This best-of-three series had a lot of people nervous going into the second game. Even though SecurityMetrics had bested Adobe in game one, many people were fearful that changing up our team’s roles could result in a loss. I had multiple people message me to ask if I was nervous spectating game two. While I did want our boys to win, I also was in the lucky spot of not caring if they lost. A loss simply meant a game three tie-breaker where I would have the chance to get subbed in to show off play.
This game really showed some strong aspects of the team. Garen managed to dominate in top lane. The poor Jayce in his lane didn’t bother to include Flash as one of his Summoner Spells. I don’t know if Flash would have helped in this match up, but it seems like a necessary spell on most champs due to the ability to escape over a wall. Brand also was a hot spot on the team. His 5-0 start really set the mood for how mid lane would be handled. I actually heard him apologize for killing Malzahar mid when Olaf came to gank. I think the kill money was better used on him than anyone else! Brand became a major factor in this game. Olaf’s stats are deceiving. Despite being a huge feeder, Olaf actually participated in 23 of the 28 team kills. This is a huge stat that shows what kind of plays he was making. Now, had Choppes been playing Nunu instead, he probably would have ended up with 15 accidental kills!
My wife commented while watching the game and said “If they don’t start pressuring top lane and taking towers then they can’t win this game.” I passed the message along. I was really impressed that my cute wife knew what needed to be done. Adobe had taken middle lane almost for free. They had managed to take down middle inhibitor, and eventually got to bottom inhibitor after some lost team fights.
The game was getting late, death timers had risen to a dangerous level. One step in the wrong direction could spell disaster. It was at this moment that SecurityMetrics realized that Adobe was probably at Baron, because SM didn’t have any vision of the Baron pit. They ran in a mad rush there. It was strange to watch from spectator view, because Adobe had transitioned down to bottom lane to push it out and take the inhibitor. Just as SecurityMetrics arrived at Baron to not find Adobe there, Adobe stepped into bot lane, threatening to end the game. Garen immediately started to recall, but the rest of SM stayed to slay Baron Nashor.
Bottom inhibitor was destroyed. Middle inhibitor was destroyed. Baron Nashor was slain. Garen was the only thing between Adobe and our Nexus towers. But as they say in Olde English: “Yay, lest we forget the forthcomings of Homeguard boots that our children may wallow in pity for our souls.” They only say that because while Adobe tried to pick off Garen a viking moving at the speed of light came streaking (with clothes on) into the fight. Adobe unleashed a massive combo of damage and crowd control on Garen, dropping him to 0 health. Olaf fought frantically to avenge his friend, and the rest of SecurityMetrics came pouring into the team fight.
As Garen fell it was as if time stood still. The wisp of white surrounding his body made one final revolution and then poured back into his soul, granting him the life to fight on. As Garen stood back up, cheating death, the enemy team’s morale was destroyed. They knew they wouldn’t have anything for the ensuing team fight.
The enemy team was almost wiped out. The few remaining souls fled down mid lane. They were chased by a Sona with Shurelya’s Reverie and a bonus movement speed ability, along with the other four members of Team SecurityMetrics. None survived on the enemy team. SecurityMetrics started to take towers, starting with the tier two turret in mid lane. It was at this point I heard Sona volunteer to go back to defend against the two inhibs that were down in their base. I told him to stay. He couldn’t fight off super minions, and they were counter-pushing mid lane anyway.
After the tier two turret fell, SM stepped up and dropped the inhibitor turret. Realizing that they still had time they walked into the base to take the Nexus turrets. It was in this moment that they realized the game was theirs. They had almost 20 seconds left on death timers for the enemy team. They would be able to finish off the entire base before the enemy team could spawn. Cheers went out, celebration had begun! SecurityMetrics had bested Adobe in one of the most bizarre push-to-win fashions ever imagined! This come-from-behind effort showed the amount of teamwork that anyone could exemplify. All parties involved were satisfied.
