Last weekend saw the first round of League Play in Throwdown Esports’ OCE Championship, and we got more than a few surprising results over a day filled with fantastic Rocket League action. Here’s a rundown of what went down.

Team Rosters

Chiefs ESC
Drippay
Jake
Torsos

Tainted Minds
CJCJ
Julz
Kamii

Dark Sided
Dumbo
Express
Shadey

Legacy Esports
Cyrix
Delusion
Siki

Love Decks
Addzey
Montyconnor
CJM

JAM Gaming
Bango
Decka
Walcott

Retirement Home
Daze
Ellusive
Kia

Legs are Silly
Plitz
Sammy
ZeN

Match 1: Chiefs def. Love Decks

An excellent first series saw Chiefs narrowly scrape by Love Decks, who have been consistently improving over the weeks leading up to the OCE Championship. No game was noticeably one-sided, with both teams trying to establish a lead on the ladder as soon as possible. In the end, though, Chiefs managed to win in a close 4-3 contest to close out a series win.

Results:
Game 1: 1-0 to Love Decks
Game 2: 2-1 to Chiefs
Game 3: 2-1 to Love Decks
Game 4: 3-1 to Chiefs
Game 5: 4-3 to Chiefs

Match 2: Dark Sided def. Love Decks

Similarly to their game against Chiefs, Love Decks also put up a close fight against Dark Sided as well, bar the final game. Once again, Love Decks showed resilience against one of the best teams in the region and I’m keen to see how they perform over the next few weekends of League Play — it’s clear to see that they’ve improved a lot, and can well and truly compete at the top. That said, Dark Sided looked solid in their play throughout this series, and will look to push for those top two placings in the tournament.

Results:
Game 1: 3-2 to Dark Sided
Game 2: 3-1 to Love Decks
Game 3: 3-2 to Dark Sided
Game 4: 5-0 to Dark Sided

Match 3: Dark Sided def. Legs are Silly

Dark Sided continued their solid run in the OCE Championship by taking out newcomers Legs are Silly 3 games to 1 in their final matchup of the weekend. Once again, it was a close contest for the majority of the matches between the two sides, but Dark Sided showed quality where it was needed and pulled through to make it 2-0 in League Play so far.

Results:
Game 1: 3-1 to Dark Sided
Game 2: 3-2 to Legs are Silly
Game 3: 3-1 to Dark Sided
Game 4: 3-1 to Dark Sided

Match 4: Legacy Esports def. Legs are Silly

Legacy Esports made light work of Legs are Silly, winning three straight matches fairly convincingly to announce themselves as big competitors in the OCE Championship. All three Legacy players played exceptionally well, pushing Legs are Silly to make mistakes and capitalising on those errors. Barring Game 2, Legacy were in cruise control for the majority of this contest.

Results:
Game 1: 5-1 to Legacy Esports
Game 2: 2-1 to Legacy Esports
Game 3: 5-2 to Legacy Esports

Match 5: Legacy Esports def. Retirement Home

It was a closer affair against Retirement Home for Legacy, with almost all of the games in this series being decided by just one goal. Once again, Legacy started well, but Retirement Home quickly came to grips with the side’s tactics and pulled a game back. However, in the end Legacy made the most of the chances they were given and won the final two games to win 3-1 on the day. The team is looking really, really good, and I’m keen to see how they go next weekend after some big wins this week.

Results:
Game 1: 4-1 to Legacy Esports
Game 2: 4-3 to Retirement Home
Game 3: 2-1 to Legacy Esports
Game 4: 3-2 to Legacy Esports

Match 6: JAM Gaming def. Tainted Minds

Perhaps the biggest upset of the weekend saw JAM Gaming clean sweep Tainted Minds in a dominant display. JAM — who just missed out on competing in the OCE Open Series Gauntlet Finals a few weeks prior — played out of their skin, with excellent passing plays disrupting any sense of flow for Tainted Minds. The latter will be extremely disappointed with the result here, but I’m sure they’ll come back stronger. As for JAM, what a message to send to the other sides!

Results:
Game 1: 2-1 to JAM Gaming
Game 2: 3-1 to JAM Gaming
Game 3: 5-2 to JAM Gaming

Current Standings

Standing

Team

Sets Played

Game Count

Set Count

1st

Legacy Esports

2/7

6-1

2-0

2nd

Dark Sided

2/7

6-2

2-0

3rd

JAM Gaming

1/7

3-0

1-0

4th

Chiefs ESC

1/7

3-2

1-0

5th

Love Decks

2/7

3-6

0-2

6th

Retirement Home

1/7

1-3

0-1

7th

Legs are Silly

2/7

1-6

0-2

8th

Tainted Minds

1/7

0-3

0-1

Final Thoughts

With the first weekend of League Play done, we’re starting to see how important teams are taking this competition, considering there’s so much at stake. The performances are already beginning to show, and big props must go out to Legacy Esports and JAM Gaming, who have come out swinging in particular. It’s going to be fascinating to see how the teams go next weekend, and we should start to get a better picture of which teams are looking to cement their top six spot from there.