The final week of the LCO regular season for Split 2 2022 is upon us. The five teams that face the playoffs have been decided, and it’s now down to determining seeding ahead of the last push for Oceania’s sole spot at Worlds in North America.
Opening up week ten is the still untroubled, still undefeated Chiefs as they target a perfect split. The Dire Wolves will look to stop The Chiefs’ unstoppable run whilst also looking to set themselves up for a top three position in the playoffs, firstly targeting that second spot that Order wrestled off them last week.
A battle for pride will take place next as Mammoth take on Chiefs’ mirror in Gravitas, who have just two matches left to post a win this split.
This is probably Gravitas’ last realistic chance of avoiding the dreaded winless season, whilst Mammoth will look to end the season on a high before their long break waiting for season 2023 to begin.
To wrap out the night Pentanet looks to cement a top three position as they take on Peace, who find themselves out of playoffs contention due to their current five-game losing streak — something they’ll aim to avoid extending in week ten.
The game of the week, however, will be the night’s second contest — current second seeds Order take on the talk of the town in Kanga.
Taylor’s Game of the Week: Order (12-7) v Kanga (10-9)
The final week of the regular season is one for tying up the loose ends of the season; the last chance to prepare for finals and to warm up for the best-of-five play that lies ahead.
This split is no exception. Sure, the five playoff competitors are locked in, but their paths to Worlds narrow via seedings.
The top spot in the standing has been gone for almost a month as The Chiefs assert their dominance over the region, but the rest? It’s all up for grabs from here.
For both Order and Kanga, their eyes lay focused on the top three in the standings, with Order looking to potentially all but lock up second with a win tonight, depending on other results.
They come into the final week having won their last two, taking down a desperate Peace in an otherwise one-sided affair. Tuesday saw them take down Dire Wolves in a much closer contest, inching over the Wolfpack in the head-to-head and all but tying up second seed already.
Kanga, who snuck through and stole away Peace’s playoff spot via consecutive 2-0 weeks, will look to extend their streak and shape for a spot in the upper half of the finals.
The unexpected playoff contenders took down the hapless Gravitas on Monday with ease, before running over Mammoth on Tuesday night in another non-contest.
The team has seen a rejuvenation since the introduction of Ben “Benvi” Moore in the support role, bringing the team to the next level to be true playoff contenders. The team has become a solid consistent unit, with all five playing consistent League of Legends across the board.
Despite this, I don’t think they are quite yet at Order’s level. The Split 1 champions have started to really tune it up in the last week and are looking like real threats once again. This game should be close, but I see this going in the favour of Order.
Taylor’s Week 10 Day 1 Predictions
Chiefs def. Dire Wolves
Order def. Kanga
Mammoth def. Gravitas
Pentanet def. Peace
The LCO Split 2 resumes tonight at 6pm AEST, with the game of the day Order v Kanga slated for 7pm. Catch up on all the split details in our ultimate coverage hub.
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