After an exciting opening match, the Carnage Pro League continued on Wednesday with an interesting best-of-three series between REXXARS and Reason gaming. KNX, an up and coming European team led by the experienced iNsania (AZUREREXXAR), got to strut their stuff vs the veterans of a reformed Rea, which featured Saintrox taking over the drafting role and the additions of probusk and AddroW.

Game 1 featured a fairly standard ban/pick phase, except with Rea introducing Kinesis and Forsaken Archer, heroes rarely seen in the competitive scene as of late. REXXARS’s draft focused heavily on team fight synergy with heroes like Keeper of the Forest, Kraken, and Wretched Hag. Rea tried to exploit Keeper’s early game woes by putting Torturer and Kinesis long lane, but were punished when Saintrox was caught out of position twice early on, giving KNX a quick two to zero kill advantage. The game was mostly stagnate and extremely even until the twelve minute mark, when Keeper landed a big three man ultimate at his tier one tower, winning KNX the first skirmish of the game. KNX kept up the pressure with Keeper’s early Astrolabe and took another strong teamfight at the top lane, netting them two more kills and two towers for their efforts. Both teams retreated to farm until around the 28-minute mark, where a game deciding Kongor fight went KNX’s way, with a Restoration Stone Keeper having a big impact. Despite Rea’s Imbaboy having 500+ GPM on FA, the next team fight ended poorly for his team, as they threw in the towel.

Game 2 saw a similar draft from Rea, with a carry in Master of Arms and an initiator in Pebbles being picked up. KNX also selected a heavy AOE, team fight lineup that revolved around Soulstealer, Tempest, and Kraken. Rea decided to lane aggressively, sending a dual lane top to punish the weak Soulstealer. After netting first blood on an unsuspecting Soulstealer with a well-timed Charged Shot and a Chain Reaction stun from AddroW’s Torturer, Rea was off to a fantastic start. Pebbles finished Steamboots and Portal Key at nine minutes. His partner in crime, SaintRoX, utilized his Nymphora ultimate to full effect and they proceeded to rampage over the opposing team. KNX conceded the game at seventeen minutes, following a teamfight at their ancients where Pebbles picked up two kills and ended the game 12/1/16.

Game 3 once again saw an aggressive laning draft by Rea, opting for a trilane long lane with Swiftblade/Empath/Torturer. KNX decided their wombo combo teamfight draft was too weak early game, and decided to meet Rea’s trilane with their own, consisting of Ravenor/Rhapsody/Nymphora. The first kill went Rea’s way, when a well-placed Empath Illusory Veil set up a Swiftblade spin, ending KNX’s Nymphora rather quickly. The two trilanes continued to trade kills, and were very even until a teleport rotation from probusk’s Gauntlet netted kills and more kills for Reason after he acquired a Rune of Invisibility. Rea was in a fantastic position until around the eight minute mark when they aggressively dove the tier one tower bottom. A good rotation from KNX’s solo lanes punished this overextension, but freed up the solo laners to recover in farm. Gauntlet used his newly acquired Portal Key to great effect, effortlessly picking off the squishy support heroes who limped out of the bedraggled trilane. At the seventeen minute mark, Rea had a commanding 10k/6k gold/experience lead. KNX attempted to take another teamfight to find a foothold in the game, but were punished heavily and lost four heroes for just one. Rea retreated to take a free Kongor, and decided to go for the win by straight up pushing bottom lane. After a disastrous teamfight KNX conceded at the 22 minute mark.

Rea’s win over KNX nets them a solid two points as they head towards three more Round Robin matches next week in the Carnage Pro League. KNX brings home a respectable one point as they prepare for their next series on Sunday vs a newly reformed Team Excellent. More action to come this weekend as the Carnage in Caldavar continues!


More on this topic:
Carnage Pro League VODs - KNX vs REA - Week 1
12 Weeks Of Carnage, A New Off-Season Event
Carnage In Caldavar Portal


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