The season continues to be wild for the Boston Uprising, but they are certainly excited to still be playing.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Uprising managed to do everything they needed to surprise audiences once again, and defeat the Houston Outlaws. Better yet, the Uprising come out of this series only needing to play four maps. The wacky Roadhog meta has seemingly given Boston a boost in morale, which is all it took to take down the Outlaws.
[Related: Against All Odds, the Uprising Aim for Miracle Playoff Run]
The real man of the match was none other than stand out flex-support Sang-min “Myunb0ng” Seo. With his comfort pick in Ana, Myunb0ng stole the show with incredible Sleep Darts to shutdown the opposing Pharah and keep Boston in a winning position. It seemed as though Myunb0ng had his ultimate every other fight, constantly giving Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist Nano Bosot to hunt down the Houston DPS and support line.
Now that the first step in their miracle run is accomplished, Boston must keep their focus as the way forward is filled with talented opponents. Next up for the Uprising is the always lethal Atlanta Reign.
The Atlanta Reign are an interesting team to breakdown. At their best, they can bring the San Francisco Shock and the Paris Eternal to the brink. At their worst, they can lose close matches against the Toronto Defiant and the Vancouver Titans. The Reign have all the tools to become a top tier team, but sometimes things don’t line up quite right and they fumble the match away.
The one thing Atlanta is normally quite good at however, is taking care of those bottom five teams in the league. The last time these two teams met, Atlanta handed Boston a solid 3-1 loss. Atlanta’s win in week 25 puts the Reign at a 3-1 lifetime record over the Boston Uprising. Now opting in to playing the Uprising, the Reign have a bit of added pressure in this match. No one wants to be the second team Boston knocks out of the playoffs.
Photo: Carlton Beener for Activision Blizzard Entertainment
Much like viewers saw Houston utilize two off-tanks against Boston, Atlanta is primed to do the same. Both Xander “Hawk” Domecq and Nathan “FRD” Goebel have experience playing in high pressure games. Though the Reign have been the team to always default back into a double-shield composition, the recent nerfs to shields may mean the team has to lean towards the meta. If Atlanta does want to have a main tank play Roadhog, expect Blake “Gator” Scott to play alongside Hawk, as the two have incredible synergy as the front line.
Much like their tank line, the Reign have an abundance of options at the DPS position. After picking up contenders standout Garett “Saucy” Roland, Atlanta have four damage dealers that are capable of making an impact in the playoffs. Tae-hun “Edison” Kim has performed extremely well in his rookie season, and Jun “Erster” Jeong remains a solid role player that has been potentially underutilized by Atlanta. With all the talent available to them, Atlanta has the element of surprise against Boston.
The power of momentum is something Boston has seen quite a few times this season. After their win against the Gladiators, Boston battled Paris to back to back five-map matches. It was an incredibly impressive run, despite not locking in the actual win. However up until last night, it has been almost two months since Boston’s last win. With Boston’s momentum going forward, there is a sense of optimism among the players and fans.
Courtesy of the Boston Uprising
For Boston to win, it will once again be on the shoulders of Myunb0ng and Punk. The Ana and D.Va combination was absolutely devastating for the enemy Pharah-Mercy strategy. Boston’s rookies certainly outplayed their counterparts, even if Punk didn’t eat as many pulse bombs as Tae-hong “MekO” Kim. Another standout performance from these two will go a long way to creating another upset in these Grand Finals playoffs.
It would be criminal not to mention Cameron “Fuisions” Bosworth’s performance on the Roadhog against the Outlaws. Now finally free from “Orisa-jail”, Fusions created countless opportunities for Boston. Often times Fusions would simply Whole Hog the opposing Roadhog off of the map, generating massive amounts of space for the team to work. Fusions needs to win these Roadhog battles once again in order for Boston to move forward.
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Featured image courtesy of the Boston Uprising
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