The Carnage Pro League continued this weekend with back to back exciting matches on Saturday, featuring the dominant Bad Monkey Gaming and Sync eSports, as well as the up and coming North American team, The Last of US.

BMG vs tUS, Back To Basics

The first matchup had BMG taking on tUS, who had recently qualified for the Pro League as a bit of an underdog. Both teams had fairly traditional drafts, BMG with their trademark gank heavy line-up, while tUS went with a more teamfight oriented draft revolving around Pestilence/Bubbles/Ophelia. Interestingly enough, BMG placed a large amount of emphasis on banning junglers in the second stage of the banning phase, including Legionnaire, Solstice, and War Beast. This was most likely directed toward WhaT_YoU_GoT, who is independently a great player, but really favors these jungle heroes.

The first game was fairly slow until Sir Benzington scored bloodlust on Glacius in the Hellbourne jungle. Pestilence opted to rush Alchemist Bones over Portal Key, while BMG’s free farming Pebbles went for a quick blink to get the momentum rolling early. The Monkeys had a commanding hold on the game until the sixteen minute mark when tUS came up big with a two for one teamfight after great execution by Pestilence and Bubbles. Both teams retreated to farm but tUS soon recognized the superior ganking presence of BMG and opted to group up. The Americans were rewarded with a solid teamfight and a Kongor kill, netting Madman a Token of Life. The game continued with BMG finding pick-offs around the map until it culminated in a teamfight in the Hellbourne base after a forced buyback on Pestilence. After that lost engagement tUS conceded at the forty-nine minute mark.


Game two, unfortunately for tUS, was a one sided affair. tUS focused on banning some of the key heroes from Game 1, such as Wretched Hag and Sir Benzington, and scored brownie points themselves for going with a very interesting draft with Devourer, Kinesis, and Solstice. BMG had an aggressive draft heavily focused on winning the laning phase with Magmus/Engineer middle, Ophelia in the jungle, and a Torturer top lane.

BMG grabbed a very early bloodlust by taking down Devourer as they marched through the enemy jungle to place some wards. The new American squad was outdone in almost every aspect, and a crippled Solstice could not help out the middle lane effectively. BMG grouped up early with their core items on Magmus and Ophelia, pushing their advantage. tUS fought bravely until the fifteen minute mark when they decided to throw in the towel.

Sync vs tUS, Flashes Of Brilliance

tUS wasn’t done for the day yet, however, as the next best-of-three series had them taking on the powerful European Sync crew. After a disappointing 0-2 loss to BMG, tUS would have to show some resilience in order to give Sync a run for their money.
Game 1 had an aggressive draft from Sync who sent a trilane of Parasite/Magmus/Rhapsody to the long lane, challenging the somewhat unusual Gemini pick from tUS.

Sync got off to a very early lead by scoring bloodlust off an unsuspecting Gemini, allowing Parasite to pick up very early ghost marchers and, with the help of Rhapsody, control Ophelia extremely well. Two more kills for Parasite quickly followed, then the Sync jungler fell back to his own woods to develop his farm more efficiently. The game stabilized a little for tUS until in the top lane Rhapsody scored a hat trick with the help of a Rune of Double Damage infused Ioyn Stone. Sync continued to roll with a large advantage, picking apart the map and taking towers fairly freely. tUS tried to counter Sync’s push with a push of their own, but a fantastic Magmus initiation by m`IcKe picked off two heroes and quickly dashed tUS’s hopes. At the twenty one minute mark Sync was in complete control, up 10k/10k and easily took a free Kongor. Sync decided it was a good time as any to end the game and pushed bottom. After a poor teamfight, tUS conceded at twenty six minutes.


Game two was an exciting game with a lot of back and forth action, where tUS really showed a good amount of promise. tUS drafted a hard carry in Puppet Master, with a defensive dual lane in the middle comprised of Rally and Rhapsody. On the other side, Sync opted for the more traditional semi-carry in Wretched Hag, and a middle dual lane with Kraken and Empath.

The first blood in game two was a little slower in coming than some of the previous matches, but KheZu’s Drunken Master finally fell to the combined efforts of Puppet Master and Tempest in the top lane. After Rally saved himself and his support teammate from aggressive play in the middle lane the game began to stagnate. Around the thirteen minute mark tUS decided to push middle as five heroes after some back and forth skirmishes in the middle lane. The tier one tower fell, and after some overextension by Sync, coupled with a fantastic Rally stun on three heroes, tUS took a fantastic teamfight. With Puppet Master picking up a fresh Assassin’s Shroud, tUS boldly finished off all the remaining outer towers of Sync, while finding solid pick-offs around the map. At the nineteen minute mark the American boys were looking good, with an 8k/5k lead.

tUS continued to group up as a team and acquired a Token of Life for Puppet Master, despite Sync pestering them at the Kongor pit. The next big teamfight took place in Sync’s base, where an overeager tUS dove almost to the World Tree. The American’s overextension was punished by an amazing five man Bat Blast, courtesy of Flensmeister. Another teamfight in the Legion base had similar results, but one in the middle lane was favorable for tUS after an incredible save on Puppet Master with Elemental Void and Protective Melody both used to protect the carry. Eventually tUS found a great pick on Wretched Hag, and eagerly moved to Kongor to acquire a fresh Token. Unfortunately for them Sync was prepared with a buyback on Wretched Hag, leading to a game ending teamfight where tUS conceded shortly after.

Looking Forward

Team tUS showed a lot of promise, but unfortunately were often outclassed in the laning and drafting phase by the more veteran European teams they faced today. BMG comes out with another solid three points, while Sync will happily also take three points after failing to acquire one in their series with BMG. Sunday concludes the first week of Carnage action, and with the CEO involved you know it’s gonna be good.

It all starts at 1pm EDT | 1900 CEST, when Team Excellent shows their faces for the first time in the Carnage Pro League. Their double header puts them against the first position BMG, and another relatively new squad, the REXXARS. Tune in for all the action brought to you by Honcast, and enjoy the Carnage!


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