Going in to stage two, Boston Uprising had proven themselves as real playoff contenders, coming within touching distance of a spot in the Stage 1 playoffs. The Uprising fell to two tough opponents in week 1 of stage 2 as they struggled in the new meta.
In their first Match of stage 2, Boston Uprising took on the Philadelphia Fusion. The two last met in week five of stage 1, with Boston coming away with a 4-0 victory.
Between stages DPS player Josh “Eqo” Corona was ready to play for Philadelphia instead of George “ShaDowBurn” Gushcha and earn a starting spot on the roster. On the whole Philly looked strong. With Eqo now in the side, the team was matching Joona “Fragi” Laine’s aggression. That aggression worked well to counter Boston’s dive.
Eqo made Philadelphia a harder team to predict. Eqo plays a very aggressive Genji to a very high degree. Combined with a tank like Fragi, the two become a force to be reckoned with. With the Mercy nerfs in play, Fragi’s picks are much more punishing on the other side and Boston didn’t like playing without Kellex’s Mercy, eventually switching back to her when the fights went poorly.
On Hanamura, Fragi sneaks into Boston’s back lines as Winston and does as much damage as he can and leaps out. This allowed Eqo to clean up and force Boston off the point. Winning the map in their attack round in 95 seconds. This strategy was played out many times against Boston to great effect.
In the end it looked like Boston was unprepared for the hyper-aggressive Philadelphia Fusion and struggling without resurrects in play. However, it was not all negative in the match against Philadelphia, Boston looked to be trying new strategies. Proving they were capable of more than just Dive, winning a point in Control playing a triple tank composition with Dreamkazper on Roadhog.
In their second match of the week against Houston Outlaws, there was hope that Boston had weighted their practice into the more difficult matchup. With hope they could pull off the upset they almost got last time. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. In a match that was closer than the scoreline says, Boston once again lost 4-0.
Houston Outlaws are a very strong team and undoubtedly could make it to the Stage 2 playoff final, so Boston was always going to have a tough match ahead of them. With little time between matches, The Uprising still seemed to struggle without Mercy to fall back on.
The first three maps were fairly close with Hanamura and Kings Row both going to second rounds. Unfortunately Watchpoint Gibraltar was not even nearly as close with Houston full-holding on the Payload map. Kings Row was the real talking point as Boston Uprising had DreamKazper play Doomfist on first attack and defense. Gamsu showed a strong performance on Reinhardt.
The strategy worked well with both sides finishing with similar times. On Boston’s second attack, they showed they could play different strategies as Dreamkazper moved over to Hanzo. Unfortunately Houston also changed up their attack with Linzr switching to Mei towards the end to great effect.
The first match next week does not get any easier with Boston having to take on NYXL. With Boston struggling in the new meta it is hard to see The Uprising come away with the bragging rights in the upcoming derby match.
Follow me on twitter:@FraserAConnell
Follow The Game Haus for more esports and sports stories!!
Twitter:
TGH Sports
Facebook:
The Game Haus
Featured Image courtesy of Boston Uprising
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
