The Melbourne Esports Open festival was the finale for months of qualifiers and hard work for many of Oceania’s best teams, with the event annointing Australian champions in Rainbow Six: Siege, Overwatch and League of Legends.
Mammoth, ORDER and Fnatic walked away the stars of the show, with the three teams overcoming separate challenges over the course of the weekend. Mammoth’s run to their first Oceanic Pro League title was a year-long endeavour to build Australia’s premiere League of Legends team, and they found themselves at Rod Laver Arena after dispatching Order 3-0 in the semi-finals last week.
It setup a thrilling finals against the Chiefs, who were playing in their eighth League grand finals in Australia. But the anticipation was short-lived as Mammoth carried their red-hot form through, wrapping up the series in a 3-0 sweep that lasted less than two hours.
It was another bridesmaid performance for Chiefs, who have played in four of the last six OPL finals only to lose every single one. They’ve also missed out on representing Australia at League‘s World Championship for over half a decade. Mammoth, meanwhile, will be on the plane to Europe later this year to fly the flag for Australia only two years after their formation.
Game 3 Highlights for @MelbEsportsOpen #IAMOPL Grand Finals @MAMMOTH_OCE vs @ChiefsESC #esports #Leagueoflegends pic.twitter.com/qoWcW4cPhM
— Oceanic Pro League (@OPL) August 31, 2019
The Overwatch Contenders Australian finals didn’t have any international travel on offer, but Mindfreak and ORDER still had plenty to prove between themselves. Mindfreak were the hot shot rookies looking to disrupt the perennial heavyweights of Australian Overwatch, ORDER and the Sydney Drop Bears, while ORDER were looking to secure back-to-back titles after finally claiming their first at IEM Sydney in May.
But the only thing served up on the Rod Laver Arena stage was a whitewash. ORDER ran away with the series with a comfortable 4-0, as the LAN jitters overwhelming Mindfreak. ORDER’s DPS player Dale “Signed” Tang, a member of the New Zealand Overwatch World Cup team, proved his worth by destroying Mindfreak at every turn, and the bell was ringing.
The Six Masters, played in Margaret Court Arena, came down to a classic Australian Rainbow Six battle between 0RGLESS and Fnatic. Fnatic has traditionally had the wood over 0RGLESS when it matters, although for a moment it looked like the status quo would be disrupted. Missing Matthew “Acez” McHenry from their roster with Ryan “Speca” Ausden filling in, 0RGLESS thumped Fantic on Consulate 7-1.
But Fnatic recovered and won back-to-back 7-4 wins on Clubhouse and Kafe, winning $20,000 for their troubles.
Your @Rainbow6ANZ Six Masters 2019 Champion – @FNATIC!! ????#MEO2019 | #SM19 pic.twitter.com/n8WbPuYsK3
— ESL Australia (@ESLAustralia) September 1, 2019
Oceanic League of Legends and Overwatch action will return in 2020, while the 10th season of the Rainbow Six Pro League continues.
Andrew Amos is an Australian esports reporter for Dexerto and Snowball Esports. Disclosure: Kotaku Australia and an offshoot of Kotaku Australia’s parent company were both sponsors of this year’s Melbourne Esports Open.
Leave a Reply