Chiefs reverse sweep Bliss in OCN 2021 Season Finals, FURY promoted for OCN 2022

Chiefs came back from 0-2 down to beat Bliss in the OCN 2021 Season Finals, while FURY will replace Overt in OCN 2022.

The Chiefs Esports Club has completed their flawless Oceanic Nationals 2021 campaign, beating Team Bliss 3-2 in an intense reverse sweep during the Season Finals. Both sides will head into OCN 2022 as firm favorites, with FURY being promoted to the big leagues after November’s Relegations battle.

The OCN 2021 Season Finals ended with the result most were expecting ⁠— a Chiefs win ⁠— but the three-time Stage champions were pushed to the edge by a hungry Bliss looking to prove their worth ahead of APAC South Relegations.

Bliss came out with a slightly unconventional style against both Knights in their semifinal on Saturday, and then Chiefs on Sunday. The squad experimented deeply with their operator line-ups, including a few Glaz picks by Todd “Todd” Francis on Villa, along with plenty of rushes and spawn peeks by Jack “Jigsaw” Gillies, named OCN Rookie of the Year.

The underdogs managed to turn a one-map lead into a 2-0 advantage on Clubhouse ⁠— the Chiefs’ affectionately known “Dubhouse” ⁠— by going on a four-round tear to force overtime and eventually overwhelm the three-time champions 8-6.

However, after a mental reset, the Chiefs came out swinging on Kafe. A 7-5 win saw the diesel engine get going, before MVP of the Year Trent “Worthy” Rose dropped 17 kills on Chalet to force a fifth and final map on Bank.

It was an uphill battle from there for Bliss, having to take on Chiefs on one of their most notoriously strong maps. While Ethan “Ethan” Picard wasn’t able to pull off the same Kapkan shenanigans as he did at the Sweden Major, strong fragging by Morgan “Fishoguy” Ishizaka and Jake “GodLgn” Harris early set the pace, with Chiefs eventually finalizing the reverse sweep 4-7, 6-8, 7-5, 7-5, 7-4.

“I am just speechless. 2-nil down, I’m so tired, I’m absolutely knackered,” Raine “Dgtl” Wright ⁠— winner of the OCN Entertainer of the Year award ⁠— said after the game. “If the three-peat didn’t give [the bragging rights] to us, this would.”

“The 2-0 was like ‘damnit, what do we do now?’ When we won Kafe, we were like ‘we’ll win from here’. We just believed in ourselves. It sounds cliche, but it’s just belief and us knowing we’re a better team than they are.”

“We’ve exceeded our ambitions this year, and now we’ve got higher expectations.”

Earlier in November, FURY earned their promotion for OCN 2022, beating Big Dogz and Overt on their way to the top-flight after a year of domination in the Oceanic Challenger League (OCL).

“We put in ridiculous amounts of work, countless hours, and it’s so good to see it finally paying off,” FURY’s Jacob “Presidnt” Kirton said after qualifying. “Everyone on this team is ready for the grind. We put in so many hours already, and that’s only for OCL.”

“We just want to be able to compete with the top OCN teams. Playoffs is a big goal for us, but coming into Stage 1 we’re just going to be learning. Going into Stage 2 and 3, that’s when we’ll aim for the top spots.”

Wildcard will also remain in the top-flight after breezing through Relegations.

While Rainbow Six action might be over in Oceania for the year, there’s still one event between now and the true end-of-season with the Six Invitational 2022. 

The Knights are the only OCN side left in contention for a spot, having qualified for the APAC closed qualifier against three other teams: Japan’s Cyclops Athlete Gaming, Hong Kong’s APR, and Korea’s Talon Esports.

They will play for the final spot in Montreal on January 8-9 2022, before Invite begins in February.

Andrew Amos

After joining Snowball in mid-2018, Andrew "Ducky" Amos has fast become one of our region's best esports writers. Cutting his teeth in Oceanic Overwatch, he now covers all kinds of esports for publications globally. However, his heart still lays at home, telling the story of Aussies trying to make it big.

PhotographyUbisoft
Andrew Amos
Andrew Amos
After joining Snowball in mid-2018, Andrew "Ducky" Amos has fast become one of our region's best esports writers. Cutting his teeth in Oceanic Overwatch, he now covers all kinds of esports for publications globally. However, his heart still lays at home, telling the story of Aussies trying to make it big.

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