The third day of LCO’s Super Week 1 is here. Every team has played more than half of their series for the regular season, and all eight still find themselves chasing playoff spots. For some teams, their playoff spot is all but locked in already, and the focus turns more towards securing a top seed in the bracket instead.
Yesterday, Team Bliss took themselves one step closer to a repeat trip to the PCS playoffs as they took down Vertex with ease. Game one saw their Korean superstars in midlaner Daystar and support Akia take control of the rift and put on a clinic, and game two saw Lived go legendary with an 8/0/3 Fiora performance. Bliss simply outclassed Vertex, claiming a 22-minute win to wrap up the series.
In the second series, Pentanet gave the Chiefs their first blemish on their record as the Perth-based Squad toppled the defending champions in a dominant and near-perfect display. The win saw midlaner DONGGY earn his first professional Pentakill as well as the first by a midlaner in the LCO era to wrap up the first game.
The second game went more of what has been expected from The Chiefs this split, with Kevy taking signature pick Viego and dominating the rift with an 11/1/11 performance and a comfortable 26:15 victory, denying Pentanet a series victory. PGG is yet to secure a best-of-two, having drawn all their series this split.
Today’s first series sees Ground Zero taking on Vertex. With both sides already taking a 0-2 series defeat this week, and finding themselves on the fringes of the playoff bracket currently, this series is a must-win, momentum-defining series for both sides. Game of the day honours, however, belongs to the second series set to be played today, as The Chiefs take on the Dire Wolves.
Harry’s Pick of the Week — Chiefs v Dire Wolves
The Chiefs and Dire Wolves are the two longest-standing organisations in Oceanic League of Legends. Both teams first formed before the start of the OPL, and have participated in every split since the eight-team league came into existence.
The two teams are also the most decorated in Oceania, and both have come into this split with eyes on both the PCS and the LCO title.
Defending champions Chiefs came into week four with a perfect record, but last night that was torn up. In the first game of their series against Pentanet, the Queensland-based squad looked disjointed and unglued as Pentanet took control of the Rift early and handed the champions an uncharacteristic and rare shellacking of a loss.
Game two saw them return to their style, dominating the map and taking the game with prowess, poise, and ease—as has become expected of this top squad.
The Dire Wolves come into this series riding on new momentum. The Wolfpack introduced jungler sHAKa from the ill-fated Peace squad into their lineup this week and have not looked back.
Having split the series with Pentanet in week three, they dominated Kanga on Monday with their new recruit pivotal to their success. The team has levelled up and become the challenger this star-studded roster aims to be.
This will obviously be the biggest challenge yet for this iteration of the lineup. To even consider cracking the top two, they will need to get the win here today which I do not see happening.
The Dire Wolves are one of the top lineups in this league, don’t get me wrong, but The Chiefs are on the next level and should take the victory here today. The champs will have to work hard for it however, and they can’t afford to have a repeat of their game one performance against Pentanet from yesterday, as that will be an opportunity that the Wolfpack will devour.
Week 4 Day 3 Predictions
LCO’s first Super Week concludes tonight with another night of action-packed competition. Check out the schedule, rosters, and more on our ultimate coverage hub.
Follow our prediction team @CDMLoL, @ImHarryTaylor, and @NadetteOCE on Twitter.
