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Saturday, June 30th @ 7:00pm: San Francisco Shock
There’s an old saying that familiarity breeds contempt. For the Boston Uprising, who face the Philadelphia Fusion Saturday for the second time in two weeks, that means they’ll have an abundance of contempt to fuel them in this matchup. Don’t underestimate the power of pent up frustration. Look at last week. After losing to Paris two weeks earlier, Boston faced off with the Eternal again. We know how that ended – in a violent outburst only a soul crushing reverse sweep could cause. Can the Uprising go 2-2 in Stage 3 rematches?
Philadelphia Fusion
First, they’ll need to solidify the support line. With Aimgod and Kellex back on stage together, Boston was competitive with the top tier San francisco Shock, and reverse swept the Paris Eternal. Has Boston turned the corner and realized these two give them their best chance to win? Or does Huk want to keep playing with the toys in his war chest and see if he can build up more trade bait for other teams? While rumors, innuendo, and fake news crept around the internet about internal strife between Kellex/Aimgod, the two clearly give the Uprising their best chance to win.
Beyond the roster, Boston needs to settle on strats. In their last matchup, Boston played a lot of Sombra GOATs. We’ve seen all stage that Boston has slowly let go of living the GOATs life, abandoning it completely in both matches last week. They played a lot of Hackfist, PharMercy, bunker, and four dps. This played more to Boston’s strengths and caught Paris off guard. Only one of those is likely to be true this time. With Blase popping off on Fist, Fusions playing inspired Wrecking Ball/Winston, and Hex swapping back and forth between Zarya and Widow/Pharah, now’s not the time to lose your nerves. Lean in. All the chips in the middle. No hesitation. Live or die with these off meta comps as the sun sets on GOATs, and 2-2-2 is forced in Stage 4.
To win against Philadelphia every player is going to need to execute. Can Fusion avoid the focus fire and stand on his head? Will rCk avoid getting picked first and farm his EMP before their Sombra – Carpe? How will Aimgod and Kellex play when the internet’s rumor mill is on overdrive about them? Boston will need that synergy that we know they’re capable of. Only their best Overwatch will do it against a good team like Philly.
Outlook
I like Boston’s chances Saturday. As Blase said in this weeks Sights and Sounds video, these guys lost their confidence. Their swagger. Well if that’s the case, a patented reverse sweep ought to have given the boys some pep in their step. No reason to fear last year’s Grand Finals runner ups. Every reason to shove these zebra print wearing has-beens into a locker. No excuses.
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