In short: nothing really, it’s just that teams are starting to figure the NYXL out. It is no secret the NYXL’s main game strategy revolves around Jjonak and Saebyeolbe’s insane game mechanics, but the Boston Uprising and Houston Outlaws both pushed them to the edge this week. With Boston winning and Houston taking a crushing defeat in 5 maps, these two teams have cracked some of NYXL’s most coveted strategies. One asterisk is that Mistakes had played for Boston, which seemed to play to their advantage, as the XL looked unprepared for which heroes Mistakes would break out while Boston capitalized on the entropy.

Mistakes was an X-factor for the Uprising this match. With Striker as his DPS partner, this generally forces Boston into a hitscan DPS focused hero pool. Why did this work so well against the XL? Well for one, Boston’s tank play was first class. Gamsu and Note’s counter-dives were incredibly clean, not giving Jjonak any room to breath. New York’s Zenyatta died 36 times this match, second place to his teammate, SBB, who fell 37 times. SBB died to Striker quite a bit in the numerous Tracer duels.

Speaking of Striker, the Tracer player’s split-second decision making capabilities really shined in this match up and exposed some of the holes in the XL dive. He knew exactly when to join his tank’s dives, peel for his supports, and when to chase after SBB. When ArK pockets Jjonak, the XL tanks are left without healing. Boston was consistently able to burst down MekO and Mano (and Janus), which forced ArK away from Jjonak, which allowed Striker to dart over to the unprotected Zen and assassinate him with Gamsu. Check it out:

Striker takes out SBB, forcing ArK up to the high ground to res and heal tanks. As his team deals with that, Striker swoops in for a pulse bomb on an isolated Jjonak

Another bright spot for the Uprising that should not go undocumented, Neko. Boston’s Zen player was on point with his ultimates, discord orbs, damage dealing, and counter-play mechanics. He made the XL tank’s lives miserable. Neko may be the Uprising’s most underrated player.