We wrap off super week 2 with a series of ladder implicating games as the back half of the season starts and we continue on the journey to Playoffs and Worlds.
Opening Friday we see the league-leading Chiefs take on the Gravitas in a game both teams want to win as they look to break away from the chasing pack. Afterward, Order and the defending LCO Champions Pentanet square off in a duel for second place to end Week 5.
To close out the docket we will also see Mammoth and Peace go face to face, with peace still looking for their first win since the injection of James “Tally” Shute into the lineup, while Mammoth seek their first win of the split.
The match though, which I think will bring the most important playoff ramifications is the third contest, when the once resurgent Legacy takes on the back-in-form Dire Wolves.
Taylor’s Pick of the Week: LGC vs DW
Coming into Week 5, both of these teams found themselves at 4-5 tied for 6th, coming off 2-1 weeks where both teams picked up an upset. The Leafs knocked off Order, while the Wolves had taken down the title defenders PGG. Both were looking to build momentum into the back half of the split looking and to contest a playoff spot.
Since then, these two teams have gone in polar opposite directions.
For Legacy, it looks like the wheels have started to come loose on the hype train, as they were handed back-to-back defeats. They did come at the hands of two of the league’s heavyweights in Chiefs and Pentanet, but both matches were pretty one-sided, with neither team really giving the AFC-backed team a chance.
For the Wolves, momentum continues to build positively. After finding themselves at the panic station at 2-5 after the first round-robin, the pack has hit a new level and has been perfect thus far for the second round robin, seeing off fellow title challenger Peace in a decisive victory on Tuesday, before denying Mammoth their first win on Wednesday.
For both teams there are huge playoff hunt implications. A win for Legacy will see them improve to only one game behind a potential playoff spot, whilst a win for the wolves will see them improve to a tie for 3rd place.
More importantly for Legacy, a loss may be the final nail in the coffin of a realistic playoff push, potentially putting them three games adrift of the playoff line with 10 games to go.
And unfortunately for them, this game may be the final nail.
The Wolves look like a much-improved team to what we saw when these two sides faced each other two and a half weeks ago, and with that and the slip in form from legacy, I would expect them Wolfpack to take this game comfortably as they continue their hunt up the ladder.
Taylor’s Week 5, Day 3 Predictions
- Chiefs def. Gravitas
- Pentanet def. Order
- Dire Wolves def. Legacy
- Peace def. Mammoth
LCO Super Week 2 concludes today: Legacy v Dire Wolves starts at 8pm (AEST). Catch up on all the Split 2 action in our ultimate coverage hub.
