What level?

Low to mid open

Nasty pugs are around low-mid but then you have to deal with the people who play there so it's a tossup. Depends on how serious you want to be and how old you are.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/NastyPugs

These are low open and aren't too toxic http://steamcommunity.com/groups/GoodGamingGang

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/blazepugs
we havent been as active since most of the admins are busy with open scrims most nights, but we still pug when we can.

Avoid Nasty PUGs like the plague. Good Gaming generally has cool enough people playing, but the skill level is definitely a bit lower. Lately it looks like ESEA PUGs have been happening thanks to b4nny and sezco hosting them every night (but later at night). I played Blaze PUGs and it was okay until the end. The first few games were good, but then 2 guys decided to ruin the last set of pugs by turning it into an offclass shitfest.

nasty pugs are full of fuckin retards so dont play those

All PUG groups will turn to shit eventually if they're public or the wrong people are let in.

That said, b4nny's been getting ESEA PUGs going the past few nights, generally after midnight. Would love to see some pre-scrim ESEA PUGs though.

ESEA is always an option to use and have it alive would be amazing

Party pugs is pretty good though.
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/PartyPug

I'm not gunna lie nastypugs can be a lot better but they really have improved a lot. they were really really really bad like a month or so go but idk people seem to be trying to not be so cancerous.

they're not the most skilled pugs on the planet, but hey its a somewhere to start.

I joined Blazedarkbringer's PUGs a short while ago based on the recommendations in the previous PUG group thread. A couple days later I got 21(!) Steam notifications filled with this:

mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598 mumble-us.cleanvoice.ru port 52598

Aside from this shitty announcement spam, it took probably 20-30 minutes to get the PUG started, and that's only counting after there were 12+ players in mumble and the server. The PUG itself was pretty decent, with most players being around low-mid Open level as expected, although there were definitely some UGC caliber players. I played a couple maps and left, and I haven't been back.

As for PUG groups that I do recommend, there's always Party PUGs, which actually work quickly in a sensible manner and have a solid base of low-mid Open players and the occasional IM+ players. GoodGaming PUGs are practically the same and even share some of the same core players. Note that they both have certain restrictions on off-classing.

(In the middle of writing this post, Blazedarkbringer's PUGs spammed 5 identical announcements:

ANY O YALL WANNA GET DESE DANK PUGS?

173.208.211.220:64738 
173.208.211.220:64738 
173.208.211.220:64738 
173.208.211.220:64738 
173.208.211.220:64738

memes)

party pugs are absolute cancer, blaze pugs are way better than them even with their shortcomings

I never had to wait more than 5 minutes between the announcement and the PUG starting in the other PUG groups I mentioned, even after 3 a.m. My only complaint about Party PUGs in particular is probably the skill level of the players.

SYOPS pugs are pretty chill but I'm not entirely sure they're what you're looking for. Either way, I'd keep them in consideration for when you want to get out of low mid pugs.

hey eric. im the admin in question that likes to spam those announcements. im sorry that you find it a problem, its just something i enjoy doing. i get how that could be annoying. however, i feel that our idle chat is part of what i love about blaze pugs. we were a tight knit group of players before we started posting the group on tftv, and since then have been getting a lot of newer players and a lot of players that are above the skill level of what these pugs usually are. we have been starting quicker as of late, although again, that wasnt something i personally thought was a problem.
im not sure whether you think that our method of picking a second medic is a problem, although the silliness in the taunt killing could be seen as annoying. The rule of the medic getting to pick the map was my own idea. It was to provide an incentive to choosing to pick first, as everybody would pick second. Someone getting to pick the map has not caused any problems so far, though i am sorry that you dont enjoy metalworks.
I am sorry that your experience in our pug group wasnt up to your standards, but at its core we are a group of friends first, and people that provide good pugs second. You are welcome to join us next time we play, but i understand if you didnt have a good time.

I figured it was just an admin thing as you personally did it twice, but I can't see how the spam is not awful. It took forever for all the announcements to go away, and they are pretty obtrusive on super-low resolutions.

The problem I have with your Medic-picking process is that it adds minutes to how long it takes the start the PUG, which was already way too long. Last-to-spec does the job near-instantly, although not as fun.

Everything else was okay.

i can understand the spam thing, that would get pretty annoying for certain people. youre not the first to bring it up either.
As for the medic picking process, again, it comes down to why youre here. For a lot of us its a community thing where we talk and chill, but if you just want to show up and get going as fast as possible, maybe you should be playing in a group that moves faster.

Well uh if you are looking for pugs for weekends only (mostly) then Newbie Pugs are pretty cool, we started as friends that came from newbie mixes but kind of "out grew it" if you will. We have players from about steel to mid open but we except anybody who looking to have some fun. check it out http://steamcommunity.com/groups/newbie6v6pug

http://40.media.tumblr.com/c20484172da412227a60cd29b35457a7/tumblr_n7ajzem7Qd1r3ip8io1_500.jpg

SYOPS is probably the best one at this point

Blaze pugs are pretty fun and I'd recommend them. Nasty pugs are kinda fun but some people are really obnoxious. But the one I really enjoy is Newbie pugs. Its newbie mixes but no coaching, just games. Although they are lower level, people usually try harder there and the off classing is kind of strict which is a plus in my opinion.

bro, youre on blazes team AND are a blazepugs admin

hey. you might like to do it, but at this point when multiple threads have requested that you stop, maybe you should stop.

SYOPS pugs are dead no one play them. If you like to play sniper class or like to yell at teammates while playing games they are very dead and no one wants you.

#freespadez

http://puu.sh/e5WzR/5d5f64d52c.jpg

Memories are made at BlazePugs
I'm Blaze, the head admin of BlazePugs, and I'd like to personally say that if you want to see a change made in my pugs, contact me on steam. If you want to be a negative, non-productive person, feel free to continue spamming threads that I do not read.
Anyways...
We have a small dedicated core group of people who enjoy playing pugs, and just hanging around together.
If you're new to my pugs, please add me, we can make you feel welcome, and I'll be sure you get picked.
If you wish to contact me, I suggest you add me here.
Also, my email for this sort of thing is blazedarkbringer@gmail.com if you're into that.
Pug group is here.

You should stop sending out excessive amounts of announcements whenever you try to get a pug going. If we haven't joined by the first message, our decision probably won't change in the next 5 minutes.

still waiting on getting my ban for being friends with someone who went sniper to be reversed.

I unbanned sniper like 2 weeks ago. So anyone is welcome. Just dont be hurtful to your team (that includes bad attitudes but you would get a warning on that). And they are not dead. We have pugs nightly. Matter a fact there will be some tonight.