Just days before the week started, The Boston Uprising were hit with the news about Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez. The organisation investigated the allegations and quickly released the player from their roster. With minimal scrim time and a huge hero pool to cover, Stanislav Mistakes Danilov was the player to step in.
From an outside perspective it would require a herculean effort from Boston to even come within touching distance of their regional rivals. Somehow the team pulled it off, maintaining their 100% win record on Volskaya Industries. Boston went on to lose the next two maps and pulled out an impressive third point hold on Junkertown to tie the series up.
The final map was Oasis and Mistakes on Sombra was the key difference maker. After winning the first point Boston were in prime position to win the map and the series. As Boston’s control meter rises, Mistakes runs up and baits JJonak’s Transcendence before he even has EMP. Leaving him to freely EMP the New York side a few seconds later and close out the map.
Mistakes train pulling in
The first two matches on Saturday went to five maps and Boston Uprising vs Florida Mayhem was no different.
Once again Boston won the control map. They full held on Temple of Anubis, thanks to patience, communication and a three rapid kills from mistakes’ Widowmaker. On their attack Boston took the single tick needed to win the map, but not easily. They finished with less than 30 seconds remaining.
The team now have a record of seven wins to zero losses on both Temple of Anubis and Volskaya Industries. The next map was Blizzard World. Florida Mayhem took point A quickly; however, Boston recovered time on Point B and Florida fought it out to take point B in Overtime and eventually get stopped on the final corner.
The Uprising then need to attack Blizzard World and get it past point B, which isn’t easy for any team. Initially Boston were held at point A for just under three minutes before Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon came up big, managing to continually hassle and stay alive to take the point. The boys in blue then continued through point B with very little slowing of the payload thanks to an EMP into a D.Va bomb from Mistakes and Lucas “NotE” Meissner. Boston continue with three minutes remaining and push the cart to victory.
Trouble after halftime
Florida were not ready to give up after the break. They were surprisingly dominant on Nepal, Boston took the point first and held it up to 68% Florida gained control and looked strong with some flashy plays as well, however Boston manage to take control once again with Florida on 95% and five team members alive. However it wasn’t to be for Boston as Florida flip in overtime and win the first point.
On the second point, Boston once again gain control first, this time gaining one more control percent before Florida can flip. However this time Florida hold it in convincing fashion all the way to 100% to win the map.
The Boston Uprising again had the opportunity to win the series. This time on Junkertown, a map that they had won against NYXL, however they were unable to stop Florida despite NotE’s best efforts, again he caught three in his self destruct. On the third point, Mayhem pushed the payload quickly, eventually being stopped for a few seconds. That brief pause was enough for Boston to set up their defences and eventually hold Florida just shy of point three.
On Boston’s attack they were slow to start, losing players early in fights took a lot of time away. Eventually the team were able to break through thanks to another big bomb from NotE. Their attack through point 2 is somewhat slowed but still end up in the final point with just under three minutes to finish the map. In the final minute Boston come within four meters of victory with a back cap from mistakes. However the team fight was already lost and Florida swooped in and scared him off the point. In the final fight Florida got early kills and staggered Boston. After a long overtime of Boston throwing themselves on the point one by one, Florida took the map and force the series into a tiebreaker.
Kings of the Tiebreaker
Going in to the tiebreaker, Boston had the statistical edge, Boston had played a total of nine tie breaker maps and had won seven of them, compared to Florida who had played four and won two. Inevitably Boston won Oasis 2-0 with standout performances from Striker and Mistakes. Although notably still no Pharah which may be a concern when one is needed. The match was incredibly close and both teams looked strong, a testament to the parity between (almost) all the teams in the league now.
Looking forward
Boston Uprisings’ next two matches will be against London and Seoul in that order. Both of these matches are definitely winnable. With Boston recently having beaten NYXL, two slumping Korean teams should not be daunting. London are really struggling and have only recently brought in more coaching staff to help. With the way Boston are playing and the map selection for the matches it will likely be a victory for Boston.
Seoul have a better record on tiebreaker maps and have the Shanghai Dragons to face this week. They may have more time to focus on the Boston match. That said, the team seems unsure what supports to play and are really struggling in stage 3. Boston may well finish week three being unbeaten.
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Featured Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.
