Overwatch League: Boston Uprising Loses To Houston In A High Noon Showdown

It was a marquee matchup on [Friday] with Boston Uprising vs Houston Outlaws.  Boston was coming off their 1st Loss in 14 Games.  Houston was coming off their epic beatdown against London Spitfire.  This H2H match was destined to be a good one.  And you just gotta say that someone was going to step up and be Player of the Game.  Last night’s Player of the Game had to be Linkzr.  He was Sniping with precision.  Something that we saw on Thursday against London.  He was just so good with multiple Map deciding “Kill Streaks”.  It all started on King’s Row where we saw the Outlaws dominate in the new Meta.

Before going into the Match they were asked what their thoughts were about the new “Patch”.  They responded by saying, “this really fits our playstyle.  [I’m] hoping that Brigitte stays in the Meta because if that happens then Tracer is not going to be played…. [I] don’t want to say that we don’t like Tracer but I don’t think anyone on our Team wants to play Tracer!  In Stage 4 the Map Pool is the biggest, like an advantage for us…”  The new “Patch” really changes Tracer play.  With that being said they seem to have a lot of confidence going into Stage 4.  And with what they showed last night they really limited the opposing Team’s Tracer.  With Brigitte now in the mix Tracers can’t really poke around and “Assassinate” squishy targets, like Support Heroes.  Her ability to boost Armor and Health really makes things challenging for opposing Teams.  Now let’s just jump right into the action.

Boston Uprising vs Houston Outlaws: King’s Row

This was statistically one of Boston’s Best Maps before the “Patch”.  But man, oh man, was Houston ready to rumble.  Both Teams went for the Widow duel and even the double Sniper in Hanso.  But Linkzr was ready for this.  He Sniped them out of Spawn and took the initiative to hunt down the opposing Widow Player, Mistakes.  Once he got him out of the way he had free range on the entire Map, plus he charged his “ULT” with “Infrared Sights”.  This ability basically allows your entire Team to see through walls and clearly see the opposing Team’s Heroes.  Once you have this it gives you so much leverage over the entire Map.  Linkzr used this well and got 13 Final Blows before the Uprising’s final push, to unlock the payload.  It was as if it were over before it ever began.  Houston would take the Point on their turn and Win the Map 1-0.

Boston Uprising vs Houston Outlaws: Hanamura

Boston’s worst Map was Map 2, Hanamura.  They came into it 0-6 on Map Wins.  Yikees!  Yeah, it’s no cakewalk for them.  It’s no Volskaya…  Where they really have trouble is where the choke points are.  Boston has trouble getting their Supports through the door.  And in OWL Supports are everything.  Last night we saw the same stumbling blocks.  They played a Tracer, with Striker, and moved their Supports down the side area.  But the problem with that is the Supports are cornered.  They just have nowhere to go once they lose a Tank or DPS.  And that right there is exactly what happened!  The Outlaws played Brigitte and stacked up their Armor for the fight.  Once they saw the Uprising was out of position they stomped on them.  It was textbook flanking…  Boston would get a Map Point out of it but that was all.  Brigitte is just too OP!  I mean really, she is the single most important Hero on the battlefield.  If she is being played, you might want to play her for your own Team.  Houston took their time to get the 2 Map Points.  Winning the Map 2-1.

Boston Uprising vs Houston Outlaws: Oasis

Right here we saw Pharah vs Pharah action.  It was the 1st time that we saw Striker on Pharah, he usually plays Tracer or Junkrat.  This was a hard-fought battle and Boston has, in the past, had good play on this Map.  In the end, the Pharah play was a good call as they took the Map.  I feel as though the Uprising need to play more Heroes.  I mean we saw Jake, for the Outlaws, play something like 8 different Heroes against them.  That Flex, flexibility, is exactly what the Uprising need.  They need to expand their Hero Pool and not just that but play them on a high level.  We know they like to play Tracer but it’s just not going to be viable in the coming Weeks.  Boston played an Orisa and it worked out well.  They Won the Map 2-1.

Boston Uprising vs Houston Outlaws: Gibraltar

This was the second weakest Map for the Uprising.  It’s a hard Map and I’m not going to lie, it’s not my favorite.  I feel like it’s a Widow happy type Map but it’s also an Escort Map.  Which means you constantly need to push the payload.  I don’t like how you have to push the “Cart” through a tunnel and then around and up to high ground.  It just makes it so easy for Widows, sight lines, and for the defensive Team in general.  Boston played their typical “Dive” composition.  It helped them capture Map Point A.  But they stalled out in the area before Map Point B.  I’m just going to say it, they got stuffed!  It was so disappointing… I was watching it and hoping for a Map 5.  But that all disintegrated once Brigitte got a “Rally ULT”.  Houston Outlaws “just had all the right moves,” as one of the caster’s, Ubershouts, said.  And that pretty much wrapped up the Series, Houston Won [3-1].

There is a much bigger story here, I’m sure, as Aimgod was one of Boston’s Starters.  It will be interesting to see what he brings to the Starting Team.  Last night he wasn’t too bad, it’s just that Houston had all the answers.  They played great and unlike other Teams, they are prepared to play the New Meta.  We all get “up in arms” when our Team loses but it’s only been 2 losses out of 16 games.  I’m sure that Boston will figure things out nest Week and play much better.  They are a really good Team.  They have good Management.  The way I see it, is that they just needed these 2 tough matches to see how to approach the game.

Overwatch League continues on Twitch.tv and MLG.com today at 4 pm EST.  First up it’s Philadelphia Fusion against Florida Mayhem.  Then at 6 pm EST it’s Shanghai Dragons against LA Valiant.  In Primetime at 8 pm EST we’ve got London Spitfire against New York Excelsior, which will be the best match of the day.  I expect to see some solid action out of the reigning Champs.  Perhaps they have this “Brigitte thing” figured out!  Good Luck out there guys!  Have Fun!