As a week of grey skies finally parted last Sunday afternoon to give way to the warm Sydney sun, so too did the Oceanic Pro League bring us some welcome surprises. While Sin Gaming notched a second upset win over Legacy eSports (which makes me wonder if a third win would even be considered an upset at this point), Chiefs Esports Club's substitute roster blew Exile 5 out of the water, proving that there is no justice on Summoner's Rift.
Speaking of justice, Ninja Tabi needs to be nerfed for the sake of everyone who enjoys playing this game.
Play of the Week
When the Chiefs' starting roster was suspended for two weeks, no one really expected anything out of their substitutes. It's a tough job to suddenly play in the OPL, and it's an even harder job when you don't interact with your new teammates outside of solo queue. But sometimes we do get the Hollywood storylines in the OPL, and like a ragtag bunch of unrealistically attractive men a la Ocean's Eleven or The Expendables, the B-list Chiefs roster ended up looking pretty solid.
The beauty of this play lies in the sheer confidence and decisiveness on display. Damian 'Yuzuki' Tu was in complete control during Exile 5's tower dive, knowing that he could keep his team safe with Lulu's defensive capabilities. Zachary 'Pacman' Bayne and Lo Pak 'Siuman' Man's Teleports were right on time, allowing the Chiefs to swing a bad situation into three kills.
LG Dire Wolves v Tainted Minds
Result: 2-0 Dire Wolves
We weren't really expecting anything out of Tainted Minds as their 2017 saga went from bad to worse after some former players released some tell-alls on the conditions behind their OPL struggles this season. Dire Wolves cleaned them up nicely in Game 1 led by an extremely dominant bot lane performance in which Calvin 'k1ng' Truong and Mitchell 'Destiny' Shaw split seven kills and 20 assists between them (on zero deaths!).
Dire Wolves completed the sweep in Game 2, winning lanes across the map and efficiently translating their advantages into victory. Ryan 'Chippys' North even went as far as to purchase a Mejai's Soulstealer 16 minutes into the game. Yeah.
Legacy Esports v Sin Gaming
Result: 2-0 Sin Gaming
Legacy started strong in Game 1 with Tim 'Carbon' Wendel picking up some important kills with Graves, and in true Legacy fashion, lead built upon lead as the boys in green led by over 8.1k gold 27 minutes in. Yet, a triple kill by Cuong 'Flaresz' Ta brought Sin within pecking distance, and from there, they would continue to scale into the lategame in a situation that Legacy coach Luchio 'Soulstrikes' Park both foresaw and attempted to avoid.
We're used to seeing Legacy bounce back after a tough loss, but Game 2 was nothing short of pure Sin dominance as the underdogs crushed the Tree in less than 26 minutes by aggressively making plays on objectives. Tommy 'ry0ma' Le participated in ten of his team's thirteen kills, finishing 5/0/5 and leading in champion damage.
Exile 5 v Chiefs Esports Club
Result: 2-0 Chiefs Esports Club
Chiefs were meant to drop a few matches in the absence of their starting roster, but at this point in the season, it would appear that their substitute roster might actually just be flat-out better than Exile 5. Pacman was a beast on Tahm Kench early on, quickly achieving raid boss status (as we saw him do all of last season) and and slogging his way through x5's five-squishy lineup.
Exile 5 came back with a renewed fire in Game 2, keeping the game tight for nearly half an hour despite some coordinated fighting from Chiefs. It wasn't enough, unfortunately, as they were blindsided by a Baron attempt which saw Chiefs propel themselves into the driver's seat with a handful of kills. Pacman finished deathless with 4/0/13.
Avant Garde v Abyss eSports Club
Result: 2-1 Avant Garde
Lachlan 'Sybol' Civil showed up big in Game 1 on his new team, notching 4/3/11 on Lee Sin in an important win against Abyss. All four of his kills came within six minutes: an indication that the aggressive snowballing Sybol might not have completely disappeared with his departure from Dire Wolves.
Jackson 'Pabu' Pavone popped off in Game 2 as he dominated rising star Evan 'Ceres' Mascarenhas in the Kled vs Rumble matchup, putting Abyss up early. Their inexperience was on display as they threw away some leads, but the stable carrying force of Leon 'Frae' Lee's Viktor saw them through to the end.
Sybol had another statement game in the decider, picking up a couple of early kills on Rengar before handing the reins to Stephen 'Triple' Li, who was absolutely commanding as he finished 6/0/7 on Orianna in an extremely clean Avant Garde victory.
The Oceanic Pro League continues this Saturday from 3pm AEST as Avant Garde take on Leagcy Esports. Watch live at http://oce.lolesports.com.