"only XL-2"

I disagree with this as well) If there's no DD/flyer on week 2, the game can start as late as week 13, it's happened. My sample size, admittedly, is about 5 games, but I have no doubt about the conclusion - few respawns@lots of space lead to a long game.

On Nostra there are 3 main game scenarios:

1) Gather power, break through the ГО, then either eat the center or rush the opponent.

2) Find DD/fly and fly to the opponent, since respawns often generate close to each other.

3) Explore the map, kill neutrals, clear treasure zones, build guilds — in short, a typical XL+U with an active contact phase starting around week 4, when everyone has control, so the template's structure doesn't matter much.

The difference between Nostra and other XL+U templates is that scenarios 1-2 can be played "blindly" there, building your game around them. On other templates, rushing is hindered by the need to find the opponent; in many games, accidental rushes happen — the opponent unexpectedly pokes out and gets thrashed. On Nostra, accidental rushes are rare.

Also, on 8mm6a you can rush blindly, while the other templates have a more convoluted and variable structure.

What makes one template style better than another? Nothing special, really — just different approaches.