Both the Philadelphia Fusion and the Boston Uprising have been struggling hard this stage. Neither has won a series yet, but tonight, one of those team’s would finally break that losing streak. So which team would it be?
STARTING SIX
Su-min “SADO” Kim
Gael “Poko” Gouzerch
Jae-hyeok “Carpe” Lee
Josh “Eqo” Corona
Isaac “Boombox” Charles
Alberto “neptuNo” González
Ilios: Philadelphia 0-2 Boston
On Ruins, the Philadelphia Fusion decided to run a traditional GOATS composition. With Boston running both Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang on Doomfist and Richard “rCk” Kanerva on Sombra, the Uprising would be quick to take out the Fusion. Forced to regroup, SADO would get a great pick on Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth that would cause Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse to throw his Graviton Surge once the Fusion stepped foot on the point. To combo, blasé would use his Meteor Strike. Luckily for the Fusion, blasé would be unable to get anyone. The Fusion would then pick off the remaining members of the Uprising and take the point. Boston would manage to briefly take back the point after getting a pick on SADO, but Poko’s Self Destruct would take out Persia. Philly would reclaim the point once more, but an unfortunate pick on Boombox before rCk’s EMP would wipe out the Fusion and Boston would maintain control for the rest of the map.
On Lighthouse, the Fusion would continue to run GOATS despite Boston’s use of DPS characters. Boston would once again capture the point first, and keep the Fusion at bay for quite some time. Finally managing to flip the point, Philadelphia’s defense looked a lot better. Poko would manage to take out rCk before he could use his EMP, and this allowed the Fusion to maintain control. Unfortunately, Colourhex would use his Graviton Surge and both tanks would get taken out. Boston would take the point one more, and despite SADO getting a pick on Fusions, the Fusion would lose Ilios 0-2.
Paris: Philadelphia 4-4 Boston
Round 1
Both the Fusion and the Uprising went into this map with 0-3 records. The Fusion’s defenses would have a tough time against Boston’s triple DPS composition. Boston would quickly cap Point A, and for a moment it seemed as though they would steamroll through Point B. However, Poko would throw a distraction Self-Destruct that would allow Carpe to melt down the Uprising’s backline. Stabilizing, Philly would end up holding for quite some time. With BoomBox on Ana, the Uprising would get taken out quickly as he landed fat anti-grenades on their unsuspecting backs. Although Fusions would land a solid Earthshatter, he would miss neptuNo who would use Beat to save his team. Unfortunately, Kristian “Kellex” Keller would get a pick on SADO that would cause the Fusion’s defenses to crumble.
On attack, Philly would run EQO on Genji and Carpe on Sombra. Allowing Poko to play Zarya, the Fusion would play slowly to build up their ultimates. The Fusion would get a team kill after BoomBox landed another anti-grenade on the Uprising during SADO’s Primal Rage. Capping Point A, the Fusion would keep their dive composition as they moved to take Point B. Throwing his Nano-Boost onto Eqo, Eqo would use Dragon Blade and take out the Uprising with ease, allowing the Fusion to cap Point B.
Round 2
With Eqo on his signature Pharah and neptuNo on Mercy, fans were hopeful that this defense would work better than Philly’s first one. Unfortunately, blase would get a pick on neptuNo that would allow the Uprising to mow down the rest of the Fusion’s defenses. On Point B, both Carpe and rCk would use their EMP’s, but rCk’s would be stronger, and the Fusion would fall like dominoes.
Attacking once more, the Fusion would once again run their dive composition from before. With Boston on a bunker composition, blasé’s bastion would wipe out Philly twice before BoomBox and Eqo would once again save the day with another nano-blade. Swapping once more onto GOATS, Carpe would end up melting everyone on the Uprising down, and Philly would cap Point B with more than enough time in the bank.
A NANO-BLADE?! In OVERWATCH LEAGUE?!
What YEAR is it?!
📺: https://t.co/fCrXp4arya | #IonThePrize pic.twitter.com/G8zaPrLoYK— Philadelphia Fusion (@Fusion) June 16, 2019
Round 3
Although the Fusion were able to fully hold Boston on their defense, they would struggle to cap Point A. Despite their time bank, the Fusion would run double-sniper for the first time since Grand Finals last season. Although fans were excited to see Carpe on his signature Widowmaker, he would be unable to get any value out of it. The Fusion would be unable to get the one tick they needed, and Paris would end in a draw.
Hollywood: Philadelphia 1-0 Boston
On Hollywood, both Boston and Philadelphia would run Sombra GOATS compositions. Interestingly, Boston would run their version with Zion “Persia” Yang on Ana as opposed to Zenyatta. This move did not work in their favor like the Uprising hoped it would. Playing from the high ground, Philadelphia would maintain their defenses with SADO on Reinhardt and Poko on his signature Zarya. Carpe would land a fat EMP on the Uprising that would send them back to the drawing board. Finally able to regroup and push on to the point, SADO and neptuNo would get taken out by Fusions. For a moment, it briefly seemed like fans hopes for a full-hold would be crushed. However, SADO would come back with a double fire-strike that would send the Uprising packing.
Yeaaaaah Boston, we're just going to stop you right there. @poko and @SADO_OW are CLEANING IT UP.
📺: https://t.co/fCrXp4arya pic.twitter.com/XoWNG4nEOD
— Philadelphia Fusion (@Fusion) June 16, 2019
On attack, the Fusion would run a traditional GOATS composition. While this typically causes their fans to want to rip their hair out, it ended up working out in their favor. The Fusion would turn the tide and take Hollywood 1-0.
Gibraltar: Philadelphia 1-0 Boston
The Fusion are becoming well-known for their use of Winston GOATS on defense. It was one of their more successful compositions last stage, and it worked out well for them on Gibraltar. From the high ground, the Fusion would maintain control as Carpe got key picks on the Uprising’s backline. Even as Boston managed to finally start to push the payload, the Fusion would surprisingly keep calm. Known for being a more aggressive team, the Fusion would hold back and let the Uprising feed their ultimate charges. Carpe would land two huge Graviton Surges on Boston, and the Fusion would keep the payload stalled just shy of Point A.
Playing patiently, the Fusion would once again play things slowly. Letting their ultimates build up, the Fusion would slightly panic when SADO moved out of position and got picked off. Both teams throwing their Graviton Surges, Poko would also throw a self-destruct that would miss entirely. Despite this, the Fusion would not relent. Both Carpe and BoomBox would take out the Uprising, and the Fusion would take Gibraltar 1-0.
Final Score: Philadelphia Fusion 2-1 Boston Uprising
Conclusion
Although the Fusion had a rocky start on Ilios, things started to turn around once the Fusion decided to play to their strengths. Finally letting their DPS players do what they do best was the best decision that the Fusion made this week. Their gameplay looked so much cleaner, and they were able to come back and win the series. If the Fusion continue to run more DPS based compositions, they might be able to make a strong comeback.
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