IM is A very hard game but I think when most people describe "everything has to be done on 1 ball" it's a little misleading. You can get everything set up close to starting and drain but still be just a few well timed shots away from some serious stacking of the objectives. Once you learn how to set things up and what modes are available when you start others you'll find your self getting to do or die quite a bit more often.
Now of course do or die MB is almost impossible but when I saw it once it was kind of a let down and something I wish they would go back and change up a bit.