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Dire Wolves have completed their League of Legends roster ahead of the 2023 League of Legends Circuit Oceania season.
The Oceanic team’s roster includes signing three members of the successful Pentanet.GG lineup, which impressed at the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational in Iceland.
The trio will be reuniting on Dire’s new Oceanic roster for the 2023 LCO season. The roster will see mid-laner Jesse “Chazz” Mahoney, and the bot lane duo of Mark “Praedyth” Lewis and Daniel “Decoy” Ealam form the core of the Dire Wolves team for the upcoming season, with Cameron “Zorenous” Abbott and Kim Zheng “Poltron” Nicholls completing the roster.
Coach Joseph “Valixas” Tselios, who will be leading the team in the 2023 season, highlighted his trust in the roster.
“We’ve put together a League team I think is really f—king solid,” Tselios said.
“Compared to last year—and don’t get me wrong, I love all those boys — we have a very vocal voice in Praedyth there now, and we’ve built around that completely.
“Skill and veteran experience is boiled into the five-man lineup too.”
The three stars of PGG will be reuniting for the first time since the end of the 2021 LCO season. Their impressive performance during that year’s campaign, particularly during their run at the MSI 2021 tournament in Reykjavik, earned them a devoted following among League fans worldwide.
The team consisting of top laner Brandon “BioPanther” Alexander and jungler Jackson “Pabu” Pavone, alongside two other members, placed 5th-6th in the Rumble stage of the tournament alongside Cloud9. Their performance earned them recognition among notable League giants such as DWG, Royal Never Give Up and MAD Lions after finishing second in the group stage.
After their victory in Iceland, Pabu and Chazz decided to relocate to Europe to compete in the regional leagues. Meanwhile, Decoy was acquired by INTZ for a Brazil swap. Praedyth and BioPanther remained in Australia in 2022, where BioPanther experienced further success with a transfer to ORDER and represented Oceania for a second time at the Mid-Season Invitational. Praedyth, on the other hand, finished as the runner-up in Split Two this year, as PGG was defeated by the Chiefs, who ultimately qualified for the World Championship.
Pentanet.GG, formerly the home of the trio, have assembled a star-studded League roster with the aim of qualifying for the PCS and competing internationally. The most notable additions to the team include Ryan “Chippys” Short and Shern “Shernfire” Cherng Tai, who have not competed in the Oceanic Pro League since 2020 and 2018 respectively.
Kim “DONGGY” Dong-geun, the former top laner, will move to the mid lane to accommodate the return of the experienced Kiwi player. The bot lane will consist of Vincent “Violet” Wong and Yao “Apii” Jian-Jing, known for his expertise in role-swapping.
BioPanther has recently joined the reigning OCE champions, the Chiefs, for the upcoming year. And as such, Chazz, Praedyth and Decoy will engage in a series of regular-season meetings against their former Pentanet top laner in 2023. As for PGG’s last remaining member from 2021, Pabu, he is currently a free agent in Europe.
The pathways for the Oceania League have undergone changes in anticipation of the upcoming season, with the top two teams from each split gaining the opportunity to compete in the PCS postseason and potentially earn a spot in international play at the MSI and World Championship. It is the goal of the Dire Wolves roster to qualify for the Pacific Championship playoffs in 2023. Valixas highlighted that much in his statement.
“We have such a strong core [with the PGG players], and I think this whole project is a big step for myself as a coach, the org, and everyone involved,” Valixas said.
“With what happened with ORDER [the Melbourne outfit went into administration this year] there aren’t many orgs left that will put out the dollars and back a roster like this. To mix these proven stars with learning players, I have high hopes.”
Dire Wolves’ new all-Australia roster will include Zorenous, Poltron, Chazz, Praedyth, Decoy and support substitute Rhett “Vxpir” Wiggins, who joined the team from the Sports Geek-owned franchise, Gravitas.
