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League of Legends: OPL split 1, week 3 recap

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With three weeks of Oceanic Pro League competition in the books, just one team remains undefeated. Chiefs Esports Club are sitting pretty on top of the ladder with three wins, only dropping one map in seven games to LG Dire Wolves. Exile 5, meanwhile, are still searching for their first win of the season.

But in more interesting news, Avant Garde recently announced their new partnership with...Maxibon? I'm not too sure what esports and ice cream sandwiches have in common, but I do know I've been subsisting on $1 Frozen Cokes all throughout this sweltering Sydney summer, so maybe the deal makes more sense than at first glance.

Play of the Week

"This is so risky."

So said shoutcaster Jake "Spawn" Tiberi as Legacy Esports entered the Baron pit after backing out of an overly aggressive fight in mid lane that saw them trade a death with Sin Gaming. With Victor "FBI" Huang channelling the spirit of Bradley Cooper in American Sniper in his long-range Jhin assaults and Cuong "Flaresz" Ta's Teleport available, Baron wasn't exactly a done deal for Legacy.

And right on cue, like ibises flocking to a Saturday arvo barbecue, Sin collapsed onto the helpless Legacy squad, taking out two guys and pressuring Tim "Carbon" Wendel to hit the Smite button before he went down, essentially gifting Baron into Sin's eager hands.

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Bonus: keep an eye on the player cams as the 'fight' unfolds. The image of Carbon leaning back with a look of utter despair on his face juxtaposed with Brandon "Juves" Defina popping off into his headset is one for the ages.

Sin Gaming v Legacy Esports

Result: 2-1 Sin Gaming

Flaresz earned his lunch money in Game 1, dominating James "Tally" Shute in the thrilling Maokai vs. Singed matchup and showing up in bot lane to accelerate Sin to a lead, and ultimately hand Legacy their first game loss of the season.

Game 2 featured Sin's Play of the Week, but if we forget about that one slip up, the game belonged to Brandon "Claire" Nguyen. He finished with a ridiculous 18/3/12 (that's a 10.0 KDA if you were trying to do the maths in your head) on Jayce, carrying Legacy to a win in one of the most intense games of the split so far.

But in the end, it would be Sin who claimed Game 3 to upset Legacy and hand them their first match loss of the year. Juves was active early, combining with Jake "Rogue" Sharwood's signature Thresh on three separate occasions to gank Legacy and give Sin a lead they would continue to hold on to.

Abyss Esports Club v Avant Garde

Result: 2-0 Avant Garde

Game 1 was a story of action versus reaction, and in this case, Avant were all action. Evan "Ceres" Mascarenhas amassed a significant lead on Irelia, forcing Abyss to dance to his tune while the rest of the team methodically took down objective after objective. He finished with a 0/0/1 scoreline — a true top lane island dweller.

Game 2 was all Bradley "Chelby" Williams as he produced another high pressure performance on Kha'Zix to neutralise Sebastian "Seb" de Cegile's Lee Sin, before handing the reins over to Stephen "Triple" Li, who carried Avant into the endgame without dropping a single death on Syndra.

Chiefs Esports Club v Exile 5

Result: 2-0 Chiefs Esports Club

Although some early action went in favour of Exile 5, Chiefs' experience showed as they maintained superior control over objectives in Game 1. Quin "Raes" Korebrits walked away with a bizarre 0/0/10 scoreline despite leading the game in creep score. I guess it's harder to last hit champions than minions.

Eldin "Guts" Skenderovic picked up four early kills on a curveball Hecarim pick in Game 2, but Simon "Swiffer" Papamarkos was able to rack up some kills of his own at a similar pace. There's no question whether it's more desirable to have a fed Hecarim or a fed Corki when it comes to taking towers — fittingly, the game ended in just 27 minutes as Chiefs rampaged their way through x5's base.

LG Dire Wolves v Tainted Minds

Result: 2-0 LG Dire Wolves

Tainted Minds were given a raw deal in the leadup to this match, struggling with internet troubles at home on top of the departure of coach Nick "Inero" Smith. Tristan "Cake" Côté-Lalumière pulled out an ominous-looking tome entitled The Summoner's Code to compensate, but whatever was written in that book (and if I'm being honest, I don't really want to know) didn't help them in Game 1 as OPL debutante Shern "Shernfire" Tai took control of the game early for Dire Wolves. Aaron "ChuChuZ" Bland's 10/3/4 performance on Jayce wasn't enough to stop the Wolves as they snowballed to a win.

Game 2 was utter dominance by the Wolves as they won fight after fight thanks to the marksmanship of Calvin "k1ng" Truong. Richard "Phantiks" Su had a throwback performance on Ryze, finishing with 4/1/12 and leading both teams in damage.

The Oceanic Pro League continues next Saturday from 3 PM AEST as Exile 5 take on Avant Garde. Watch live at http://oce.lolesports.com.

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