Boston Uprising (7-11) vs Philadelphia Fusion (9-8)
The Uprising sought to right the wrong in their final match of the week against the Philadelphia Fusion. These two teams are evenly matched across the board, with their strengths and weaknesses being nearly identical in every way. Therefore, this game put everything on the line, especially with two teams fighting for their first win of Stage 3. The Boston Uprising vs Philadelphia Fusion was a game that, as predicted, kept fans on the edge of their seats.
Ilios (Boston 2-0 Philadelphia)
The game started at the Ilios Ruins, where the Uprising chose a more DPS centric composition with Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang on Doomfist, and Richard “rCk” Kanerva on Sombra. Together, with enough pressure, Boston broke down Philadelphia’s GOATs composition, and claimed the point first. Though Philadelphia fought back to reclaim it, a massive EMP from rCk allowed Boston to sweep them away once more. Again, when the Fusion retaliated, rCk used his EMP to make sure that Boston could claim what was theirs. An amazing combination from Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse and blasé dominated the round, and gave them their first point.
The game continued at the Lighthouse, where Boston was also able to take the point first. They held steadily for nearly 55%. However, after a failed EMP from rCk, the Fusion were free to take the point for themselves. When they engaged once more, nearly everyone used their ultimate to try and find some ground. The only real outcome was a good Graviton from Colourhex. From there, Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth cleaned up the team, and Boston claimed the point. An angry blasé on Doomfist kept them at bay, and Boston won the map, 2-0.
Paris (Boston 4-4 Philadelphia)
Boston was on the attack first, rolling out another DPS heavy composition. With Colourhex on Widowmaker, Kristian “Kellex” Keller on Mercy, and blasé on Pharah, they approached quickly. In the blink of an eye, Boston had made their stand on the first point, and quickly captured it. From there, the second pushed was slightly stalled out. Their initial engagement failed, causing the team to switch back to GOATs. Once they settled, their second engagement earned them two ticks in a frenzy of ultimate abilities. Though members quickly dropped, Colourhex stayed up. Through his Graviton, he got the necessary picks, and Boston finished their second point capture with just under 2 minutes left in their bank.
On the defense, Boston chose a bunker composition to hold the high ground. With Colourhex on Widowmaker once more, the Fusion’s initial attacks were stalled out. However, Su-min “SADO” Kim had different plans. With an aggressive attack, they wiped Boston from the map, and took the first point. From there, the second point was a steam roll. With Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee and Josh “Eqo” Corona on Sombra and Genji, a well timed EMP and Dragon Blade wiped Boston once more.
Since Paris had more time, Boston launched their second attack first. Flexing onto Hanzo, blasé got a very important first pick onto Alberto “neptuNo” González. From there, the Uprising were free to take the first point. With limited time left, their switch to a GOATs composition had to be quick. Running towards the point, rCk unleashed an EMP at exactly the right time. By waiting until after Carpe had used his, the Uprising were able to get more out of their attack. The EMP helped them wipe the Fusion off the board, and in overtime, they capped the second point.
Boston’s second defense was another bunker composition, with blasé on Bastion. Philadelphia’s first attempts at an attack were stalled by a triple kill at the hands of blasé. However, the Fusion clapped back. With Eqo on Genji once more, his deadly Dragon Blade destroyed the Uprising. Despite the fact that they took the first point, Boston managed to shave off two minutes of their time bank. From there, the Fusion nearly steamrolled into the second point, and captured it with ease.
Boston’s third attack left them a minute to make an impact, thanks to their defensive hold. Unfortunately, an early pick onto Fusions cost them their push, and Boston was unable to make any progress. Philadelphia’s second defense finally gave us a Carpe vs Colourhex Widowmaker showdown. Because of their poke damage choices, however, the Fusion couldn’t reach the point. The map ended in a draw.
Hollywood (Boston 0-1 Philadelphia)
Up at the half, the Uprising tried to seal the deal on Hollywood. Sadly, their attack didn’t go as planned. With a Sombra GOATs variant, Boston sought to shake things up. A good EMP from rCk let Fusions get some picks, and their only push allowed them a tick and a half on the point. From the high ground, however, came Gael “Poko” Gouzerch. With a G-raviton, he wiped the team, and Boston’s attack was ended.
Boston tried their Sombra GOATs on the defensive as well. It didn’t hold up as well against the Fusion, seeing as Carpe was out for blood. It just took one push, and one angry SADO, for Philadelphia to make their mark. The series was tied as Boston lost the map, 0-1.
Watchpoint Gibraltar (Boston 0-1 Philadelphia)
In their last attempt to rally a win, Boston attacked first on Watchpoint Gibraltar. It was slow moving at first, but they managed to push the payload under the bridge. In terms of the Zarya battles, Carpe was getting more out of his ultimate usage than Colourhex. This allowed the Fusion to hold Boston back just shy of the first point as overtime ticked down.
With their roles flipped, Boston showed a strong defense at first. For two minutes, they prevented Philadelphia from making any real progress beyond the first corner. However, a last minute move by Fusions cost the team to go down. An ill placed jump put the Boston Uprising in danger. The Fusion easily picked the squishier characters in his absence. From there, the Fusion just had to clean up shop, and progressed to the checkpoint. Boston lost the map, 0-1.
Conclusion
Though this match gives Boston another loss, this series showed massive improvements from Friday night. With a map win, and a draw, the Uprising look to continue their trend. Next week poses an impossible opponent, as well as a chance at redemption. Though Thursday night against the Shock will be a tough one to watch, the rematch against the Paris Eternal should bring about another good game. Hopefully, they can put a win on the board by then.