Good fundamentals and early pressure let Excel secure a clutch victory against Team Vitality that keeps them in arm’s reach of the playoff spots.
Week four started with two teams fighting for a place in the middle of the pack, Excel Esports and Team Vitality. While the former looked stronger in its games so far, Excel had shown that they were able to serve an upset.
Indeed,the UK team would look stronger in the early game as they got the first blood and were much more active on the map. Vitality’s main advantage early on lay in taking the first two drakes. However, Excel kept on keeping the pressure on, and after the first 20 minutes dominated the teamfights, first getting a 2:1 off Patrik "Patrik" Jírů’s aggressive Ezreal play 21 minutes into the game, then securing a clean baron three minutes later. Soon, they knocked on the Vitality base and it didn’t take long for them to get an inhibitor.
Vitality was not out of the fight yet, however, as 32 minutes in they secured the Baron and even got another kill in the escape. With this buff, they equalized the map somewhat, but it was not enough. Eventually, Excel secured the Infernal Soul buff and got a fight on the back of it, getting a 4:1 win and closing the game soon afterwards.
It was a good showing by the struggling Excel team, who are now at 3:5 and are still close to the main group of teams. A win here would have been key for Vitality, but now they are in a catch-up position as well.
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