The OPL Lowdown gives you a recap of what happened over the weekend in the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League.
Series One – The Chiefs Esports Club vs Tectonic
The first series of the week looks very one-sided on paper, after the Chiefs have looked very impressive in their two games so far this year. Tectonic have definitely shown promise, but with Raes returning from suspension and Phantiks moving back to his coaching position, I’m sure the Chiefs will take it out.
GAME ONE
Tectonic started the game with a flourish, with a 3:15 First Blood onto ry0ma thanks to Swathe and Shok, with a further two kills 5 minutes later onto Raes and Babip around the Infernal Drake to put the momentum and the buff firmly in Tectonic’s favour. The Kiwis went 4-0 in kills after Swathe helped Papryze finish off Swip3rR as well as his turret. A clutch 2v2 in the botlane went the way of the Chiefs, and however slight, the momentum began to shift towards the Chiefs.
An initiation onto ry0ma at 16 minutes backfired as he turned it around with the help of the rest of the team to take two more kills and their first turret. Demolition duty was the name of the game for the next few minutes, with a few brawls and kills going through, but the real action was at 26 minutes when Tectonic’s Baron posturing went horribly wrong and Low, Swathe and the Baron were killed by the Chiefs. It was all downhill for Tectonic there, as Destiny made his claim for the MVP with some pixel-perfect initiations as the Chiefs forced their way into the base to claim a 1-0 lead.
GAME TWO
The early laning phase passed without much action, until an extended brawl at 6:30 gave 3 for 1 trade to the Chiefs as well as the Infernal. Another extended brawl yielded no fruit a few minutes later, but multiple kills onto Babip, Papryze and Ry0ma did go over a little later. Tectonic again snagged first turret, but Chiefs struck back with their own at 11:40. A 2v2 in the top lane gave two kills to Raes and Destiny, and it was deja vu a minute and a half later with Low and Tilting falling again to the entire Chiefs squad. Rift Herald and the Mountain Drake went to Babip, however Shelly was wasted in the midlane. Two kills onto Shok and Tilting handed the Chiefs a free Baron at 25 minutes as the game moved to the late game.
A lot of posturing followed until 32 minutes when Swip3rR soloed Papryze but the rest of Tectonic took out Raes on their way to a 2 for 1 trade in the midlane. Baron was attempted by the Chiefs but they were drawn off it by Tectonic drawing their battle lines. However, moments later Destiny was traded for Low and Swathe to give Chiefs their second Baron. The midlane turret and inhibitor fell as Tectonic’s base was broken, with small trades going through until the Chiefs took a 5-stack Elder Dragon at 41 minutes to make their way into Tectonic’s base. The ensuing fight gave a quadra kill to Raes and a 2-0 victory to the Chiefs.
Series Two – ORDER vs SIN Gaming
We were set up for another very one-sided contest when the table-topping ORDER took on Juves’ SIN Gaming. SIN had shown bits of brilliance, but with the OPL’s new super team on the cards for this week, it would take all of their power to not fall in a 2-0. With Cuden back from suspension, it might add some fire to the botlane grudge match with former SIN botlane FBI and Rogue playing against their former team.
GAME ONE
The insane pushing power of a Tristana and Janna botlane led to ORDER taking their first turret at 7 minutes into the game, with an Infernal Drake going their way not long after. A coordinated gank onto Tally yielded First Blood, but not after some fancy footwork under his tower allowed Rogue to kill off Juves after the Zac passive was popped. Dream and Cuden responded with a botlane turret, but there was an almost 15 minute lull in play, with multiple turrets and small skirmishes occurring, but nothing massive.
The lull ended when FBI picked up a Triple Kill and Swiffer got a Double Kill to cleanly ace SIN at 22 minutes for an 8k gold lead. Pushing in the top lane as the game closed in on 25 minutes, Swiffer exploded onto Dream and Cuden, picking up a nice Double Kill. Seconds later, Spookz almost oneshot Bdoink with a crit to take 80% of his health before finishing the Azir off. Swiffer, again playing very well, slew Juves for a 12k gold lead and a Baron. With their monstrous gold lead, ORDER stormed into SIN’s base and Tally was traded for 4 members of the SIN lineup and a 27:20 win.
GAME TWO
First blood went to the unconventional Thresh pick from Rogue to start out the laning phase, only 2 minutes into the game. Again, the laning phase was for the most part uneventful, until Cuden and Swiffer were killed in a fight at 11 minutes. Swiffer was caught out again on his way to help out a fight at the botlane, and SIN were looking good early into the game. FBI picked up first turret at 15 minutes but died a minute later. Turrets and kills went back and forth, with ORDER picking up the Rift Herald seconds before Baron spawned in it’s place.
Swiffer helped finish off Praedyth after Tally started the 1v1, and the Rift Herald was dropped in the botlane to take the inner turret. A Cloud Drake for ORDER began the downhill roll for SIN, as Juves, Praedyth and Bdoink died at 26:20 to hand over Baron and an 8k gold lead. With the game almost over, SIN did their best to hold out, but with Juves dying and a second Mountain Drake for ORDER, it wasn’t long before the OPL leaders took the Baron and aced SIN to win a 35 minute battle.
Series Three – Avant Gaming vs Legacy Esports
This was easily touted as the matchup of the week, with the game between the 1-1 Avant Gaming and 2-0 Legacy having the potential to go to 3 games without a doubt. Avant had played well in their victory against the Bombers and also showed further promise in their loss to the Chiefs Esports Club. Legacy, on the other hand had put up strong 2-0 performances against SIN and Tectonic without their Korean toplaner Mimic, so they did look strong with the import returning to the squad after competitive suspension.
GAME ONE
The first game of the day was pretty quiet until both teams attempted to go for Rift Herald, upon which they kicked the crap out of each other to give Sybol on Sejuani the First Blood onto his Avant counterpart before dying alongside Claire’s Zoe seconds later. Rift Herald remained untaken for a few minutes as Sybol resigned himself to taking the Mountain Drake as compensation, before two turrets and the Herald went the way of Avant. Avant finished off Legacy’s outer turrets with the Herald onto the midlane turret to press their advantage.
Before the game, Avant’s coach, Pinch had stated that Pabu wasn’t scared of the new Korean toplaner in Mimic, and he definitely was proved right as Pabu outplayed Mimic’s Gnar with a hand from Only. The game looked to turn in Legacy’s favour as Decoy was traded for Blinky, Jayke and Only in a midlane fight, with Mountain Drake going seconds later to the Adelaide FC-owned side as the game ticked over to 20 minutes. A second midlane fight 2 minutes later was the last chance that Legacy had, as a phenomenal ace in the toplane from Avant led the 5th placed team to smash their way into Legacy’s base. Avant just withstood a fresh onslaught from a respawning Legacy to narrowly take the Nexus and a 1-0 lead.
GAME TWO
Avant started the second game on fire, with Blinky picking up the First Blood onto Raid after Only, playing Jarvan IV again came in to gank. A repeat scenario yielded a kill onto Decoy as well to put Avant three kills up as well as a Mountain Drake. They also got the first turret just before 16 minutes, however Mimic traded it back 10 seconds later. The next kill of the game was onto Claire, giving Avant the opportunity to secure the Infernal Drake. Legacy’s botlane died once again a minute after the first turret fell, but Legacy did bounce back a few minutes later when Frae, Blinky and Jayke all died in their jungle to give over Baron to Legacy after a vain challenge from Pabu and Only.
With the gold deficit back to 1k, Legacy used the Baron buff to take the Infernal Drake as well as multiple turrets to push their gold deficit to a gold lead. Frae managed to pick off Mimic to lead to Jayke being traded for Claire and Sybol as well as the next Baron to Avant. The third Infernal of the game went the way of Avant, but 2 minutes later Raid killed Avant’s botlane one more time. Raid was on fire, picking up another double kill minutes later, before Legacy took the Baron to force their way into Avant’s base. Legacy were seconds away from winning the game and forcing a third match, but their bloodlust stopped them taking objectives and allowed Blinky to repel them. A phenomenal call from Avant led Pabu and Frae to teleport in Legacy’s base for the backdoor and the impressive 2-0.
Series Four – Dire Wolves vs Bombers
GAME ONE
Shernfire started his return to competitive League of Legends with a blistering First Blood onto Rosey, with k1ng following up with a full Bullet Time onto Tiger for a second kill. The next kill was at 14 minutes, with Looch falling to Triple after Shernfire ganked again on his Shyvana. The Bombers picked up their first kill a few minutes later, with Looch taking a kill onto Chippys, but Rift Herald went to Shernfire as well as the three outer turrets to put the lead firmly in the Dire Wolves’ hands.
Multiple kills went over to the Dire Wolves, with the Bombers breaking their 10-minute drought to take down Shernfire but losing their top lane inner turret in the process. Positioning around Baron at 28 minutes, the Dire Wolves strangled all vision around it so they could freely take it, and they did so, although Bombers did attempt to challenge for it to no avail. Two kills onto Triple and Shernfire 2 minutes later gave the Bombers some hope until an Infernal and two kills onto Tiger and Looch went the way of the Dire Wolves. The base was broken, and the Wolfpack forced their way in, picking off Seb and Rosey to take the 1-0 in 32:24.
GAME TWO
First Blood of the game was onto Sleeping’s surprise Riven pick, after Chippys made a clean outplay. Bombers struck back at 9 minutes however, with Cupcake calling before the Bombers’ jungler, Seb, was punished for a greedy invade by Shernfire. Looch’s death a minute later gave the Dire Wolves the opportunity to secure first turret, as well as a further kill onto Looch. The Wolfpack’s midlaner, Triple, died twice in quick succession although it wasn’t all in vain, with the Rift Herald being used to knock down the midlane outer and help close out the outer ring of turrets.
A teamfight at 20 minutes through the game went the way of the Dire Wolves, with four members of the Bombers dying in the bottom blue-side jungle before Sleeping held out long enough for Rosey to respawn and deny the clean Ace. The loss of the Wolfpack’s botlane put a halt onto a turn onto Baron, but a further teamfight at 23 minutes killed off all of the Bombers except for Rosey to give the Wolves the midlane inhibitor. Rosey wouldn’t survive forever, as his death at 25 minutes allowed the Dire Wolves to secure Baron. With the Baron buff, the next teamfight at 27 minutes was all too easy for the defending champions, and the nexus was shattered to give the Wolfpack more momentum going into their Week 4 top of the table clash with ORDER.