As the 2019 Season of the Overwatch League draws to its end, it’s time to reflect on the year. In this series, I will tell the story of each of the 20 OWL teams, then go over what to change for next year.

Image from Trifecta Sports

Hello, and welcome back to Season 2 Stories! For the second installment, we’re going to be talking about the Boston Uprising. Despite a promising first season and a good start to 2019, the Boston Uprising soon self-destructed into one of the league’s biggest disappointments.

Diamonds In The Rough

Image from Dexerto

In the league’s inaugural season, there was one team that stood out clearly from the rest, and that was the Boston Uprising. Initially projected by the majority to fail, the Uprising did what no one expected: they shined. Despite numerous obstacles and controversies, the Boston Uprising upset higher-ranked teams with their talented roster of diamonds-in-the-rough. In addition to being the first team to go undefeated in a stage, the Uprising finished the season in 5–6th place with the LA Gladiators, ranked 3rd in the regular season.

The main reason why nobody expected them to do so well was due to their unimpressive roster. Head coach Daehee “Crusty” Park, flex support Sehyeon “Neko” Park, and main tank Youngjin “Gamsu” Noh came from NC Foxes and CONBOX, both rather mediocre Korean teams, while flex tank Wooyeol “Kalios” Shin and DPS Namju “Striker” Kwon came from Afreeca Freecs and ROX Orcas, respectively, bottom-of-the-barrel teams in APEX S4. Main support Kristian “Kellex” Keller came from the all-Danish Team Singularity, a bottom tier team from Contenders Europe, Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov was often outshadowed on 123, Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez was from the relatively unknown Tempo Storm, and main support Connor “Avast” Prince was one of the lesser known players of LG Evil. Both offtank Lucas “NotE” Meissner and main support Mikias “Snow” Yohannes came from the underwhelming Toronto Esports. With only Gamsu, Neko, Mistakes, and Avast expected to play anywhere near the level expected for OWL, pretty much nobody had any faith in this team.

Yet the unthinkable happened. The Boston Uprising soon cemented themselves as a top-tier team in Overwatch. Both DreamKazper and Striker turned out to be top-tier DPS, and Mistakes was able to fill DreamKazper’s shoes without any trouble after DreamKazper became involved in a controversy and soon had his contract terminated. Gamsu and NotE became a steady and reliable tank duo, both Neko and mid-season pickup Minseok “AimGod” Kwon became top Zenyatta players, Kellex showed his value with his shotcalling and leadership, and Avast became the best bench-warmer the League has yet to see. Crusty displayed his talent as well, later leaving for the San Francisco Shock, and Chris “HuK” Loranger, the team’s “President of Gaming,” was soon seen as a mastermind by the community. Overall, the Boston Uprising had a lot of talent going into the offseason, and people were looking forwards to seeing what this fun and exciting team could do in 2019.

If It Ain’t Broke…

Image from Inven Global

After releasing Kalios, Snow, and Avast, neither of which had seen any playtime since the Uprising cemented their starters, as well as the retirement of Mistakes, the Uprising were ready to begin their offseason. First came coach Jordan “Gunba” Graham from the LA Valiant, joining Jackson “Shake” Kaplan and Rollon “Mini” Hamelin as the team’s coaching staff ever since Crusty’s departure. Jeffrey “Blase” Tsang, a flex DPS from Gladiators Legion, became the Uprising’s first pickup, signed to fill Mistakes’ role. Neko soon left for the Toronto Defiant after internal conflicts, but AimGod was still there to take his place. The Uprising next promoted main tank Minseob “Axxiom” Park and hitscan DPS Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse from their academy team, then signed main tank Cameron “Fusions” Bosworth, who had recently turned heads after a breakout performance at the 2018 World Cup.

Yet worry started to come after Striker was released and signed by the Shock, being the fourth Korean to leave the team after Crusty, Kalios, and Neko. In addition, Neko started to speak up about how HuK had gotten into conflicts with many of the Korean players and staff, causing their departure. After signing Brazilian main support Renan “alemao” Moretto, the pattern started to be more prevalent when Gamsu was traded to the Shanghai Dragons, leaving none of the original Koreans on the roster. Although Gamsu’s trade was later proven to not have anything to do with what Neko talked about, a new issue appeared. With Striker, Mistakes, Gamsu, and Neko gone, the Uprising were a completely different team, and not necessarily a better one.

Although Blase was considered a good pickup by many, most of the community had doubts about Colourhex. Indeed, looking at his resume, the New Zealander didn’t seem fit to take a role previously held by someone like Striker, and it didn’t help that Blase and Colourhex were the only DPS on the roster. Yet there was good reason to have hope in the Uprising, as, if this year was anything like last year, the new pickups would shine on stage. With that, the Uprising prepared for 2019.

A Strong Start

Image from Boston Sports Extra

The Uprising started 2019 on Opening Day against the New York Excelsior, a matchup they were heavily considered to lose. Yet, even with Axxiom on Zarya (Colourhex being suspended), the Uprising showed a strong performance with Fusions at the helm, losing in a close 1–2 score. The Uprising continued Stage 1 as an upper-middle tier team, eventually reverse-sweeping the Dallas Fuel to finish at 4–3 and lock in the 8th seed in the Stage 1 Playoffs. This run, however, was soon cut short after getting swept by the unstoppable Vancouver Titans in the quarterfinals.

The Uprising made two big moves before Stage 2, signing flex support Zion “Persia” Yang from Talon Esports before going for a trade that nobody could have seen coming: NotE for the Fuel’s off tank, Richard “rCK” Kanerva. Considering how NotE was perhaps the best and most consistent player on the Uprising, it seemed outrageous to trade him away. Yet in a way, it did make sense. The Uprising struggled with flexibility in Stage 1, often outright ignoring the possibility of the Sombra GOATS composition. Compared to other off tank players like rCK, the Seoul Dynasty’s Minhyeok “Michelle” Choi, and the Toronto Defiant’s Kangjae “envy” Lee, NotE didn’t have the same confidence on Sombra, and often just stuck to D.Va, his comfort pick. Not only that, but Colourhex’s similar lack of proficiency on the hero prevented Boston from doing what teams like the London Spitfire or Hangzhou Spark did, putting their hitscan DPS on Sombra and letting their off tank flex to Zarya. Although rCK wasn’t as good as NotE D.Va, his ability to play Sombra could open up a lot of doors for the Uprising. Meanwhile, the Fuel, who could let DPS Dylan “aKm” Bignet play Sombra, were better off with a stronger off tank player.

It should also be mentioned that there were reports of a trade offer of Fusions and DPS William “Asking” Vetter from the academy team to the struggling LA Valiant in return for main tank Panseung “Fate” Koo and DPS Kyle “KSF” Frandanisa, but the Valiant ultimately pulled out at the last minute. Afterwards, it was reported that the Uprising tried to go for DPS Shilong “Krystal” Cai of the Hangzhou Spark, but nothing ended up coming out of that deal either. The common thread here is that both KSF and Krystal are flex DPS known for hitscan heroes, meaning Zarya in GOATS (Krystal did end up playing Brigitte for the Spark but that was most likely due to Kyeongbo “GodsB” Kim being proficient enough on Zarya.) In Stage 1, Colourhex was often the Uprising’s weak link, even being known as one of the worst Zarya players in the league. Yet ultimately, the Uprising entered Stage 2 with no new DPS players, leaving fans with only hope that Colourhex would be enough.

The Uprising continued their winning streak in the beginning of Stage 2 with rCK, winning back-to-back reverse sweeps against the Atlanta Reign and Toronto Defiant before falling in an extremely close 2–3 battle to the Hangzhou Spark. They were then crushed by both the Vancouver Titans and the London Spitfire, two top teams, leaving their playoff hopes up to their matches with the LA Gladiators and Washington Justice, both of which they needed to win. With the Gladiators and Justice going 6–0 and 0–6, respectively, the Uprising were projected to go 1–1 in Week 5, just missing out on the playoffs. Yet, after a surprising 3–1 victory over the Gladiators, Uprising fans grew hopeful of making playoffs once again. However, fate had something else in store. After reverse-sweeping 3 opponents in just 14 games, the Uprising were reverse-sweeped themselves by the Justice, losing in a 2–3 heartbreaker to a bottom 3 team in the league. Exiting Stage 2 in 13th place with a 3–4 record, the Uprising finished the first half of the League breaking even at 7–7. Although not the best start to the League, the Uprising had once again proved themselves after being doubted by everyone before the season began.

Falling Apart

Image from Akshon Esports

Being one of the few teams not to make any moves in the mid-season break, the Uprising readied themselves for Stage 3 without any roster changes. By now the Uprising had cemented their starting six: Blase on flex DPS, Colourhex on hitscan DPS, Fusions on main tank, rCK on off tank, AimGod on flex support, and Kellex on main support. Axxiom and Alemao were on the bench, with Persia yet to arrive to the States. Compared to teams like the Paris Eternal and Seoul Dynasty, the Uprising had been known for their consistent roster, staying the same ever since early Stage 1. Little did we know that that was all about to change.

With Persia now in LA, the Uprising started Stage 3 against the London Spitfire, running a Persia/Alemao support duo. Then, against the Paris Eternal, the supports were AimGod and Alemao, then Persia and Kellex against the Houston Outlaws and Philadelphia Fusion, and Persia and Alemao against the San Francisco Shock. This was only made more complicated by the role-swap between Blase and Colourhex, Blase now playing Zarya with Colourhex on Brigitte. As one could expect, it was absolute chaos. The Uprising failed to win a single one of these games, and while the DPS chemistry was off, everyone knew that the problem lay in the supports.

AimGod and Kellex were one of the better support duos in Stages 1 and 2, AimGod in particular being considered a top 5 flex support in the League. Yet, so far, the Uprising had shown every possible support duo except for AimGod/Kellex. Alemao obviously fell short from the level of play expected in the League, and, while Persia had good performances on Moira and Zenyatta, his Ana was a good step down from AimGod’s, a problem as Ana was being used more and more in Stage 3. Why wasn’t AimGod/Kellex playing?

Although we never got an official answer, journalist Arran “Halo” Brown, who also reported the declined trade with the Valiant, said that, according to sources, AimGod and Kellex both told the Uprising that they didn’t want to play with each other. The extent of this is unknown, but it is clear that there were high tensions between the two. AimGod and Kellex ultimately did play together in the last two games, reverse-sweeping the Eternal and barely losing to the Fusion, but it was all too late. Finishing the stage in 16th place with a 1–6 record, the Uprising exited Stage 3 with their tails tucked between their legs.

After an abysmal Stage 3, the Uprising needed to turn around in Stage 4 or else their playoff hopes would be over. They picked up previously retired ex-Toronto DPS Dohyung “Stellar” Lee and prepped themselves for the final stretch. Unfortunately, 2–2–2 did not treat Boston kindly. After getting steamrolled by a fiery Guangzhou Charge, they then lost a close 2–3 to the Chengdu Hunters. To make matters even worse, rCK got an eye injury that prevented him from playing, leading to Blase taking the Roadhog/D.Va role and Stellar playing flex DPS, as well as AimGod completely disappearing and Persia/Kellex being the starting support duo. After losses to the Washington Justice and Florida Mayhem, two once-struggling teams that had greatly improved with 2–2–2, the Uprising were officially eliminated from playoff contention. To add insult to the injury, the Uprising failed to win a single game in Stage 4, losing to the LA Valiant, New York Excelsior, and Atlanta Reign to end the Stage 0–7, dead last in Stage 4. Their once hopeful season had fallen in shambles.

Looking Forward

Image from The Game Haus

The Uprising ultimately had a terrible season, and changes obviously need to be made. The Uprising need some pretty heavy firepower to come back in 2020, so let’s see what they should do. As a general rule, I will mostly focus on picking up Western players, as the Uprising have a pretty bad reputation in Korea after Neko’s allegations of HuK frequently getting into conflicts with Koreans.

For the coaching and management, the Uprising have already made some moves, signing ex-Florida Mayhem Vytis “Mineral” Lasaitis as head coach and ex-Angry Titans and ATL Academy Ilias “iLka” Kaskanetas as an assistant coach, while dropping Gunba and Shake. I think that these are solid changes, even if Mineral raises some doubts, but I would add another assistant coach to join iLka and Mini, perhaps someone like Aymeric “Izzy” Ast from HSL Esports.

Next up: drops. First let go of Axxiom and Alemao, neither of which has gotten significant playtime. Stellar has looked mediocre at best so far, so I would also drop him. Then sell AimGod, who, despite his mechanical skill, has seemed to have caused some internal conflicts. Most likely, they can get a good deal of money from him. Re-sign Kellex, who is currently a free agent.

Now let’s look at the DPS. Both Blase and Colourhex have proven to be fairly good players, and I would keep both of them. To add more depth and star power, though, I would promote flex DPS Chris “MirroR” Trinh from the academy team, one of the breakout stars of NA East Contenders Season 2. Finally, to round out the roster, I would bring back previously retired Uprising alum Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov, currently on Montreal Rebellion as a hitscan DPS.

For the tanks, Fusions has clearly been the centerpiece of the roster, and will remain as the starter. To back him up, I would promote academy main tank Teetawat “Teetawat” Teerayostoin, who is better known for his Winston, complimenting Fusions’ Reinhardt proficiency. rCK, meanwhile, seems better off as a specialist, so as a starting off tank, I would also promote Leyton “Punk” Gilchrist from Uprising Academy.

Finally for the supports, I would keep Persia as a backup/specialist, while signing Robert “HaKu” Blohm from XL2 Academy as our starting flex support. Meanwhile, Kellex will still be our starter for main support, so we can just promote Gabriel “Swimmer” Levy from the academy team to back him up. With that, here’s our roster for 2020:

DPS: Blase, MirroR, Colourhex, Mistakes

Tank: Fusions, Teetawat, Punk, rCK

Support: HaKu, Persia, Kellex, Swimmer

General Manager: HuK

Head Coach: Mineral

Assistant Coach: Mini, iLka, Izzy

With that, this edition of Season 2 Stories comes to a close. Thank you for reading!