The Uprising’s Summer Showdown is Cut Short by the Justice

After weeks of solid play but disappointing results, the Boston Uprising looked poised to head into the Summer Showdown on the right foot. The Uprising looked ready to take on the rising Vancouver Titans, and head into the summer tournament with a win under their belt. Surely after several close matches against stronger teams the Uprising could handle an opponent that was formed only a month ago. It may have been that mentality that allowed the Vancouver Titans to decisively 3-0 the Boston Uprising on Friday June 27.

[Related: Four Questions Going Into the OWL Summer Showdown Tournament]

Boston looked simply outclassed through the entire match. Niclas “sHockWave” Jensen could not be stopped in the 3-map set. If it wasn’t sHockWave dealing damage from above as Echo, it was Dalton “Dalton” Bennyhoff causing havoc in the backline as Tracer. Faced with an onslaught on multiple fronts, the Uprising collapsed under the pressure.

Overwatch League 2020 Season 2020-03-07 / Photo: CARLTON-BEENER for Activision Blizzard Entertainment

The loss forced the Uprising to face another struggling team to play in a “Win and In” match for the Summer Showdown. Despite picking up some players from the old iteration of the Vancouver Titans, the Washington Justice struggled to gel as a team in previous weeks. The set up for this match was almost identical to Boston’s latest loss, as the Uprising seemed favored once again. But again, Boston could not find the answer for a team that found their rhythm just in time for the July tournament.

A Hot Start

Starting with Busan, the Boston Uprising came out with a much more traditional composition than their match before. Instead of having Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse on the Mei, he was flexed back onto the Tracer while Tae-hee “Jerry” Min was back on Ashe. An instant kill onto Chung-hee “Stitch” Lee would set the tempo for all of Busan. Boston took Meka Base with relative ease, and would only lose Downtown in a 100-99 brawl. As the teams headed into Shrine, Jerry would lock in Soldier: 76, and swept away the Justice to win the first map.

As the two teams battled with similar compositions, the Justice saw they could not compete head to head with mirrored heroes. Since Washington had lost the round, they had the chance to choose the following map. Selecting Hollywood, the Justice knew they had to swap something up. The Washington Justice knew they had to fall back onto comfortable heroes in order to best the Uprising. Enter Ho-Sung “Ttuba” Lee, and his pocket-pick Genji.

The Ttuba Takeover

It was on Hollywood where Ttuba displayed just how dangerous a well-played Genji can be. The build up to each Nano-Blade was slow, but could not take advantage during the down time. The neutral fights managed to end fairly even, allowing Washington to reset and create more time to charge ultimates. Once both Ttuba and Min-seok “AimGod” Kwon were ready, the Justice unleashed the devastating attack.

In the next two maps, the Washington Justice used the same play to beat Boston. Like clockwork, Ttuba would ascend to the sky to deliver a lightning-fast blow to the Uprising backline, and win the fight. Boston looked helpless against the combination of Dragon Blade and Nano Boost. No amount of stuns or defensive ultimates could stop Ttuba from slicing through the Uprising like butter.

Overwatch League 2020 Season 2020-03-07 / Photo: Joshua Roberts For Activision Blizzard

The Uprising would end up losing the series 3-1. Anubis and Rialto were simple re-runs of Washington’s attack on Hollywood. Boston fared relatively well on their own attacks, but the defense could not handle the oppressive push from the Justice. At times, it felt as though the Justice could run any other four characters in the match. As long as they had Ana and Genji on the battlefield, they could not lose.

Making the Best of Boston’s Break

Now out of the Summer Showdown, Boston will have nearly a month to prepare for the final regular-season tournament. This downtime is a perfect time for both relaxation and reflection for the Uprising players. A mental reset is exactly what the team needs in order to move forward. Both the Vancouver Titans and the Washington Justice have been able to adapt and move past their struggles weeks ago. The Uprising should move past the stigma of losing against rapidly improving teams. If they can’t, they will continue to stumble in matches that they can win.

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