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Well that sucked. After living off that reverse sweep high last week, Boston goes to another game five. And drops it. Against Philly. That’s a burn that will stay with the team for awhile. Not as bad an ending to a stage as getting reverse swept by the Washington Justice, but this will sting. Despite the loss, Boston played a tight game with a team that had beat them 2-1 just two weeks ago. Let’s take a look at what went down.
The Good
- Boston’s full hold on Point B of Horizon Lunar Colony was a textbook bunker defense. Years from now scholars will study just how Boston was able to squash any offense Philadelphia threw at them. From perfectly timed Immortality Fields, well placed Widow snipes, to smart healing shots from Aimgod, Boston put on a clinic to hold Philly to just a point.
- I have to eat a bit of crow as I’ve advocated Boston abandon GOATs. So how did they hold Philly on Point B defense on Havana? Ana GOATs. What’s so impressive about them succeeding with this comp was Fusion’s use of Sombra. Granted, Poko holding onto his EMP for the majority of the push until he gave up and switched to DVa helped. With Boston coordinated around the tight quarters of Point B, it seemed clear to everyone that the Uprising had rehearsed and were prepared for this part of the match.
- Getting a point on sudden death Ilios by playing GOATs was huge. Playing the mirror to the Fusion was the right call, and Boston played it perfectly. rCk getting picks on the Zen, Rein, and Birgitte as OT started was the play of the stage there. The Finn was on fire.
The Bad
- Let’s start on Nepal, where Carpe popped off on Widowmaker. Guy had free rein to click heads and was a force to be reckoned with. Boston had no answer for him.
- Too often Boston was timid in swapping heroes out. We saw this on Nepal when rCk held onto Mei and her ult. He never found a spot to toss it in and swap out when Philly was already closing out. It happened again on Numbani when Boston came out with a strange bunker comp on offense. Didn’t work – and the boys didn’t switch to GOATs until it was too late.
- Can we talk some more about that team comp on Numbani on offense? Blase on Rein? Colour on Bastion? I default to trusting in Huk and the coaches, but this seemed ill designed. Philly defended with a Winston GOATs, almost a dive comp with DVa. Fusion had no problem diving the Bastion and picking off the supports. I wish Boston had switched out quicker.
- I’m calling out Malik, Soe, and Sideshow’s halftime analysis (or lack thereof). You’d think Philly was up 2-0 the way they were kissing their ass. Pandering to the Fusion in the middle of a close contest seemed off.
- Philly won the match on Stage 2 of Ilios. Boston losing 99-100 was a back breaker. They had the map won until Blase used the barrage at point blank on Sado on the point, killing himself before he picked the tank. That lead to the Uprising having to retreat. Philly got the fifth swap of control on the point and, ultimately, the last. With enough time left to get an EMP, there was still hope. That is, until Carpe picked off rCk as Tracer. Philly mopped up the picks and Stage 3 was all but over.
- Colourhex getting his grav eaten by Poko on that last stage of overtime…
The Uprising
- I thought rCk was Boston’s best player Saturday. Rarely did he go down first, and he got so many picks throughout the match. He was aggressive from the jump. The flex player also hit the supports more often than not with his EMPs, preventing any effective response from the Fusion. He was coordinated with the other players all match, and seemed to bother the right Fusion player each time with solo hacks. Was nice to see consistency from the Finn.
- It would have been easy to pack it in after dropping Numbani in such embarrassing fashion. Credit to Boston – they came out strong on map four to force sudden death.
- Winning on the fifth map seemed inevitable. The four reverse sweeps throughout the course of the season loomed in the air and it seemed Boston was ready to avenge their loss from two weeks ago to the Fusion. Especially after playing so well on Stage 1 of Ilios. Boston has to respect what Philly did in stopping that momentum dead in its tracks.
Outlook
Stage 3 didn’t work out how any of us hoped. Getting swept three times and not securing a win until week three isn’t what anyone should be happy about. However, there was progress throughout the stage that Boston fans can hold on to.
Uprising’s support line was the story of the stage. A seeming roulette between Aimgod, Persia, Kellex, and Alemao operated through the early part of the stage. It’s no surprise that returning to the staple of Kellex/Aimgod helped Boston achieve its only win of the stage against Paris. While I do think the other players have potential, Aimgod and Kellex give the team their best chance of winning. Persia just stepped off the boat a few days before walking on stage, and could use more scrim time. Alemao is a serviceable Lucio player and should be given another opportunity. Hopefully the time off will serve the team here.
While Boston oscillated between GOATs, Sombra GOATs, Hackfist, bunker, and PharMercy comps all stage, they won’t need to worry going into Stage 4. Overwatch League all but confirmed that a 2-2-2 lock is happening next stage. No one knows what to expect from it, but fans can feel good that Boston has given dps comps a good trial run this stage. Hopefully the time the team has invested in these off-meta comps will serve them well in Stage 4.
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