Players from across Australia and New Zealand are descending on Sydney for their shot at a chunk of $60,000 and a trip to Atlanta Georgia to compete in the SMITE World Championships – here’s what you need to know about the players and teams competing in one of Oceania’s most exciting esports.

By Alexander “HughZ” Hughes

The year of 2016 has been an eventful one for Oceanic SMITE. Three splits, two LAN finals (with another one, the regional finals yet to come) and one spot at the SMITE

World Championship has created an environment of intense competition within the region. Last year, the former Avant Garde roster ran through the league, going undefeated through both the regular split and the 2015 finals at PAX Australia. An underwhelming performance at the World Championship led to a roster shakeup and the team departing the Avant organisation.

Looking now towards this year’s regional finals being held at ESL Studios in Sydney Australia, history seems to be repeating itself as it is again Avant Garde sitting on top of the standings, fresh off of a hot season and looking the favourites to represent Oceania at the SMITE World Championship. However, this time it is a new look Avant squad that will be representing the blue and black on stage, one loaded with veteran talent and that can’t wait to be back up on the stage. Captain and jungler Nick “LiquidRenegade” Howlett leads a squad that have always been in the conversation of top pro players in OCE, but have never quite made it to the peak that they are at now. When asked about what making SWC would mean to him and his team, LiquidRenegade had this to say; “It would be incredibly special to me to make Worlds with the amount of time I and my whole team have put in it would very special, I’ve been playing Smite since 2012 and this would just be truly amazing.”

The former Avant squad have a new name and some new faces; the captain of Team Pandamonium, Daniel “Rowe” Rowe, working with former teammate turned coach Kurtis “Biggy” Davidson, will be looking to make a second trip to the SMITE World Championship and has high hopes for his squad, despite their 3 – 0 loss to Avant Garde at the Split 2 finals. “[Q]ualifying for the SWC again would simply mean a second chance; A second chance to break into the semi-finals and get people talking about Oceania in SMITE.”

Last split, a squad of cast offs and Challengers Cup players came together to create Dead Weight, the team who, in a span of 3 months, dominated the second split of the OPL, were acquired by the renowned OCE esports organisation Legacy eSports, and then had one of the worst meltdowns at LAN in SMITE history, failing to win a single match. This split has been tough on Legacy, though captain and jungler OnlyGoodAtSolo (commonly shortened to OGA) remains confident in his and his team’s skill despite many role changes. “I don’t think that changing positions has really affected my play, as if you understand how to play smite I think you can switch roles relatively easily” he remarks, “However I think I had the most success in the jungle and I will be heading back there for LAN.” Along with replacing long time support Daniel “Weave” Stephenson and promoting substitute Robbie “Horizon” Bartuccio to main roster, the team has made several other role swaps within the Legacy lineup, including OGA having a brief stint in the support role.

“We are more dedicated towards the game right now than ever before…we are going to work on everything” – Torreyskiez

The final team competing at this year’s regional finals is Alpha Sydney, a team that played in the Challenger’s Cup in Split 1 and made it into the OPL in Split 2 under the name LlamasInPyjamas. Coming within one game of making it to LAN but falling to eventual Split 2 champions Avant Garde in the final week, Alpha Sydney are looking to prove they deserved a spot at the Split 2 finals and that they are a legitimate threat to any team they face. When asked how they were planning to take a set off any of the teams they would be facing at LAN, a feat they have yet to achieve at all in the OPL, captain and support player Torrey “Torreyskiez” Nghi had the following to say: “We are more dedicated towards the game right now than ever before…[w]e are going to work on everything even the little problems to make sure we don’t have any issues by the time LAN comes and that will hopefully show in our play and we will be able to take the set that we know we should be able to.”

Split 3 has been a constant back and forth between Avant Garde and Team Pandamonium at the top of the standings. Despite an earlier split between them, a week 6 clash between the two that resulted in Avant taking the set 2 – 0 effectively decided Avant being the top seed for the regional finals. This has mainly been attributed to the great synergy and teamwork Avant have developed. “I think the roster changes Avant Garde made throughout the second split were perfect for them, they seem to each have similar

personalities and the synergy brought by that combined with consistent practice has resulted in a lot of improvements” says Rowe. The roster changes he is referring to were replacing support Tommy “Tomahawk” de Jong with veteran Alex “Gruff” Brown, an especially bitter move for hunter Robbie “Robdigidy” de Jong as Tomahawk is his brother. As well as this, mid laner Lachlan “Maus” Caufield was benched in the second last week of Split 2 for Cody “iDivine” Davies.

LiquidRenegade echoed these sentiments, saying “Being comfortable around each other and becoming a team that play for each other, last split we were 5 players taking each game like ranked trying to carry as individuals but now we do whats best for the team which has made us a much stronger and successful team.”

“These reasons alone I feel will make them work harder to chase after the overseas teams and prove how good they are” – Shank

A big part of the success Avant is currently experiencing has also been in large part to the dominance solo laner Joshua “ElChuckles” Bruce has exhibited. “Playing against AV their solo side pressure and buff control on speed and blue was overwhelming and I think that came down to Chuckles having the pressure in lane and communicating that they can run in and fight” says Zac “Shank” Hospes, captain of 6th ranked team Royalty.

Whilst Avant Garde lost one brother from their pair, their rivals Team Pandamonium acquired first one and then the other of the Gallaugher brothers. Nick “RichardCastle” Gallaugher was brought onto the team to replace support Hamish “Erratic” Campbell-Smith just prior to the Split 2 finals whilst Alex “Kikiomeo” Gallaugher left Split 2 third place team Incite to join his brother in his 3rd role in as many splits, the solo lane. This was as a result of Rowe returning to the jungle after a split in the solo lane and jungler Maxen “Maxen” Williams moving to ADC to replace Luke “Subfloor” Gougeon. As we’ve seen Rowe say above, Panda’s focus is on making SWC again and there is strong belief they will do so. Shank was asked who he thought would make it to SWC and he fully believed Panda’s would repeat. “Rowe and Ochita will want to make up for last years performance and Kiki and Richard just falling short last year at LAN. These reasons alone I feel will make them work harder to chase after the overseas teams and prove how good they are.”

“ElChuckles to me will always be that awful Hun Batz from PAX 2015” – Rowe

Team Pandamonium have heard the hype over Avant Garde, ElChuckles in particular, but they aren’t buying into it nor are they going into the finals overconfident. Rowe did not think the moniker of the “best player in OCE” should be attached to ElChuckles, though nor did he think he himself had earned that title. “I don’t think it’s deserved, but nor do I think it’s deserved when I’m talked about as the best Oceanic player. It’s impossible for me to name a single player, but ElChuckles to me will always be that awful Hun Batz from PAX 2015; just like to him I should always be that weak-link Thor from Worlds.”

Legacy eSports comes into this years regional finals with a heavy weight on their shoulders, the failure to live up to their huge Split 2 with a disappointing performance at the Split 2 finals, not managing to log a single win. Legacy had a solid, if uninspiring split, with instability and roster changes making their effect felt. “I think the weakest team [at finals] will likely be Legacy, they may have had some success over Alpha Sydney in the Split but I think the help of Shing coaching may prove to be the upper hand” says Lachlan “Desacrator” Booth, captain of 5th placed team Corvidae.

Rowe remarks that “It’s hard to choose [a weaker squad] between Legacy and Alpha Sydney, both have felt very similar through the online stages. But given their constant roster concerns I’d lean towards Legacy being the weaker of the two; also due to the fact that Alpha Sydney should in theory see larger improvements than Legacy during the coming boot camp from having a solid analyst and coach in Shing.”

If last split is anything to judge by, you can never count out the underdogs and Alpha Sydney hope to replicate Avant Garde’s feat in the Split 2 finals against that very same team at the Regional Finals. A large part of why Alpha Sydney believe they have what it takes to succeed is the input of their coach, Alex “Shing” Rosa, a former NA SPL player whose resume includes time with Snipe, Cognitive Gaming and Team Dignitas. “Shing has been amazing and extremely helpful so far and I’m sure he’ll be even better when we head to the boot camp” says Torreyskiez. “He’s able to pick up on the things that we don’t notice when playing and let us know ways to improve on it. Also, he has brought knowledge from NA and that has been helpful in our picks/bans and hopefully we can catch some teams of guard with it.”

“I think Alpha Sydney’s lack of experience will be detrimental to their success, also facing us on day one won’t help them either” – LiquidRenegade

Alpha Sydney have proven they can take games off all the teams competing at the finals and are confident that when it comes to it, they will be able to take home the set victory they have been searching for. However, not everyone shares their confidence, with LiquidRenegade remarking “I don’t think there are any truly weak teams but I think Alpha Sydney’s lack of experience will be detrimental to their success, also facing us on day one won’t help them either.” Shank shared LiquidRenegade’s sentiments but also wish Alpha Sydney well, “Alpha Sydney I believe [is the weakest team] but only due to their LAN inexperience, but overall I think the top 4 are close in talent and any team can come out on top, so it’s hard to pick 4th place. But hopefully from the work they have put in AS can have a really good run at LAN.”

One of the most exciting parts of LAN is seeing who will step up and make the big plays when it counts. We asked each of the captain’s of the teams competing who on their team would make the highlight reel plays for their team on the biggest stage in OCE SMITE.

Rowe believes he and his long time friend and mid laner Jesse “Ochita” Cullen will be the ones to watch at LAN. “I believe the current jungle meta has the most room for spicy plays out of any role, closely followed by mid lane. So if I can’t nominate myself, I’d say keep your eyes on Ochita in mid.” LiquidRenegade is keeping faith that ElChuckles can keep up his tremendous form from the split, but is also reckons that his mid laner will be one to watch as well. “The easy answer is ElChuckles as he has been making plays all split but I think iDivine is looking really good at the moment and is really starting to feel comfortable again in the mid role and I’m expecting a big performance out of him.”

“Honestly, I would like to say me but all my team are amazing and I’m sure all of them will step up and show you guys why I consider them to be some of the best in the region” says Torreyskiez diplomatically. “If I had to say specific players, then most likely it’s going to be either Swifty or Slycy to make the highlight plays.” Nick “Swifty” Thomason and Kevin “Slycy” Yunizar are the mid laner and jungler for Alpha Sydney respectively.

OGA is taking a ligh-hearted approach to this LAN in contrast to the serious tone they took last time, feeling that both himself and highly touted ADC Mingyu “Hs247” Seo will be the ones making the highlight reel plays at LAN. “Probably myself and Hs247 [will make plays], last LAN I didn’t play as well as I wanted so this LAN I’m looking to leave a better legacy and Hs is constantly playing over aggressive looking for flashy solo kills.”

“With Worlds on the line the games will be incredibly intense!” – Desacrator

Even those teams not participating are looking forward to watching the finals. Shank has been a fan of the OPL long before he was a part of it,”Yes, always have lurked in chat every week last year and all previous splits watching the competition…I will be watching at home.” The best summary of what to look forward to at the event comes from Desacrator. “I’ll be attending the split 3 finals and I’m so excited once again to see everyone and watch the most competitive LAN we’ve ever had” he says, “With Worlds on the line the games will be incredibly intense!” With the way this split, and indeed this year has gone, there is little reason to doubt him.

You can buy your tickets for the Hi-Rez Oceania Championship here. The event will be held at ESL Studios in Sydney on the 26th and 27th of November. You can watch online on the Hi-Rez Tv twitch channel.