The Boston Uprising might be the first and only team to ever complete an entire Overwatch League stage undefeated.

Boston has always been a solid team: not particularly threatening but not a pushover team, either. So how did this mid-range team suddenly rise to the top of the standings, beat all three Korean-exclusive teams, and beat the New York Excelsior's 11-game winning streak, despite losing their star DPS player?





Uprising finished the last two weeks of Stage 2 with four wins and moved into Stage 3 with great momentum. Week 1 of Stage 3 saw Boston walking away with two wins, closing out the week with a 4-0 win against Houston Outlaws. That took place April 7, and the next day the team released a statement acknowledging allegations of sexual misconduct against star DPS player Jonathan "DreamKazper" Sanchez, suspending him indefinitely. His contract was ​terminated the following day .





DreamKazper allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior with two minors and was kicked off the team, which left Boston Uprising in a precarious position. Just when it seemed the team couldn't be stopped, large part to DreamKazper's in-game performance, the Uprising had to bring in substitute DPS Stanislav " Mistakes" Danilov to replace him.





With barely any notice and hardly any scrim time, Mistakes took the stage in DreamKazper's stead against the NYXL -- the best team in the entire league. It seemed like things couldn't be more daunting for Boston Uprising, but the team miraculously beat NYXL 3-2, ending NYXL's 11 game winning streak and continuing its own run.

​Uprising won its second game that week against Florida 3-2. At that point, Boston Uprising had a winning streak of eight matches.





The following week, Boston continued its streak by ​beating London Spitfire and ​Seoul Dynasty. This meant two things:

​ Boston was the first team to beat all three Korean-exclusive teams in one stage



Boston was the first team to beat both top teams, London and NYXL, in the same stage







The wins also meant that Boston was one win away from matching NYXL's 11-game winning streak, which Boston equaled Thursday by beating the Shanghai Dragons 3-1.





The tie-breaker match came down to Boston Uprising vs Dallas Fuel, which Boston crushed with a breezy 4-0 victory.





This is without a doubt the biggest upset of the season. Boston seemingly came out of nowhere to dominate the standings. For the first time, the Overwatch League stage finals will include four teams instead of three. Boston Uprising is atop of the standings followed by New York Excelsior, Los Angeles Valiant, and the Los Angeles Gladiators.





Overwatch League analysts have calculated the probability of which teams will make the Stage Finals and what chance each team has to make the No. 1 Seed. Boston beats every team considerably, with a 48.07 percent chance of the No. 1 Seed and a 97.54 percent chance of being one of the four teams in the stage finals.

So how did Uprising do it? These are incredible achievements for any Overwatch League team to accomplish especially in the face of team controversy.





If you ask anyone on the team, they'll tell you that teamwork and communication is their strong suit. Young-Jin “Gamsu” Noh told ​Overwatchleague.com that he thinks communication makes them the strongest. He added, “Overwatch is a team game, so communication is the most important thing. Every coach and player focuses on improving communication more than individual skill. That makes us strong.”





It's interesting to note that out of 12 games won, six have gone to Game 5. Proving Boston Uprising has what it takes to pull off a win even against the toughest of opponents.





Communication and teamwork issues are a continuing problem for most teams in the league, especially those dealing with language barriers, big personalities, delinquents, and mental issues within the team. It seems Boston Uprising has cracked the code though, and riding high on an 12 game winning streak certainly can't hurt.





The Boston Uprising remain undefeated. There's an excellent chance that they could win the stage finals and it would be a victory well deserved. It's amazing to see the Overwatch League depart from the unquestionable dominance of London, New York, and Seoul, and it makes the league all the more exciting knowing that at this point, anything could happen.

Photos courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment