So while watching the LCS I see the split push strat being used as we all do and I thought of something today. Most of the teams that split and take the top tower take rift herald right afterward. My question is why doesn't the team taking the bottom turret take the dragon? It would give them extra damage and speed up getting the second dragon for the tower pushing mid game. Is there some sort of strategic reason that i'm just not seeing?
Currently Rift > Drag due to the fact that drag rarely goes to 5 as games are so short and rift is amazing for pushing/clearing the jg
A few reasons. 1: Dragon is harder to take down early. 2: Dragon gives few early assets. It gives some damage stats, but nothing compared to Herald, especially since the 1st Dragon stats are %-based rather than flat. 3: This kinda relates to #1, but when taking Dragon, everyone has to recall with low health. When taking Herald on anyone except Elise, one person has to recall with low health. Some of the people involved could just stay in lane if they wanted.
Thanks for the explanations folks!
Rift Herald is absolute garbage post Lv. 6... but before that, specially in Pro-play, you just take it in a lane swap to fast push the lane and get a tower advantage over enemy, because Dragon Pre 6 buffs are very minimal. Unless the team is playing to the Dragon 5 condition, which in this meta is not recommended, because how long it takes. It's just better to take the early towers for map control.
