The Oceania Pro League, also known as the OPL, is primarily the Australian competitive League of Legends scene. While it does represent the highest level of play in the region, it has yet to produce any spectacular teams, or yet even top players on the global level. Consequently, the OPL had long been regarded as a lower to mid-tier region.
James “Tally” Shute – Legacy Esports
Legacy Esports finished 2019 in the worst possible fashion, last place in the 2019 OPL Split 2. This led to a massive restructure of the team, swapping out their entire roster, and bringing in external help, Jensen (Not the one from Cloud 9) as head coach. Jensen had previously been a coach for Splyce, a mid – top tier LEC team that had managed to reach the quarterfinals in the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.
Under the leadership of Jensen now at the helm of Legacy Esports, the roster had been finalised. They 2020 roster featured established names in the Oceanic League as well as a Korean import from Kingzone DragonX in the form of EMENES.
Currently, Legacy Esports are at the top of the ladder in the 2020 OPL Split 1. They have managed to easily surpass the Dire Wolves, one of the top 3 teams, previously regarded as the face of the OPL. Legacy Esports also holds a leading position on another long standing OPL force, Chiefs Esports Club, a team who has consistently finished top 3 in every OPL event they have participated to date.
Early success always comes under fire when a new team takes the podium. We can not be certain if Legacy has what it takes to stay on top of their game through both splits. The team is performing well despite dropping their Korean import Jang “EMENES” Min-soo from the roster. Legacy has to bring James “Tally” Shute out of retirment to fill in the gap. Despite the change in roster, Legacy keeps performing well, showing us a solid infrastructure within the organization that is capable of adapting to change.
Success for teams in the OPL tend to be short lived, with the Dire Wolves reign ending at the end of 2018, and Mammoth’s in 2019. If Legacy Esports managed to continue their dominance in the OPL, we can expect a good show at the 2020 League of Legends World Championships. This is especially so considering the newly put together roster are still synergising and have massive room for improvement. If such a new roster has brought such early success, they may even be able to contest teams on the world stage.
There had been an instance where a lower tier region team had surpassed all expectations and shined on the world stage. In 2016, a CIS team, Albus NoX Luna, had been slotted in the World Championship’s hardest group. Consisting of the ROX Tigers, Counter Logic Gaming and G2 Esports, the group was not considered one where ANX could blossom. Defying all expectations, the Russians were able to end 4-2 in the group stage. They finished equal to first alongside the ROX Tigers, a super Korea team that were just short of taking out the world title themselves.
ANX would later enter, and quickly fall in the quarterfinals. However, this feat highlighted not all teams from the lesser regions should be disparaged.
Based on Legacy’s current form, they have the potential to become the next beacon for wildcard regions globally.
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