Smite OPL Power Rankings

By HughZ

Week 1

Hello everyone to another article series I hope to be writing called power rankings. Here I will rank the teams in the Smite Oceanic Pro League from 1 through to 8 based on not only standings but in game performance, roster, and that intangible element you just can’t quite put your finger on. I’m certain that these rankings will be different from your own personal rankings, so feel free to leave your own rankings in the comments! Or, if you like, you can tweet me your rankings before I post mine every week and I’ll retweet them. You can find me @mrhughz

Without further ado, let’s go start at the top.

1 – Avant Garde

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Avant Garde sit atop the rankings for Week 1 and being on top is a familiar situation for the boys formerly known as Incite. After taking out 1st place in the Season 1 CyberGamer Finals and a repeat performance in the Invitational Ladder, Avant Garde has been the team to beat in the Oceanic scene for a while. Roster stability as well as solid practice against other top teams has allowed Avant to be not only number 1 on the Power Rankings, but the team most of OCE see representing them at the Smite World Championship.

2 – Dire Wolves

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Dire Wolves took down Avant Garde 2 – 0 in the Invitational Ladder but fell 0 – 2 in the 1st place decider. Combining that with the absence of their Captain and Support RichardCastle, the mid laner Wizzah leaving with the subsequent move of Kikiomeo to mid and acquisition of JustLaney for ADC means the roster is effectively only two-fifths of the one that beat Avant. Dire Wolves are in the 2nd spot however due to the disbandment of Citadel Gaming and Exhilarated going through almost the same roster changes and reforming as Too Edgy. The other teams in the OPL are either teams that were relegated from the Invitational Ladder or unproven Open Ladder teams who made it through the qualifiers. Once Dire Wolves re-establish their synergy and Kiki is used to his new role expect to see them consistently challenging Avant for top spot.

3 – Too Edgy

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Too Edgy formed when the rosters of Pro League qualified Exhilarated and the Open Ladder team Raiding Party combined between Split 1 and 2. A tremendously talented team with names recognised throughout the OCE scene, Too Edgy have a chance to make a name for themselves in the OPL and possibly in the PAX regional finals. The team is relatively new to playing with each other and some kinks will still need to be worked out before they can play at the best of their ability. Whilst the weekly predictions have Too Edgy losing to Team Kamikaze, I feel that Too Edgy is the stronger team but it will be an upset win from Team Kamikaze.

4 – Team Kamikaze

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A strong performance in the Oceanic Pro League qualifiers and the Split 2 kick off tournament sees Team Kamikaze round out the top half of the power rankings. An all-round strong roster as well as experience at playing at the highest level of Oceanic Smite should stand TKAM in good stead throughout the OPL. A challenging Week 1 match-up against Too Edgy will set the tone for their season and hopefully elevate them to the status of a true contender in the OCE scene.

5 – Synapse Gaming

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Synapse gaming is a team composed of former invite ladder players and strong players from the open ladder. Formed midway through the Invitational Ladder, Synapse performed strongly in the Open Ladder and the Pro League Qualifiers. A record of 5 – 2 in that tournament was enough to send them through to the Pro League only behind Team Kamikaze. Known for their quirky play-style and builds, as well as a penchant for speed buffs, Synapse will need to pull out all their tricks to take a game off of Avant Garde in Week 1.

6 – InVidious (formerly Silicon Sports)

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InVidious (formerly Silicon Sports) were the leaders of the pack of Season 1 Smite in Oceania. With Maxen leaving and a myriad of roster changes since, InVidious have struggled to find their identity in the new meta. Managing to take out Ivory Gaming in the final game of the Pro League Qualifier tournament, InVidious grabbed the final seat on the train to the Pro League. With more time and practice, hopefully this team can recapture some of the form we saw in Season 1.

7 – Lore Gaming

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Lore Gaming were a surprise to everyone when they qualified for the Pro League. A well known Open Ladder team, Lore proved themselves a worthy team in the Qualifier Tournament taking out Synapse Gaming and COG Clique. Losses to InVidious and Team Kamikaze, as well as inexperience competing at this high level of competition see Lore Gaming in 7th position in this week’s rankings. A tough match up against the Dire Wolves in Week 1 could doom Lore’s season before it has even begun, but they surprised us in the Qualifier tournament and may well do so again.

8 – Ivory Gaming

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Ivory Gaming is the Cinderella story of the Pro League. After a heartbreaking loss in the final game of the Pro League Qualifiers, Ivory thought their Pro League chances were done. With the unexpected disbandment of Citadel Gaming just days prior to the first game of the OPL, Ivory have been given a second life. A rematch of that fateful final game with InVidious in Week 1 should be good viewing for all, and Ivory need to come out the gates firing to give themselves a chance in the Pro League.

All of the OPL games will be broadcast on twitch.tv/teamdowntv2 at 6PM AEST every Saturday and Sunday.

For more details on Oceanic Smite, check out the CybgerGamer and eSportspedia pages.

CyberGamer: http://au.cybergamer.com/smite

eSportspedia: http://smite.esportspedia.com/wiki/Main_Page