Unofficial Gold Playoff Prediction: The Finals

Hey everyone, it’s Toxin! Well it’s finally here, the finals have arrived. We started out with 24 teams and finally we are left with only two. On one side, you have the CB Rangers, the best of the North Division, and on the other you have VBU Argon, the best of the East Division. Both teams looked like absolute powerhouses throughout the season, with only a few minor hiccups a piece. Which of these two juggernauts will come away as the champion? We will find out tonight, but let’s get into the series. CB Rangers (North 1st) vs VBU Argon (East 1st)

Let's break down each of the matchups, starting with the top lane. It’s Shadowballs000 taking on Altazi in a clash of titans, both of which are probably the best two players in the role for this season. This isn’t very surprising, seeing as how both players are Plat 4 and a large part of why their team wins their games. Altazi has shown throughout the split that he can be a 1v9 carry, especially when he is given some of his priority picks like Kayle. Shadow, on the other hand, thrives when he’s alone in the top lane. He works mainly as a neutralizer to strong top laners, and he has shown to be capable of doing so in the plat league last season. Honestly, this matchup is kinda hard to predict. If we are going off of purely 1v1, I think VBU Argon has the edge here. If Altazi is allowed to gain a lead in the top lane without any outside interference, his team should be able to win. That being said, Shadowballs000 is the type of player that also thrives in the 1v1 environment, so perhaps both junglers just let the two of them duke it out and see what happens. Speaking of junglers, let’s get into the Jungle and Mid matchups. For VBU, they have the combo of Athena and Kaiten, taking on what is considered the best mid/jungle combo in the league of Anderson Cooper and Buhrock. As I stated last week, I think the Buhrock is the type of player that has multiple counterpicks prepared for his opponent each week, and Anderson Cooper is the best ganking jungler in the league. The main win condition for the Rangers is simple, get this duo fed and spread that lead to the side lanes. If they are able to shut down Kaiten, they will eventually make the entire team crumble. Likewise, Argon’s win condition is the same; if they are able to take Buhrock out of the game, the Rangers will fall apart. He is the heart and soul of this team, and if his heart is out of the game, the team will start to lose hope. I think that this matchup is essential to watch in game one, as it will set the tone for the entire series. I personally think that the time in game will decide which team this matchup favors. In the early game, CB Rangers are favored in the matchup due to Anderson Cooper’s ability to impact his lanes with his ganks. That being said, the later the game goes, the more VBU Argon are favored. Athena is more of a control jungler that will build his own lead through power farming that, if his team can stay relatively even with their opponents during the early game, will allow him to take over the game later on.

Finally, we get into the bot lane matchup of Toxin and Drakas424 versus YRU Running and Guardian Wakka. Of all the matchups, I think that this matchup is the most CB Rangers favored. No Name (YRU Running) has been a stable ADC throughout the season and has taken on many strong players throughout the split. His synergy with Guardian Wakka has been tremendous throughout the split, and he has always been able to take over a game when given a lead. Speaking of Wakka, this guy has a champion ocean. Like I said last week, while you CAN ban some of his stronger picks, it really won’t mean anything because he probably already has five or six picks already prepared and ready to go. On the other side, you have Drakas and myself. I am pretty bad, as everyone who knows me has said numerous times in general chats in many leagues. I even got flamed super hard in Twitch chat on Saturday in a different league for being bad! It’s just a known fact at this point. That being said, I’m feeling pretty confident for once heading into the matchup. That being said, me being confident also probably means that I’m gonna int super hard game one and lose the motivation to play. Will the Toxin we all love to hate on show up tonight? Or maybe, just maybe, will I pop off for once and actually be the reason we win? I fully expect it to come down to Drakas’ ability to pop off on his signature champions to see what ends up coming true tonight. Prediction: VBU Argon 3-1 I mean, my team is in the finals so how could I not predict them to win? I think that CB Rangers is a fantastic team with standout players at every role. I played against them last year and thought of them as my rivals, so I’m glad that if I am gonna win a BOL title, it would be against them. That being said, if any team were to beat us, I’d want it to be them. I’ve played on teams with both Anderson Cooper and YRU Running, I’ve done Clash with Shadowballs000, and I’ve talked a bit with the best member of 3-0 Esports, Guardian Wakka. All of them are chill dudes, and if they won tonight, I wouldn’t be overly upset. But, at the end of the day, I think VBU Argon is the stronger team. I think Altazi and Kaiten are absolutely insane at their roles, and I can’t see them losing three games in a night. I think that while Athena has been heavily nerfed since the first week he played due to the jungle changes and the fact that the Dr. Mundo rework means that the champ is disabled, he is still a top tier jungler in the league. His macro decisions and ability to keep a clear head in times of trouble is a large reason why our solo lanes are able to carry as hard as they do. Finally you have Drakas424, the fun loving Bard-main that, even when he’s tilted and cursing out the game, still finds a way to put a smile on everyone’s face at all times. I think Buhrock and I were really fortunate to be able to find not only great players to play with but also great people to laugh with and have fun with throughout the season. I can’t wait to see how things shake out tonight and hopefully my team ends out on top!