Pentanet.GG

{{Short description|Australian League of Legends team (2019–2023)}}

{{Infobox sports team

| name = Pentanet.GG

| logo = PentanetGG logo.png

| logo_size =

| alt = Logo of Australian League of Legends team Pentanet.GG

| caption =

| short_name = PGG

| game = League of Legends

| city = Perth, Australia

| parent_group = Pentanet

| founded = {{start date|2019|12|02|df=y}}

| folded = {{end date|2023|11|23|df=y}}

| league = OPL (2020)
LCO (since 2021)

| history =

| managing_director = Stephen Cornish

| coach = Ryan Short

| gm = Scott Farmer

| championships = 1× LCO

| partners =

| website = {{URL|https://pentanet.gg/}}

| footnotes =

| fanclub =

}}

Pentanet.GG was an Australian professional League of Legends team. It was founded on 2 December 2019, following the acquisition of the Bombers' Oceanic Pro League (OPL) spot by Perth-based internet provider Pentanet. After Riot Games discontinued the OPL following the 2020 season, Pentanet.GG became a member of the ESL-run League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO).

History

Essendon Football Club announced on 2 December 2019 that it had sold its OPL spot to internet provider Pentanet.{{cite news |title=Statement: Bombers esports |url=https://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2019-12-02/statement-bombers-esports |accessdate=3 December 2019 |work=Essendon Football Club |date=2 December 2019}} Pentanet simultaneously announced the founding of its new esports department, Pentanet.GG.{{cite web |title=Pentanet.GG joins Oceanic Pro League for 2020 esports season |url=https://pentanet.com.au/blog/pentanet-joins-opl-2020/ |website=pentanet.com.au |publisher=Pentanet |accessdate=3 December 2019 |date=2 December 2019}}

Pentanet.GG's inaugural roster consisted of top laner Brandon "BioPanther" Alexander, jungler Paris "Souli" Sitzoukis, mid laner Jarod "Getback" Tucker, bot laner Mark "Praedyth" Lewis, and support Jake "Rogue" Sharwood.{{cite news |last1=Hooker |first1=Grady |title=Pentanet.GG sign five top Australasian League of Legends players for the OPL |url=https://esportskingdom.gg/league-of-legends/2020-01-pentanetgg-signs-opl-team |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Esports Kingdom |date=16 January 2020}} The team finished sixth in Split 1 of the 2020 OPL season. Prior to Split 2, Pentanet.GG replaced "Souli" with Jackson "Pabu" Pavone, who had just announced his role swap from top to jungle. Pentanet.GG finished third in the regular season of Split 2 and qualified for playoffs. However, the team's playoff debut was short-lived. ORDER defeated Pentanet.GG 3–1 in the first round of the winners' bracket, knocking Pentanet.GG down to the second round of the losers' bracket. Pentanet.GG was then swept by The Chiefs and eliminated from playoff contention.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Riot Games announced in late 2020 that the OPL would be discontinued, prompting many OPL players to seek offers from overseas. "Rogue" subsequently left Pentanet.GG to join French team Izi Dream. He was replaced with OPL veteran Daniel "Decoy" Ealam. "Getback" was meanwhile replaced with another OPL veteran, Jesse "Chazz" Mahoney.{{cite news |last1=Matthiesen |first1=Tom |title=Chazz: "We knew we were gonna do really well after the first win" |url=https://www.hotspawn.com/league-of-legends/news/pentanet-chazz-we-knew-we-were-gonna-do-really-well-after-the-first-win |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Hotspawn |date=9 May 2021}} The OPL's replacement, the LCO, was later announced by ESL in early 2021, with Pentanet.GG as one of its eight franchise members.{{cite news |last1=Kay |first1=Meg |title=League of Legends Oceanic Circuit to begin Feb. 23 |url=https://dotesports.com/news/league-of-legends-oceanic-circuit-to-begin-feb-23 |accessdate=25 February 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=4 February 2021}}

Pentanet.GG became the LCO's first champions after dominating Split 1 of the 2021 LCO season.{{cite web |title=Pentanet.GG Wins Inaugural League of Legends Circuit Oceania Grand Final, Qualifies for MSI |url=https://lco.gg/2021/04/13/pentanet-gg-wins-inaugural-league-of-legends-circuit-oceania-grand-final-qualifies-for-msi/ |website=League of Legends Circuit Oceania 2021 |publisher=ESL |access-date=11 May 2021}} The team finished first in the regular season with only one loss to Gravitas,{{cite news |last1=O'Dwyer |first1=Samuel |title=Pentanet.GG finish first in 2021 LCO Spring Split |url=https://dotesports.com/news/pentanet-gg-finishes-first-in-the-lco-spring-split |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=26 March 2021}} and then won their first domestic title after winning three series in a row.{{cite news |last1=O'Dwyer |first1=Samuel |title=Pentanet.GG crowned 2021 LCO Spring Split champions |url=https://dotesports.com/news/pentanet-gg-win-2021-lco-spring-split |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=10 April 2021}} This qualified Pentanet.GG for the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational as Oceania's representative.{{cite news |last1=Sandoval |first1=Alejandro |title=DWG KIA and Pentanet.GG, first teams qualified for the MSI 2021 |url=https://www.ginx.tv/en/league-of-legends/dwg-kia-and-pentanet-gg-first-teams-qualified-for-the-msi-2021 |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=GINX |date=10 April 2021}}{{cite news |title=All the qualified teams for the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational |url=https://win.gg/news/7860/all-the-qualified-teams-for-the-2021-mid-season-invitational |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=WIN.gg}}

For the first stage of the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational, Pentanet.GG was placed in Group A, along with China's Royal Never Give Up and Russia's Unicorns of Love. Vietnam's GAM Esports was also drawn into the group, but they were unable to participate in the event due to Vietnam's COVID-19 restrictions.{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Michael |title=VCS champion GAM Esports won't attend 2021 Mid-Season Invitational due to COVID-19 travel restrictions |url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/vcs-champion-gam-esports-wont-attend-2021-msi |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=19 April 2021}} Pentanet.GG finished the quadruple round robin with only two wins and six losses, tying Unicorns of Love for second.{{cite news |title=RNGU, Pentanet.GG advance to Rumble Round at MSI |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/esports-lol-mid-season-invitational-reca/rngu-pentanetgg-advance-to-rumble-round-at-msi-idUSFLM4vkh94 |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Field Level Media |date=9 May 2021 |via=Reuters}} After defeating Unicorns of Love in the subsequent tiebreaker match, Pentanet.GG became the first Oceanic team to advance to the main event of an international League of Legends tournament.{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Michael |title=PentanetGG, RNG secure rumble stage tickets behind stellar showings from Pabu, Xiaohu on fourth day of MSI 2021 |url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/pentanet-rng-secure-rumble-stage-tickets-behind-stellar-showings-from-pabu-xiaohu-on-fourth-day-of-msi-2021 |access-date=11 May 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=9 May 2021}} In the second stage of the tournament, Pentanet.GG only managed to win one game against North America's Cloud9, ending fifth to sixth overall.{{cite news |last1=Kay |first1=Meg |title=Why international competition in League of Legends matters to minor regions |url=https://dotesports.com/league-of-legends/news/why-international-competition-in-league-of-legends-matters-to-minor-regions |access-date=27 June 2021 |work=Dot Esports |date=2 June 2021}}

In Split 2 of the LCO regular season, the team once again finished in first place with a 15–6 record. In the playoffs, Pentanet.GG beat Dire Wolves 3–0 before losing to PEACE 3–0 in the finals, ending the season in second place.{{cite web | url=https://lco.gg/2021/09/01/peace-defeat-pentanet-gg-to-become-doordash-lco-split-2-champions/ | title=Peace Defeat Pentanet.GG to Become DoorDash LCO Split 2 Champions }}