image courtesy of the Boston Uprising
Before this match, the Boston Uprising held the record for the longest winning streak in the Overwatch League. The Vancouver Titans were rapidly approaching that record, and this match was the Uprising’s last chance to preserve it. On top of that, this match would be Boston’s chance to showcase how they’ve improved since their last match against Vancouver in the Stage 1 playoffs. It would be the toughest battle the Uprising would face this stage.
The Boston Uprising started Lijiang Tower with Blasé on Pharah and Colourhex on Widowmaker. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Titans opted for a more standard 3-3 composition with Winston. Boston began strong, but Vancouver took the point at 56%. After that, the Uprising couldn’t quite regain control until the Titans reached 99%. Although the Uprising did barely take back the point, they fell apart the next team fight and lost the round.
In Round 2, Blasé finally got to play Doomfist. Unfortunately, Vancouver hardly gave Boston any chances to make progress on the objective. The Uprising lost the first map 0-2.
For their attack on Paris, the Uprising brought out Widowmaker and Pharah alongside Wrecking Ball. Their initial attack went very well. However, Vancouver just barely held Point A to 98%. Boston was able to regroup and take Point A in overtime. From there, they swapped to a Sombra 3-3 comp. After a couple of fights spent building ultimates, and a couple more fights being shut down early, the Uprising finally took Point B.
The Uprising relied on a standard bunker composition for their defense. Despite Vancouver using some peculiar tactics, Boston held strong until there were only 30 seconds remaining. Then after one extremely close fight, the Uprising’s defense just barely collapsed. Unfortunately, they failed to stabilize at Point B, and the Titans took it with extra time on the clock.
Boston’s bunker comp was their only hope at securing a draw and preventing the Titans from going 2-0 in the series. However, the bunker was also their undoing. The Titans maneuvered to Point A extremely quickly, forcing the Uprising to reposition their bunker. While they moved to contest the point, Vancouver struck and defeated Boston before they had a chance to make an impact. Boston lost Paris 2-3.
For this map Boston used a Sombra 3-3 comp exclusively. Vancouver initially ran a 3-3 with Ana, but swapped to Zenyatta halfway through. rCk’s EMPs were a key factor for the Uprising’s attack strategy. It seemed that every EMP was an instant fight win. Once the Titans pulled out Zenyatta, though, the EMPs seemed to be less effective. The Uprising managed to get about halfway through Point C on their attack, but couldn’t quite finish. The Titans matched pace with the Uprising’s attack, only barely making it to Point C. From there Vancouver overwhelmed Boston with a more aggressive style than anything they had shown before. After a desperate last effort, the Uprising once again fell short on King’s Row, losing 2-3.
Boston’s initial attack on Watchpoint: Gibraltar was their most promising round in the entire match. They chose a comp similar to the pirate ship typically used on Junkertown, featuring Baptiste. This comp allowed the Uprising to steamroll through the entire map. They set the third fastest attack round on this map in Overwatch League history.
Their defense seemed much less promising. The Uprising tried a peculiar defense strategy, featuring Torbjorn, Bastion, Baptiste, and Orisa. This strategy worked well at first, but it fell apart shortly after. After losing their first fight, Boston struggled to stabilize. The Titans steamrolled through the rest of the map, setting a shorter but still respectable time for their attack.
Boston’s second defense went much worse. Now that Vancouver was ready for the strategy, the Uprising fell much more quickly. Again Boston struggled to stabilize, and Vancouver was only stopped after reaching the second checkpoint.
With more than four minutes to reach their goal, the Uprising had a chance to take the map. Unfortunately, the Titans were now prepared for Boston’s pirate ship. Vancouver refused to let Boston set up on the payload. Time ticked away while the Uprising tried and failed to build ultimates on a Sombra 3-3 composition. With little time remaining and not enough ultimates to push through, Boston was defeated again, losing the map 3-5.
Boston vs Vancouver was called a nearly unwinnable match by most fans going into it. That being said, the Uprising looked strong in this match. They have certainly improved since the last time they fought the Vancouver Titans. The Uprising showed they can be flexible with their team comps, and their coordination was strong as well. However, the Vancouver Titans are arguably the best team in the entire Overwatch League, having only dropped two maps in the entire stage. Putting up such a close fight on these maps was a hugely positive sign for Boston.
As a final note, Blasé had the honor of scoring the first Torbjorn hammer kill of Season 2. Good for him!
Follow Chris L. on Twitter @spaceaviator97!
Featured image courtesy of the Chengdu Hunters
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