In a match that made Overwatch League history, it was a battle of the Boston Uprising vs Shanghai Dragons. Though the Uprising were slightly favored to win this fight, the Dragons came out of left field with an aggression unseen before. With a record breaking win, the Shanghai Dragons managed to defeat the Boston Uprising.
2019-02-17 / Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment
Choosing to run Park “Axxiom” Min-seob instead of Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth, Boston found themselves in a rough start. Shanghai came out ready to take their first win, and even with addition of new signing Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse, Boston couldn’t find a way to make things gel. Despite some plays put together on Sombra, they ended up losing the first round.
The second point brought much of the same attitude. Boston couldn’t find a way to break through the new roster that Shanghai pulled together. Gamsu outplayed his tank counterpart, and resulted in Boston losing the map, 0-2.
With Boston attacking first, they seemed to get some of their momentum back. A quick first point cap had them pushing the payload almost instantly. They pushed it almost all the way through towards the second point as well before being held off by the Dragons. A few lost fights had them building up time, and the Uprising managed to get their second point cap. After a brief pause, and some back and forth, Uprising managed to complete the map in overtime.
When the roles were reversed, Shanghai showed a dominant performance on the attack. Nearly wiping the Uprising every team time, they were only stopped once before completing the map as well.
Since Shanghai completed the map with time to spare, they got the attacking advantage. Boston had to complete hold them on the first point, or risk losing the map, and possibly the series. Unfortunately, they couldn’t, and lost the map, 3-4.
Image courtesy Red Bull
Boston attacked first, and found it difficult to break through the defense of the Shanghai Dragons. After some hard fought team fights, they were able to shut them down, and captured the first point successfully. The steamroll continued, allowing the Uprising to pull through and complete the map.
When the roles reversed, Shanghai answered with their own commanding attack. Managing to push through the first and second point with nearly six minutes to spare, they completed a two point cap with ease.
Boston attacked first in the second round, collecting two ticks on the first point quickly. However, they were pushed back, giving Shanghai the advantage. A second push allowed them to cap the first point completely. Though a massive EMP from Jin-hyeok “DDing” Yang tried to keep the Uprising at bay, they rallied back. Finishing with 24 seconds to spare, they managed a second point cap.
WIth six minutes to attack, the Uprising did a good job in buying themselves time. Using up four minutes until Shanghai could cap the first point. However, when it came to the second point, DDing overpowered the Uprising, and gave them a second point cap.
One more round, and Boston only had a minute to attack. Managing to get two and a half ticks, Shanghai needed a full cap of point one in order to win the map, and their first series. In a quick attack, the Dragons succeeded, causing the Uprising to lose, 5-4.
After a crushing defeat to a team whose win was well overdue, the Uprising seemed to lose any momentum they had built up last game. Attacking first, they barely made the cart to the end of the first point, allowing Shanghai to show their dominance once more.
With the roles reversed, the Dragons continued to shine. However, Boston managed to pull out one last defense. By winning team fights, they managed to stand their ground. Though it came too late, Boston won the map, 1-0.
It’s about time! Though the Uprising seemed strong last week, they managed to crumble without their new leading front man, Fusions. It looked like they weren’t synching well, even when they were winning team fights and showing true signs of winning. The new Shanghai was just too strong, and going forward, no one should take these Dragons lightly. Next week, the Uprising has a chance to bounce back, and they’ve got some work to do in order to get there.
Featured Image Courtesy of the Boston Uprising.
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