We’re getting ever so close to the end of the regular season, but that doesn’t mean the OPL is slowing down. Legacy once again stumbled against Sin Gaming to hand the Dire Wolves and the Chiefs a chance at claiming first spot as they both pulled convincing 2-0 wins, and Avant Garde kept a hungry Abyss at bay as they look to recapture their early season form.
All this and more in Respawn Ninja’s OPL Week Eight Recap!
Dire Wolves (2) def. Tainted Minds (0)
The Dire Wolves have continued to improve in the second half of the split, and they’re starting to look like a well-knit team, this time taking down Tainted Minds. Game one saw the Dire Wolves construct a buff the Rengar composition, with plenty of speed ups from Sivir and Karma helping to snowball the game out of control for the Dire Wolves in a 30-minute romp.
Tainted Minds tried to combat the Dire Wolves composition from game one with bans towards the Sivir, but the Dire Wolves demonstrated they had far more up their sleeves playing the extremely strong laning duo of Caitlyn and Nami. Their pressure in the bot lane eventually blew out as they brought Rumble down for a party and snowballed the game in an even quicker fashion to win in 27 minutes and keep the pressure on Legacy and Chiefs for top spot heading into the playoffs.
Sin Gaming (2) def. Legacy Esports (0)
Legacy’s bogey team, Sin Gaming, once again brought Legacy down with a thumping 2-0 victory. With the Chiefs suffering several bans due to account sharing last week, it seemed like it was Legacy’s opportunity to consolidate their top spot in the OPL. Game one was a topsy-turvy affair as Legacy looked to have a tight grasp on victory with two barons, but Sin’s carries showed up big, with Ry0ma’s Vladimir and FBI’s Ezreal dealing immense damage in fights to turn the game into a Sin victory.
Legacy appeared lost in the second game, as Sin put on the afterburners to pull away from Legacy from the outset. Ry0ma showed that he wasn’t just abusing Vladimir as he pulled out Orianna to dominate the game and lead Sin to a 25-minute win. This loss is going to hurt for Legacy as both of their losses this split were against Sin and it leaves them a point behind the Chiefs and the Dire Wolves. They’ll be back at full strength for the remainder of the split at least, as Claire returns from his two-match ban for their game against Avant Garde.
Chiefs Esports Club (2) def. Exile5 (0)
The Chiefs were hit hard last week after they were handed two-match bans to four players of their starting lineup. With only Swip3rrr left unaffected by the bans, the Chiefs took the risk to take an impromptu boot camp in North America and field a complete sub squad for the next two weeks.
Their first test was against cellar dwellers, Exile5, and ironically the Chiefs sub squad consisted of three ex-Exile5 players as well as former Abyss top laner, Pacman. With a point to prove, a game that would have been a relatively dour affair had some added stakes to the match as both teams went at each other hard, right from the get-go. While you couldn’t describe either game as clean, the Chiefs looked to be just ever slightly ahead of Exile5 in team fights, led by Pacman’s front line tanks they were able to take both games for a surprise 2-0 victory.
Avant Garde (2) def. Abyss (1)
After watching Tainted Minds fall once again, Abyss were granted the possibility to make it out of the relegations zone and into safety. But first, they would need to overcome an Avant Garde roster who were trying to recover from a mid-season slump. Game one saw Avant Garde pull out the surprise pick in Jhin mid as Avant used their two long range carries in Jhin and Caitlyn to tear apart Abyss.
With their hopes of finding a way out of relegations fading, Abyss put their faith in their new top laner, Pabu, as he pulled out the Kled for a second time and charged his way to a 7/0/5 score line to level the series at 1-1. Avant continued their strategy to target Pabu in the final match but did leave the Kled open. Surprisingly, Pabu chose to play a top lane tank, and without his pressure, Abyss were on the back foot. And after a massive shockwave from Triple, Avant Garde was able to seal the victory and potentially doom Abyss to relegation.
Player of the Week: Ry0ma (Sin)
This week’s player of the week is Sin Gaming mid laner, Ry0ma. After being handed a starting spot by Sin three weeks ago, Ry0ma was still searching for that defining series where he could prove that he deserved to be the Sin mid laner. He wasn’t handed the easiest of matches after playing Chiefs last week he was given the task of defeating first place team, Legacy, albeit with a sub mid laner.
Ry0ma came up big this week with two carry performances on Vladimir and Orianna as Sin continued their climb up the ladder. His most impressive stat from the weekend would have to be his damage dealt as he dealt 36% of his team’s damage and helped them hand Legacy their second defeat in as many matches against Sin.