Amidst Mayhem Outside of OWL, Boston Looks to Take on Florida

If it was up to the Uprising, they would forget about last weekend all together. Winning the first round of Busan against the Justice was a great start. However, after that moment, nothing seemed to click. Washington displayed their ability to flex onto different heroes. Then in Game 2, Atlanta returned to their top-5 form. Hero pools certainly got the best of the Boston players and staff in its opening weekend.

There isn’t any time to truly reflect on the past weekend, because there are new heroes banned and a new team to face. The Uprising will face the Florida Mayhem at their home venue, making it the third matchup against a home team this season. At least, that would have been the case if it weren’t for the cancellations of every Overwatch League homestand until May. The hope is that teams are still able to play according to the schedule, but delays are almost inevitable at this moment. Until there is more information, it is reasonable to expect the matches will still happen this weekend.

A Return to Familiar Territory

A week into hero bans, the Uprising find themselves staring down a familiar composition. McCree and Reinhardt are back, meaning teams can bring out the most popular composition through the first four weeks. The only missing character is Lucio, but so far Boston hasn’t been afraid to swap out Lucio for Brig depending on the situation. Being able to play a familiar composition should help Boston feel a little more comfortable in an ever-changing meta.

Photo: Ben Pursell For Blizzard Entertainment

What Boston will need to focus on this weekend is finding a way to slow down Florida Mayhem’s rookie DPS Jun-ki “Yaki” Kim. With Mei dodging hero bans for the second week in a row, Florida’s flex-DPS has the benefit of playing his best hero this season. Now faced with the challenge of Florida’s Mei specialist, the Uprising will have to work twice as hard to find opportunities to save their Reinhardt. The path to victory starts with some improvements on the Uprising coaching staff.

A Return to Hostile Territory

Critics bashed Boston head coach Vytis “Mineral” Laisaitis for what appeared to be a poor coaching decision, as Boston’s questionable composition was easily busted by the Atlanta Reign. Boston’s decision to play Sigma over D.Va this past weekend was one of the most disliked coaching decisions the league has seen. Boston failed to adjust in the middle of a match when they started to struggle, but Mineral knows what needs to be fixed. “You have to be willing to make changes on the fly” the head coach noted, in a press conference after the Atlanta match. With a little bit of introspective, the Uprising could find their way back into the win column.

Photo: Joshua Roberts For Activision Blizzard

For extra motivation, this is a revenge match for Boston’s head coach. Mineral spent the Inaugural Season with the Florida Mayhem, finishing second to last with a 7-33 record. Halfway through season 2 as a head coach, he was dropped as Florida opted for an all-Korean roster. The team was 1-7 at the time of the Mayhem’s sweeping changes. This weekend will be Mineral’s chance to prove himself against the former organization.

Win Conditions

Adjust and Adapt: The main focus for Boston this weekend should be their ability to adapt. Their inability to switch up compositions cost them dearly against the Reign. The Uprising will need to be more flexible if they want to find success this weekend. If they aren’t, it will spell disaster for the Uprising.

Clear-Cut Decisions: Along with the need to adapt, Boston needs to be decisive. The Uprising lost far too many fights due to a lack of confidence in their approaches. Most notably against the Reign on Eichenwalde, Boston failed to make any space for Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse’s Pharah to get any momentum. Their failure to create pressure allowed Alexander “Hawk” Domecq to bully the Pharah/Mercy combo out of the sky. The Uprising will need to make more decisive actions in order to give themselves the best shot at winning.

Prediction: Florida 3-1

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Featured image courtesy of Joshua Roberts for Blizzard Entertainment

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