Since their inception in 2014, the LG Dire Wolves have been regarded as a bunch of talented misfits: an Inglourious Basterds-style team of elite players who were too prickly to fit into other teams. At times, it almost seemed as if they were more interested in their rank on the Challenger ladder more than the success of their team.
But when mid-laner Richard 'Phantiks' Su choked up with tears while telling thousands of Oceanic Pro League viewers how much he loved the Dire Wolves, their OPL championship – their title as the best team in Oceania – suddenly felt very real. The narrative fuelled by incendiary tweets and multiple competitive rulings that we had bought into suddenly fell apart before our eyes.
What if we had it wrong the whole time?
Play of the Series
This isn't exactly an original opinion, but Ghostbusters is one of the greatest comedy films of all time. One scene that stood out to me as a kid was the climax of the film, where Harold Ramis convinces Bill Murray to cross the streams in order to defeat the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
As Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's face changes from an expression of rage to one of shock and fear, you can't help but empathise with the big guy. That brief period of time when he realises he's toast? He's probably never felt smaller.
I saw something similar in this Dire Wolves collapse, where Andy 'Cupcake' van der Vyver airballs a Dredge Line onto Mitchell 'Destiny' Shaw, allowing his entire team to get hit by Tidal Wave and promptly torn apart as the Wolves circled their prey. You can't see it in the player cams, but if I had to guess, I'd say Legacy probably felt a lot like Stay Puft Marshmallow Man at that moment.
Game 1
![lol](http://web.archive.org./web/20170818034214im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/9/9/6/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1492405162215.png)
Though Legacy opened the grand final with a nice two-for-one, a lopsided tower trade gave Dire Wolves the tempo advantage, and the game was busted open as Calvin 'k1ng' Truong picked up a crucial double kill in mid lane.
The Wolves were unstoppable from there, using their previously obtained map advantage to systematically crush Legacy in 23 minutes. Shern 'Shernfire' Tai finished with a cool 0/1/10 on Ivern, proving his flexibility as a jungler in crunch time.
Game 2
![lol](http://web.archive.org./web/20170818034214im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/9/a/7/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1492405198532.png)
James 'Tally' Shute got Legacy off to a strong start with a hilarious bait on Shernfire (which probably would have been our Play of the Week if this was a regular season match), but as the laning phase mellowed out, Dire Wolves crept back up and eventually took the reins in our Play of the Series.
Legacy were able to stem the tide even as the Wolves accumulated advantages across the map, but Dire Wolves forced their hand at Baron for an ace. From there, it was a textbook finish. Destiny rallied the Wolves with a perfect 1/0/16 on Nami.
Game 3
![lol](http://web.archive.org./web/20170818034214im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/9/b/7/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1492405242538.png)
With memories of their reverse sweep against Sin Gaming fresh in their minds, Legacy locked in for a do-or-die Game 3, reading and responding to Shernfire's movements on Lee Sin to punish his aggression. Unable to get off the runway, Dire Wolves slowly succumbed to Legacy's pressure despite a hearty attempt at a comeback 29 minutes in.
In the end, Legacy's advantage was too much for the Wolves as three inhibitors fell in rapid succession, with the Nexus following soon after. Tim 'Carbon' Wendel finished with 2/0/11 on Graves, while Brandon 'Claire' Nguyen led the game in damage dealt with 20k on Syndra.
Game 4
![lol](http://web.archive.org./web/20170818034214im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/m/9/c/0/image.imgtype.articleLeadwide.620x349.png/1492405274701.png)
In one of the most bloodless series deciders in Finals history, Dire Wolves picked up first blood at 12 minutes, playing a slow grind game with so much gold and experience being pumped into Richard 'Phantiks' Su that you could swear he was on a creep IV drip.
Well aware of the threat that a farmed Vladimir posed to them, Legacy conceded objectives until they couldn't concede any more, and Dire Wolves claimed the OPL title with a clean 9-0 kill score in 34 tense minutes.
Onward to MSI
The next step in Dire Wolves' journey will be a play-in tournament at the Riot Games Brazil studio in São Paulo starting on April 28th. They'll face elite teams from Brazil, Latin America, Southeast Asia, CIS, Japan and Turkey, as well as North America and Taiwan. Should they succeed in the play-in, they'll go on to play in the main tournament as champions from Korea, China and Europe join the fray.
Phantiks has declared that he's not afraid of any team -- even reigning world champions SKTelecom T1. Such bravado is par for the course for Dire Wolves, but this time, they aren't coming in as perennial bronze medallists. They're heading to Brazil as champions.