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After a disastrous opening to Stage 3, Boston had plenty to improve on. Swept by the London Spitfire and only taking a single map from the Paris Eternal was far from how anyone envisioned last week going. It seemed evident that Boston was experimenting both with their hero composition and the backline players on stage. That type of tweaking of the team’s chemistry and strategy on stage didn’t work out well last week. Would they do the same against the Houston Outlaws and Philadelphia Fusion?
Short answer? No.
A resurgent Houston team that put everyone across the league on notice earlier this week by taking down the San Francisco Shock came ready to play, sweeping Boston. Despite a map win and a winner take all map four, Boston would fall 2-1 to the Fusion. Another 0-2 weekend has added to the scrutiny that this team will be under. What happened?
The Good
Blase’s Tracer taking out Jake’s Pharah on Nepal was fantastic. Seeing Houston’s dps getting wacked with Hex’s rockets (I counted 3x) the whole map showed Boston at least had the advantage in the sky. Honestly I thought Boston had Jake’s number all match long, which I loved. Overwatch League’s lead poster-boy getting shown up was the highlight of the match.
I thought Colourhex was our best player this week. Whether it was his Pharah or Widowmaker, he was consistent through both matches. I loved seeing the Fusions throw everything but the kitchen sink at his Widow on Paris, still fail to get him, and get punished by the rest of the Uprising. Delicious.
I’m a big fan of the dps comps Boston threw out there this weekend. They clearly aren’t a top tier GOATs team, so why keep hitting their head against the wall? I don’t hate Boston trying something new. They just need to execute more consistently.
It’s 2019 and we’re seeing a Hanzo? I’m here for this.Doomfist was great too.
At least Boston didn’t look as bad as Philly. Who thought those jerseys looked good? I’ve never seen anyone wear zebra stripes like that. What, do you want to look like an umpire? No one thinks referees look cool.
The Bad
There’s been a lot of talk about Fusion’s efficacy on Winston. Should he just stick to Rein and get swapped out if the map calls for something else? Well, that attempted jump from the corner to the main platform on Nepal’s first map where he went for a fall… not helping the pro-Winston case. As Hex said on the cast – you have to know when/where you can make that jump.
Several miscommunications on Volskaya Industries (which Boston has a reputation of winning on). Persia hitting a Transcendence after Fusions gets picked. RCk only hacking 4 Outlaws, notably not the Zen with a Transcendence ready to launch. Just not how anyone drew that map up.
Danteh was the better Sombra in the Houston match. Boombox was the better Sombra in the Philly match. I hate to say it, but the Finn didn’t match any of the competition. Considering we traded for rCk to play a Sombra meta, this was not a good development.
Boston’s sole turn on the bunker comp on Paris didn’t work out well, did it? While we saw some brilliance from Hex’s Widow, who had seemingly open range on Philadelphia, it didn’t last. Philly’s dive was too potent and lead to a quick cap on both points.
Any hopes of a reverse sweep against Houston went out the window on Numbani when the Outlaws held Boston off Point A at 99.8%. They stalled long enough for the team to rally back, and Boston took too much time. Boston seemingly couldn’t focus on their targets while Houston got picks left and right.
I listened to Uber’s defense of using Ana over Zen – and I don’t buy it. A biotic grenade isn’t in the same ball park as a Transcendence to respond to an EMP with. Yes, Fusions in general should benefit from a focus Nano, but I didn’t see nearly enough of that in either match to justify it. Anytime Boston saw Danteh or Boombox on Sombra they should have switched the Zen on.
The Uprising
A simultaneous EMP on Point B was one of the craziest plays I’ve ever seen. 10 players without powers as Boston tried to close out their second lap. That’s not something either team prepares for. Boston winning that fight got them the point and3
Yes @UberShouts, this team effort means we go "agane" on Paris!
You could tell how much fun Blase was having out there. Being allowed out of the brig (#DadJoke) to play Doom was just what the doctor ordered. He was great too! Boston played several dps comps where the frenticness played into Doom’s hand (or fist).
Stage 3 playoffs is dead. Let’s not kid ourselves. Boston is barely keeping their head above water. There are holes in the hull. The sail is burning. They’re taking on water. The ship may be sinking. But there is hope.
Figure out the support line. Persia seemed wildly out of place and out of sync with the rest of the team. Establish some consistency there. Keep working the DPS comps. There were flashes of brilliance against Philly. Let’s build on that.
Stage 3’s schedule isn’t getting any easier. Rematches against Philly and Paris. Stage 2 champions the San Francisco Shock. No joking around. Figure your crap out. We’ve seen these guys rally when the situation called for it. Let’s hope they can do it quickly.
For more Boston Uprising content and gameday banter, follow Loadscr33n on Twitter #BostonUp
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For this weeks player preview, I originally wanted to discuss Philadelphia Fusion’s star DPS Carpe. I wanted to talk about how the transition from a DPS meta to the GOATS meta has drastically affected Carpe’s play making ability.
But then Houston beat San Francisco so I threw all that nonsense out to discuss Danteh and his Sombra. I was sitting at the bar when I tuned into the games on my phone, and I could not believe what I was watching.
2-2? Is it that late that I would be seeing things? And did I just see the Outlaws of all teams, smack the Shock around on Illios?
Naturally I checked Twitter to confirm that I didn’t go off the deep-end, and sure enough it was all real. The lowly 3-12 Houston Outlaws, the same team that went 0-7 last stage, had beaten the Stage 2 champs. San Francisco’s win streak had ended at 11 games.
Houston’s Turnaround
What did Houston do that gave them the opportunity to topple a much better team? They did what most winning teams do for a change: minimize their own mistakes and weaknesses. Attempting to play GOATs against one of the best GOATs teams in the league is quite the feat. Realizing the massive gap between their skill levels, Houston brought out new and interesting team comps to combat the Shock. We even got to see the “HackFist” comp come out on Nepal. While they didn’t stick with it for the whole round, it showed how weak the Shock are to unconventional comps.
I would love to see Boston run Sombra/Doom like this. If Houston was able to beat down on the Shock with it, maybe its Boston's turn to try it out?https://t.co/DKN9oAGQHM
The real star of the match was Danteh on Sombra. His hack selection was incredible, starting almost all fights with a pick on a San Francisco support. In the crucial map 4, Danteh hit a 5-man EMP to relieve the pressure the Shock had at the Outlaws spawn.
This flank route allows Danteh to hack both Viol2t and Moth
Danteh also created openings for the Outlaws by focusing ChoiHyoBin to prevent the San Francisco D.VA from defending Super. The strength of the San Francisco Shock is their amazing tank synergy between Super, Sinatraa, and Choi. By taking one of the pieces away from that front line, Houston was able to punish the D.VA and allow Linkzr free reign on San Fran.
How Does Boston Stop This?
What does this mean for Boston? Well, in the past Boston has had some serious issues dealing with talented Sombras. A specialist like Danteh would certainly force the Uprising to play around him. The good news is that Houston is a team that makes a ton of mistakes.
In the same match against San Francisco, Houston played a DPS-centric comp that actually had the off-support Rawkus play Solider:76. While cheeky, the Shock won a single fight and took the map. The large mistake was thinking a single Mercy was enough healing to sustain against GOATs. Even though Danteh was able to kill several attackers in hopes to stop the push, the rest of the Outlaws failed to follow up on the advantage.
Boston needs to be ready to fight in these prolonged fights, because Sombra doesn’t deal nearly as much damage as other DPS characters. Even if Boston trades one or two players, fights are still winnable as long as Sombra does not have EMP.
Whats the key to defeating Danteh? A clear organized game plan, with communication that gets things done. In their back to back reverse sweeps in Stage 2, Boston was able to thwart other Sombra players, so I hope to see that same strategy come through Friday night.
Be sure to follow Brock on twitter for more breakdowns and analysis #BostonUp
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Friday, June 14th @ 10:30pm: London Spitfire
Sunday, June 16th @ 6:30pm: Philadelphia Fusion
With Stage 3 in full gear, the Boston Uprising look to earn what eluded them opening week – a win. After getting swept by the London Spitfire and only winning a single map against the Paris Eternal, things couldn’t get much worse for Boston. Another week brings a new set of opponents and opportunities to get things going in the right direction. Here’s what lays in front of them.
Houston Outlaws
For those not looking at other teams across the league, let’s get the basics down of who exactly the Uprising are up against tonight. Houston is 3-12 on the year. They haven’t won a match since March 17th. As of now they are 18th in the league standings. Back in Stage 1 on February 17th, Boston slipped by with a 2-1 win on Ilios for the 3-2 match win.
All that said, Houston opened up Stage 3 last Saturday with a near win against the NYXL, losing 3-2. Last night they beat the Stage 2 champion San Francisco Shock, highlighted by a full hold on Havana. That is quite the opening start to Stage 3 and does not portend well for the Uprising.
THEY'VE DONE IT!!! 😲
The @Outlaws pull off an INCREDIBLE upset and take the series 3-2! #OWL2019
All this amidst some chaos in their ownership group and a poor start to their season makes what the Outlaws are doing so much more impressive. Much of their success the last two matches has been due to Danteh and his use of Sombra. His ability to not just rack up the hacks, but to fatten up on the eliminations after the fact makes him dangerous. Houston has also benefited from Rawkus, who has shown a ton of versatility in support. Whether he plays the Mercy in combo with the Pharah or his pinpoint accuracy as Ana, Boston will need to focus fire on a tricky Houston backline.
Philadelphia Fusion
On the other side of the spectrum is the Fusion. Stuck in the middle of the pack like the Uprising, Philadelphia sits at 9th in the League Standings with an 8-7 record. While they are in season playoff position now, with so many teams bundled in the middle, no one can take a match off. As last year’s championship runner-up, Philadelphia has alot to prove.
In their opening week of Stage 3, Philly was swept by the Hangzhou Spark. They have seen their previously tough exterior slowly crumble throughout the season. Carpe has lost his edge on Zarya, often getting his gravs eaten. Poko, who used to have weekly highlight plays with his unpredictable Self-Destructs, doesn’t show up with those bombs like he used to.
How will Boston play them? We didn’t see much of Sombra last week – perhaps rCk will be let loose. Maybe we’ll see some more DPS heroes – blase on a Genji or Doomfist? Will we see Mei come back? Whereas last week saw almost all GOATs, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them go in another direction.
Outlook
What we’ll need answered right off the bat is who will be playing? Last week Uprising fans saw the premiere of Persia to the stage and Alemao play in Kellex’s usual role. Will they show up again? How about Axxiom? Or, as many fans have speculated, is this all posturing by Huk to dangle his players and increase their trade value? Is he looking to make a move?
Regardless of who plays, how will they play? Will they stick on GOATs or go off the 3-3 meta? When they play the Outlaws, will they fall prey to the Sombra? We all know their success against that comp has been mixed. Can Boston continue to pile it on to Philly? Fusions has always wanted that Fusion-Fusions matchup – will he show up in this marquee matchup? After recent losses I’ve quit the prediction game, but I’m optimistic getting shallacked opening week will motivate Boston to turn things around. They can’t be taking any matches off and need to focus. No more throw aways and no more feeding.
Lastly, is their anyone more unlikeable in Overwatch League as Jake? He’s been shipped around the press as an unofficial league spokesman of the players as if he’s the league MVP. Sorry bro, but you aren’t at that level. Granted, Houston has several Team USA members on their roster that I love (Rawkus, Muma, coolmatt) but right now they’re on the other side against Boston. After pumping up the Uprising against Washington and Paris in recent weeks and seeing that go horribly awry, I’m loathe to suggest any match is a gimme at this point.
Such a puncheable face
Also – Philly has hands down the worst new jersey. It’d be one thing to lose to the Fusion, but to lose to a squad dressed in umpire zebra-stripes would be an all time team low point. Don’t do that Boston. For all our sakes.
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Overwatch League’s opening week is in the bag. All the preseason power rankings and hot takes are starting to fade out against the cold indifference of reality. Unexpected heroes, disappointing performances, and POG plays abound throughout the league. Now it’s time to pull up the VODs, crunch the numbers, and have a realistic look at how the Uprising look.
Boston Uprising vs. New York Excelsior
Much has already been said about what this match means and what many expected. Would Boston get rolled 4-0? Could they steal a map? How could a team with last year’s MVP not dominate? Lastly, can a team that traded their main tank 2 days ago show any signs of life? Fortunately, the tempo of the match would be revealed quickly.
Nepal
In a foreshadow to how the match would be decided, stage 1 of Nepal saw NYXL play a rare off-GOATS team comp. Switching Meko from DVa to Sombra, the Uprising’s inability to stop the EMP would quickly become obvious to everyone. Without a dual dps threat (as Colourhex came into the match suspended for two games) NYXL had the advantage of knowing exactly how the Uprising would play. Unfortunately, it cost them the first map.
A nasty EMP from @MekOppa makes the enemy defenseless!
Despite the Sombra play by NYXL causing major disruptions, Uprising put up a valiant resistance on stage 1. NYXL squeaked by 100% – 99%. Stage 2 saw more back-and-forth but the NYXL prevailed. Interestingly, Note would be de-meched and eliminated first. Additionally, he missed all 3 of his Self-Destructs on Nepal. Stats don’t lie and these would portend future concerns.
Numbani
New York matched the GOATS comp of the Uprising on Numbani. This slower paced play style lead to equal exchanges on both sides throughout the match. Equal, that is, until Fusions decided he wanted to show what a Contenders and World Cup player from the other side of the pond could do:
Fusions: “Did someone say I would be nervous in my first OWL game?”
NYXL was supposed to steamroll the underprepared and lesser experienced Uprising, but Boston showed they were up to the task on this second map. Carefully managing their ultimate economy, focusing picks, and timely healing all were clear parts of their strategy. Did you know? According to the broadcast: NYXL won 29% of teamfights where they suffered the first death last season, 5% more than the next highest (Boston). Who’d have thunk?
Numbani was ultimately decided by the Uprising. Left with only a minute and a half after capturing Point A, the Fusions led team forced their way through NY’s defense and stole Point B. On the other end, New York was unable to capture Point A despite having over four minutes to do so. Boston’s impressive defense rested on their positioning on top of the point and splitting the front and back lines of New York. As a result, their team coordination drove them to take the map 4-3.
Horizon Lunar Colony
On map 3 we saw a bit of tactical differentiation between the two teams. Whereas Boston went up the right stairway to Point A, NYXL consistently used the longer outside path. Next, they walked along the skybridge and dropped down to Point A. Both teams played the GOATS comp appropriately, but to me, this was the PoTG on this map:
Forced into Overtime at Point A and down 2-0, New York cleared the point and pushed Point B before Boston had regrouped. As a result, the Uprising rushed into a defense that became staggered. Through sustained offense and timely ultimate use, New York pushed through and tied it up 2-2. Thwarting Boston’s attempt on offense, NYXL had a minute and a half to get a tick on Point A. What did they do?
Surprising everyone in the audience (and the casters) they pulled out an unbelievable team comp. Mercy, Zenyatta, Hammond, Sombra, Pharaoh, and Tracer. I don’t think we saw this team comp anywhere else all week. While Wrecking Ball peeled Boston away to open the Point to Pharaoh spamming rockets, Axxiom’s Zen finally picked Pharaoh during her ultimate. Justice did not rain from above and Boston forced the draw. 1 – 1 going into the fourth map. New York’s arrogance to play this off-meta team comp failed. Gloriously.
Route 66
Remember when I said earlier that Nepal foreshadowed the end of the match? A Sombra having free reign to EMP and the Uprising not having an answer to it? Well, NYXL thought back to that first map and said, “Hey let’s do that again!”
That clip pretty much sums up the fourth map. Over and over again, Meko would creep around behind the Uprising clouded in invisibility. At that point, EMPs would be unleashed onto the enemy team. Boston became defenseless and at the mercy of the NYXL. Deaths, objective failure, and frustration. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Look at these statistics from Route 66, specifically Meko:
Meko with 0, Z-E-R-O deaths on Route 66
Boston was unable to get through to the third point. As a result, New York pushed through to the end to win the map and the match by a combined score of 2 – 1.
Analysis
It was a story of good and bad for the Uprising. First, they silenced all their critics. Though many put Boston as a preseason bottom tier team (of which there were many) they showed they could compete with the elite of the league. Additionally, though former captain and main tank Gamsu departed abruptly just two days ago, Boston’s tank play didn’t miss a beat. Fusions, having landed in LA just two days before this match, already showed he was capable of holding his own at the OWL level. Lastly, Boston was held back by the absence of both of their dps’ availability. With more scrims and matches going forward with Fusions and Colourhex the sky is the limit for this team.
Of concern was the less than stellar performance of Note. Going into the fourth map, he had only hit 2 out of 12 of his Self-Destructs (for two kills total). He also seemed out of position often. Even in replaying the matches, it’s difficult to determine precisely the cause of his seemingly poor play. It could be that the supports were focused on boosting Fusions. New York could have been focusing their attack on the more mobile off-tank. Lastly, he could have just been uncomfortable among a relatively new set of teammates. Given his underrated performance last season, there is no cause for concern. The season just started and their is no reason to think he won’t turn it around.
Boston Uprising vs. Houston Outlaws
I spoke in my weekend preview of the unwarranted attention the Outlaws received. Given that they were a team that missed the playoffs last year, their offseason praise by critics is unjustified. Leaving their roster mostly intact, the Uprising had no reason to fear starting the season 0 – 2. Fortunately I wasn’t proven wrong.
Nepal
This got ugly, quick. Houston had watched tape on the Uprising and knew Colourhex was still out, forcing Boston onto the GOATS comp. Interestingly, they started out with a Hammond, Mercy, Pharaoh, Somra, DVa, and Zen comp. Much like they did in their match against the NYXL, Boston had no answer to the EMP. Taking a page from New York’s assault on Horizon Lunar Colony, the Outlaws also had free reign with their Pharaoh, Despite a 100% – 43% win for Houston, the stage was a slaughter. Outlaws scored 23 eliminations with Boston only earning 5.
Unfortunatley for Boston, the Sanctum stage didn’t play out any better. Muma showed why he is often considered one of the league’s top main tanks, popping off for multiple environmental eliminations. With both teams using a GOATS comp, Houston had no problem rolling Boston for a dominant 100% – 29% win. Was all the momentum from Thursday about to get lost in a 4 – 0 against Houston?
This is bad.
Hollywood
Fortunately for fans of the Uprising, Boston’s players were able to put that devastating map loss behind them. Boston’s coordinated strike included Note landing kills with his Self Destruct and Fusion doing what he does, putting Houston on their heels. Pushing the payload on their attack, Boston was unable to make it the last few feet to capture the third point.
On defense, Boston proved up to the task. Fusion landed several Earthshatters and hammered through several shields, each setting up Note for more effective Self Destructs. Houston was able to make it through the first two points, but reached a road block towards the end of the map. First, they were at a disadvantage at getting past Point 2 during Overtime. That gave them just over a minute to play with. Houston got the payload right up to their victory location at which point a dragged out war was waged. With Muma popping off and hammering down Uprising players, it was Kellex hopping around on Lucio that contested the point. Eventually Fusions and the rest of the Uprising ran out of spawn and repelled the Outlaws. As satisfying as the map win was, Houston was a Torb hammer’s length away from winning the map.
Note showing he still knows how to hit the Self Destruct
Volskaya Industries
As both teams stuck with a GOATS team comp, a back and forth predominated the early match. After a reasonably quick Point A capture, Boston sped forward to two ticks of Point B. Houston repelled them twice until Boston broke through with this nontraditional route to the capture point:
I’m still debating what to call this. The Mass Pike? The Beantown Highway? Still undecided. Fortunately, the grouping on the platform worked as Boston captured the point. Houston responded in kind, capturing both points with a 3.5 to 1.5 time advantage going into the second turn. With only enough time for one push on Point A, Boston saw themselves stuck in massive team fight. Fortunately, Note saw Rawkus’ Zenyatta out of position and dove him. Eliminating their healer, Boston snowballed Houston to capture Point A. Additionally, Note got a key pick on Muma on Point B to push the Uprising to 4 – 2 going into Houston’s turn on offense. Houston was unable to match Boston’s push on Point B and lost the map 4 – 3.
Boston ended last season with a record of 10-1-1 on Volskaya Industries. Their only loss came in the playoffs to the Fusion. As a result, the Uprising still claim unofficial ownership of the map.
What if I told you that Houston pulled out the Sombra? Would you think that this was the one time all week where the Uprising turned it around? If so, thank you for having that pure fandom to believe in the impossible. Sadly, you are mistaken. Danteh went back on the Sombra and used multiple EMPs to disable the Uprising’s heroes and snowball the team. A drawn out map that was over before it started.
Finally the two best words in all of Overwatch: MAP. FIVE. Winner take all, best of 3, control map. There’s nothing more exciting when you’ve fought through four other maps to get to this point. Houston had lost earlier in the week on map 5, losing in a reverse sweep to the Toronto Defiant. Would they fall apart at the end of a marathon of Overwatch again?
After trading stages, it comes down to the final winner-take all stage 3 of Illios. Boston would take the early lead, reaching 87% when they gave way to the Outlaws. With a Graviton Surge and Self Destruct, could the Uprising pull off the GOATS combo in the clutch?
Yes! Note’s Self Destruct on Linkzr and Dive on Rawkus (again) sealed the victory for the Uprising. #BostonUp!
Analysis
What a first win for Boston! There are too many delicious treats to feast on here for Uprising fans. After getting absolutely demolished the first map, the boys put Nepal in the rear view mirror. Plowing through Houston the next two maps, it was that kryptonite of Sombra that forced them into a fifth map. Boston will need to figure out how to counter her if they’re going to survive this meta going forward. Adding Colourhex should help with that.
When it got to map five, the Uprising continued to impress. Working the ultimate economy and picking their spots, Boston got the eliminations when and where they needed. In a huge bounce back game from Thursday, Note showed time and time again exactly why he’s one of the few players to survive management’s purges. He’s just too reliable. While the rest of the league continues to discount just how valuable he is, we Uprising fans know he’s as dependable as anyone. Additionally, Fusion continues to impress despite being on the team for less than a week. That a Contenders player can jump up to the Overwatch League and perform at this level is mind blowing. New pickups Alamao and Blasé also showed how competent they were in their roles. Particularly Blasé, who was forced off his normal dps role and stuck on Birgitte.
There were many questions coming into the 2019 Overwatch League season. Questions transformed into concerns when Gamsu was traded two days before the start of the season. But many of these have all been pushed to the side. Fusions has shown himself more than capable of bringing this team where we want it to be. Note continues to be the clutch player we need him to be. As a team, neither the bright lights or the pressure seems to faze them. Facing the heralded NYXL, this team went down to the very last point on the last map and barely scrapped by without a win. They took the favored Outlaws to five maps and came out with a win.
Next week will see the possible addition of Colourhex, the New Zealand dps. It will be interesting to see what Uprising coaches do – continue to use the same six starters to run GOATS or change team comps? Additionally, the Uprising only have one match next week – against the Shanghai Dragons (Friday at 10pm EST).
How emotional will players be going against their former captain Gamsu? Will they respond to having the entire Overwatch League’s fans on the side of the Dragons as they look for their first franchise win? Lastly, what happens when Fusions has actual time to scrim and develop with his teammates? Needless to say, the Overwatch League is on notice. Fans should keep an eye on all the casters and opinion makers as they scramble from their preseason takes. Don’t be fooled – we knew all along who these players could be. And we never doubted. We’ve just got three words for all the doubters.
PROVE. THEM. WRONG
For all the latest on the Overwatch League and Boston Uprising, please follow me on Twitter #BostonUp
