It was Friday Night last Week and I was watching OWL.  I was really getting into it till I found that my Dog passed away at 11pm.  It was really disheartening.  I had to take him to the Vet late that night for Cremation.  Suffice to say it has been a rough couple of days.  But for today things are better and my family obligations aren’t hindering me to write, blog.  So let’s get right into the action of the latest in Overwatch League:

Boston Uprising remains undefeated in Stage 3 with their win over the LA Valiant last night [Thursday].  What I want to focus on today is their play style on a Map like Blizzard World.  We’ve seen Teams struggle on this Map, which just came out to the Map Pool in Stage 3.  Boston however has been Undefeated on this Map.  And I’ll show you why…

Blizzard World consists of three parts.  There is the Warcraft part of Point A, there is the Starcraft part of Point B, and there is the Diablo part of Point C.  Now Teams are really having trouble “Unlocking” the payload of Point A.  Teams typically run a Widow Tracer on this Map and come in through three of the front entrances: left to right it’s Snaxxramas/Lost Vikings, Main Gate, and Flight to Duskwood.  Now each of these entrances are heavy choke points.  Which means that they are easily defensible, but difficult to attack from.  With a Widowmaker you don’t have the luxury of the high ground.  If you go through the Flight to Duskwood entrance to gain the high ground you will be stuck on that overlooking platform with little cover or room.

Now here’s what the Uprising do.  They run a Sombra Tracer and get a wide flanking position on the right.  They basically go all the way around through Pylon Terrance to go in the back entrance/exit.  It’s genius really because they create a lot of space for their players to move around the point.  Plus they get the high ground over looking the point where the payload is.

With the Sombra, the Uprising charge their “ULTs” and set up for a “D. Va Bomb”.  What they do is Hack the other Teams players and then EMP them.  After that they throw in a D. Va Self Destruct to Eliminate the opposing Heroes.  Now this tactic is extremely efficient on Blizzard World and it’s something none of the other Teams have figured out how to do.  With Mistakes on Sombra and Note on D. Va its a solid one two punch.  I mean seriously, these two guys have perfected this “ULT” combo.  So much so that they have called it the “D. Va Bomb”.  Also there is Striker on Tracer, probably one of the best, and he has full range to sneak around the back lines and Assassinate the enemy Support Heroes.  Point A is a clinic for the Uprising, and Point A is their best Point, but it doesn’t end there.

Now on to Point B after the payload is “Unlocked”.  Boston continues to push the payload while Mistakes and Striker sneak around.  They typically set up a “Pick” play on the opposing Team, catching them off guard.  They create space in front of the payload usually with hacks by Sombra and harassment by Tracer.  Then when the real engagement begins they go with the “D. Va Bomb”.  It either hits the enemy Heroes or it creates even more space to push the payload.  Striker though has to make sure that he eliminates or harasses the opposing Widowmaker.  Other wise they will be a real problem for the Uprisings push.  Also the opposing D. Va needs to get hacked or she will Self Destruct to throw the Uprising off the payload.

Then there is Point C in the Diablo part of Blizzard World.  Right here is the real challenge to the Uprising’s composition.  They need to make sure to be aggressive with their push coming off of Point B.  If they stall out with the payload in the beginning of the U-bend then they will be in trouble to re capture the payload.  It’s a risk that you take going Sombra Tracer.  With Gamsu on Winston, the Uprising usually need him to touch the payload or drop a “Bubble”.  If they can gain a foothold then they can do another “D. Va Bomb” on the opposing Hacked players.  They have done this repeatedly on this Map and it works!

Feel free to copy and use this in your next ranked play.  And check out the latest VODs on the Overwatch League App.  Stage 3 Playoffs begin Sunday Night and Boston is in them! GL HF!  Cheers!

In Day 2 of Week 4, Stage 3, the top contenders all played.  Well all of them except Boston Uprising, which had a much needed day off.  [Thursday] Night Matches were stacked.  We were treated to seeing the best of the best.  London Spitfire, New York Excelsior, and Seoul Dynasty all played on the same night.  Whoa, talk about thrilling!  All three Teams are vying for a Playoff spot in Stage 3 action.  Let’s jump right into the action:

Los Angeles Gladiators vs London Spitfire

The Gladiators took an early lead in the beginning of the Match after a real battle on the 1st Map, 4-3.  Then on the 2nd Map things got weird.  In fact things got weird in the other Matches too, but I’ll get to that!  Anyways Blizzard World was the 2nd Map and it seems to be the stumbling block for a lot of Teams.  For London this came to be true.  As they couldn’t score any Map Points.  The Gladiators took it 3-0, easily!  But after Halftime London came back in a big way and Tied the Series [2-2], on Route 66.  In fact Route 66 was their best Map.  Especially since they didn’t have Birdring in the Line up.  Profit was good and Gesture was good for London.  On the other side of things there was Surefour and Biggoose, both played well for the Gladiators.  It would end up coming down to a Map 5 on Oasis.  LA Gladiators just held on to the final Map Point for the victory, [3-2].  It was a tough one to swallow for the Spitfire as they just came up short.  Surefour ended up being the Player of the Game, and I would suggest you watch it if you haven’t yet.

San Fransisco Shock vs New York Excelsior

The game started out with a 7 Minute “hold” by New York on Map Point B.  It was incredible and a Text Book case of how to play Temple of Anubis.  But then came New York’s chance on Offense and wouldn’t you know, the Shock’s Defense was even better.  They would take the Map Win.  With plays from Architect, on Sombra and Genji, they had an “Ace in the Hole”.  Also Danteh’s played crazy good on Junkrat.  Some of the best I’ve seen.  They would end up splitting on Numbani and NY XL took it, [1-1] at the Half.  Nepal was back and forth and I’ll tell you what it was close!  NY Excelsior fought hard on this one and pulled out a “W”.  It was the same thing with Junkertown.  It was close and the Shock tried desperately to get a Map 5.  In fact it was the dreaded “U Bend” that had them stalled out.  New York remains in 2nd Place in Stage 3, with only a loss to Boston, after their Win [3-1].  The gap is closing between the Top Teams…

Seoul Dynasty vs Philadelphia Fusion

Now this was a strange one from beginning to end.  It was just something about last night.  Defenses were winning games and Offenses were in a Quagmire.  Seoul took Map 1 with a strong hold but then came Blizzard World.  Well, they chose to go Fleta on Pharah and it didn’t pan out.  Actually both Teams ran Pharah.  Which in my opinion was a bad move!  I mean really, she can fly all over the place but she can’t hold the Point Zone!  It’s a gambit any way you slice it.  Both Teams couldn’t “Unlock” the payload.  Which I guess I should remind you is the whole point of a Hybrid Map.  Philly took it in overtime on Point A, tying it [1-1] at Halftime.  Luckily Philly had Crape on their Team on Nepal.  He pretty much carried the Team to wining that Map.  His Tracer play was just superb!  On Route 66 Fragi and Snillo were working well together.  They play very aggressive and it usually works well for the Team.  On Defense it was great but on Offense they had trouble moving the payload.  They were so close to putting it away!  Seoul came back and Tied it up [2-2].  It would be another Map 5, on Oasis.  Fleta and Munchkin really shined on this Map.  I mean you just got to say that they played awesome.  Another good game to watch.  They would take it then and there [3-2] getting the reverse sweep.  GG!  Cheers!