This season has been an incredibly rough ride for the Boston Uprising. After months of failing to find success in most matches and metas, the Uprising can’t seem to catch a break. Missing yet another tournament and having to take an unwanted vacation, Boston is back to show signs of life at the end of the season.
The Boston Uprising face off against potentially their favorite opponent of all time – the Los Angeles Gladiators. Coming into the matchup on Saturday, Boston is unbeaten against the Gladiators, sitting at a pretty 4-0 record. The most recent win came earlier this season, in Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist’s debut. Since then the Gladiators have made some roster changes, and are looking a bit improved. The Uprising will need more than a good track record to beat Los Angeles in the arena.
Los Angeles Gladiators (7-9)
Standing firm at 11th overall, the Los Angeles Gladiators are a solid team. They have the star power with Ji-hyeok “Birdring” Kim and Indy “SPACE” Halpern. They have the young talent in Chris “Mirror” Trinh and Kevin “Kevster” Persson. And of course, they have the old guard at support with Jonas “Shaz” Souvarra and Benjamin “Bigg00se” Isohanni. All of that talent on one roster would suggest Los Angeles is better than their record, but that may not be the case.
The Gladiators are an odd team when it comes to strategy. When things look grim, the Gladiators play hyper-aggressive, regardless of the situation. If the Gladiators can control the pace of the match with their unrelating aggression, Boston is utterly doomed. It will be interesting to see what the meta will shake out to be this coming weekend, but be sure that the Gladiators will be pressing that “W” key no matter the cost.
Overcoming the Mental Block
The best thing to come out of the break is that Boston received a much longer rest than the rest of the league. For a team that has taken an absolute beating in the past few weeks, maybe this was for the best. This past week, Boston fans even got to see some positive vibes from the Uprising social media pages.
Thomas is terrifying.
The #BostonUp boys run from a bloodthirsty tank engine in the Overwatch Workshop!
🎥: https://t.co/x2F2Jua9MW pic.twitter.com/Cpeqs2hsjL
— Boston Uprising (@BostonUprising) August 11, 2020
Fun custom games aside, the Uprising need to find a way to rebuild their mental. The player cams are great for coverage, but watching the expression of each player’s face as Boston loses another match is heartbreaking. On the Boston side, they need to take each and every fight one by one. Small fight wins can snowball in map wins, which can snowball in match wins. Boston can win this match, but it starts with the right mentality.
Prediction: Los Angeles 3 – Boston 2
Catch the game on the Overwatch League Youtube channel Saturday August 15, 7PM EST.
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Featured image courtesy of the Boston Uprising
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