Failure to Focus on Objectives – Bronze IV Game 2 [LOL]

My first game as Bronze IV did not go so well so I took a break. I try to not let losing streaks happen by stepping away from the game for a while whenever I lose a game. I have learned that if I try to force a win to happen after a loss, I tend to push too hard and it usually results in another loss.

Bronze IV – Game 2 – 0 LP
BANS – Nasus, Yasuo, Panth / Amumu, Mundo, Evelynn
Our Team – Darius(t), Leona(s), Caitlyn(a), Xin Zhao(j) Morgana(m)
Opposing Team – Lee Sin(j), Yi(t), Malzahar(m), Twitch(a), Alistar(s)
My Role & Champ – Mid – Morgana
Map side – Purple

This game, I got to play one of my favorite champions – Morgana – in one of my favorite places – mid lane. Opposing me mid lane was Malzahar. He seems to be gaining in popularity lately and can be a pain. I usually do pretty well against him, but when he hits me with his ultimate – Nether Grasp – it really hurts. Nether Grasp scales at 130% of AP and suppresses for 2.5 seconds, meaning I just sit there hitting my flash, my Black Shield, my Zhonya's, or anything trying to do something, and I can do nothing. It is truly annoying and often leads to a death.

To start out this game, Yi decided to feint an invade and run to our Red Buff, but Darius, Xin and I were there. Darius got the kill but unfortunately, my Dark Binding(Q) did not hit so I did not get an assist. This also locked me into Dark Binding as my first spell when I usually like to take Tormented Soil(W) first. When I got down to mid lane, Malzahar pushed pretty hard, and with help from Lee Sin, forced me to back at around 5 minutes to heal up.

We both hit 7 around 7:30, and I overextended, finally hitting a bind when I had missed the last 3, but I was too far away to cast my soil and regardless of that, I did not have enough mana. Once overextended, he hit me with his ultimate and I nearly did not get away. I used flash when the ult was done and ran back past my turret with 110 hp left. I backed again and he got more of a CS advantage – I need to make sure I have enough mana when I engage.

During my next 2 engagements, I managed to get an assist on Malzahar using my ultimate to stun him while Xin jumped in and got the kill, and I got a kill on Lee Sin by binding him in range of my turret. I thought things were looking good. Then Xin initiated and killed a roaming Twitch and I moved in to the river bush to help out, but Lee was there and with Malzahar using his ultimate on me, I got stuck and both Xin and I died. Things were looking positive though. They finally were able to get a turret down – mid lane – at 18:30, but we had pushed to get both top and bot outer turrets and had a 18 to 12 advantage in kills by 19 minutes. On my way back after my death, I tried to protect my mid turret way too long and nearly got fed to Yi, but Leona saved my butt and I was able to back.

At 20 minutes, I got a double kill of Alistar and Yi locking them down with my ult and Cait nailed Lee and we headed to knock down their mid turret. At 30 minutes, we were ahead 35 to 25 kills, but because they had taken more turrets, 4 to 3 at this point and all the dragons, they were ahead of us in gold by 1800.

So basically, we were doing well in killing them, but we were not pressing our advantage by taking objectives. 37 minutes into the game and they had 5 of our turrets down and we still only had 3 of theirs, but we were up by 9 kills. They got the baron at 41 minutes and proceeded to push the top inner turret down, getting an ace on us on the way. With us all dead, they got all 3 inhibitors and the game was pretty much over at that point. We managed to get an ace on them before it was over, but with all inhibitors down, we could not press our advantage.

One thing that I get annoyed with Morgana for is that she does not do well against the super minions. It really just seems like she is ineffective against them and can not hold them off very well. In any case, the game ended at 45:28 with us having a 58 to 51 kill advantage, but they got our nexus. Our team lacked focus other than getting kills. No one wanted to go for objectives and it resulted in a loss. I think I need to be more confident and suggest objectives as targets rather than being passive and letting others dictate priorities (or lack thereof).

Other things I need to learn include that I need to work on not getting hit by Malzahar's Malefic Visions as it bounces from a dying minion. I let it hit me way too many times and the poke eventually drains my health down. Also, I did some research after this game and have found that a Quicksilver Sash is a common counter to Malzahar's Nether Grasp. I am going to have to remember this for the future so I can deal with him better.

Game Result – DEFEAT
My K/D/A/CS – 9/8/12/259
Final Build – Rabadon's Deathcap, Zhonya's Hourglass, Athene's Unholy Grail, Blasting Wand, Negatron Cloak, Warding Totem