Boston Uprising (2-2) vs Toronto Defiant (2-2)
With SeHyun “Neko” Park back in the roster this week, the Toronto Defiant were anxious to prove their worth against Neko’s former team, the Boston Uprising. After prevailing 3-1 against the Seoul Dynasty, the Uprising were looking particularly strong.
Busan: Boston Uprising 0-2 Toronto Defiant
The Defiant started a bit rough in MEKA Base. Boston managed to reach 84% before Toronto finally flipped the point. After that, though, the Defiant began to gain traction. Excellent ult management and strong coordination ensured that the team won the first round.
On Sanctuary, the match felt much more one-sided. SeungHyun “ivy” Lee’s Zarya seemed to constantly have the advantage over Kelsey “ColourHex” Birse’s Zarya. This time Boston was the team to flip the point at 85%. Unlike the first round, Toronto managed to retake the point fairly quickly. Toronto won the map 2-0.
Hollywood: Boston Uprising 2-3 Toronto Defiant
The Boston Uprising seemed to overwhelm the Defiant fairly early in their attack run on Hollywood. JooSung “RoKy” Park died early in the fight, and Toronto was forced back as Boston captured point A. Lucas “NotE” Meissner seemed to be one step ahead of Toronto for most of the round, until they finally managed to hold the payload just shy of point C.
On their attack, the Defiant struck with a vengeance. ColourHex and Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth were both quickly eliminated in the very first fight, securing point A for Toronto. The team continued to dominate point B, with Neko playing particularly well against his former teammates. Despite having several ultimates thrown at them at the end of point C, the Defiant defied the odds and survived. Then they immediately followed up with their own offensive, overwhelming the Uprising and completing their attack. The Defiant once again prevailed with a map score of 3-2.
Temple of Anubis: Boston Uprising 4-2 Toronto Defiant
Despite Neko’s Zenyata eliminating Kristian “Kellex” Keller’s Lucio early, the Boston Uprising captured point A with plenty of time remaining. NotE carried his team’s momentum into point B, where he pulled off a massive self-destruct with D.Va. The Uprising finished their attack with 5:17 left on the clock. Needless to say, Toronto looked a little less than Defiant on this round.
In Round 2, Toronto redeemed their previous performance with an equally convincing capture of point A. With Neko and Kang-Jae “Envy” Lee both making outstanding plays, the Defiant finished point B with 5:25 on the clock.
Round 3 appeared to be equally matched. Neko performed great early in the map, but this wasn’t enough to stop the Uprising from capturing point A. With very little time left, ColourHex’s Zarya overwhelmed the Defiant, allowing Boston to once again capture point B.
It was at this point that the Defiant struggled most. The Uprising seemed to have an answer to every play thrown at them. With time nearly expended, Ivy’s Zarya eliminated Kellex’s Lucio, opening an opportunity for the Defiant. However, the Uprising somehow managed to turn the fight around and hold point A. The Uprising finished Temple of Anubis with a final score of 4-2.
Rialto: Boston Uprising 1-2 Toronto Defiant
The Toronto Defiant had a rough start on Rialto. The Uprising held aggressively, getting picks early in the fight. After losing two teammates, Ivy’s Zarya managed to respond with a spectacular Graviton Surge, killing two of the Uprising players. The rest of his team responded and barely managed to capture point A. The Defiant’s strong ultimate advantage carried them most of the way through point B. Boston seemed to stabilize at the end of point B thanks to ColourHex’s Zarya. After a grueling team fight, the Defiant captured point B. With only two minutes on the clock, and very few ultimates on either side, the Uprising held the Defiant just short of point C.
Toronto’s defense was their most dominant round of this entire match. Ivy’s Zarya was constantly overwhelming the Uprising, while Envy’s D.Va managed to pick off just the right players to hold the defense. Boston was only barely able to capture point A before finally falling to the Toronto Defiant, who won the final map 3-2.
Conclusion
The Toronto Defiant looked stronger than ever before in this match. They focused primarily on keeping Neko’s Zenyatta alive, and Neko responded by keeping his teammates alive and dealing immense damage to the Uprising. Ivy’s Zarya was constantly surpassing ColourHex’s, and Envy’s D.Va kept pace with NotE throughout the whole match. The Defiant’s weakest link might have been Kyeongmu “Yakpung” Cho’s Reinhardt. He was the first to die in a significant amount of team fights, and rarely ever stood out from his other teammates as especially spectacular. Overall, the Toronto Defiant looks like a team that could definitely contend for the stage playoffs.
Featured image courtesy of the Overwatch League
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