Battle for Group C far from over, the LCO champ says.
“Whatever happens, happens.”
Star ORDER jungler Spike Spiegel Shane “Kevy” Allen has just lost a League of Legends solo queue game when he joins our Discord call. He quickly laughs the loss off?—“You know, what can you do?”—and immediately starts talking MSI hopes.
Now, League pros have lost more ranked games than most players have queued up to play, so it’s no surprise, but that’s Kevy to a note. Like anime’s enigmatic Space Cowboy Spike Spiegel, the Aussie star is happy to roll with the punches. He tells me, again: “I just think, whatever happens, happens.”
This time, he’s talking about the Mid-Season Invitational.
Next week, starting 8pm Tuesday, May 10 (AEST, this is), Kevy and ORDER begin their international campaign. It’s a tricky challenge first up. G2 Esports, reigning European champs and 2019 MSI victors, await in game one. The LEC heavyweights are dripping with League royalty, including Rasmus “Caps” Winther and Kevy’s personal pick of the litter, Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, among others.
The going doesn’t get any easier for ORDER on their Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday play-days either. In fact, Riot short-changed Group C due to an odd number of League representatives traveling to Busan, Korea. That leaves the aforementioned G2 powerhouse, ORDER, and first-time LCS champions Evil Geniuses to duke it out across a four-time round robin. Plenty of chances for spankings, say the pundits. “Plenty of time for upsets,” says Kevy.
Underestimate ORDER at your peril, the LCO jungler warns.
“Our whole run [this split], even back in Oceania, everyone keeps thinking we can’t or won’t win,” Kevy tells Dot Esports. “And look, we came out and ended up winning. It takes the pressure off us, being expected to lose.”
Kevy has enjoyed a certain underdog status with ORDER throughout his fledgling League career thus far. He burst onto the Oceanic scene in 2021 as the Melbourne org’s replacement jungler after short-gasp stints with Dire Wolves and Peace to start the year. By the end of Split Two, the 21-year-old had been crowned Rookie of the Year, First All-Pro Jungler, and the region’s Most Valuable Player.
And now, he’s got another chance to push the League envelope all over again. Riot Games, via the MSI 2022 draw, have handed him G2 and EG on a silver platter.
“I couldn’t have dreamed a better draw,” he admits.
“Like, obviously we could have gotten easier teams to play against, an easier group, but really I’m happy with this. I’ve been wanting to come to international events for so long, now that we’re here I want to show what I can do. Even just in terms of entertainment value, the chance to dish out some salt too.”
The pressure, Kevy adds, is entirely on G2 Esports and Evil Geniuses.
“Honestly, if either of the two even drop a game to us… damn, they’re going to get roasted. It’s really nice to be in this position. We’ve not played a game yet and everyone is writing us off. No one expects anything from us.
“Forget the standings—I just see EG and G2. If we win, that would be absolutely crazy, so there’s that. And then if we lose, then we know that we tried our best.”
MSI preview @G2Jankos pic.twitter.com/lJPFcttw5g
Kevy’s ever-cool mentality certainly worked in LCO 2022 Split One. Eventual champs ORDER lifted from a staggered 11–10 record to sweep Dire Wolves, Peace, Pentanet, and Chiefs—four of Oceania’s six historic representatives. Even on the eve of the grand finals, fans, players, and pundits were tipping against ORDER.
No one gave ORDER a chance in Oceania. Will they now in Busan?
“We’re all going to just give it our best,” Kevy promised. “Whatever happens, happens. We have confidence. Let’s just get everyone in Oceanic manifesting our victories.”
© 2021 Dot Esports
