Hello and welcome everyone to a series of articles I will be writing for the duration of the Smite Oceanic Pro League, the Oceanic Challenger Cup and the Regional Finals held at PAX Australia. The aim is to provide a preview of each match of the week, what each team has shown so far, what they need to do to win and finally a personal prediction of how I feel each match will go. If you have any comments are opinions, please feel free to send them to @MrHughZ on twitter. So without further ado, let’s dive into Week 1.

Smite Oceanic Pro League Week 1 Preview and Predictions

HughZ

Hello and welcome everyone to a series of articles I will be writing for the duration of the Smite Oceanic Pro League, the Oceanic Challenger Cup and the Regional Finals held at PAX Australia. The aim is to provide a preview of each match of the week, what each team has shown so far, what they need to do to win and finally a personal prediction of how I feel each match will go. If you have any comments are opinions, please feel free to send them to @MrHughZ on twitter. So without further ado, let’s dive into Week 1.

Saturday 25th of July

Game 1

V

Quick Take

With Avant Garde taking out the top spot in the Oceanic Invitational Ladder and Synapse Gaming making it into the Pro League via the Qualifier tournament Avant emerge as the obvious favorite in the first game of the season. Avant’s roster has been the epitome of stability, with only one roster change in the last 8 months whilst Synapse is a relatively recently formed team. Synapse is clearly the underdog in this game, but who doesn’t like a good underdog story?

How Avant Can Win

Playing their usual game style which is complete domination of all aspects of the game. Avant need to not be fooled by any tricks Synapse may pull out. As well as Rowe farming and directing the flow of the game at his own pace, the biggest matchup will be the midlane clash between Ochita and Agony. Whoever controls the midlane will be able to better direct ganks and taking objectives around the rest of the map.

How Synapse Can Win

Synapse will need to control the jungle in order to deny Avant’s jungler Rowe his farm and thus prevent him from controlling the game. Synapse is known for their quirky and unconventional play style and Avant may not know how to deal with a HeartsGoBoom curve ball.

Final Prediction

Avant Garde 2 – Synapse Gaming 0

Game 2

V

Quick Take

Similar to the Avant/Synapse match up discussed above, the Dire Wolves proved themselves a strong team in the Invite Ladder whilst Lore was an unexpected addition to the OPL. However, DW’s recent roster changes may affect team stability, and the fact that their Captain and Support, RichardCastle is away for Week 1 may provide areas of weakness for Lore to exploit.

How Lore Can Win

Lore will need to take advantage of the new pieces of the Dire Wolves, those being the duo and mid lane. Whilst JustLaney is a top ADC, Melons a solid sub and Kiki an all round good player, the unfamiliarity of their situations may give them some uncertainty and cause some hesitation where they may otherwise act. Lore will need to notice these opportunities and use them to full effect. Chilled will have to make excellent shot calls to overcome the Dire Wolves.

How Dire Wolves Can Win

Dire Wolves need to be calm and work together as a team. Whilst the roster has been changed, the players all have the skill necessary to win. Yada and ElChuckles are the only members remaining in their roles from the Invitational Ladder and they will need to provide the confidence the rest of the team should feed off. If Laney can get rolling and get some early kills he will be extremely difficult to deal with.

Final Prediction

Dire Wolves 2 – Lore Gaming 0

Sunday 26th of July

Game 1

V

Quick Take

This is the match of the week and it’s for one simple reason – it’s a rematch. InVidious (as Silicon) and Ivory last faced off in the last match of the Pro League qualifiers where InVidious knocked Ivory out of the Pro League. With Citadel Smite disbanding, Ivory has a chance to get revenge and you can bet they are hungry for it. Both teams have had recent roster changes and now have had time to adjust so look for a more comfortable game from both.

How InVidious Can Win

Last time these teams met InVidious’s solo laner TopNotch swung team fights in InVidious’s favour and frequently disrupted Ivory’s own attacking raids. Well timed rotations from the solo lane and the jungle will be key for InVidious to win. JustRogue played extremely effectively in mid and if he can win his lane or at least go even, that will allow these rotations to occur.

How Ivory Can Win

Similarly to InVidious, Ivory will need to have great rotations from Jak47 and Syncro in order to dominate mid. The duo lane battle between Robdigidy and Ranabarana should be an interesting one to watch. Most importantly, communication between the team members must be absolutely on point.

Final Prediction

InVidious 1 – Ivory Gaming 1

Game 2

V

Quick Take

These are two teams that know each other very well but their will be no love lost between these two friends. Both teams came up through the qualifier tournament and have players from the Invitational Ladder so the experience is there. Both teams also have a fantastic amount of talent on the team so this should be a great match to close out Week 1.

How Too Edgy Can Win

Maxen will need to be back to his very best Season 1 form in the jungle and give nothing to TKAM. CrazyAussie will have a difficult time against iDivine and will need attention from his support and jungler. The ADC and Solo clashes will be interesting to watch as both are evenly matched and whoever wins these matchups will have a great advantage in determining the overall outcome of the game.

How Team Kamikaze Can Win

TKAM need to get iDivine online as early as possible if he plays a hard carry such as Chronos or create a team comp around him where he can deal a lot of damage to the opposing teams. This is the formula in the past that has worked for them and as they say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. As mentioned above, the ADC and solo matchups will go a long way towards determining the victor, but the mid and jungle will be where this one is decided. LiquidRenegade likes to play jungles that stick to you which allows iDivine and the rest of the team to come in and deal damage. If they can exploit CrazyAussie in the midlane – due to his recently operated on shoulder and role change – they should be able to get good farm from that.

Final Prediction

Too Edgy 0 – Team Kamikaze 2

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