The Boston Uprising look to claim glory in Season 2 of the Overwatch League

Boston Uprising had a hard run in Season 1. After unforeseen circumstances saw major changes to the team at the beginning of Stage 3, people thought that Boston were goners. However, Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov stepped up to the plate. Known for his Widowmaker and Sombra play, Mistakes took the remains of a devastated Boston team and led them to victory time and time again. In Stage 3, the Uprising achieved a flawless 10-0 record—the only team to have done so in any single stage of OWL Season 1.

Boston Uprising are owned by the Kraft Group, meaning that they’re owned by the same people that own the New England Patriots and New England Revolution. It’s no wonder, then, that the Uprising are a force to be reckoned with in OWL, having finished third in the Overwatch League’s Inaugural Season.

Alas, the Uprising didn’t win the Playoffs or the Season League. Despite their perfect Stage 3 record, Boston plummeted to 8th place in Stage 4, as the LA Gladiators and LA Valiant sought to prove what they were made of alongside a Dallas Fuel that had risen from the ashes. The Uprising weren’t alone in their fall from grace, though. Seoul Dynasty and London Spitfire both finished in the bottom four, although the Spitfire ended up winning the Season Playoffs against a strong Philadelphia Fusion team, whereas the Uprising and the Dynasty left the Blizzard Arena empty-handed. On top of this, there were allegations made regarding quality-of-life issues for players, with no satisfying conclusion to the issue.

Now that the history lesson is over, it’s worth looking into how the Uprising look ahead of Season 2. After having let six players go since the end of August, the Uprising look like a brand new team. Most surprisingly, Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon left the Uprising for San Francisco Shock recently, leaving Boston with only two DPS players and no Tracer player. The late October signings of Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse and Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang, however, bode well for the Uprising, as the duo pack a mean Widowmaker/Doomfist combo.

Uprising fans will be delighted to know that Kristian “Kellex” Keller, Lucas “NotE” Meissner, and Young “Gamsu” Noh, who all coincidentally happened to sign for the Uprising on the same day in 2017, still make up the support/tank core of the team. Min-seok “AimGod” Kwon, who signed in April, is still around, too. All of the other players are brand new, though.

Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Park “Axxiom” Min-seob has made the jump from the Uprising’s partnered Contenders team, Toronto Esports, to OWL. Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth has transferred to Boston as part of a two-way contract with Toronto Esports from London Spitfire academy team British Hurricane, too. With this in mind, the Uprising now have three main tanks in Gamsu, Axxiom, and Fusions; it’s strange given that they only have two DPS, but seeing the popularity of GOATs and variations thereof at this year’s Overwatch World Cup has led to several teams going heavy on their tank lineups. It’s also worth NotE-ing that Lucas “NotE” Meissner is a phenomenal off-tank player who is more than capable of tearing it up with D.VA and Zarya. The Uprising’s tank line is nothing to be scoffed at, for sure.

Aside from Boston’s DPS duo and tank quartet, the support slots will be led by Uprising veteran Kellex. There is, however, a new kid in town as of December 5, 2018: Renan “alemao” Moretto.

Hailing from Brazil, alemao joins the Uprising after a brief stint at based tryhards, who were formed from the remains of Brasil Gaming House. BGH won Seasons 1 and 2 of Overwatch Contenders: South America, during which time alemao became known for his dominant Lucio and Zenyatta play.

Alemao is the first player from an active Contenders: South America team to be signed to the OWL. After it was revealed that he was joining the Uprising, alemao took to Twitter.

Hopefully this indicates a change in direction for OWL. Although South America is often seen to be home to an inferior level of play, it is also notoriously plagued with poor Overwatch servers. Brazil had a tough group for the Overwatch World Cup 2018, but only missed the quarter finals by a single win. Despite only having played five matches, alemao showed how talented he really was while playing on properly supported servers. For that, he has justly been rewarded with a promising OWL contract. Hopefully Blizzard recognizes their mistakes soon and pumps support into maintaining the South American Overwatch servers.

As for alemao’s position in the team—ideally, Kellex will play Lucio while alemao pops off on Zenyatta, allowing one of the various tank players to take the rein(hardt)s as Brigitte. This Uprising team is lining up to be one of the most GOATs-oriented rosters we have ever seen ahead of Overwatch League Season 2. Everybody knows that tanky compositions are incredibly powerful at the moment, so having a roster like Boston’s with flexible DPS players like Colourhex and blasé will allow the Uprising to start Season 2 off with a bang.

Boston Uprising had a solid Season 1, finishing third overall in the Season League Standings and making it to the Season Playoffs before losing 2-1 to Philadelphia Fusion. Despite a rough start, a perfect Stage 3, and a rollercoaster Stage 4, the Uprising are bleeding talent as we approach Season 2. This is a team with a point to prove; watch the Blizzard Arena stage in Overwatch League Season 2.