Hello again, it’s Toxin! For the first piece of unofficial content for the week, I’m gonna do a quick rundown of my playoff picks for the first round in the BOL Gold Playoffs. Throughout the season my predictions have been above average to say the least, although I was never able to completely predict the correct results. Therefore, I can almost guarantee you that at least one of these picks is going to be wrong. However, as the playoffs progress, I will continue to provide content on who I expect to win each series using any new information given to me, including the correct teams playing against each other. TLDR: I’m confident in my picks, but I’m not randomly going to stop doing content if my bracket goes astray. Also, all picks are made assuming starting lineups play. With that being said, let’s get into the matchups:
Oasis NADS in 4 Unfortunately for my friends over at The Collective Esports, they got a very rough draw for their first round matchup in the BOL Gold Playoffs, going against a favorite to make the finals. Oasis NADS absolutely dominated their division, only dropping a single game to Literal Monkeys the entire season. That being said, they really had no real competition throughout the season, with their only real match being the aforementioned Literal Monkeys series. I think this fact will cause them to start the series slow, dropping the first game. If The Collective Esports is able to ride the momentum off of the early win, there’s a chance they can pull off an upset. However, I think it’s more likely that Oasis rebounds and wins the next two games, causing their opponents to lose faith in themselves and ultimately the series.
Oasis Octane in 4
This match really comes down to the jungle matchup to be completely honest. There are clear win cons on each team that each jungler can play towards that will lead their team to victory, but it’s up to them in order to find those win cons in game and effectively play towards them. To make their job easier, I will say that the best single player in the series in my opinion is Quelana in the bot lane. He is definitely a player to look out for in this series, as he has proven to be a top adc in the league. The fact that he has a plat support in SharpOtter6 only amplifies his overall strength. For the Frost, I think that your attention should be sent top lane towards CaptainMorgan141. Given the right tools, I think he can take over the game. Ultimately, the Chubby Babies have not played a real match in two weeks, so I think that rust will end up being the difference maker.
Mad Rawrs in 3 Upfront, I will say that this prediction was made solely on the assumption that the Mad Rawrs actually field their starting lineup. For the last two weeks, this team has been unable to do so, which is concerning for a pick em due to the uncertainty of the roster they will throw out there. If the starting lineup plays, I think this is a clean wrap 3-0, and Primal have no business playing in the series. I think it’s extremely obvious what you ban against that team, and the top gap should end up being enough of a canyon to make up for any other deficiencies there could be around the map. However, if Lil Natz does not play/the drafting ends up being atrocious, this could end up being a five game series. I’m not confident in Feathers and Fur playing top lane, and the duo mage bot lane combo they showed off last week will not work against a playoff team.
Scarlet Miracles in 3
Another match that won’t be close at all, you have Scarlet Miracles taking on Dawnbreak Gaming. The latter of the two teams is a team that is honestly lucky to be in the playoffs at all, while the former is a team with championship pedigree and can look to repeat. I will say that there are some potential factors that can work in Dawnbreak’s favor, including the condition of Healthy Ego’s computer, the fact that HowIMetYourTable will be the starting adc instead of Lunari Riv60, and the scuffed roster they put out without Ego did not look strong at all. In addition, I think that Life is a Myth can be the win con to lead the team to victory. However, if the Miracles can ban out Myth’s two champions, I’m quite confident that Ego will be able to finish this series fast.
NSG Black in 5
I think that this matchup is probably one of the closest matchups that we are gonna see in the first round of the playoffs, which is saying something considering that it is a number one seed going against a number four seed. I have genuine concerns about each team; for NSG Black, their bot lane is on paper much stronger, however they have only played with him for a week. Is that enough time for him to fit in with the roster? For Hyperion Gaming, will Dobs be able to 1v9? He seems to be the only bright spot on the roster in the matchup. I think it goes five games, but NSG Black ultimately takes it.
Literal Monkeys in 5
Speaking of close series, I think that this will be the closest series of all. Both of them are teams with something to prove in these playoffs and are serious contenders to make the semi-finals, no matter which of the two wins the series. This series will go five games, and either team can win, however I think the Literal Monkeys take it home. The biggest question mark in my mind is if Ball Slap will be able to match up to BuhrockObama in at least three games. I think that the Monkey’s bot lane can stomp on the Shock’s, and the other two matchups are pretty even. I can definitely see BuhRock carrying his team to at least two wins 1v9. However, I think the Shock’s inability to close out games will lead to their downfall.
3-0 Esports in 3
There’s really not much to say about this match, other than the fact that it’s 3-0 Esports, by far the favorite to win the whole thing, versus Vitamin X, probably the worst playoff team in the league. If Vitamin X is able to take a single game off of 3-0, I’ll legitimately be surprised. That’s how sure I am of this prediction. If they want to try to win, they can look to prey on top lane with roams by Dysax. However, I think the bot and jungle gap will prove to be too large for this team to reasonably put up a fight. Put it this way, if this team can’t beat Pod of Dolphins, they will not beat 3-0 Esports.
Twin Disasters in 3
I will start by saying I’m pretty biased in this one, considering I’m on the Twin Disasters, however I seriously think my team has reached a new level. With our new jungler Loxi on the starting roster, I believe that we were able to shore up on our business weakness as a team. Across the board, I think that our team is better than our opponents in Chubby Babies Cinder. Unless their Mid laner, whether it be Uwu Viktor or Cristian the MAN, is an absolutely giga smurf and beats up on Kaiten, this should be an easy 3-0.
Matches to Watch
At the moment of writing this, we don’t know for sure which matches will be streamed this week. However, my choices for the games to watch have to go towards Literal Monkeys vs Chubby Babies Shock and NSG Black vs Hyperion Gaming. I think the first match is a no brainer, as it gives the best chance of all to make it to a game five, and who wouldn't want to listen to Silver Scrapes? The Shock also has not been streamed this season yet, so I think this is a good time to feature them. I think the NSG Black/Hyperion Gaming matchup is the next best to watch, as it should be another close one. Also, if you stream both matches, the winners of the two will be able to have an equal amount of information going into round 2. The final considerations goes towards the Oasis Octane vs Chubby Babies Frost and the Twin Disasters vs Chubby Babies Cinder matchups. For the former, I think this match will also be a close one to rival that of the NSG match, however I have more confidence in Oasis winning than I do with either NSG or Hyperion. With a clear favorite emerging in the matchup, I’m not quite sure if it would be the best one to show. On top of that, if both Oasis teams make it out of the first round, I think that matchup should 100% be shown next week. Finally, I will mention my matchup as a potential matchup to show due to the fact that when Cinder loses this week, they will have gone the whole season without being shown on stream. With that being said, if I was in their shoes, I would rather not be streamed at all than get 3-0’d on stream. Final note: Dawnbreak Gaming, Oasis NADS, LTMK, Twin Disasters, and Mad Rawrs have all been shown twice on stream this season. Chubby Babies Shock and Cinder are the only two playoff teams that have not been shown, and the rest of the playoff teams have been shown once.
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