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

After a series of mixed weekends, followed by one particularly disheartening 0–2 round, Order has finally pocketed an undefeated two-match run in Week 6, firing them into the Oceanic Pro League’s top four.

First up for the Melbourne squad was Pentanet.GG, in perhaps one of their most vital fixtures of the season. Win, and step into the top four. Lose, and the Perth org would leapfrog Order at a vital point in the season’s story.

Order rolled over Pentanet. In particular, mid laner Harry “Haeri” Kang shone. His Irelia was lethal into Jarod “Getback” Tucker’s Syndra. He ended 5/1/3, with a hefty 2k gold lead over his opposite number. Order finished 15–3.

“I’m very experienced with that mid matchup ?— Syndra vs Irelia ?— so that helped us a lot. It gave us confidence when I started going well with that early lead, and then we were able to snowball off that to win,” Haeri told Snowball Esports.

Confidence is key for Order now as they move into the mid-point of 2020’s Split 1, Haeri said. After their early-season struggles, finally leaving Sydney with a double-header victory means they’re on the right track to success.

“Confidence has been key for us, and I think the 2–0 weekend is great too. Pentanet beat us last time, and shook us a little, so to come back and get revenge when we were tied up in the standings was big for us too,” he said.

“We did make a few mistakes… we’re still figuring those out. We played confidently on stage though, and that’s what we need to do now. I’m pretty proud of all my teammates for the 2–0 this week, it was so important for us.”

Having faith in each other will now be vital for Order. After beating their rival for fourth, they now have another key challenge: a rampaging Dire Wolves, who were only stopped in their run up the ladder by Legacy Esports.

The Wolfpack finally joined the race for the top spots two weeks ago after their own mixed start to the year. Despite a 1–1 round ?— they recovered from their Legacy defeat on Friday to stun league leaders Chiefs ?— they’re on the right track.

Haeri knows Order’s meeting with the former four-time champions will be a defining moment in the season. If they can bundle-up the Dire Wolves, his Melbourne squad will finally be in a position to “split the gap.” Lose, and it only grows.

“Dire Wolves are one of the strongest teams right now, they just beat the Chiefs last weekend and I think they’re probably even better than Legacy right now. With our momentum though, we have to aim for another 2–0,” the mid laner said.

“We want to have the momentum going now, we have a lot of confidence from this undefeated weekend and beating Dire Wolves gives us a great chance to catch up to the top three. It will be a huge win if we can knock them over.”

best bot lane duo in the league change my mind pic.twitter.com/6pUD4zi8uW

— ORDER (@ORDER_army) March 9, 2020

There’s another factor to next week’s battle that Haeri says will be key ?— some teams in the Oceanic Pro League have been playing in double-header weekends this split. Order has had the most so far. Haeri has been “absolutely loving them.”

With the one-day focus, Order has been shining. Haeri feels the squad has been “more productive” with their preparation because of the squeezed schedule, and believes it will play a big role in their run-in to the playoffs too.

“The double-header days are great because we get an extra day of break. The other thing is on the day, we warm up with the first game so we’re a lot more confident in the second. It’s been helping us a lot, I’ve really been enjoying it,” he said.

“Staying for two days, we have to do the same travel so we may as well just do one day. It’s more productive. Not sure how my teammates feel, but I love it.”

All of this comes together for one thing for Haeri and Order ?— they’re finally in a position to push for the top spots. Their split weekends, and that final rough 0–2 to dump them into a mid-table battle, have been learning experiences.

Now, mixed weekends are a thing of the past, hopefully, the team’s mid star said, and they want to “push on” from here. After “being bad” for nearly the first half of the season, Order wants to push back with a vengeance in part two.

“I think our team is a very strong contender for the first place. Obviously, we’ve been playing pretty for in the first few weeks, but practice is been going well and we’re finally ramping up and showing what we can do,” he said.

“We want to catch up to Dire Wolves now, and gun for that third place. Our early losses have benefitted us more. Being bad has only helped Order, we know why we are losing now and we can fix it. This is much better than losing in playoffs for sure.”

Order face Dire Wolves first-up on Saturday at 5pm AEDT. They then play a resurgent last-placed Mammoth two hours later as they look to walk away with their second undefeated round of the season.

The OPL returns on Friday, March 13th from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games
Produced by Josh Swift

The Chiefs have kicked off the OPL season with a surprising 10-0 to shake up the power rankings, and MSI is now in their sights. While Chris “SeeEl” Lee is obviously chuffed, the coach says it’s got nothing to do with him, and everything to do with his “geniuses.”

The story of SeeEl doesn’t begin with his League accolades. It starts from when he was kicked out of home as a baby-faced 17-year-old fresh out of high school.

“I got kicked out of home when I was 17 and I didn’t have a good relationship with either of my parents,” he said. “Even though we were relatively well-off, I was basically homeless, so I went out and took whatever jobs I could get.

“I was a removalist, a cleaner, a waiter, a kitchen-hand — which is why I cut onions so well. I was going to uni full-time but I really wanted money so I was like ‘f**k it, I’ll ditch it and work full time.’ I was at uni, working three jobs, doing 90-100 weeks.”

While the 23-year-old coach of the Chiefs has no notable results to his name, and no competitive experience as a pro, he’s got the work ethic to prove that his players are the best in the region.

He’s transformed ?— what was on paper ?— a relatively unremarkable Chiefs roster on paper to one of the dominant forces of Oceanic League. If you asked him about it though, he’d tell you that it’s almost got nothing to do with him.

“On paper, we were the underdogs for a reason,” he said. “We have one veteran mid, but we have a fifth place AD carry, Croc had to take the entirety of 2018 off because of wrist issues, KoreaCK hasn’t played a stage game once, and Thien was a sixth-man.”

While SeeEl doesn’t have much coaching experience in the top flight, he’s been trying to instill into his roster of misfits the idea of not just playing for next week, but playing for next year. He’s got direction, he’s put in the effort, and he’s being a role model for the rest of his team.

“No one on the team is actually cocky. No one is arrogant enough to think that it’ll be a free run, and I drill it through them every day that ‘today is a fresh start,’ have that fresh mindset when you come to practice, and make sure to stay humble.

“I’m trying to instill a championship mentality into the entire team, as well as prepare them for stage games. Not just the best of ones, which I think a lot of games could have gone both ways, but best of threes and fives.”

Gosh dang, what a way to close the game.#IAMOPL #CHFWIN pic.twitter.com/cW4dXX5PeI

— The Chiefs (@ChiefsESC) February 29, 2020

SeeEl’s long term focus with the Chiefs has been noticeable with their performances throughout OPL 2020. They haven’t had some of the cleanest games early, but once late-game rolls around, they look unstoppable.

Having every role filled with mechanical prodigies, the next step isn’t just getting them through the OPL, but giving them the skills, and the work ethic, to try and make it internationally ?— either as a team, or as individuals.

“We need to take that mindset where we do what we can as players and as coaches to take a step forward and be willing to learn certain concepts about the game that’s 100% required for international that might not be the best for the upcoming week.

“I’ll teach them how to play the game instead of playing against certain teams, and I think that’s been instrumental to our success.”

However, working together a mixed roster has proven to be difficult. Croc and KoreaCK’s mother tongue isn’t English, so team communication has been a struggle. However, SeeEl has tried to make it work, thinking outside the box of what OCE teams would normally do.

“One of the reasons why we have so many Koreans in the house is to instill the Korean League environment. We have me, KoreaCK, Croc, and PADO ?—  so that the house atmosphere is different.

“When I speak, Croc and CK are in full respect mode. They’ll talk back when they think my feedback is wrong and I encourage that kind of environment. I want players to tell me I’m wrong, but we have that Korean atmosphere, so because of that, the others just naturally mold into that.”

“When I came to the Chiefs, I thought these guys would all be lazy gamers and they wouldn’t keep up with me, but they all work bloody hard and I’m pretty impressed.”

The Korean-style of League of Legends tutelage is a far cry from what most players, like Thien, Katsurii, and Claire would expect from Oceania. It took some time for the team to adjust to the work ethic SeeEl asked his players for.

“Claire got to where he was through pure talent,” he said. “He’s a genius. However, the [OCE] environment is awful. Players just want a chill environment, and no one can imagine the environment that I instill upon the players.

“Thien, Katsurii, and Claire had spouts of disrespect at one point, which is reasonable because they were like ‘who is SeeEl? What is this guy? He’s never had a pro split, he’s like Diamond 2 peak in League, he came ninth place in the OCS, who is this guy? Why do I have to listen to him?’

“At one point, they were like ‘I don’t have anything to learn from SeeEl.’ Look at us now.”

Counting my players out of rookies to watch…

Watch out for world class jungle and support plays.

— Chris Lee (SeeEl) (@coachseeel) January 30, 2020

With his band of geniuses on his side, the Chiefs don’t have their sights set on a perfect 21-0. In fact, they are ready to drop games to everyone in the OPL.

“I think Dire Wolves and Legacy are our biggest rivals, but it’s not that simple. Any of these teams can upset us ?— Order and Avant can beat us at any time, and I think against Gravitas we could have lost, and Mammoth had a pretty good draft against us but just executed it wrong.”

However, where SeeEl does see this team is on the MSI stage, wherever in the world that may be come May, and ready to show that his Chiefs roster aren’t the pushovers like teams gone by.

“This team isn’t meant to be where it is, but it isn’t here because I’m amazing as a coach ?— these players were swept under the rug and put on terrible rosters, or they were hidden gems. They’re all honestly geniuses, they all take feedback very well, they improve very efficiently, and quite honestly, these players will without a doubt go international.

“CvMax said this once: ‘a lot of coaching is just luck,’ and I was like: I have geniuses in Croc and Thien, the gigahard worker in Robert, and the older voices of CK and Claire who add a nice balance to the team, and now we’ve just gotta produce the results.”

The Chiefs will look to continue their undefeated streak against Mammoth and Dire Wolves in Week 6 of the OPL from 5pm on Saturday March 8.

You can follow SeeEl and The Chiefs on Twitter.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

Mammoth have had a rough ride through the first round-robin of the Oceanic Pro League’s first split of 2020. Aside from a victory over struggling Gravitas, the defending champions’ refreshed roster has suffered nine defeats.

That’s going to change though, the team’s rookie mid laner Tristan “Lived” Fulcher promised when speaking to Snowball Esports following their first win. With the 0–21 record no longer possible, they can play with more freedom.

Beyond that, there’s been near-zero expectations on the team stacked with rookie players who graduated from the Challenger Series between 2019 and 2020. It’s a far cry from the roster that 3–0’d the Chiefs in Melbourne, but that’s fine with them.

What it has meant, Lived explained, is that no one is worried about Mammoth. As the team settles into life in the Pro League?—from getting used to matchdays and even just playing on-stage?—they’re growing. Soon they’ll be a threat.

“We want to have this mentality that we can always win games, no matter who we’re facing every weekend. There are some tougher games, of course, like Legacy or the Chiefs, but we want to believe we can take any of them down,” Fulcher said.

With the freedom of knowing they’re working their way through a development year, the new Mammoth lineup can become a banana peel for the teams battling at the top, Lived added. If the big boys don’t take them seriously, anything could happen.

Gravitas may be near the bottom of the table, but that may have happened last week anyway too. Mammoth made the call to swap their bot lane, and Matthew “Mboma” Desa and Andy “emelg” Chen. They picked up their first win of the year.

As well as the “big help” that came from getting Mbomba onto the stage?—Lived’s old Emprox squadmate has apparently been acting like a coach for the team as well as a sub up to this point?—the team has just hit a new level, the mid laner said.

“We were pretty confident we were going to win that one [against Gravitas] because of how scrims had been going, and how we’ve been improving. We’ve improved a lot since the start of the split, our teamwork has gotten a lot better,” he told Snowball.

The roster change was big for us too. Mbomba is like the brains of the team. His impact alone has changed so much. We’ve been doing things a lot more… thorough. Practicing things over and over again, getting good at them.”

Re-watch one of the key teamfights that led to our victory on Friday against @Gravitas !

Insane Tempered Fate from our support @emelg__ that led to a huge CC chain. Let’s not talk about the @LivedOCE part though ? #TUSKSUP@OPL | #IAMOPL pic.twitter.com/KxXarCaRlx

— MAMMOTH (@MAMMOTH_OCE) March 3, 2020

Now, Mammoth are ready to unveil their new roster, one that has finally begun to calm the nerves of settling into the Oceanic big leagues, and finally helmed on-stage by their guide and leader Mbomba. It’s almost a new dawn.

“You’ll see a different Mammoth, we’re getting more comfortable on stage with our bot lane. It will all be uphill from there, and I think we have a lot more to show the OPL before the end of Split 1,” Lived promised.

Now there’s just one thing left to do ?— play the iconic David role in one of their upcoming top-vs-bottom battles. They missed a chance against Legacy last weekend, much to Lived’s chagrin, but there’s always other matches.

“We would have loved to get a win against Legacy, but unfortunately that didn’t happen,” he said. “That game wasn’t what we were hoping for, which is unfortunate, but hopefully next week against Chiefs we can get an upset. That’s the plan.”

The newly-refreshed Mammoth, as well as a confidence-infused Lived, take to the OPL stage again this Friday when they face Avant Gaming. Then comes the next chance to play David ?— the defending champs play the Chiefs on Saturday.

The OPL returns on Friday, March 6 from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

The Dire Wolves have finally joined the hunt for the Oceanic Pro League title after an “extremely decisive” 2–0 weekend, and Ryan “Chippys” Short believes his team can build on momentum after the clean-sweep round.

The four-time domestic champions had a mixed start to life in the OPL in 2020, clocking up three straight 1–1 weekends to leave them trailing the dominant pacesetters Legacy Esports and the Chiefs, who both surged to undefeated starts.

Finally, after nearly a month of split rounds, the Wolfpack finally clinched the double-dub, edging mid-table rivals Order 13–6 in an all-important battle for third, before rolling over defending champions Mammoth in just 22 minutes.

The Friday and Saturday triumphs gave the Dire Wolves a one-win buffer over their southern contenders. The win also pushed them to within two of Legacy, who had tumbled to a defeat in their table-topping OPL Classico battle with the Chiefs.

It wasn’t just the 2–0 that will prove key this weekend, however. According to the Wolfpack’s returned star Chippys, the “extremely decisive” nature of the back-to-back “stomps” has fired a surge of confidence into the boys in green.

“The double victory itself isn’t that important… being able to see our progress as a team so quickly is really important for my teammates’ confidence moving forward,” the 2018 MVP told Snowball Esports after his team’s successful weekend.

“Beating Order and locking ourselves into top three of the first round is a good start [to our season], in my opinion, top three has a big advantage in playoffs [this time] since they get two lives in a best-of-five, instead of first-seed just being overpowered.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind that by the time we play [the top two] again, it’ll be Dire Wolves/Legacy/Chiefs all having a gap over the rest of the chasing pack.”

That’s not to say everything hinged on the Dire Wolves vs Order battle that played out in 28 minutes on Friday evening. Externally, the Wolfpack looked like they were struggling to find their feet with a 3–3 record, but Chippys wasn’t phased.

“There wasn’t much to worry about for us since two of the losses were against the top two teams, Legacy and Chiefs. The only concern that I had was the loss to Pentanet, but I think they’re a bottom two team,” he explained.

“We’ve improved massively since Week 1, however, so we’re at the point now where we can consistently beat most teams, even in best of ones.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that by the time we play [the top two] again, it’ll be Dire Wolves/Legacy/Chiefs all having a gap over the rest of the chasing pack.”

The race for the top two spots may be heating up as the Dire Wolves finally lumber into top gear four weeks in, but for Chippys the season has been just as much about “settling in again” as it has been chalking up results.

After finishing as minor premiers with the Wolfpack in 2018 Split 1, being crowned MVP, and earning a place at the Mid-Season Invitational with a 3–2 win over the four-time defending champions the Chiefs, it felt “strange” to drop down the rankings, he said.

Now he’s back in the green and black he spent three years in?—minus a little slice with Sin Gaming in 2016—and he couldn’t be happier.

“It feels really good to be back. My last few splits away from the Dire Wolves I was on quite weak rosters with low chances for success,” he said, and admitted he sees a bright future for the team as they continue to build in 2020 and beyond.

“Now I’m back with the Wolves and able to help build a strong roster of hard-working players, it gives me a lot of confidence that I can work my way back to being the strongest team. Our goal is that we improve the most out of anyone, so even if we finish second or third, we will dominate best-of-fives. That’s the plan.”

Elsewhere in Round 4 of the split, the Chiefs remain undefeated at the top after winning the OPL Classico on Friday evening. Legacy, Pentanet.GG, Avant Gaming, and Order all scored split rounds—the fourth time in a row for the Melbourne org.

Finally, cellar-dwellers Gravitas and Mammoth continue to languish at the bottom of the standings after 0–2 weekends. Mammoth was defeated by the Wolfpack and PGG, while Gravitas failed to fire against Order and Avant.

Chippys and the Dire Wolves’ plan continues this Friday, when they face Pentanet last up at 7pm AEDT. They then battle Gravitas (2–6) at 5pm on Saturday.

The OPL returns on Friday, February 28 from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

Three weeks into the Oceanic Pro League, two top dogs have emerged — Legacy Esports, and the Chiefs. Behind them sit a host of teams, all of whom face an early question: can they catch the pacesetters, or fall into the mid-table scrap?

Or, as Order’s Bill “Eyla” Nguyen and Avant Gaming’s Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney both suggested after 1–1 weekends, is there something else to aim for in 2020’s first split?

Mixed results have marked the start of the 2020 campaign for a number of teams, not least of all teams like Order and Avant. Both teams made major, sweeping moves in the offseason, and have now found themselves within a win of each other.

While some may have expected the Melbourne squad to be fighting right up at the top of the ladder, defeats to the undefeated 6–0 pacesetters bumped them down the rankings, and a loss to Pentanet.GG has not done much to inspire confidence either.

Conversely, Avant was tipped to potentially be fighting for the last spot in the playoffs, even receiving a mixed grade in Snowball Esports’ Winners & Losers in the preseason. Their record may be close to that, but their performances on the Rift propound the potential for more.

Another week of 2-0s for @ChiefsESC and @LegacyOCE. Our @OPL Team of the Week for Week 3 features three returning stars and two fresh faces!

Top: @Topoon5
Jungle: @crocjg
Mid: @SanctumChazz
Bot: @RaesOCE
Support: @Korea_CK#IAMOPL pic.twitter.com/Wk1EyFGpl3

— Snowball Esports (@snowballesports) February 17, 2020

According to Chazz, who made the league’s Team of the Week for his performances against the Dire Wolves and Mammoth in Round 3, Avant is a “work in progress,” but that doesn’t mean they aren’t contenders.

“I think the season is going well for us right now, a lot of our losses ended up being really close, and I think we had serious potential to win most of them, especially the game against Legacy,” he told Snowball after Avant’s 1–1 weekend.

Their most recent matches—a 15–9 defeat against fellow mid-table rivals the Dire Wolves, followed by a 28-minute demolition of the defending champions—both showed improvements the boys in blue had been searching for.

That doesn’t mean Chazz, and the rest of Avant, think they’re going to catch Legacy and the Chiefs right off the bat. While those two leaders have proven to be the top dogs, the rest of the OPL is in a “building phase” early on.

“I think right now we aren’t focused on catching up to the top two teams, with the gauntlet format anyone can win the league as long as you place top five,” he explained.

“Our goal is to pick up as many games as possible, all while working on improving to a level where we can run the gauntlet and look to overtake the higher-seeded teams that way. We obviously don’t want to be fifth seed, but we do want realistic goals too.”

Chazz did admit the team may “not be at a level where [they] can consistently beat the Top 2,” but the young mid laner believes that has to be the final goal for any team in the Pro League if they want to lift the trophy this year.

While Avant is happy learning in the opening months of the league, Order has had a different perspective on a similar record: it’s not exactly disappointing starting 3–3, but considering the preseason hype around the team, it’s been hard to swallow.

“From a solely outside results point of view, our start is definitely a disappointment considering how strong our lineup is on paper,” Order support Bill “Eyla” Nguyen said. “Bringing over three Chiefs players, I would expect fans to see Order as a contesting top team, however, we are currently sitting middle of the pack.”

That same disappointment hasn’t seeped into the team’s training and scrim environment away from Sydney though, Eyla said, and he admitted he “doesn’t mind” where Order has found themselves three weeks into this year’s Pro League.

“From past experiences, a good season doesn’t guarantee a good playoff performance,” he explained. “Instead, my focus is on whether our team is actually improving. With the new gauntlet changes, being first place is less meaningful as they will have to play at least once before the decider. Top three is more the minimum you want to hit now.”

That mindset, Eyla explained to Snowball, was what helped lift a load off his shoulders. Last year all he chased was “victory after victory, week after week,” and when the team slipped he would feel like it was “wasted week.” This time, he—as with many of the OPL teams that have swapped rosters—are more focused on the bigger picture.

“I’m not worried at all if there’s a gap between the top two teams and the rest of the league. The old mindset I had made me undervalue scrims, and I thought as long as we were winning on stage that was all that mattered,” he said.

“Now I think differently — winning regular-season games is important, yes, but what far outweighs that is whether the team and its individuals are improving or not.”

So, one team sits 3–3, with expectation aplenty, and the other sits 2–4 with the ‘new roster’ brand allowing them time to prepare. Both, however, have the same goal: the OPL’s top spot just doesn’t seem to be as valuable this time around.

What is valuable is practice, taking regular-season lessons onboard, and being prepared for the postseason gauntlet where everything is decided.

That’s the focus now for both OPL stars, as they look to the coming weeks. Both have plans in mind for how to improve, and they want to make sure they get there. Eyla explained he wants to become a “strategic commander” for the Melbourne roster, while Chazz wants to “let the whole team play with confidence.”

Basically, something has changed behind the scenes. Players are now feeling the top spot isn’t necessarily where you want to be sitting in the first weeks of the league. Gauntlet runs like Sin Gaming, and Order, has proven the top seed isn’t always the most valuable.

Defending champions Mammoth did the same too, at the Melbourne Esports Open, as they swept past the first-placed Chiefs 3–0 despite being the lower seed.

Eyla and Chazz both know it and have revealed it’s something many of the players now hold as a key sentiment across the league. Now it’s just a matter of seeing how well the mid-table teams can improve, and if they can reach Legacy and the Chiefs’ levels.

For now, though, the mid-table scrap may be a reality for the two teams too, but they each have a much more short-term goal they think they can hit when Round 4 rolls around too: both young stars believe their team will score a 2–0 weekend.

Order face the Dire Wolves and Gravitas in dual matches on Friday evening, while Avant contest double Saturday matches against Legacy and Gravitas. The round’s fixtures will begin with Gravitas vs Order at 4pm AEDT on Friday, February 21.

The OPL returns on Friday, February 21 from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

The Chiefs have quickly and quietly emerged as the Oceanic Pro League’s surprise title contenders, storming through another undefeated weekend to lock their spot atop the standings with a 4–0 record.

Of course, it’s not a surprise at all if you talk to the Chiefs themselves. While many had their eyes on Legacy Esports (now also 4–0 after the first two weekends) and Order (2–2), the four-time Oceanic champions partially slid in under the radar.

Now, after defeating Pentanet.GG and Avant Gaming in their open matches, and dismantling preseason contenders Order and defending champions Mammoth, Chiefs have well and truly cemented themselves as an early title favourite.

It’s especially satisfying, young breakout top lane star Romeo “Thien” Tran told Snowball Esports after the second undefeated weekend, considering the “rough” start to the preseason the boys in blue had to struggle through.

“It feels good to be getting these results, because we had to practice at a net cafe for a lot of the preseason, and they wouldn’t let us bring our peripherals, so that was really bad, and I think that got a lot of us out of the flow,” he revealed.

The youngster also admitted that the Korean boot camp he and bot laner Robert “Katsurii” Gouv took in the offseason “took it out” of them both. While they didn’t have any imports settling in, them returning to Sydney almost felt like the same thing.

Despite all that, the Chiefs have soared into first place alongside Legacy. The standings almost seem to have reverted back to 2015-2016, where the two teams ruled the roost. Now, Thien said, the OPL’s historic grudge match can again be the decider.

“It feels really good to get the wins that we have, but more and more it feels like there’s one place that we’re going, and it’s the same thing that we looked at at the beginning of the season and decided on: we have to beat Legacy,” he said.

“Our bottom line for the season is top two, anything below that is a failure. We have an expectation that we’re going to take it all, definitely, and that means that we have to beat Legacy at some point. They’re the team to beat.

“That’s not to say we won’t have some tough games coming up before then, but in our eyes, all the other teams in the league aren’t really up to the same par that the Legacy roster is, so they can win the whole thing. We want to prove we’re better.”

Proving he’s better than his rivals has been a theme for Tran this split too. After starting pro life under the wing of Chiefs veteran Brandon “Swip3rR” Holland in 2019, Thien found himself across the Rift from his mentor in Round 2.

They may have two more meetings planned across the split, but Thien admits he’s “happy” that he got the upper hand in their very first faceoff. The youngster clocked up a 6/1/4 scoreline on Akali, and defeated Big Swips and Order.

“I was really excited to play against Doss, I came into the league last year and learned so much from him, I have a lot to thank him for,” Thien said. “Coming into this game I was quite confident too though, that’s just the feeling I always have.”

The new Chiefs star, who is filling Oceania’s heavily-decorated veteran star Swip3rR after years with the Armoured Titan in the top lane, admitted that’s the mentality he and his team have boasted all split long to earn their first four wins.

“I think going into games you always expect to win. If you aren’t expecting to win then I think you’re failing as a competitive team. You always have to hold a high expectation of yourself, otherwise, none of you can improve from there.”

While Chiefs and Legacy bagged 2–0 weekends, Order, Avant, Gravitas, and the Dire Wolves all collected 1–1 records in round two of the Pro League. Pentanet and Mammoth struggled the most, both suffering back-to-back defeats on Friday and Saturday.

The OPL returns on Friday, February 14 from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

Legacy Esports may have scored a 2–0 weekend to kick-start their Oceanic Pro League campaign, including a come-from-behind win over Order, but they’re not getting ahead of themselves… not yet.

It was a fantastic offseason for the perennial OPL challengers, who recovered from a blip in 2019 to lead the pack of preseason favourites.

Gone are the rookies and juniors that strung up a rough 1–20 campaign in Split 2 last year, and set the record for most consecutive defeats. In their place, superstars like Quin “Raes” Korebrits and Leo “Babip” Romer have donned the green.

Their performance on Summoner’s Rift on Friday was right up to the mark too, as they barrelled past Avant Gaming in 31 minutes. In particular, the team’s Korean duo Kim “Topoon” Ji-hoon and rookie Jang “EMENES” Min-soo played key roles, running the show in the 13–6 victory.

The next evening, a tougher challenge awaited: a geared-up Order, also 1–0, and armed with new recruits like Brandon “Swip3rR” Holland and Harry “Haeri” Kang.

Although it looked like Ronan “rare7” Swingler had delivered the Melbourne squad victory with an explosive early game on Xayah, Legacy was able to hold firm and turn the tides late on to clinch their second win, 22–19 in 40 minutes.

.@BabipOCE STEALS THE BARON! ?

?? LIVE: https://t.co/Jrk6etB75S pic.twitter.com/CW0mQ6kp2z

— Legacy Esports (@LegacyOCE) February 1, 2020

Now, the trees sit atop the Pro League standings alongside long-standing rivals the Chiefs, who also notched an undefeated start to their Split 1 run with wins over Avant and new kids Pentanet.GG.

They may have settled themselves as early frontrunners, but Legacy aren’t looking too far ahead just yet — at least, that’s the message head of esports Tim “Carbon” Wendel delivered to his star-studded squad in the opening round of the league.

“When you come off a big offseason, people have big expectations of you, and we have big expectations of ourselves, but at the core, we’re just looking to have a good group of guys that perform their best on stage, and want to win.”

“Me, personally, I’m very happy with how the first week went, I’m stoked. It was important to put out a strong showing, and we put a lot of effort into the offseason, so it might have been a bit of a disaster if we had dropped those games,” he said.

That’s not to say it’s win or fail, Carbon added. Far from it — with a mix of veteran Pro League stars and rookies in the team, the Legacy helmsman knew there’d always been a growing phase. It just helps a little when you start 2–0 as well.

“We had that 2–0 weekend, yeah, but I think the boys still have a lot of work to be done to get to a place where they’re happy with their performances. I’m happy, but I know the boys were a bit frustrated they couldn’t do it in a simpler fashion,” he said.

“That Order game especially was hard work, and it took a bit of heroics to get over the line, but the resilience is important, and they don’t have to play from behind so often. They just want to play perfect, which is fair enough.

“In the end, I draw a lot of positives from this weekend. Yes, it was messy and it was hard work, but I think a team who can win despite that, imagine what it will look like when it’s not messy. I’m happy with the first week, onwards and upwards.”

For now, however, Legacy are just keeping their eyes on the weekends ahead, Carbon said. If they get too far ahead of themselves that is “never a fruitful exercise,” especially when there’s so much expectation swirling. They don’t want to get complacent.

The team, and Legacy, aren’t too overawed by the expectations either though, even if they’re not a big fan of the ‘superteam’ moniker some have slapped them with. According to Carbon, they’re ready for the challenge, through the OPL split and beyond.

“We’re going to strive for perfection, we can have these weekends too of course, but we’re aiming to land high. I know the guys have their hearts set on not only the OPL title, but beyond. A few of these guys have won the league before,” he said.

“I wouldn’t call us a super team though, no, we had a good offseason, but we’re not of the same ilk as ‘superteams’ of the past like Order with Tally, Spookz, Swiffer, FBI, and Rogue. I just think we can achieve a lot this year with a great group of guys.”

Elsewhere on the weekend, as Legacy and Chiefs collected their 2–0 results, Avant and Mammoth both dropped to 0–2 records early with back-to-back defeats in the Pro League’s opening day.

A pack has already formed in the middle of the table too, with the Dire Wolves, Pentanet, Gravitas, and Order all claiming a win and a loss apiece on Friday and Saturday. They will look to move into the frontrunners pack next weekend, and peel themselves away from the 1–1 glut.

The OPL returns on Friday, February 7, when Mammoth (0–2) come face to face with early title contenders Legacy (2–0) from 4pm AEDT.

Photography courtesy of Riot Games

After a miracle run through the Spring gauntlet, and a runners-up spot in the Oceanic Pro League grand final last time around, many expected Order to join the fight at the top of the table as the Summer season began in earnest.

Yet, as the OPL’s last round Super Week rolled around, Order found themselves in a similar position to Spring. Their playoff fate had been left to the last minute, and a three-way scrap between Avant Gaming, Gravitas, and themselves was coming down to the wire.

This time, Order had a little more control in their own destiny. Avant had to lose their games to the Dire Wolves and Mammoth, and Gravitas similarly had to cop defeats in two of their three games over the weekend. Both happened.

In Order’s camp, however, things weren’t smooth sailing either. The Melbourne team had won three of their last eight games. The fight had turned from a mid-table tussle, into a fight for survival in Summer. They needed two wins, against Avant and one of the league’s top two.

Add onto the make-or-break situation that Order had found themselves, veteran jungler Samuel “Spookz” Broadley was battling laryngitis heading into crunch time.

It was a poor place for the team to be. Their future for the year hung in the balance, and while Spookz could speak in the team’s 29-minute loss to second-placed Mammoth, his voice abandoned him completely as they braced for their second Friday game against the Chiefs.

“Yeah I could get a few words out against Mammoth and I was trying to talk and communicate but it was pretty tough, and then as we were preparing for the evening game my voice just kind of went completely and I could only croak out noises,” Spookz told Snowball Esports.

For the four-time OPL champion, combining with his solo laners Simon “Swiffer” Papamarkos and James “Tally” Shute is key. To lose the chance to speak to them from minute one on the Rift to the Nexus explosion was near-debilitating.

Luckily, Aaron “ChuChuz” Bland had been practicing another strategy with the team. One that put Spookz on AP-power carry Karthus. With his death passive, and a global ultimate to help out the team no matter if he could speak or not, Spookz went to work against his old team.

Spookz finished the 32-minute battle 8/5/7. He had survived the brutal early game pressure of Jordan “Only” Middleton on Xin Zhao, assisted his team, and dealt a game-high 18.3k damage.

“We had been practicing picks like that mid-week and in the lead-up, so it was lucky that I could jump on Karthus and just kind of struggle along while I was feeling so sick,” Spookz said.

“It was a pretty horrible early game, but my teammates played so well and got me through, and then we were able to get to where we needed to be. It was such a good game. After we won, I remember just thinking “This is why I play,” as everyone celebrated.

“We’re an emotional team, and we tapped into that. We knew that we had to get the job done and we wanted nothing more than to be back in gauntlet. It felt good to win that game.”

Order – who have long admitted they are an “emotionally charged roster” at the best of times – carried that momentum into their single Saturday game. Swiffer shone on Qiyanna, finishing 9/3/6 and earning himself the top spot on Riot Games’ promotional The Penta video.

This week on #ThePenta we’ve got Mikyx barreling into Baron, Uzi shows off his flashy feathers, and Swiffer living up to his name by cleaning up the enemy team. Let us know what’s your favorite play! pic.twitter.com/GgARwInLD5

— lolesports (@lolesports) August 20, 2019

The 22-11 victory, which lasted nearly 34 minutes, went Order’s way. The team that had dipped as low as tenth in the second and third weeks of the Pro League, had once again climbed back into the postseason. Now they sit ready for the gauntlet once more.

This time, however, everyone else may be ready for an Order miracle.

“It’s a funny feeling coming into the gauntlet this time around, because it feels like everything is just happening all over again. It feels the same as Spring,” Order’s jungler, now recovered from his laryngitis, explained.

“I think this time people will be a bit more ready for us, yeah, but we are approaching things the same way. Because it all feels the same, we feel like we have it in us to potentially put up a repeat performance. We want to show that we have it in us.”

The prize at the end of the gauntlet this time shines even brighter for Order. As one of the league’s Melbourne-based squads, the live grand final at the Melbourne Esports Open is a tantalising opportunity for the fifth-placed team.

“That’s a big part of why I play, it’s so amazing to have that feeling in front of big crowds and the fans. In Melbourne would be amazing. We definitely want to get there, it would mean so much.”

“It’s such a great thing to play for, and I know especially for me, Simon, and James, we want to show the young guys – Dream [Ronan “Dream” Swingler] and Jayke [Jayke “Jayke” Paulsen] – what it’s like to play with the roar of the crowd,” Spookz said.

Also in Super Week, Chiefs locked the top spot with their Friday afternoon victory over long-time Pro League rivals Legacy, before falling to Order and the Bombers. The Bombers earned their third place with 2-1 weekend, while the Dire Wolves finished fourth with a 3-0 round.

Gravitas, Avant Gaming, and Legacy Esports have all been eliminated from OPL 2019 Split 2.

The postseason gauntlet begins this Thursday when Order faces Avant Gaming at 4pm. Watch all the action live at RiotGamesOCE on Twitch.tv, and find the full schedule at oce.lolesports.com.

As the Oceanic Pro League’s postseason pinch looms alongside the extended Super Week, the Bombers sit in third. While most splits would have meant their campaign was all but over ahead of the playoffs, the defending champions still sit in a strong position.

The Bombers don’t exactly have their fate in their hands, with frontrunners the Chiefs (15-3) facing eighth-placed Legacy Esports and sixth-placed Order on Friday. They do, however, have a final fixture showdown with the Chiefs that could decide their entire split’s finish.

Since Week 6, the Bombers have been on a tear results-wise. Only marred by a 48-minute defeat at the hands of Order, the roster has chalked up a 7-1 run to storm into third place over Avant Gaming (now 8-10), and the Dire Wolves (9-9).

This weekend, their domination on the Rift continued. The team opened their round with a 29-minute win over playoff challengers Avant, before storming over last-placed Legacy in a game that clocked in just ten seconds longer.

The team were at their unified best as they clinched the win over Avant, collecting fourteen kills spread across four of the team members.

Then the squad’s solo lanes took control against Legacy, with Spring most valuable player Min “Mimic” Ju-seong (8/2/5 on Irelia) and Tommy “Ryoma” Le (3/2/9 on Azir) dealing 33.6k damage to champions to keep Legacy pinned down in the 16-8 win.

After the two 29-minute wins, Isaac “Everin” McIntyre spoke to Ryoma about the squad’s success, and how important defending their Spring title is for the new-look champion roster.

So, another 2-0 weekend has put you guys right behind Mammoth and Chiefs as Super Week appears on the horizon. How do you think the season has gone so far for you guys?

The season has gone pretty well for us I think, so far I think we’re all happy with where we are on the ladder. Obviously, even though it’s not optimal, it’s not the worst either. I feel like even though we are behind Mammoth and the Chiefs, I feel like we shouldn’t be underestimated, especially because we have now found the style we like to play.

Were there changes that you had to make to find that new style of play?

Yeah, things have definitely changed. We’re working harder since the split is just about to end. We’re all working hard towards what is going to give us the best way to win.

From a personal perspective, what’s it been like to be a defending champion in the OPL after your Split 1 win? Do you think it’s added pressure to your play at all?

I haven’t really thought about it too much. I’ve only just thought about playing internationally again. My performance wasn’t good on an individual level, so I really just want to go back and show that I was better than what was shown [at the 2019 Mid-Season Invitational].

With you, Mammoth, and Chiefs basically dubbed the “Big Three” of OPL 2019 Split 2, do you think they’re the teams you have to beat if you want to get to Melbourne?

Yeah, they’re definitely the teams we have to beat. They both look pretty good when it comes to playing as a team. I think that’s what they have over every other team at 20 to 25 minutes onwards. They all just switch on and work together. That’s why lower teams fail to close out games against both Chiefs and Mammoth.

Do you believe you guys have what it takes to win the title? What kind of positives do you think your team has, and why do you think you’re better than Mammoth and Chiefs?

I think we’re all good individuals, it’s just that I think Mammoth and Chiefs are better as five-man units. They work really well together, so that’s been one of our goals by the end of the split – we want to work better together as a team, and control the game.

Positives for us overall as we work towards that is that our individual skill across the board is great, I think if we all play at our heights then we can definitely beat the Chiefs and Mammoth.

And finally, what would it mean to you and the rest of the guys that went to MSI to get back to the international stage with a win in Melbourne, and potentially head to Worlds Play-Ins off the back of your second title?

It would mean a lot for all of us. I think for me individually I just always think about my poor performance at the Mid-Season Invitational. I just really want to play internationally again.

The OPL returns on Friday, when the Dire Wolves and Avant Gaming kick off the league’s season-ending Super Week at 4pm. Watch all the action live at RiotGamesOCE on Twitch.tv, and find the full schedule at oce.lolesports.com.