Following a confident showing against the Washington Justice, im37 and the rest of the Toronto Defiant were excited to show the world what they’re made of. Meanwhile, the Boston Uprising were equally anxious to prove themselves after a major roster change.
Courtesy of: Gamenews
Widowmaker was the match decider in Map 1. Toronto’s Widowmaker, played by im37, overpowered Boston’s Widowmaker and secured the kills his team needed. The Defiant’s positioning was critical in keeping an edge over the Uprising. In rounds one and two, the Defiant were constantly coming out ahead. They completed Busan in a confident 2-0 victory.
Throughout Hanamura, both teams ran a Bastion-Baptiste combo on defense. Who ran it better? At first, it seemed the two sides were evenly matched. The Defiant held point A for several minutes in round 1. Then their Bastion was eliminated and the defense crumbled. After losing point A, the team tried to prevent a snowball effect. They were unsuccessful. The Uprising snowballed and finished Hanamura.
However, the Defiant performed just as well in their attack run. Just like last round, the attackers were held at point A for the first few minutes. Then Toronto eliminated Boston’s Bastion and took the point. After that, they snowballed onto point B and finished the map with an even better time.
From there, Toronto continued to just barely outperform their opponents. After losing point A once again, they held strong on point B. Then it was their turn to attack. With plenty of time to cap both points, the Defiant ended up succeeding, winning the map 4-3.
The Defiant looked shaky initially on their first defense at Eichenwalde. The Uprising rapidly switched comps and immediately took point A. Then they stabilized, then they fell apart again, they stabilized, they fell apart. This pattern continued until the Uprising stood victorious at the end of the map with nearly a full minute on the clock.
Toronto once again looked fairly poor on their initial attack. They captured point A with less than a minute remaining, making the rest of the map much more difficult. Despite only losing a single team fight, the Defiant reached the bridge on point B with only 30 seconds left. Overtime began with Toronto just short of the door. Suddenly AimGod landed a sleep dart onto Neko, removing the Defiant’s main source of healing. Without Neko, the rest of the team fell apart. The Defiant fell short on map 3 with a final score of 3-1.
Courtesy of Gamepedia.
IM37 picked up the Bastion role in Toronto’s initial attack, but they were quickly shut down. Recognizing their disadvantage, they switched up their composition. However, their progress was slow. So slow, in fact, that they couldn’t even complete point A.
After that sub-par attack round, the Defiant managed to hold for a good amount of time. However, they slowly began losing inch after inch. Despite a desperate last attempt, the Uprising won the map 1-2.
With nothing but this map between the Uprising and a third consecutive reverse sweep, the Defiant were determined to stop them. The fights were back and forth. Toronto were only slightly behind in capture percentage. Round 1 went to Boston. Round 2 went to Toronto. Neither team seemed to hold an advantage very long. After trading blows over and over again, the Defiant only barely fell to the Boston Uprising in a 2-1 loss.
The Toronto Defiant are looking very strong, despite the loss. They consistently pressured their opponents but seemed to fall apart towards the end. This was an extremely close match. If the team continues to improve their coordination and individual skill, they can expect to pull ahead in the rankings.
Featured image courtesy of the Toronto Defiant
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