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Friday, August 9th @ 7pm: Washington Justice
I may be starting to sound like a broken record here – but there’s no more room for error for the Boston Uprising. We knew going into Stage 4 the amount of pressure that was on the team. After getting broomed by Guanghzou, and losing a tight match on map 5 to Chengdu in Week 1, the outlook is even worse for the boys in blue. Let’s take a look what Overwatch League’s official statistician puts our chances of making the playoffs at:
A 4.4% likelihood of making the top 12 is… not good. I won’t get into how the dominoes would have to fall perfectly for Boston. It’s better to focus on what Boston has to do to keep their hopes alive – win. And by win, I mean win a lot. Any more losses will sink this team. That means they need to win out against Washington, LAV, NYXL, Atlanta, and Florida this stage. Not a big deal, right?
Fortunately, Boston starts out the beginning of (hopefully) a miracle run against the Washington Justice. If you look at the season standings, you’ll notice Washington is there – at the bottom. You may think that’s just what the Uprising need. But then take a look at the stage standings and you’ll notice Washington is there – at the top. Unfortunately for Boston, Washington has been on a tear since the 2-2-2 role lock came out. Can they stop the momentum that the Justice have this stage?
Washington Justice
What is behind the Justice’s resurgence? As far as I can tell watching them, two things – swagger and Corey. First, these guys are playing with house money. They were eliminated from season end playoffs weeks ago – what pressure do they have? That type of freedom in a high pressure environment like the Overwatch League goes a long ways. And you can see that when they play. They’re smiling, talking, and are loose. I mean look at these guys:
Second, they just happen to have some great players. Corey looks to be one of the best Widows in the league. Like Colourhex, the guy must have partied like it was 1999 when GOATs died at the advent of the role lock. His match against Vancouver last week was a highlight reel. Dude was popping heads like a game of wack-a-mole. Additionally, Sleepy seems to be an S-tier flex-support. His sleep darts always seem to find the right player at just the right time. There’s no doubt Boston will have to bring their A-game with them tonight.
Less we forget, last time we faced Washington it was the last week of Stage 2. Boston lost in a devastating reverse sweep, in my mind the worse loss of the season. The boys in blue have plenty of motivation to seek revenge. Additionally, they’ve had an entire bye week to focus on their opponent. With no one else to play this week, there’s no reason they shouldn’t come prepared to play.
Outlook
There’s no denying that the Overwatch League has become the wild west with the new meta. Chengdu just swept the NYXL right after the Justice swept the Titans. It’s a whole new world out there. But Boston hasn’t made their claim yet. While the Guangzhou match was a dumpster fire, there were flashes of brilliance in the Chengdu match. Boston has traditionally been a team that picks up steam as stages go on, and there’s no time like the present to light the fire. Unfortunately, there’s no more time to wait. They’ll need everyone to click together for at least three maps to secure a win.
I don’t think the season ends tonight. There’s just too much talent and potential. Colourhex can show up Corey. rCk can get on a run. Aimgod NEEDS TO PLAY (talking to you Huk). Blase can pop off on Doomfist. These are all things we’ve seen from Boston this season. They just need to happen all at once. It’s happened before and it just needs to happen again – for five more matches. That’s not asking for much – right?
Photo courtesy of Stewart Volland/Blizzard Entertainment
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