This article is proudly supported by McDonald’s
Order have been in this position before in 2019. After finishing in fifth of split one of the Oceanic Pro League, they ran the gauntlet to secure a spot in the grand final. While they fell down to the Bombers in the final, it was one of the most successful gauntlet runs in OCE history.
Now, in split two, they are doing it again. After clawing into playoffs in the final week, they smashed the four-time champions in the Dire Wolves in the first gauntlet match. With a matchup against the split one champions, Bombers, next in their sights, Order pulled out a bunch of obscure picks in one of our Maccas’ I’m Loving It moments.
In game two, Samuel “Spookz” Broadley brought out the Malphite jungle against the Bombers. While Order took the first game of the series and had an early lead in the second game thanks to Simon “Swiffer” Papamarkos getting ahead on Qiyana, Order crumbled as Min “Mimic” Ju-seong dominated the game on Aatrox.
Not to be deterred, Order kept the off-meta picks coming. Next up, Ronan “Dream” Swingler pulled out the Kog’Maw. The game was incredibly close, with no team garnering a gold lead of over 1,000 for most of the game. Order found the edge in the final fight by the Bombers bot lane inner tower, however, and Dream’s Kog’Maw was able to shred through the tanky lineup of the Bombers to secure series point.
With one last trick up their sleeve, Swiffer picked Twisted Fate mid into Tommy “ry0ma” Le’s Irelia. Ry0ma’s Irelia has been the thing of nightmares in the OPL, but Order were able to punish the Bombers weak bot lane of Karma-Shen and snowball the game out of control.
Taking the series 3-1, now only one game sits between Order and a shock Melbourne Esports Open ticket. They did it last split and they’ll look to do it again against Mammoth today.
