Dire Wolves have successfully defended their OPL Championship title after defeating Chiefs Esports Club 3-1 on Saturday.
After running the gauntlet to get into the finals, Chiefs Esports Club couldn’t break Dire Wolves in more than one game.
As winners of the OPL 2017 Split 2, Dire Wolves will be the first team to represent Oceania in the Play-In Stage at Worlds.
Dire Wolves have seen great improvement this year after receiving support from their new owners and sponsor. The OPL Winners will now fly to Wuhan, China, with a chance at making it to the group stage.
Celebrating the 3 – 1 victory, Dire Wolves once again reasserted themselves as Champions of the OPL after defeating Chiefs Esports Club in a best-of-five match in front of a large local and international online audience and cinema viewers across Australia and New Zealand.
According to Curtis “Sharp” Morgan, Dire Wolves Coach.
“Chiefs pushed us in the grand final as they have been doing all year. We’ve had to work hard but it will hopefully mean we are able to now do Oceania proud at Worlds”
Game 1
The Chiefs had a good bottom lane, however the rest of the map was in tatters. Every single time the Dire Wolves fought in team fights, they were able to capitalise and get great map control. Game 1 was all over in 30 minutes with the Dire Wolves steaming ahead.
Game 2
Swip3rR put up an amazing game on Gnar in the top lane as Chiefs fought back strongly in game 2. Either through luck or skill, Dire Wolves’ Shernfire jumped into the Baron pit as Zac and steal the buff. chiefs were able to secure Elder Dragon, however it wasn’t enough to stop the push from a Baron’d up Dire Wolves push.
Dire Wolves takes out game 2 with a close 19 Kills to 11.
Game 3
Make or break for Chiefs in game 3 they were able to get a comfortable lead and maintain it. After an early gank bot, Chiefs were able get ahead and then make further proactive plays.
Playing from ahead on a favourable draft, Chiefs kept cool and brought home the win to prevent a clean sweep for Dire Wolves.
Game 4
Game 4 was even for a while, with the Chiefs looking to turn things around, but Dire Wolves managed to get ahead, catching out the Chiefs Captain Swiffer multiple times. Chiefs on the back foot were able to win a skirmish by taking down Klng on Kalista in mid lane around 40min. When looking to follow up and get another pick, EGym gets caught out by a Thresh hook and Swip3rR’s Mega-Gnar wasn’t enough to lock Dire Wolves down.
Dire Wolves proceed to smash through the middle of the map to take the series.
After months of preparation and ten weeks of tough competition, Dire Wolves were crowned the 2017 Split 2 Champions of the League of Legends Oceanic Pro League (OPL) on Saturday.
What now for Dire Wolves?
Dire Wolves will now fly to Wuhan, China, to represent Oceania in the Play-In Stage at Worlds. From 23-29 September, Dire Wolves will face off teams from regions such as Turkey, Commonwealth of Independent States, Japan, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Latin America South and Latin America North, as well as third seeded teams from China, Europe, Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau and North America.
If they finish in the top 2 in their Group in Round 1 and win their Round 2 match, they will make it to the Group Stages – becoming the first Oceania team to do so.
Daniel Ringland, Head of Esports at Riot Games Oceania explained why this series was so important for OCE.
“Dire Wolves and Chiefs have been two of the OPL’s heavyweight teams over the past couple of years. It was an epically, strategic final and we’re excited to see what Dire Wolves can do at Worlds in China,”
Congratulations to the Dire Wolves and best of luck representing Oceania in China.
