The LCO continues to roll on as we enter Week 3 and the back half of the first of three round-robins for Split 2. And while Chiefs storm uncontested to the front, it’s the midfield that continues to excite.
After both picking up their first wins of the split last week, Kanga and Mammoth will open up today’s play as both teams look to push themselves into the conversation for a place in the top five.
Dire Wolves, finding themselves on a little hot streak and in a tie for second place coming into this week, will look to keep the streak going and continue their hold on a top playoff spot as they take on the defending champions Order, who look to build momentum after a convincing win last week against Peace.
Gravitas are still seeking their first win in the final game of Monday, but find themselves slated to come up against a heavyweight opponent in Pentanet, who are shaping to bounce back after a crushing defeat to The Chiefs last Tuesday, in what is brewing as the new top rivalry in this league.
Game of the Day honours goes to the second game that is scheduled to be played, as Peace looks to bounce back into form when they take on the unstoppable Chiefs.
Taylor’s Game of the Week: Peace (2-2) v The Chiefs (4-0)
Peace had a poor week last week — they suffered a pair of brutal losses, the first one against a now fully armed and operational Mammoth line-up.
Mammoth have successfully injected ‘the paptain’ Daniel “papryze” Francis into the top lane, and have found renewed confidence from new support Sean “Ali G” Lancaster, which allowed them to gain the first upset of the split.
On Tuesday, the 2021 Split 2 champs came up against the defending Champions, Order, who were looking to get back into the winning column after a pair of losses.
Order took the game in easy fashion; Min-jae “Goodo” Jeong led the team to victory (and a player of the game award to go with it) as he continues to fill the big gap left by Shane “Kevy” Allen’s departure.
This team has not been playing well recently, to be frank — it is obvious just by looking at them, and the stats prove it. After the halfway point of the first split, where they sat comfortably with a 10-1 record, they have since been 7-13, including two 3-0 playoff losses.
A 35% win rate is simply not good enough for a team of this strength. This team should be one of the ones contending for a top playoff spot, but at this rate are looking down the barrel of missing the playoffs entirely if they can’t change their trajectory.
This isn’t the first time the core of this roster has been in a situation like this during their championship split. Through roster changes, role swaps, and new signees they were able to build a roster that worked the best for the team, and with players riding the bench, as well as some big free agents available, they could find that working formula again.
What would be more immediate though would be for Peace to get a big win, and none would be bigger than the Chiefs currently.
The Chiefs have been on an absolute roll this split. They have made every game they played so far almost effortless, and honestly, I don’t expect it to stop anytime soon.
This team is stacked when it comes to talent. Ten OPL/LCO titles between the starting five, with most of the roster having experience playing in international leagues; be it in the LCS, NA Academy, or in Jungler Mir “Arthur” Park case, the LCK.
This doesn’t even factor in the experience their head coach, three-time Oceanic champion Leo “Babip” Romer, can bring to the table as well.
For me, this team is the run-away favourite this split, and the only team I see them losing to currently is themselves. A bad draft, a bad early start, a bad objective call, or something along those lines is more likely to lose them the game at this point than an outplay from their opponents.
They outclass their rivals in pretty much all aspects of the game, and Summoners Rift is their world to take. Needless to say, I expect The Chiefs to get the win tomorrow against Peace, and I wouldn’t be expecting it to take all that long either.
Taylor’s Week 3 Day 1 Predictions
Mammoth def. Kanga
The Chiefs def. Peace
Order def. Dire Wolves
Pentanet def. Gravitas
The LCO Split 2 resumes tonight at 6pm AEST, with game of the day Peace vs. The Chiefs set to kick off at 7pm AEST. Catch up on all the split details in our ultimate coverage hub.
Follow our prediction team @CDMLoL and @ImHarryTaylor on Twitter.
