Overwatch League Season 2 Team Preview – Boston Uprising
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The Boston Uprising were the great underdog story of last season. People regarded them as a bottom-tier Overwatch League team before the season started, with their mismatched group of ‘hidden gems.’ They ended up doing very well, being in the top half of the league for most of the season. It didn’t last, ending the season poorly. Now, after a bunch of departures and some interesting new acquisitions, they’re back for season two. But how is their new team shaping up and how will they fare?

Up until February 14, I’m going to go over each team and what’s changed since the inaugural season. Each team will have its own article, going over which players and coaches left, and who has replaced them. After covering the changes and my opinions on them, I’m going to rate them much like I did in my weekly series last season. This rating will be a little more in-depth, considering I have more time than a week to look over the teams, especially the new ones.

Are Boston’s departures too hard to recuperate from? Or are they going to be another surprising underdog? Let’s look into the season two roster of the Boston Uprising.

Roster

Damage players (DPS)

The DPS players for the Boston Uprising are Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang and Kelsey “Colourhex” Birse.

Starting off with Blasé, he is an American player formerly of North American Contenders team Gladiators Legion. He helped them reach the playoffs both seasons he was part of them, but lost in the quarterfinals both times. He is a Genji, Junkrat, and Doomfist player but is flexible. This seems like an interesting pickup, though some consider it a bad signing. I agree with points, but we’ll have to wait and see until he’s on stage, as people thought the same with Boston’s original roster last season too.

Colourhex and Axxiom’s announcement via Boston Uprising’s twitter.

The other pickup was Colourhex, the only New Zealand player in the Overwatch League so far. He came from top-tier Australian Contenders team Sydney Drop Bears, and helped them reach the finals both seasons, winning the second time. He got signed by Toronto Esports (Boston’s old academy team), but before they disbanded he got called up to Boston’s roster. Colourhex is a versatile player, playing Widowmaker, Genji, and Pharah. The only worry is that these two players are Boston’s only DPS players on their roster. Neither one of them is a dedicated hitscan off of previous events. The closest thing we have is Colourhex being able to play Widowmaker, which might not be enough. We’ll also have to see how it turns out when the season starts.

Tank players

The tank players for the Boston Uprising are Young-jin “Gamsu”  Noh, Lucas “NotE” Meissner, and Park “Axxiom” Min-seob.

Gamsu, playing on stage at the Blizzard Arena.

First, let’s cover the unchanged tank duo from season one: Gamsu and Note. Gamsu was one of the most underrated main tanks in the league, playing a great Winston and Reinhardt. He greatly helped them reach their perfect stage, but also came out of form with the team in Stage 4. I expect him to start, and want to start just as well as he did last season. With Note, he was one of the most underrated off-tanks in the league, making these two an underrated duo. His D.Va greatly helped Boston reach their perfect stage. During the off-season, he helped team Canada reach a bronze medal playing his D.Va, showing he hasn’t lost a beat.

Note celebrating a win with his team. Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Next up is Axxiom, their Korean substitute main tank. He also was involved with Toronto Esports, playing for them in North American Contenders for both their seasons. He was their most consistent player, helping them reach second place in the first season but then got knocked out in the quarterfinals in the second season. Similarly to Colourhex, he got signed up to the main Boston team just before Toronto Esports disbanded. Playing both Winston and Reinhardt, his use as a substitute will be crucial if Gamsu starts under-performing.

One more key thing to mention is the signing of Cameron “Fusions”  Bosworth, the main tank for the United Kingdom. Boston signed him to a two-way contract. This means that Boston can move him between their main roster and their academy team freely. The only reason I didn’t include him into the tank players is his role, where he is also a main tank: Reinhardt, Winston, and Orisa. Boston won’t need three main tank players at once, so Fusions will stay on the Academy team unless major issues happen.

Support players

The support players for the Boston Uprising are Min-seok “AimGod” Kwon, Kristian “Kellex” Keller, and Renan “alemao” Moretto.

Much like their tank line, only one of Boston Uprising’s players is new. AimGod and Kellex were a pair for part of last season, clearly becoming their main support duo for season two. AimGod came in partway through season one, replacing someone who eventually left. He did impress, replacing that player well, but took some time to fully coordinate with their roster. He mainly stayed on Zenyatta, but we didn’t see anything else from him last season. Kellex, on the other hand, was their starting main support for all of last season and seems to be the same for this upcoming season. This Danish player mainly played Mercy and Lucio, and was playing well when the team was.

Kellex playing on stage.

Boston’s only support signing was Alemao, the first Brazilian player (besides Hydration, who is Brazilian/American) to join the Overwatch League so far. He most recently played for Based Tryhards in South American Contenders, formerly known as Brasil Gaming House before that for two seasons. That team was dominant, winning back-to-back season titles before losing in the finals in season three. He is a very flexible support, playing his Lucio but also being able to play Zenyatta and Mercy well. He most likely will be a substitute, but from previous play, there isn’t a better one for support.

Departures

The players and coaches who Boston released are Nam-joo “Striker” Kwon, Se-hyeon “Neko” Park, Stanislav “Mistakes” Danilov, Shin “Kalios” Woo-yeol, Connor “Avast” Prince, Mikias “Snow” Yohannes, Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez and head coach Da-hee “Crusty” Park.

Striker, playing on stage for Boston.

A lot of departures to say the least. First, let’s start with the biggest three: Striker, Neko, and Mistakes. Striker is one of the best Tracer players in the league, and his skill heavily helped Boston reach their perfect stage three. His Korean teammates Neko and Gamsu were mainstays in the lineup, so their coordination was great. But, among allegations of wanting to leave and tough times with coaching ended up with him being traded to the San Francisco Shock. This is a big blow to the lineup, as he was their best DPS player, and his replacements don’t seem to be on his level.

Neko, playing on stage with Boston.

Neko was another big release from the team. He was one of the most underrated Zenyattas in the Overwatch League, a flexible and interesting support player. But, as the singing of AimGod joined the team, Neko got less and less playtime. People weren’t sure why, as Neko was performing well in every scenario, suspecting coaching problems. At the end of the season, Neko got traded to the Toronto Defiant. Even though AimGod is a capable replacement, Neko might turn into a better player than AimGod under different coaching.

Mistakes was a player who was under a lot of pressure in the lineup. The team signed him as a substitute for Striker, originally known for his Tracer play. But, after DreamKazper left the lineup, he was the only player left to fill that DPS role. He ended up playing well on a lot of heroes, helping them reach the perfect stage. The stress seemed to be too much though, as the team released him and he retired from competitive Overwatch soon after.

Kalios was a tank substitute for the Boston Uprising, playing with Gamsu when Note wasn’t. Being Korean, his communication with Gamsu was valuable but he was arguably not as good as Note was. He is an off-tank, mainly playing D.Va and Zarya. He got released at the end of the season, joining North American Contenders team Skyfoxes before joining new Korean Contenders team Griffin (formerly KongDoo Panthera).

Avast is a Lucio player, a substitute support that never saw any playtime over Kellex, Neko, and AimGod. The team released him at the end of the season, and eventually transitioned into a caster and analyst for the North American Contenders scene.

Snow is a support player as well, known for his Ana and Mercy play. He also didn’t see much playing time over Kellex, Neko, and AimGod. The team released him at the end of the season, joining Skyfoxes along with Kalios.

DreamKazper being interviewed after a win. Photo: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment

Last player on the departures list is DreamKazper, the most controversial of them all. To summarize, he performed very well in stage one of the league on DPS, known for his Pharah and Genji. But, as the season went on, rumors of sexual misconduct made the team release him.

The only coach who left was their head coach Crusty, who the San Francisco Shock signed and eventually took Striker with him. His release left the team without a head coach. Leaving the team led to their stage four poor form.

Starting team and prediction

The starting roster for the Boston Uprising should be Blasé and Colourhex on DPS, Gamsu and Note on tank, and Kellex and AimGod on support.

The issue with this squad is their apparent lack of a head coach. With Crusty leaving, they still haven’t gotten a new head coach. People speculate that Chris “HuK” Loranger, their current ‘President of Gaming’ is the head coach, but it’s hard to tell. The lack of a head coach could really hurt them this upcoming season. But what will I rate them?

I’m rating the Boston Uprising roster a 6.5/10. Their tank line is still great, and their support line is very good, but their DPS have turned from one of the best into one of the worst in the Overwatch League. I still would’ve given them a higher rating, but their lack of a head coach is risky, and I don’t see it paying off. I don’t see them getting anywhere close to third overall in season two.

Agree with my opinion? Think I’m completely wrong? Leave a comment with your ideas.


Polish-Canadian game enthusiast. I've been entrenched in gaming for as long as I can remember, with my first game being Pokemon Yellow and my most played games being Borderlands 2 and Overwatch. I have a degree in Film Studies, but writing about esports just makes my job all the better.


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