Week Four of the SMITE Pro League is nearly upon us, and it might just be the most exciting week yet. Splyce, last year’s SMITE Pro League champions, will begin their title defense on Friday, playing their first series of the season, a best-of-five against Team RivaL. On Thursday, Trifecta will face Spacestation Gaming, while Luminosity Gaming will gear up for a series against SK Gaming.

Over the first three weeks of the SPL, no single team has managed to position itself as the league’s clear leader. In Week One, the Pittsburgh Knights leaped into an early lead, scoring clean victories over both SK Gaming and Spacestation Gaming. Shortly after, Dignitas made their move, defeating Team RivaL and Luminosity to pull into the first-place position. Currently, Dignitas stand atop the rankings, with both eUnited and the Knights breathing down their necks in second place and third place.

Splyce’s debut on Friday is sure to upend this state of affairs. The organization is fielding the exact same squad that they used to win the last SMITE World Championship, led by veteran solo laner Nicklaus “Divios” Neumeyer. On the other hand, Team RivaL have completely reorganized their team, though some of the players who contributed to RivaL’s second-place run last year are still involved in the SPL as members of eUnited and the Pittsburgh Knights. The new Team RivaL SMITE squad currently sits at fourth place in the standings, with a 1-1 record for the season. A win over last year’s champions in their season opener would show the world that the restructured Team RivaL are still contenders for the title.