Last Sunday, we saw the Bronze EU finals played and, even though Bronze might not seem as exciting as the higher tier matches, they were extremely intense games nonetheless. So, for those of you who want to take a look but are too lazy to watch the replay or who prefer the written word, here is the recap of the match!

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Game 1

In the first game, [batM]Ban all the monkeys was on the Legion side, with MolsDeBeste on Emerald Warden, [ORGE]TSCHANDALFUS on Engineer, Olau on Parasite ,riicey` played Magmus and Jonteton with The Dark Lady.

[THBs]The Hug Bears settled in on the Hellbourne side with LokaMyt on Demented Shaman, Rasmus`Rape playing Zephyr, Chinapuff on Aluna, Fantalastisk doing work with Fayde and finally NateHoobs on Bubbles.





The game started out pretty action packed, as the teams clashed briefly in the Hellbourne jungle before the creeps even spawned. With no kills yet, both teams split up into their individual lanes and the game officially began. Three minutes into the game, bloodlust was scored by Parasite, who infested a Minotaur and went middle to gank an unexpecting Fayde. A well placed Overgrowth by Emerald Warden helped to keep Fayde in place and Parasite scored the final hit.


From here on, the action only increased. While Ban all the monkeys dominated the top lane, scoring several kills on their opponents, The Hug Bears kept Jonteton on The Dark Lady in check with frequent ganks and successful tower dives in bottom lane. By the 12 minute mark, there were already 19 kills and many more were to come. It seemed that both teams were keen on continuing their aggressive gameplay as top lane saw the demise of several more heroes on The Hug Bears once more while The Dark Lady was killed in the bottom lane again.





Sixteen minutes in, the first towers were destroyed which led to a couple of big teamfights, usually with the Hellbourne drawing the short stick. Even though The Hug Bears were behind, they kept coming. A nice pick-off of Parasite finally gave them a break and, with their Zephyr in front and Fayde ready to pick off stray Legion heroes, they managed to take several secondary towers.





Some nice initiation by the Hellbourne near Kongor continued to build momentum for them and Legion was forced to play passive at this point, hoping that their good teamfight ability would get them ahead again. But Ban all the monkeys had a real problem with their heroes being caught before the teamfights started, thus giving the Hellbourne an edge every time. When the Hellbourne finally broke into the Legion base, there was nothing that the remaining Legion heroes could do. batM passed a concede vote the game and The Hug Bears took game 1!


Game 2


After such an action packed first game, would the second be even more fierce? Or were the teams going to play more defensively now and switch up their strategy? Let's find out!

This time, we had The Hug Bears on the Legion side. We have LokaMyt on Aluna, Rasmus`Rape on Pebbles, Chinapuff played Engineer, Fantalastisk as Bubbles and NateHoobs with Tundra.

On the Hellbourne side, Ban all the Monkeys decided to go with Pharaoh for MolsDeBest, [ORGE]TSCHANDALFUS chose Demented Shamans, Olau played War Beast, riicey` got Moraxus and finally Jonteton with Zephyr.





Bloodlust was scored even quicker in this second game when Zephyr used his Gust on Aluna, who was out of position, and Demented Shaman sealed her fate with his heal wave. And once again there was no holding back. Both teams went at each other just like in the first game. Several kills later, the Legion side had a very small advantage in gold and, thanks to strong play from Bubbles and Tundra, was the more promising candidate to win this game.


Speaking of Bubbles, he was in top shape.. He made killing Moraxus look easy and had four kills and four assists at minute 15 without dying once. All the while, Pharaoh probably had the worst game in a long while, with one assist, several deaths and no kills. He ended up buying a Fortified Bracer later in the game just to keep from dying so quickly, especially in teamfights. And it was those teamfights that gave a solid advantage to the Legion.





The game moved to the later stages and Legion was still ahead. They finished the last outer tower for the Hellbourne and won yet another teamfight. Using this advantage, they were able to push almost into the enemy base. But since they were ahead by a good bit and the enemy heroes were still reviving rather quickly, they opted to retreat and go for Kongor instead. The Hellbourne were forced to react and suddenly another huge teamfight was brewing. Legion got the token and in the ensuing battle, proved to be too strong for the Hellbourne, despite splitting up into two group during the fight.





Finally feeling strong enough, the Legion pushed the middle tower and put pressure on the middle barracks. At this point, Zephyr bought out and the Hellbourne made their last stand. Somehow, they were able to fend off the Legion and killed four heroes, leaving Bubbles to flee across the map. But the Legion would be back and, just a few minutes later, they fought over the Hellbourne barracks once more and this time the Legion was simply too strong. Heroes died, barracks were destroyed and a vote to concede was passed by Ban all the Monkeys.


And so The Hug Bears also won the second game and are the new Bronze EU Champions! Congrats to them and well played to both teams!


- Blaze