Gold Masters Week 1 Power Rankings

Ladies and Gentlemen. Boys and Girls. The time we have all been waiting for is upon with. With only a matter of days until the start of Blue Otter League Masters second season, I know that players and fans alike are chomping at the bit to get into lobby and onto the rift. But before that, I’m CmonShootFaster, and these are my Power Rankings for the start of the split. We have the old dogs of the league, as well as some new faces raring to go. Champions and Nobodies. For now. With patience, dedication, and maybe a little bit of luck, who knows to what level any of these teams can play. For now though, here are my thoughts.

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#10 - Gamma Guardians

Speaking of new faces, Gamma Guardians is a team that no one saw coming into the league. Unfortunately, it was for good reason. Formerly Puff Daddy & The Little Dippers, Gamma Guardians finds their way into the league despite losing in the play-in tournament. Former BOL Finals team Scum Gang dropped from the league for a variety of reasons, leaving an opening in the lineup. An opening that Guardians was more than happy to fill. This is a roster full of players that many of you may recognize such as Bad Vibes and CrowTheo. Seasoned vets of IBS, they make their way into the next level of competition for the first time, eager and ready to go. That eagerness is gonna be put to the test however, as they face off against teams and players that have been playing at this level for a decent amount of time already. Having yet to find a proper support, unfortunately my hopes are not high for the new comers in the early weeks.

Player to watch: CrowTheo & BadVibes

As I mentioned above, both of these players are new to the gold scene for any extended period of time, despite having played in a game or two here and there. The start of the season is going to be the real test for them. Will they crumble? Or will they rise to the occasion? Only time will tell.

#9 - Ozon3 Aztecs

And immediately after the new faces are the king of the old guard. Aztecs is a team that has been around for as long as the league itself. Coming in after a clean sweep (by forfeit) in the relegation tournament, Aztecs is ready to assert itself back into the league. Many of the old players return, leaving me a little skeptical to say the least. Given their performance at the end of last split, that of falling into the relegation tournament and missing playoffs, one can only hope that any roster changes they have made are for the better. There are some minor swaps on the roster, such as Asteck moving to support, so hopefully Ozon3 is ready to get right into it.

Player to watch: Inheritance

In my opinion, the best player on Aztecs in the past. When they needed a hard carry, it was usually him to step up to bat and put the team on his back. Keep an eye out for him, or play around him would be my advice for any team in game with him.

#8 - Friend Zoned

Another familiar face in Blue Otter, Friend Zoned comes in hot and struggling to fix their roster. They won in relegations against Gamma Guardians, but unfortunately have since lost two members that were key factors in that win, Flay and Awoo. It’s gonna be a test to see whether or not SingularBread can make a name in BOL after taking home a win in focus. Maybe they should see if Scum Gang has a few leftover players looking for a spot in the league after the org’s departure :^).

Player to watch: Shlidd

A very good player that performed well in the past. It’s going to, at the very least, be interesting to see if the team is willing to play around him and let him carry them. If they do, they might pick up some wins. They’ll have to watch out though, as if they play through him too much, it might make their drafts a little predictable.

#7 - Atlas Gaming

I know, I know. Atlas #10. Well, let’s just say that I have a little faith in them going into the first weeks at the very least. With Homie and Bliss locked on the roster until week three, they might have what it takes to at least lock in a few victories. Other than that, they picked up a few new players that made names for themselves in the league in the past. Tauty2k in the top lane, eager and ready to show that he’s a top tier top laner, as well as Shifti, adc of last season’s 4th place team are down to throw down.

Player to watch: Daddy Atlas

The man. The myth. The legend. Daddy Atlas is always the player to watch on Atlas. Too good for ibs and too bad for gold has always been the mantra chanted about him, but with new personal coach Fonso and a team ready to try and get some wins, I’m excited to see what he can do.

#6 - SPK White

Frankly, I think this team is the epitome of mediocre. They could very well do better than my expectations, or they could crash and burn. Jesus is returning in the mid lane, ready to bust out some Anivia and body some fools. Other than that, I don’t really have many opinions on the team, as I know very few of them.

Player to watch: Akasha75

Akasha comes into the team replacing previous ADC Limitations, who performed as well as anyone could have hoped last season. Sitting at G3 with a 54% winrate, it’s safe to say that this is not the upper limit of SPK’s newest AD carry and I’m curious to see what they show.

#5 - Chubby Babies

Chubby Babies is a team that proved that memes can indeed be dreams when, after a winless first part of the season, came out swinging. They climbed from dead last place and weekly meme status to an exceptionally impressive 3rd place finish in the inaugural split of Blue Otter League. They’ve made a few changes in the interim. A few players role swapping and a couple new additions leave a few questions in the air, but all I have to say is this. The spirit of Sunken lives on, and I know they’ll do their best to carry on the legacy.

Player to watch: Lazerbite

Lazerbite is a beast, and I’m always eager to watch him play. I’m personally really excited to see what he can do for the babies from the ADC position this split. He was one of the main reasons last split that the Babies were even able to make it into playoff contention in the first place. The overall level of the league has evened out since them, so this may be his time to shine and put the team on his back for a championship run.

#4 - Illumination

Illulmination. Good in IBS, bad in gold. All of these have been pretty accurate statements in the past, and may very well be in the future. They’ve made some changes and picked up a lot of talent for their roster, but with some interesting off roleing, such as Azure in the jungle and Awootism in the top lane [Not to mention myself as the support :^)] it’ll be interesting to see how this team plays out on stage. I expect to see Illumination struggle to put up results in the first few weeks as the team adjusts to their roles and learns to play together, but eventually will pick it up. There are just too many decent at the very least players on the team for it to be bottom of the bracket.

Players to watch: ?????

Like I said, this team is a bit of a cluster to be honest. Any one of them could randomly pop off in their new role and show they should have been their from the start. Maybe Awoo smurfs on the top lane, Azure is a smite god or Gold Waffle dominates with either of the two supports on the roster. One thing for certain in my mind is that you will at the very least see results from the mid laner, Sibelwind (Currently known as Phantom Outlaw). That guy is a beast and carried illumination to playoffs hard last season.

#3 - Casting Couch

A pretty good team that made a name for themselves in the play in tournaments. Since then, they’ve added and removed players from the roster to form a final core. Having personally played against the current roster they are fielding, I warn teams to not underestimate them. They play a solid game and have a plan going into the game. With the new pick up of Woo Am I and CoachPizza drafting them into some easy games, I expect them to easily make playoffs this season.

Player to watch: Woo Am I

The new addition to the team, and many teams before. Woo has always been known to be a solid player, which has consistently netted him spots on teams despite his propensity to quit said team and then leave the server. Who knows, maybe he’s fixed his mental and is ready to game. But until I’ve seen it for myself, I’ll remain skeptical.

#2 - Literal Monkeys

4th place finisher of the previous season ready to run it back and aim for first this time. With PacaPaul, Azuracat and Shadow Isles all ranking out, they had to rebuild their roster nearly from scratch, but boy did they. NoName steps down from admin to make his NewName known in the league. Everybody, learn to fear the YRÙ Running zoe and be wary of walls, because he’s coming for you.

Player to watch: ProNibs

Not the most impressive player in the past, but I’m willing to give him a chance if it means I can keep my PacaPaul memes alive in spirit. Imagine getting out jungled by ProNibs. OmegaLUL.

#1 - Tempest

Only one thing to say. ITS TEMPEST SZN BABY. Tempest, coming in hot off their previous season win under the name “Serenity” is ready to run it back and show they are the best team in the league bar none. The overall level of the team has decreased from the previous season, but that’s not really a fair comparison when several of last seasons players are currently high plat and ready to smurf on the higher leagues. The top side of the map of Sesso and Viperfang is clearly unmatched by any of the other teams and are ready to lay the smack down. The only question is how the team changes up when certain currently roster locked players become free agents in the coming weeks.

Player to watch: Viperfang02

Viper was known as a top ADC in BOL all last split, as well as a number of other leagues, but this time he runs it back in the jungle. Aggression is the name of the game, and he plays it well, with a dominant playstyle and the mechanical skill to back it up. I think we pick Lee Sin here guys.

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And that’s it for this week everyone. I hope you enjoyed the read. Feel free to gimme your thoughts. I can’t wait to see everyone play while I’m at work for the first week of the league and pacing in place, ready to get onto the rift. I hope you’ll all look forward to next week when we finally get to see some of these players ready to make their stamp in Blue Otter and chase the championship. That’s all from me, CmonShootFaster, so thank you and good night.