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Thursday, June 20th @ 7:00pm: San Francisco Shock

Sunday, June 23rd @ 4:45pm: Paris Eternal

What better way to rebound from an 0-4 start to the stage then finding yourself facing the last stage’s champion? That’s where the boys in blue find themselves this week as they face off against the San Francisco Shock Thursday night. Following that, on Sunday they get a rematch with the Paris Eternal, who took out Boston just two weeks ago 3-1. Talk about a horror show wrapped inside a disaster. When life hands the Uprising lemons, can they walk out this weekend chugging lemonade, or will they be reeling from having lemon juice shoved in their eyes? Let’s take a look at what we can expect.

San Francisco Shock

After climbing the mountain, the Shock did what had yet to be done – beat the Vancouver Titans. With their Stage 2 championship, the Shock showed everyone that the top tier of the league had better make room for one more team. Since then, they’ve swept the Dynasty, won a hard fought 3-2 match against the Reign, and, surprisingly, lost 3-2 to the Outlaws. Clearly Boston can’t judge anyone for losing to Houston (see last week), but the Shock are certainly a team to be respected. What hope does Boston have?

Not much. While I quit the prediction game after seeing Boston shockingly get reverse swept by the Justice, it’s hard not to see the Uprising facing an insurmountable task here. Shock are on a rampage, and I’m not sure Boston has what it takes to counter it. Look for Fusions to draw most of the focus fire, and if SF play the Sombra, how the race with rCk to the EMP goes. I’d say those are your two keys to the matchup.

Paris Eternal

Stage 3 Week 1’s matchup between Boston and Paris was a nail biter. Now at 2-1 going into the final map, Gibraltar, the match was decided on who could make it further on their second offensive lap. As my colleague Brock broke down, Boston played well that map. It came down to poor ult economy management, not focusing on targets collectively, and poor positioning when it mattered most. Ending a winless opening stage weekend, Boston has plenty of motivation to seek revenge.

There was alot going on in that Paris match that fans can question. Will Aimgod and Alemao return to the support line? We’ve seen Persia, Kellex, Aimgod, and Alemao all get stage time. Will Huk and the staff finally settle on their support players? If it’s up to me, I stick with Aimgod and flip a coin on Kellex/Alemao. Aimgod has proven himself the best Zen on staff, and a more than capable Ana (if the situation calls for it). Meanwhile both Kellex/Alemao are great Lucios who seem to coordinate well with the other players.

Also likely to change in the rematch is the team comp. Their first encounter saw Boston employ plenty of standard 3-3, but this was not the way Boston played in week 2. Will they continue to bring out the hackfist comp? Maybe pull more from dps hero pools or bunker comps. I think, despite another two losses, last week’s matches showed Boston a road forward in the league that sees less GOATs and more dps.

Outlook

It’s not going to come easy. Nothing is given in this league. Boston has plenty they need to fix. We’ve seen this whole stage that Boston is more than willing to toss DPS team comps out into play. They’re a prominent OWL proponent of the new ‘HackFist’ comp. Sombra was used extensively last week. I think it’s time to throw caution to the wind and embrace the contrarian role.

Next, let’s settle down the support line. No more last minute lottery or outthinking themselves. Pick the best players and the ones that work best with the team (sorry Persia, you need more time scrimming before you’re stage worthy with the boys). I firmly believe Aimgod is our best support and Kellex/Alemao are a toss up for the second spot.

Third, rCk needs to prove his worth. While he has generally been good since he came over from Dallas after Stage 1, as more teams have embraced the Sombra the Finn hasn’t performed. He hasn’t been the best Sombra in the game. If he’s going to justify his position on the team (and alleviate frustrated fans still furious that Note is gone) he needs to step up.

If Boston cleans up these issues, plays tight, and executes their coach’s gameplan they can break their winless streak. I think this funk they’re in is escapable. But they have to get themselves together. Embrace the weird. Play their best. Tell the rest of the league to shove it. Lets go boys.

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