Week three of stage one has showed us what's possible in Overwatch League. There were so many five-map sets and so many upsets, it's now clear that any team can be a serious threat.
The first major upset of the week came with the first game on Thursday, January 25, when a determined Boston roster took a set from London in five maps. When the season first started, Boston wasn't even a blip on most people's radars. Having nowhere to go but up, this collection of unassuming players has emerged as one of the biggest spoilers in the league, now being the first non-100 percent Korean team to defeat a full Korean roster.
Boston came out and set the pace early on Temple of Anubis after dropping Numbani a few minutes earlier. London went for the typical Orisa-Widowmaker hold on the roof, but Boston was ready for it:
Ji-Hyeok "Birdring" Kim is one of the best Widowmaker players around, and the mere sight of him made DreamKazper switch off of Pharah right away. Now with a Genji in their composition, Boston made their push. Both tanks dive right into London's defenses, knocking them to the low ground where DreamKazper and Namju "Striker" Gwon were waiting to clean up. "EZ clap," as they say on Twitch.
London didn't fare much better on the second point:
Big surprise—DreamKazper starts off this team fight with a kill onto the enemy Mercy. Since Mercy is still the win condition of every fight these days, the snowball starts immediately. London's stagger is far too much for them to recover from, and they fall with over six minutes left on the clock for Boston.
The fighting would go back and forth until both teams had two points each, but Boston's superior targeting and communication gave them a clear edge throughout. They took everything from London when it counted, even on defense. YoungJin "Gamsu" Noh and Lucas "NotE" Meissner's tanking coordination was nothing short of perfection, often raking some kills for themselves on successful dives:
London puts Birdring on Widowmaker once again on attack, but Boston responds with a hard dive at the gate. Backed up by excellent healing, Gamsu and NotE push London back and take down their supports, a trend Boston is becoming known for. Birdring tries evening things out, but DreamKazper reflects a shot back at his face and makes him think better of it. Boston went on to take an easy round with a massive time bank on their final attack.
Credit where credit is due—Chris "HuK" Loranger, President of Gaming for the Boston Uprising, put together a group that appears to be up to any challenge. Their 3-3 record isn't something anyone anticipated coming out of the gates, and they're gaining a lot of support as a result. Let's see what they can do against both Los Angeles teams—the Valiant and Gladiators—in week four.
