The Oceanic team’s roster includes signing three members of the successful Pentanet.GG lineup, which impressed at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational in Iceland.

The trio will be reuniting on Dire’s new Oceanic roster for the 2023 LCO season. The roster will see mid-laner Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney, and the bot lane duo of Mark ��Praedyth�� Lewis and Daniel “Decoy” Ealam form the core of the Dire Wolves team for the upcoming season, with Cameron “Zorenous” Abbott and Kim Zheng “Poltron” Nicholls completing the roster.

Coach Joseph ��Valixas�� Tselios, who will be leading the team in the 2023 season, highlighted his trust in the roster.

��We��ve put together a League team I think is really f��king solid,�� Tselios said.

��Compared to last year��and don��t get me wrong, I love all those boys �� we have a very vocal voice in Praedyth there now, and we��ve built around that completely.

“Skill and veteran experience is boiled into the five-man lineup too.”

The three stars of PGG will be reuniting for the first time since the end of the 2021 LCO season. Their impressive performance during that year’s campaign, particularly during their run at the MSI 2021 tournament in Reykjavik, earned them a devoted following among League fans worldwide.

The team consisting of top laner Brandon “BioPanther” Alexander and jungler Jackson “Pabu” Pavone, alongside two other members, placed 5th-6th in the Rumble stage of the tournament alongside Cloud9. Their performance earned them recognition among notable League giants such as DWG, Royal Never Give Up and MAD Lions after finishing second in the group stage.

After their victory in Iceland, Pabu and Chazz decided to relocate to Europe to compete in the regional leagues. Meanwhile, Decoy was acquired by INTZ for a Brazil swap. Praedyth and BioPanther remained in Australia in 2022, where BioPanther experienced further success with a transfer to ORDER and represented Oceania for a second time at the Mid-Season Invitational. Praedyth, on the other hand, finished as the runner-up in Split Two this year, as PGG was defeated by the Chiefs, who ultimately qualified for the World Championship.

Pentanet.GG, formerly the home of the trio, have assembled a star-studded League roster with the aim of qualifying for the PCS and competing internationally. The most notable additions to the team include Ryan “Chippys” Short and Shern “Shernfire” Cherng Tai, who have not competed in the Oceanic Pro League since 2020 and 2018 respectively.

Kim “DONGGY” Dong-geun, the former top laner, will move to the mid lane to accommodate the return of the experienced Kiwi player. The bot lane will consist of Vincent “Violet” Wong and Yao “Apii” Jian-Jing, known for his expertise in role-swapping.

BioPanther has recently joined the reigning OCE champions, the Chiefs, for the upcoming year. And as such, Chazz, Praedyth and Decoy will engage in a series of regular-season meetings against their former Pentanet top laner in 2023. As for PGG’s last remaining member from 2021, Pabu, he is currently a free agent in Europe.

The pathways for the Oceania League have undergone changes in anticipation of the upcoming season, with the top two teams from each split gaining the opportunity to compete in the PCS postseason and potentially earn a spot in international play at the MSI and World Championship. It is the goal of the Dire Wolves roster to qualify for the Pacific Championship playoffs in 2023. Valixas highlighted that much in his statement.

��We have such a strong core [with the PGG players], and I think this whole project is a big step for myself as a coach, the org, and everyone involved,�� Valixas said.

��With what happened with ORDER [the Melbourne outfit went into administration this year] there aren��t many orgs left that will put out the dollars and back a roster like this. To mix these proven stars with learning players, I have high hopes.��

Dire Wolves’ new all-Australia roster will include Zorenous, Poltron, Chazz, Praedyth, Decoy and support substitute Rhett “Vxpir” Wiggins, who joined the team from the Sports Geek-owned franchise, Gravitas.

More esports news

?ORDER extended their win streak to seven games last week when they took down Chiefs Esports Club and Pentanet.gg. With the form ORDER have been showing across the last month, it’s fair to start believing that they might win the whole thing.

Dire Wolves enter this match on a four-game winning streak that includes wins against Gravitas, PEACE, MAMMOTH, and Legacy Esports. Although a solid record on paper, they haven’t faced much quality in that stretch.

Wolves seem more like playoff gatekeepers rather than serious title contenders. They usually do well against the bottom four teams, but they are 2-5 against the top three teams and have yet to defeat ORDER this term. Back the favourites here.

?This is a must-win match for both LCO teams as they look to secure the fifth and final ticket into the postseason. If PEACE win and Gravitas lose to MAMMOTH, they would be guaranteed a spot in the playoffs; however, a defeat would put them in a tough position since they would need to defeat ORDER on Wednesday and hope that Legacy drop the ball against MAMMOTH. The latter scenario seems highly unlikely, so it’s fair to say that whichever team wins on Tuesday will finish the season inside the top five.

Legacy Esports last met with PEACE at the end of July, when they won their second head-to-head bout of the split (2-0). Legacy have since played six games and lost all but two (2-4), which includes all of their last four outings, whereas PEACE are only 1-5 over the same stretch.

PEACE enter this bout off a win against MAMMOTH, but that is nothing to write home about. This seems like a 50/50 match, which is why we’re gladly siding with Legacy at the offered LoL betting odds.

?Pentanet.gg last met with Chiefs Esports Club during LCO Split 2 Week 6, when they won with relative ease. The match ended with 26-6 in kills and a massive 18.6k gold lead for Pentanet.gg, largely thanks to their ADC Mark “Praedyth” Lewis and mid laner Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney, who ended the game with 13/1/6 and 8/0/11 respectively.

Pentanet.gg have since gone 5-1, with their only loss coming against the surging ORDER. Chiefs are 4-2 over the same period, losing against Dire Wolves and ORDER.

Although Chiefs are good enough to be considered as one of the top three Oceanic LoL esports teams, it’s hard to favour them over a Pentanet.gg side that has a very high ceiling �C as seen at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational. It will be an exciting match, but Pentanet should get it done with at least six kills to spare.

?Pentanet.gg were a bit unconvincing early in the season but have since improved and clawed their way back to the top of the league. They are now on a seven-game winning streak and one win clear of Chiefs Esports Club and ORDER.

Pentanet.gg’s next opponents are MAMMOTH, who are already locked out from advancing into the playoffs having won only one out of 15 outings this split. On a more positive note, MAMMOTH’s first victory of the split happened last week against Gravitas, to which they added two decent showings against Legacy Esports and ORDER.

MAMMOTH have been very unimpressive with their mid-late game, but they have done well in the early game. MAMMOTH average a 66.7% First Blood rate (FB) and 60% First Tower rate (FT). In comparison, Pentanet.gg average a 46.7% FB and 53.3% FT and yet are still priced as favourites with esports betting sites on both markets. The discrepancy in the FB rates is impossible to ignore.

?Gravitas lost all of their last three outings against Legacy Esports, Pentanet.gg, and MAMMOTH. ORDER are the complete opposite and enter this match on a three-game winning streak with wins against Dire Wolves, PEACE, and MAMMOTH.

ORDER and Gravitas last met two weeks ago, when ORDER won with a 12.9k gold lead and 25-10 in kills. It was a fairly straightforward win, largely thanks to mid laner Jerome “Chungy” Chung and ADC Nathan “Puma” Puma, who ended the match with figures of 7/1/7 and 12/2/8 respectively.

ORDER have been playing well of late, and we expect them to repeat that success on Wednesday but, we wouldn’t back them outright at $1.25. Instead, we like a bet on over 29.5 kills.

It might seem like a high number to cover; however, with the way Gravitas have been playing of late (42.25 average total kills per game in their last four outings), we’re likely in for a bloody and high-scoring affair.

?Legacy Esports enter this match with a 4-5 record, which ties them with Dire Wolves in sixth place. Once a force to be reckoned with in the Oceanic LoL esports scene, Legacy lost their identity after parting ways with key players, most of whom left to play in the North American league.

Still, there is a sense of optimism in the air as the league isn’t nearly as top-heavy as it was in the first split of the season. Legacy are just three wins short of catching up to Chiefs Esports Club and would have easily been at two had they not slipped against Gravitas on Wednesday.

Chiefs and Legacy last met on Tuesday, June 22, when Chiefs came out ahead with a massive 14.5k gold lead. Chiefs have since won five out of six bouts, losing only to the surging PEACE.

Given how dominant Chiefs were last time out, it’s fair to expect them to add their eighth win of the season on Tuesday; however, that doesn’t justify the high odds. Legacy have been improving and have looked much better since the introduction of the 11.13 patch.

?ORDER and Gravitas share the same 5-4 record on the summer season, and both enter this match after a loss on Friday. Gravitas had to admit defeat to Dire Wolves, while ORDER struggled to deliver against Legacy Esports as $1.40 favourites.

Just two days prior, ORDER narrowly edged past MAMMOTH as $1.20 betting favourites and lost their LCO Split 2 Week 4 opener against PEACE. Despite ORDER’s obvious struggles in patch 11.13, they are still priced as favourites for this bout, which doesn’t seem right.

Gravitas have their flaws, but they are 2-1 in their last three with wins against Legacy Esports and the reigning LCO champions Pentanet.gg. This is an obvious bet on Gravitas.

?PEACE lost their bout with the Oceanic 2021 Mid-Season Invitational representatives, Pentanet.gg on Friday. That, however, doesn’t take away from their solid showings against Chiefs Esports Club and ORDER.

Dire Wolves have been an up-and-down team this split and seem to only do well against bottom teams. They have already lost to Pentanet.gg, PEACE, Legacy Esports, ORDER, and Chiefs Esports Club. Their only four wins of the season came against Gravitas (twice), MAMMOTH, and Pentanet.gg, who they punished with early-game aggression.

The fast-paced playstyle seems to suit Dire Wolves, who will likely run it back with the same approach against PEACE. Dire Wolves scored 22 and 25 kills in their last two outings, and while the number will surely be lower this time out, there is a solid chance we will see at least 15 kills per side on Tuesday.