League of Legends: OPL split 1, week 4 recap

We're a third of the way through Split 1 of the Oceanic Pro League, and it's the Big Four who are on top of the ladder. Chiefs Esports Club lead the pack with 11 points off four match wins, while Avant Garde, Legacy Esports and LG Dire Wolves are nipping at their heels. But the season is still young, and there's plenty of time for another team to make a run at a playoffs appearance.

By the way, if you were watching Saturday's games you may have noticed that a certain handsome writer was on the analyst desk! Feel free to check out the VOD for my full insights on Avant Garde vs Exile 5 and Dire Wolves vs Legacy.

Play of the Week

Okay, here's a question to test your bot lane instincts. You're laning with a Braum as Lucian and move in for a trade as you've been doing all game long, when a Kha'Zix suddenly appears out of nowhere and chunks you down to 150 Health. Do you:

Accept your fate and die, valiantly grabbing a few last hits before you fall;

Blow all your summoners and run in a different direction, forcing the other team to choose who to kill;

Smoothly kite backwards, firing The Culling into Kha'Zix's face as he slowly comes to the depressing revelation that he's dead bug meat?

If you're anything like me, you choose A. If you're a little smarter, you choose B. If you're Lawrence "Lost" Hui, you choose C, and you even earn another spot in our Play of the Week.

Thanks to some handy protection and CC from Andy "Cupcake" van de Vyver, Lost was able to keep the Voidreaver just outside of reach, turning Shern "Shernfire" Tai into BBQ chicken without breaking a sweat.

Avant Garde v Exile 5

Result: 2-1 Avant Garde

Still unable to field mid laner Lo Pak "Siuman" Man, Exile 5 struggled mightily in Game 1, being routed in 22 minutes behind a 7/1/9 performance from Stephen "Triple" Li's Syndra. It was a decisive clobbering across the map, with every lane going in Avant's favour.

Game 2 saw Evan "Ceres" Mascarenhas pull out the Swip3rR special with top lane Tryndamere. A few 'lucky' crits early on put him ahead against Daniel "FivetoEight" Hicks, allowing Avant to execute a 1-4 split push with Viktor and Varus on the other side of the map. Avant earned another fast win in just 23 minutes.

LG Dire Wolves v Legacy Esports

Result: 2-1 Legacy Esports

After their recent struggles in closing out games, Dire Wolves played magnificently in Game 1 as Shernfire outplayed Tim "Carbon" Wendel at every turn to set his team's pick comp in motion. Calvin "k1ng" Truong finished with a game-high 7/0/5 statline.

Like Big Sean, Legacy bounced back in Game 2 as Carbon pulled out the Ivern. Dire Wolves subbed Shernfire out for Lachlan "Sybol" Civil, who was able to turn the game into a tug-of-war early on, but Legacy's curveball Lucian/Braum combo pumped out massive damage while avoiding Dire Wolves' dives.

Legacy rode their momentum into Game 3, utilising a dual marksman strategy with Corki and Lucian to take out towers while Tally disengaged with Gragas' Explosive Cask. Despite downloading some information on Carbon's jungling while riding the bench in Game 2, Shernfire was unable to find a way in for his team, giving Legacy the series.

Sin Gaming v Tainted Minds

Result: 2-1 Tainted Minds

A long Game 1 ended up in Sin's favour as Jake "Rogue" Sharwood's Vel'Koz support pick ended up dealing more damage than everyone on the team bar Victor "FBI" Huang. Tainted Minds fought admirably, winning team fights despite losing the map, but ultimately it wasn't enough.

Game 2 saw Tainted Minds surge back into winning form, as they pushed Lethality abuse to its logical conclusion with a triple AD comp of Talon, Jayce and Quinn. Mark "Praedyth" Lewis was everywhere on Talon, racking up a 12/3/9 statline while playing Assassin's Creed: Summoner's Rift.

Tainted Minds continued to opt for strange picks in Game 3, pulling out top lane Jarvan IV for Praedyth. His dunks were savage, leading him to finish with a game-high damage score of 28.2k, more than double that of lane opponent Cuong "Flaresz" Ta. Ultimately, Sin couldn't deal with TM's high-octane style as they dropped the series.

Abyss Esports v Chiefs Esports Club

Result: 2-0 Chiefs Esports Club

Abyss came swinging out the gates in Game 1, leading in gold until 28 minutes in, when Chiefs' superior objective control saw them take a crucial Baron. From there on, Chiefs switched on and eradicated Abyss's base faster than you can say "Singed split push".

Chiefs came back with a more convincing performance in Game 2 as Samuel "Spookz" Broadley got off to a strong start on Graves. When he handed the reins over to Quin "Raes" Korebrits, it was all over for Abyss, who were reminded why Chiefs are still number one.

The Oceanic Pro League continues next Saturday from 3 PM AEST as Tainted Minds take on Abyss Esports Club. Watch live at http://oce.lolesports.com.