While many had the Boston Uprising towards the bottom of their projected standings and power rankings, their Week 1 performance in the 2019 season has surprised in a good way. The team’s understanding of triple-triple match-ups and a good balance of aggression are key factors in their 1-1 start. Another major key factor in both of those is Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth. (That’s a lot of factors.)
Main tank has often been considered the most important role in Overwatch, and it’s looking like the Uprising have struck gold once again with Fusions. Gamsu’s sudden departure was considered a potential pitfall in a sea of possible problems for Boston, but Fusions entered into the starting rotation two days before the team’s first game and hasn’t looked back since. We sat down with the Uprising’s new starter to talk about his new team, his performance, and more. Enjoy!
Before we get into anything, we gotta talk about that 3-2 against the Outlaws. You led the charge – what was going through your head over the course of the series?
Well, the Outlaws are known for their 3-2 shenanigans, so we kind of expected it would go to a fifth map. It was really about just keeping the energy alive. I really wanted to make sure my shot-calling was consistent throughout, that I was being the glue that holds the team together during the shifts in compositions and stuff. [With that,] we had a consistent voice – someone who could lead the team and just keep the same energy throughout. Hence my voice. [Fusions’s actual voice was thoroughly rasped at the time of the interview, though that’s not reflected via text. I felt guilty asking him questions at all!]
A particular composition caught my attention – a Zen-GOATS composition, but with an Ana instead of a Brigitte. Why did you guys use that composition, and what changes in your play when it’s in use?
Basically, we ran Ana [on Dorado] because Houston ran no D.Va, which allowed us to get [Biotic Grenades] much more easily, since they can’t eat them. We can also hit sleeps, and, I mean, Nano’s okay. Rally is probably better than Nano, but it’s still a decent ult.
You want to play a bit slower with Ana GOATS, which is why we actually realized that it was probably better to stick with Brigitte afterwards. We committed more to playing the Brigitte instead of Ana after, because we wanted to engage harder, and Rally allows you to do that better. Brigitte can go forward with the team, whereas Ana has to stay a bit more passive. Our play style is a bit more passive overall when we’re with Ana.
Boston is becoming known for this aggressive play style you’ve mentioned, and many people point to you and the front line in general when it comes up. Why is Boston opting for that aggressive style versus something slower or more methodical?
It really depends on what we’re up against. Right now, we are in a spot where we have to run a lot of tanks. You might see some more diversity from us soon. We had Axxiom playing the off-tank role, even with him obviously being a main tank. Putting him on anything other than Zarya or main tanks is really difficult for him because he hasn’t practiced anything else, so, we’re limited in what we can play. Going forward, though, we’re obviously going to have our full roster available. It’s gonna be easier to make some swaps because of that.
The aggressive play style in general still depends on what you’re up against. For example, when we’re running GOATS and they’re running a Sombra, they wanna play slow to farm their EMP. That’s their win condition. Therefore, we wanna try and be more aggressive. If we see them use a bubble, for instance, we know that we can punish the person that was bubbled. We attack that person and just try and be as aggressive as possible. That way they don’t get a chance to build up their ults in the first place.
Who’s making that realization and calling it in game? Who says, “We know they’re trying to farm EMP, so now we know their win condition. Let’s get aggressive to counter that!”?
It’s something that we’ve talked about a lot with coaching staff, and with the players. I think the players all understand that at this point. Obviously, those sorts of issues get brought up by the coaches in the first place – especially Gunba. Gunba will repeat it to us over and over again and say “Remember, with Sombra you need to go more aggressive.”
In the game, obviously, we can’t talk to Gunba. I felt like we were being a bit passive with the Ana, someone else – I think it might have been NotE – called, “Let’s just go with the Brigitte so we can be more aggressive,” and I said, “Yeah, the second we see them use bubble, let’s just go super ham.” That’s what’s been working best for us. So, I try to keep it as simple as possible while being effective as well.
Boston is walking in – or did walk in, I should say – with a real chip on their shoulder. This is a team that’s determined to “prove them wrong”. Do you feel that this first week has achieved that? Or is there still more to do?
I think we’ve made a very good start, and a very good dent in what people thought. I mean, even the predictions [for our game against Houston] were in our favor after the game against NYXL. We’ve definitely gotten off to a good start – people think we’re at least not a bottom-three team anymore.
It was the same thing with Boston last season, which is a really good thing for us, because it means that our coaching staff and our management are prepared to get us through that angst. They know how to deal with it. People kind of underrate young talent over big names, is the way it goes. A lot of my teammates are very young – Axxiom is coming up through the roster, he’s very vocal, and a very good leader. Even playing Zarya, he’s done really well, but his main tank is even better, so you’ll probably see some of him there.
Obviously, I’ve come from Contenders as well, so people kind of assume that these players like me, blasé, and Axxiom that are coming from Contenders can’t really compete with the big names. But with the right coach and the right leadership, the right development, the right players around you like NotE and Kellex – people to lead – you can have a very, very good start, as we’ve shown. And all we’re gonna do from here is grow more.
Be real with me – how good does it feel to show up and do this well? How satisfying is that feeling, with you just joining the main roster?
It feels really good. I think we’ve made the best first impression we could have made, realistically. We didn’t go in expecting to win against NYXL. Coming out of this week with a 1-1 score is really, really massive for us, though. The fact that we did so well against NYXL and showed that we could play at that level with someone on an off-role as well really goes to prove that we can do things, especially with our improvement, across the next season. So…yeah.
So what’s your plan to stay sane this season? It’s gotta be hectic coming on and then having all this pressure on you to perform at this level. How are you gonna stay afloat?
I’m quite lucky that I got a chance at World Cup. Because of my performance there, people knew my name already. I’ve been through the process of doing interviews with people and meeting a lot of new people. I’m not really someone who’s shy about meeting people or anything like that – for me, it’s not as intimidating. I really enjoy playing on stage, it’s something that makes me excited more than nervous. For me, I can handle it quite well.
I think the biggest challenge that I face right now is actually living [away from home] for the first time, and having to live with different people. I’m not with my parents anymore, I can’t have stuff done for me all the time. That’s been a big challenge for me, but I think the pressure is something I handle quite well, and I also think the staff have done a really good job of helping the players with pressure. Also, the more experienced players on the team, like NotE and Kellex [have helped]. Especially Kellex, he’s done a really good job of helping us with that as well, in the matches especially.
Do your parents actively support you? Do they understand what’s going on, or..?
Oh, they don’t have a clue, but they very much support me. It’s more of a “They watch all my games and the second they see me come up on the screen in person, they get really excited.” They listen more than they actually watch – it’s more of a podcast for them, I’d say. They just like hearing my name and seeing that I’m doing well. They are big supporters, but they have no idea what’s going on in the game.
Do you think they’ll get there eventually, or are they gonna stay content to just listen?
Who knows, who knows? I don’t think they’re gonna make much of an effort to learn what’s going on.
Do you think they’ll come to any games? Obviously, that’s a bit of a trip.
Maybe in the future. My dad lives in the U.S., only a couple of states away from here, so there is a possibility that they could come and see some games. Maybe later on in the season, who knows? Right now, definitely not, though. Obviously money’s an issue, and traveling would be difficult for them, especially since my dad’s got some health problems as it is anyway. Maybe later on.
Speaking of money, have you used any of that esports money to buy anything useful or cool?
Well, I still have to sort out my social security number before I get paid for the first time, actually. To address the question, though, I haven’t really spent anything much. I treat myself occasionally – it’s more about ordering food when I want. I haven’t really bought anything big. Maybe later on, once I’ve saved up some money, I’ll treat myself and my family to something. Right now, though, I’m just gonna save up and have something to fall back on, pretty much.
Good call! Before I ruin your voice any more, any last minute messages to fans, haters, etc.?
I mean, I’ve had so much support. I haven’t really seen many haters because it’s been drowned out so much by the support for me. It’s actually been so insane. Just, thank you to people, even just in Twitch chat, on Reddit, all the people in person that I’ve met, all the fans. Everyone supporting us through this, especially the people that gave Boston a chance without saying they were gonna be a bottom-three team. The ones that actually gave us a chance. Those people I appreciate more than anyone else. It’s just really satisfying to know there are people that believe in you, and we are actually delivering and giving them results that they want, as well.
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