Welcome back to the Oceanic Nationals predictions for Stage 2 2021 where you’re joined by your lovely host Ducky. Let’s look over the fact he’s last in the expert panel tipping now, and use the insight of our lovely brainiacs instead to break down Gameday 4.
Look, at least I’m not last by myself (thanks for holding my hand down here, Manic).
With Bliss blazing ahead of the pack on Gameday 3, the question everyone is asking is who can stop them? Rhythm this week? Probably not.
Instead, the heavyweights are getting into a battle of their own, with arguably the match of the stage — Chiefs vs Knights — finally upon us.
To break down the action, I’ve recruited my lovely gaggle of experts to spoon feed me their predictions and analysis. If tipping has taught us anything, follow their advice — not mine.
- Brandon “Raven” Langiano: OCN & APAC South caster
- Michael “Guzz” Gurrie: OCN & APAC South caster
- Jake “Zenox” Brander: OCN & APAC South caster
- Rob “Manic” Munday: OCN & APAC South caster
- James “Devmarta” Stewart: OCN & APAC South caster
- Alex “Skye” McCallum: Caster and observer
- Andrew “Ducky” Amos: Snowball Esports journalist
Wildcard vs LFO (Friday 7pm AEST)
Prediction: Wildcard win
The potential for an upset is real in this one. LFO is a team on the rise, while Wildcard have failed to meet expectations at every corner so far this season.
After beating Order in APAC South, they couldn’t run it back the day after in OCN, falling to a 7-4 loss. It’s just hard to exactly pinpoint what’s gone wrong with Wildcard, but it’s probably just a slow adaptation to the new style of play they’ve been forced to adopt with Milo on board.
LFO are still struggling too, but not as hard as Stage 1. Sushi posted a pretty impressive 15-kill performance in their 11-round loss to Bliss, but the rest of the squad was relatively AWOL. While they feel strategically more turned on this season, their firepower is lacking with the loss of Jigsaw.
With that being said, LFO hardly enter this matchup as favourites. It should be Wildcard’s win all the way — their APAC South form is a good indication of things to come — else it’ll be a bit of a tall order to ask the former Kings of Oceania to reclaim their throne by the end of the year.
RoflcopterGG vs Order (Friday 8pm AEST)
Prediction: Roflcopter win
Can Roflcopter finally get off the ground against Order? Our experts believe so.
It’s funny, given Roflcopter have hardly had the golden start they would have wanted after Stage 1. A humbling 7-3 loss to LFO was at least sweetened by two good performances against Chiefs and Knights, the former ending in a win.
Usual standout Boydy has had a quiet season, but if he can find the form that made him a very real MVP contender last season, Order might struggle. While they stabilized against Wildcard last week, it’s been a topsy-turvy year for the squad, and Speca still isn’t at his explosive best.
This will, really, be the last week for both teams to prove themselves and where they should sit. If Order wants to gun for the throne, they need a win here. However, if Roflcopter want to make a late run to playoffs, they have to get off on the right foot against Order.
Rhythm vs Bliss (Friday 9pm AEST)
Prediction: Bliss win
First 7-0 for the season on the cards? How about a 7-1 — still haven’t had that yet. You’d put the house on Bliss at least breaking that against Rhythm.
They looked better with Supremisis in the lineup against Chiefs, despite not managing to push it to overtime. It’s a shame he’s on the bench this season, because he brings a lot of fragging power to a squad that really relies on it to brute force their way to wins on most occasions.
Bliss are unstoppable, and there’s nothing much more we can really say. Any player on this roster — whether it’s Repix, Jigsaw, or even Shadey — can be a standout on the day. Outside of that, they have some of the most structured play that rivals Knights and Chiefs.
It should be an easy win for Bliss, but depending on the Rhythm that turns out on the day, it could be a slightly less brutal beating.
Chiefs vs Knights
Prediction: Knights win
What a game to wrap up on. This is worth staying up for — plus most of us are in lockdown anyways, so what else do you have to do aside watch OCN?
Chiefs haven’t been able to recapture their Stage 1 magic yet sitting dead last in APAC South, and recently being pushed by Roflcopter (and to a lesser extent, Rhythm). Worthy, who was the backbone of their Stage 1 campaign, is yet to shine, which puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the team to step up in their star fragger’s place.
Knights, on the other hand, look like the best team in Oceania. I’m willing to put down the only fact they didn’t beat Bliss was because of APAC South prep (not an excuse I typically buy, but I’ll allow it for now). Jsh’s stocks have also increased drastically, so if you haven’t bought in, it’s time to.
Knights should be able to edge out Chiefs in this one — and let’s hope it’s only an edge-out. Of all the games to go to 15 rounds, it should be this one. Anything less would be disappointing.
Oceanic Nationals returns for Gameday 4 on Friday, July 2, with Wildcard taking on LFO at 7pm AEST.
You can catch the action live on the Rainbow Six Bravo Twitch channel.
