Team 8 vs Team Impulse: By the Numbers

What does it take to close out the game?

Team 8 and Team Impulse faced off in a pendulum match on Saturday.  Team 8 established a strong early game lead, securing 11 kills to 2, baron, dragon, 5 towers, and nearly a 9k gold lead besides in the first 28 minutes.  CaliTrlolz8 especially profited off this early lead, netting 5 of his 8 kills in this early portion of the game.

And then . . . the throws.  Team Impulse was able to establish a bit better presence on the rift, trading evenly for kills in team fights and knocking down a few turrets of their own.  Things when horribly awry for Team 8 at a baron fight, and Team Impulse was able to claw their way back into the game, taking baron, dragon, 6 towers, 2 inhibitors, and 4 more kills in the next 6 minutes.

Of course, with such pressure on the base, the only natural thing to do was to get baron buff again for a final solid push back into the base.  That is, until Team 8 decided to contest it.  Although they secured baron, Team Impulse lost 3 of their own and had to rush back to defend a now straight path up the mid lane to the base.  Rush was not able to do enough, and Team 8 was able to take down the Nexus before Impulse had time to respond.

Rush bites off a bit more than he could chew.

1.  Can Rush catch a break?  Rush had a rough early game, dying 5 times in the first 26 minutes (including handing over First Blood at about 4:00)--but were all these deaths unavoidable?  Granted, he could have played less aggressively early on, but even on good attempts he was left high and dry by the rest of his team.  Impulse gave up on a lot of early lead potential by not coordinating effectively with Rush.

They had early pressure . . . and promptly lost it.

2.  Impulse's passive early game.  Aside from Rush, Impulse's passive early game left a lot of unpunished mistakes for Team 8.  Early on, Team 8 couldn't decide what they wanted to do in the laning phase--Maplestreet8 and CaliTrlolz8 swapped back their lanes after only a handful of minions each.  However, Impulse did nothing to capitalize on the early lead, and by 10 minutes the gaps had closed.

Team 8, retreating after a tough encounter at baron.

3.  Baron might be the MVP.  What happened at baron (and the distraction it presented) dictated how the game went.  6 kills were a direct result of securing the baron, and 9 towers fell because of baron fight results.

Secure an inhibitor and run for the hills.

4.  There might not always be a later.  When Impulse left the Team 8 base, it was with the confidence that they'd be back momentarily, even though they had a lot of momentum going toward the Nexus.  Perhaps if they'd kept up the pressure, they might have closed out the game 5 minutes earlier in their favor.

Porpoise8 and the 1 v 4 dive.

5.  The hunger is real.  Once Team 8 secured a solid lead, their teamwork started to crumble as everyone decided to become a star.  All it took was a couple of greedy dives for things to start shifting back in Impulse's favor.  If they had kept their original momentum, taking smart risks and collapsing as a team, the game might not have been so close.

How do the teams look coming out of this?  Team 8 managed to secure a pretty good early game, despite their tough transitions--however, they have to work on their overconfidence when they start getting a lead.  Team Impulse, on the other hand, has to get on board with Rush and play a more aggressive early game.  Right now, they're playing their early game like Elements had been the last few weeks over in Europe--they should take a page out of Krepo's book and start making things interesting early.

Other interesting statistics:

• The sustained damage of XiaoWeiXiao was a little better than Slooshi8's.  XiaoWeiXiao had to commit a little more damage to each kill, but he suffered less damage (and deaths) in return.

• Porpoise8, despite his overreaching, managed to come out unscathed after weathering 41.3k damage.  XiaoWeiXiao was the next best at surviving with 11.5k damage per death, followed by Maplestreet8 at 10.3k damage.

• Things were pretty even in the ward department, Impulse dropping a hair more for 3 wards per minute to Team 8's 2.8 wards.

• XiaoWeiXiao had the best KP at 100%, followed by Adrian at 92%, and Porpoise 8 at 83%.