats,” he said, before wishing Legacy luck too. He added: “They’ll need it.”

It’s looking like the key for a Dire Wolves victory is perseverance. They’ve proven twice that they have what it takes to these series all the way to the final match, but with a fresh-faced Legacy ready to take them down, it’ll be a true battle.

With the drive of claiming that OPL crown igniting the passion from the players, these finals are not to be missed. Make sure to tune in at 5pm this Friday.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

The Six Masters 2020 is kicking off on April 28 with more on the line than ever before, a $50,000 prize pool, and regional bragging rights to boot.

What once started as the FA Cup of Australian Rainbow Six, the Six Masters has now morphed into a title full of prestige and glory.

It’s making its return in 2020 for the third year running ?— and while we might not catch Siege’s biggest stars on stage, it’ll have big repercussions for the state of APAC in the future.

Eight teams will be matching up against each other in a single round-robin format, similar to how Pro League operates. However, this time, there’ll be no draws, with maps going into overtime if need be. $50,000 is on the line, with $15,000 lining the pockets of the winners.

Get excited Operators! The Six Masters is back for 2020! ???

To kick things off, we’re holding an Open Qualifier on April 18th!
Teams can register here ? https://t.co/bePgzZB4rD

More information to come soon – stay tuned… pic.twitter.com/iBa0TH7CFM

— Rainbow 6 ANZ (@Rainbow6ANZ) April 10, 2020

Seven Pro League teams ?— Elevate, TBD, Wildcard, SiNister, Knights, Fury, and Kanga ?— will be looking to lift the title at the end of the season. One Challenger League team, LFO, will also have the chance to make their mark, after qualifying via the Open Bracket on April 19.

“The Six Masters has truly become a flagship national tournament within the global Rainbow Six circuit and I’m incredibly excited to deliver another amazing season in partnership with ESL,” said Shane Bailey, Esports Manager at Ubisoft Australia.

“With Oceanic teams showing even more promise this past Pro League season in combination with our further dedication to Rainbow Six esports in the region, I’m certain this will be the most entertaining season of Six Masters yet.”

• Read more: Snowball partners with Ubisoft for Six Masters 2020

Fnatic is a notable exemption from the lineup for Six Masters. APAC’s perennial champions have just come off yet another Pro League victory in Season 11, however they will not be defending their 2019 title.

Six Masters 2020 will also be the first tournament after the global shift for Pro League Season 12. With leagues across the world moving to LAN events, APAC will be divided into two regions across the coming months.

The upcoming Six Masters will be tied into the new global landscape for Siege esports, with more information to be released at a later date.

The Six Masters kicks off on April 28 at 7pm AEST. Games will be played every Tuesday and Wednesday evening.

For more Six Masters coverage, including match predictions, wrap-ups, and interviews, be sure to stick with Snowball Esports.