The Chiefs successfully claim back-to-back LCO Championships at DreamHack Melbourne
DreamHack Melbourne has once again proved to be a fruitful stomping ground for the Chiefs Esports Club — with the team’s League of Legends roster defending their 2022 League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO) title with a 3-1 victory over fellow Queensland side Team Bliss.
This is the first time a team has ever defended their title in the LCO, the Chiefs doing so in front of a packed audience at Olympic Park’s Margaret Court Arena as the climax to DreamHack Melbourne 2023. Thousands watched on as the Chiefs stormed through the opening games of the series to move 2-0 up in the best-of-five series before a nailbiting Game 3 went against them. However, Game 4 proved to be the decisive match, a hectic finish rewarding the Chiefs with a third win and their sixth title in the process — the most out of any team in the region’s history.
For former head coach Leo “Babip” Romer, who returned to the playing roster at the beginning of the season, the win was a culmination of months of hard work from the entire organisation, saying “it felt like we played incredibly well and smoothed out all of the issues we had during the season. I would love to maintain that level of play in the next split and hopefully in our return to the PCS finals.”
🏆 BEING @LCO CHAMPS ISN'T FOR EVERYBODY 🏆
— The Chiefs (@ChiefsESC) April 29, 2023
GG'S @TeamBliss_ES made us work every step of the way 💙 pic.twitter.com/fXLQEIW2vf
Babip claimed his sixth title with the Chiefs’ win over Team Bliss, becoming the most decorated player in Oceanic history in the process. Combined, the Chiefs roster has 20 titles between them, a wealth of domestic and international experience that’s threatening to build a dynasty in Oceanic League of Legends.
Despite finishing fourth in the regular season, by the time the playoffs rolled around the team had hit their stride, knocking off first seed Dire Wolves on multiple occasions before narrowly losing to Team Bliss to enter the PCS playoffs as Oceania’s second seed. Both teams failed to progress in the South East Asian league’s finals series, setting up a grudge match at Dreamhack Melbourne where the teams would play for the fifth time this split.
Chiefs CEO Nick Bobir acknowledged that it “was a bit of a slow start to the season” with a “few hiccups along the way” but applauded the team’s resilience in fighting back through a grueling playoffs schedule — and is hoping the stride they hit as the season went on will continue for the rest of the year.
The team is now hard at work preparing for Split 2 of the LCO, with finalists qualifying to fight their way through the Pacific Championship Series (PCS) playoffs with a spot at this year’s World Championship in South Korea on the line. According to Bobir, this team “has the talent to do some damage on the international stage” and he expects them to come back “swinging even harder” when Split 2 begins in a few weeks.