Every year, each team ends their run and starts planning for what’s next.

For some, they take some time basking in previous successes before trying to keep the thirsty pack at bay, looking to keep as many players as possible. For others, it can be a time to reflect, reset, and rebuild.

The 2020 Oceanic Pro League off-season has been one of the most volatile in history, with some teams coming out of the grinder for the better, while others have had their tyres slashed. We’ve assessed every team heading into the first games on January 31 to see who came out on top of the off-season trade battle, and who will be falling off the back of the pack.

Avant Gaming

2019 Roster TOP – Chippys

JNG – Miru

MID – Shok

ADC – Gunkrab

SUP – Aladoric

SUB – Sybol

SUB – Swathe

SUB – Dragku

SUB – Chenxuan

Coach – Rusty 2020 Roster TOP – Dragku

JNG – LeeSa

MID – Chazz

ADC – Gunkrab

SUP – Api

SUB – Violet

Coach – TBA

Finishing sixth in Split 2 2019, Avant showed some promise, but at the end of the day fell away and failed to meet play-off ambitions. Looking to start anew, they’ve gone through a complete overhaul, like most OPL teams, ditching every member from their 2019 squad.

However, on paper, they lack the threat to challenge the top dogs come season’s end. Success for Avant this split would be making play-offs similar expectations to last year, but given some of the moves made at the top end of town, this might just be a pipedream.

As a whole Avant hasn’t come out worse compared to last year, but they haven’t improved either, sitting on a pass mark as a result.

The Chiefs Esports Club

2019 Roster TOP – Swip3rR

JNG – Only

MID – Claire

ADC – Raes

SUP – Eyla

SUB – Cupcake

SUB – Thien

Coach – Volt 2020 Roster TOP – Thien

JNG – TBA

MID – Claire

ADC – Katsurii

SUP – KoreaCK

Coach – SeeEl

Finishing the regular season last split on top and falling on the final day is always a bitter pill to swallow and can always make regrouping for the following year a challenge. It can be difficult to pinpoint and understand why you fell short on the day, and it’s hard to decide what roster moves, if any, you should make.

Throw in what has been one of the most chaotic off-seasons due to talent moving overseas, and the Chiefs have come out okay. They’ve retained a core of Romeo “Thien” Tran and Brandon “Claire” Nguyen which should be enough to keep Chiefs fans optimistic about the season ahead.

They did lose their talented bot lane from 2019, which isn’t ideal, but they’ve found some solid replacements. I’m not certain that the Chiefs’ chances have improved from last season, but I think they’ve got enough fire power behind them to challenge anyone on their day. If they run hot into play-offs, they’re a good shout for taking it all.

Dire Wolves

2019 Roster TOP – BioPanther

JNG – Raise

MID – Getback

ADC – Katsurii

SUP – Totoro

SUB – UDYSOF

SUB – Siuman

SUB – Anderu

SUB – Corporal

Coach – Curtis 2020 Roster TOP – Chippys

JNG – Miru

MID – Shok

ADC – Vital

SUP – Decoy

SUB – UDYSOF

Coach – Cupcake

Coach – Kai

The Dire Wolves had a 2019 to forget. For an organisation that has tasted so much success in years past, boisterously promoting their winning culture and “trust the process” attitude, it would have disappointed fans that the highlight of their year was being dumped out of the first round of play-offs in Split 2.

Unsurprisingly they’ve gone back to the drawing board, and what’s old is new with former MVP Ryan “Chippys” Short returning looking to lead the Wolves back to success. I think they’ve come out better this year and would be very disappointed if they didn’t make play-offs, however I wouldn’t be banking on a deep run.

Overall, the moves for the Dire Wolves are a step in the right direction. While it might not bring immediate success, if we can “trust the process” perhaps it’s a push in the right direction for long-term development.

Gravitas

2019 Roster TOP – Pabu

JNG – Praelus

MID – Haeri

ADC – Raid

SUP – Decoy

SUB – Milky

SUB – GuaPi

SUB – Hotchelli

SUB – retribution

Coach – Juves

Coach – Vicarius 2020 Roster TOP – Nobody

JNG – Praelus

MID – Beats

ADC – Puma

SUP – Kpop

SUB – Trashley

SUB – Bambi

Coach – OMO

Coach – Vicarius

Gravitas’ debut season in 2019 left a lot to be desired. They were a squad that had some flashy individuals, but in the end missed play-offs in both splits with lots of lessons learned along the way.

Coming in 2020, however, I can’t see this squad getting very far at all. They’ve managed to keep Jordan “Praelus”

Fernandes as a central figure which is a positive, however he lacks the cattle on the park around him to make 2020 a meaningful year for the squad.

My colleague Andrew Amos had branded this squad a “rebuild” and I’m inclined to agree. There might be some talent to nurture and bring in success for 2021, but it’s going to be a bumpy 2020 for the Gravitas Glory faithful.

Legacy Esports

2019 Roster TOP – Papryze

JNG – Guts

MID – Chazz

ADC – Praedyth

SUP – Crayzee

SUB – Yuzuki

SUB – Api

Coach – Denian 2020 Roster TOP – Topoon

JNG – Babip

MID – EMENES

ADC – Raes

SUP – Isles

Coach – Jensen

Coach – Denian

For such a storied organisation, one that has always been in the hunt for the championship, Legacy’s 2019 bucked the trend and was an absolute stinker. However, it may have paid dividends, allowing the organisation to push harder for 2020 as they come in hot favourites this split with a star-studded roster.

They stole Quin “Raes” Korebrits from their long-time rivals at the Chiefs. The heir to the jungle throne in Leo “Babip” Romer has returned. They’ve got two strong Korean talents in the solo lanes.

Moves like these have seen armchair analysts and Twitter pundits put Legacy at the top of their power rankings and it’s easy to see why.

For me though, it’s a bit simpler than that. If you’ve swapped Eldin “Guts” Skenderovic and Mark “Praedyth” Lewis for Babip and Raes, you’ve already won the off-season.

Mammoth

2019 Roster TOP – Fudge

JNG – Babip

MID – Triple

ADC – k1ng

SUP – Destiny

SUB – Fudge

SUB – Cuden

Coach – Phantiks 2020 Roster TOP – Kweku

JNG – Bas

MID – Lived

ADC – Styled

SUP – Nausicaa

Coach – TBA

It pains me to review this squad after 2019. They’d won Split 2, travelled to Worlds, won the hearts of the region, and the players were rewarded with almost the entire squad moving with great opportunities overseas.

It was always going to be a difficult off-season to navigate. However it looks like behind closed doors with the changes to Riot funding and key staff members such as Ahilleas leaving, Mammoth has taken a few unrecoverable whacks.

They’ve had a complete 180 this off-season and will be likely looming towards the tail-end of the standings which is a real tear jerker for fans with their #TUSKSUP. Much like the grade, I’ll be remembering this 2019 juggernaut with F’s in the OPL Twitch chat (when R9k allows it).

Order

2019 Roster TOP – Tally

JNG – Spookz

MID – Swiffer

ADC – Dream

SUP – Jayke

SUB – Souli

Coach – ChuChuZ 2020 Roster TOP – Swip3rR

JNG – Only

MID – Haeri

ADC – rare7

SUP – Eyla

Coach – Spawn

2020 marks the first real shake-up Order has had since entering the OPL. While I’m sure there have been lots of tears shed by the Order faithful with the old guard leaving, there should also be a sense of optimism entering this season.

With the overall field of the OPL dropping this year due to retirements and overseas opportunities, Order has still managed to maintain one of the scene’s most competitive rosters.

A change of scenery for Brandon “Swip3rR” Holland, who is always there abouts at the pointy end of the season, an exciting duo of Ronan Dream “rare7” Swingler and Bill “Eyla” Nguyen in the bottom lane, the talent is there and there’s a lot to like about this team. However it remains to be seen if all the pieces of the puzzle can fit together.

Pentanet.GG

2019 Roster TOP – Mimic

JNG – Wilder

MID – Ryoma

ADC – Looch

SUP – Rogue

SUB – Zenk

SUB – Seb

Coach – Soulstrikes 2020 Roster TOP – BioPanther

JNG – Souli

MID – Getback

ADC – Praedyth

SUP – Rogue

Coach – Westonway

Taking over from the Bombers, the team Pentanet has assembled is an absolute wildcard. They have some experienced and successful players at their disposal, which mixed in with hot up-and-comers makes this team an exciting prospect where the sky’s the limit.

However it is worth noting that while players like Brandon “BioPanther” Alexander and Jake “Rogue” Sharwood have tasted domestic success, they weren’t the defining pieces for their respective teams. The other three players also are really yet to leave their mark on the league, despite some initial promise.

The top five of this split is going to be very competitive and that’s where I see Pentanet sliding in. For a first dig, Pentanet’s done very well, however if we’re comparing them to the team they’ve replaced they have big shoes to fill. At the end of the day, they’ll likely be in the play-offs, it just remains to be seen how deep they run.

The Oceanic Pro League returns on January 31.