2019 Boston Uprising season

2019   Boston Uprising season
Head coach	Vacant
Owner	Robert Kraft
Division	Atlantic
Results
Record	8–20 (.286)
Place	Atlantic: 9th League: 19th
Stage 1 Playoffs	Quarterfinals
Stage 2 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Stage 3 Playoffs	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$25,000
←  2018 Boston Uprising 2020  →

The 2019 Boston Uprising season was the second season of Boston Uprising's existence in the Overwatch League.

The team finished the season with an 8–20 record – a far cry from their 26–14 record from 2018. A 3–2 victory over the Dallas Fuel in the final match of Stage 1 gave the Uprising a 4–3 record and qualified them for the Stage 1 Playoffs. However, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a 0–3 loss to the Vancouver Titans. Boston struggled to repeat the success they found in Stage 1, only winning four of their next fourteen matches before the implementation of an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the league. The Uprising did not perform well under the new format, as a 0–4 loss to the Atlanta Reign on August 25 gave Boston a winless 0–7 Stage 4 record.

Preceding offseason

Player re-signings

From August 1 to September 9, 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. Uprising released four of their ten players – tied with Los Angeles Gladiators for the most in the league by a playoff team – in Shin "Kalios" Woo-yeol, Connor "Avast" Prince, Mikias "Snow" Yohannes, and Stanislav "Mistakes" Danilov. ^[1]

Free agency

Boston's first offseason acquisition was on October 22, when Uprising signed DPS player Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang from Overwatch Contenders team Gladiators Legion. ^[2] On October 27, it was announced that flex support player Park "Neko" Seh-yeon had been signed to new expansion team Toronto Defiant. ^[3] The team promoted Kelsey "ColourHex" Birse and Minseob "Axxiom" Park from their academy team Toronto Esports three days later. ^[4] On November 4, Uprising signed main tank Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth, who had just recently competed in the 2018 Overwatch World Cup for team UK, on a two-way contract with Toronto Esports. ^{[5] [6]} On December 3, Uprising transferred Kwon "Striker" Nam-joo to San Francisco Shock. ^[7] Two day later, the team signed Renan "alemao" Moretto, the first Brazilian player to sign to an Overwatch League roster. ^[8] The team's final offseason transaction occurred on February 12, two days before the beginning of the regular season, when Uprising transferred main tank Noh "Gamsu" Young-jin to Shanghai Dragons. ^[9]

Regular season

Boston Uprising defeated Dallas Fuel on March 16.

Boston opened their season on February 14 with a match against the New York Excelsior; Boston lost the match 2–1 loss. ^[10] The Uprising's next match was against the Houston Outlaws three days later. Main tank Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth performed solidly in the match, as the team took a 3–2 victory. ^[11] The following week, Boston lost to the Shanghai Dragons by a 1–3 score, giving the Dragon's their first-ever franchise victory. ^[12] Boston clinched the sixth, and final, seed of the Stage 1 Playoffs. ^[13] The Uprising faced the top-seeded Vancouver Titans in the Stage 1 Quarterfinals on March 21. They did not win a single map against the Titans, losing the match 0–3. ^[14]

Two days prior to Boston's first match of Stage 2, the Uprising signed support player Zion "Persia" Yang, who had most recently played for Talon Epsorts of Overwatch Contenders Pacific. ^[15] On the same day, Boston traded flex tank Lucas "NotE" Meissner to the Dallas Fuel in exchange for flex tank Richard "rCk" Kanerva. ^[16] Boston failed to claim a Stage 2 playoff berth. ^[17]

In Stage 3, the Uprising went on a season-high 6-game losing streak, which was snapped on June 23 with a 3–2 win over the Paris Eternal. ^[18] The team ended Stage 3 with a 1–6 record. ^[19]

Prior to the start of Stage 4, which would debut the League's enforcement of a 2-2-2 role lock, the Uprising acquired DPS Lee "Stellar" Do-hyung, who had retired earlier in the season, from the Toronto Defiant. ^[20] The team did not fare well with the new change, losing all seven of their matches in Stage 4. ^[21]

Final roster

2019 Boston Uprising roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage   17 Colourhex  Birse, Kelsey   New Zealand  Damage   22 blasé  Tsang, Jeffrey   United States  Damage   7 Stellar  Lee Do-hyung  South Korea  Tank   10 Axxiom  Park Min-seob  South Korea  Tank   25 Fusions  Bosworth, Cameron   United Kingdom  Tank   34 rCk  Kanerva, Richard   Finland  Support   9 Kellex  Keller, Kristian   Denmark  Support   14 alemao  Moretto, Renan   Brazil  Support   21 Persia  Yang Zi-on  South Korea  Support   31 AimGod  Kwon Min-Seok  South Korea	Head coach Vacant
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: July 15, 2019.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2019 regular season:

• On April 2, Uprising signed Yang "Persia" Zi-on. ^[22]
• On April 2, Uprising traded Richard "rCk" Kanerva to Dallas Fuel in exchange for Lucas "NotE" Meissner. ^[22]
• On July 15, Uprising acquired Lee "Stellar" Do-hyung from Toronto Defiant. ^[20]

Standings

Record by stage

Stage	Pld	W	L	Pct	MW	ML	MT	MD	Pos
1	7	4	3	.571	16	13	1	+3	8
2	7	3	4	.429	13	19	0	-6	13
3	7	1	6	.143	7	22	1	-15	16
4 [lower-alpha 1]	7	0	7	.000	5	24	0	-19	20
Overall	28	8	20	.286	41	78	2	-37	19
Qualified for playoffs •  Qualified for play-in tournament

1. No stage playoffs were held for Stage 4.

League

2019 Overwatch League standings v t e
#	Team	Division	W	L	PCT	P	MR	MD
Division leaders
1	Vancouver Titans	PAC	25	3	.893	28	89–28–0	+61
2	New York Excelsior	ATL	22	6	.786	28	78–38–3	+40
Wild cards
3	San Francisco Shock	PAC	23	5	.821	28	92–26–0	+66
4	Hangzhou Spark	PAC	18	10	.643	28	64–52–4	+12
5	Los Angeles Gladiators	PAC	17	11	.607	28	67–48–3	+19
6	Atlanta Reign	ATL	16	12	.571	28	69–50–1	+19
Play-in tournament
7	London Spitfire	ATL	16	12	.571	28	58–52–6	+6
8	Seoul Dynasty	PAC	15	13	.536	28	64–50–3	+14
9	Guangzhou Charge	PAC	15	13	.536	28	61–57–1	+4
10	Philadelphia Fusion	ATL	15	13	.536	28	57–60–3	-3
11	Shanghai Dragons	PAC	13	15	.464	28	51–61–3	-10
12	Chengdu Hunters	PAC	13	15	.464	28	55–66–1	-11
Did not qualify for playoffs
13	Los Angeles Valiant	PAC	12	16	.429	28	56–61–4	-5
14	Paris Eternal	ATL	11	17	.393	28	46–67–3	-21
15	Dallas Fuel	PAC	10	18	.357	28	43–70–3	-27
16	Houston Outlaws	ATL	9	19	.321	28	47–69–3	-22
17	Toronto Defiant	ATL	8	20	.286	28	39–72–4	-33
17	Washington Justice	ATL	8	20	.286	28	39–72–6	-33
19	Boston Uprising	ATL	8	20	.286	28	41–78–2	-37
20	Florida Mayhem	ATL	6	22	.214	28	36–75–5	-39
Tiebreakers [lower-alpha 1]
The first tiebreaker for teams of the same record is map differential.

Game log

Regular season

2019 game log (Regular season record: 8–20)
Stage 1 (4–3) 1 February 14 New York Excelsior 2 – 1 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 0 3 Numbani 4 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 4 3 Route 66 2 2 February 17 Houston Outlaws 2 – 3 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Nepal 0 2 Hollywood 3 3 Volskaya Industries 4 4 Dorado 3 1 Ilios 2 3 February 22 Shanghai Dragons 3 – 1 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Ilios 0 4 King's Row 3 5 Horizon Lunar Colony 4 0 Rialto 1 4 February 28 Seoul Dynasty 1 – 3 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Nepal 2 4 Numbani 5 4 Temple of Anubis 3 2 Route 66 3 5 March 03 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Toronto Defiant Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 2 Hollywood 3 4 Temple of Anubis 2 1 Rialto 2 6 March 10 Florida Mayhem 0 – 4 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 2 Numbani 3 4 Horizon Lunar Colony 5 1 Dorado 2 7 March 16 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Dallas Fuel Burbank, CA     Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Ilios 2 2 King's Row 3 4 Volskaya Industries 3 3 Dorado 0 2 Nepal 1
Stage 1 Playoffs Quarterfinals March 21 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Burbank, CA 8:00 pm PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 1 King's Row 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2
Stage 2 (3–4) 8 April 04 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Atlanta Reign Burbank, CA 5:25 pm PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Lijang Tower 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 3 Eichenwalde 2 4 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3 3 Busan 2 9 April 06 Toronto Defiant 2 – 3 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 4 Hanamura 3 1 Eichenwalde 3 0 Rialto 1 1 Oasis 2 10 April 12 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Hangzhou Spark Burbank, CA 5:30 pm PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 1 Oasis 2 3 Temple of Anubis 2 4 Blizzard World 3 0 Junkertown 1 1 Lijang Tower 2 11 April 20 London Spitfire 4 – 0 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 3 Paris 2 6 King's Row 5 2 Junkertown 0 12 April 21 Vancouver Titans 4 – 0 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 12:00 noon PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Lijiang Tower 0 3 Paris 2 3 King's Row 2 5 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3 13 May 03 Boston Uprising 3 – 1 Los Angeles Gladiators Burbank, CA 5:30 pm PST     Recap Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 1 2 Hanamura 1 2 Blizzard World 3 3 Rialto 2 14 May 05 Washington Justice 3 – 2 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 1:30 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Lijiang Tower 2 0 Temple of Anubis 2 2 Blizzard World 1 4 Rialto 3 2 Busan 1
Stage 3 (1–6) 15 June 07 Boston Uprising 0 – 4 London Spitfire Burbank, CA 5:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Oasis 2 0 Horizon Lunar Colony 1 1 Eichenwalde 2 1 Dorado 2 16 June 09 Paris Eternal 3 – 1 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 5 Paris 4 3 Eichenwalde 2 4 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 3 17 June 14 Boston Uprising 0 – 4 Houston Outlaws Burbank, CA 7:30 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Nepal 2 1 Volskaya Industries 2 1 Numbani 2 0 Havana 1 18 June 16 Philadelphia Fusion 2 – 1 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 3:30 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 4 Paris 4 1 Hollywood 0 1 Watchpoint: Gibraltar 0 19 June 20 San Francisco Shock 4 – 0 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 4:00 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 2 Oasis 0 3 Paris 2 2 Hollywood 1 1 Dorado 0 20 June 23 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Paris Eternal Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Oasis 2 1 Volskaya Industries 2 5 Eichenwalde 4 3 Dorado 2 2 Nepal 0 21 June 29 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Nepal 2 2 Horizon Lunar Colony 1 0 Numbani 1 2 Havana 1 1 Ilios 2
Stage 4 (0–7) 22 July 27 Boston Uprising 0 – 4 Guangzhou Charge Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Busan 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 1 Hollywood 2 4 Havana 5 23 July 28 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Chengdu Hunters Burbank, CA 5:15 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 1 Busan 2 3 Volskaya Industries 2 0 Blizzard World 3 2 Havana 0 0 Ilios 2 24 August 09 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Washington Justice Burbank, CA 4:00 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 1 Lijiang Tower 2 1 Temple of Anubis 2 2 Blizzard World 1 1 Route 66 2 25 August 15 Boston Uprising 0 – 4 Florida Mayhem Burbank, CA 4:00 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 0 Ilios 2 2 Hanamura 3 1 Hollywood 2 0 Route 66 1 26 August 17 Los Angeles Valiant 3 – 1 Boston Uprising Burbank, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details Blizzard Arena 2 Busan 0 2 Hanamura 1 2 King's Row 3 5 Havana 4 27 August 24 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 New York Excelsior Los Angeles, CA 3:45 pm PST     Details The Novo 1 Ilios 2 0 Hanamura 1 3 King's Row 2 2 Junkertown 3 28 August 25 Atlanta Reign 4 – 0 Boston Uprising Los Angeles, CA 1:45 pm PST     Details The Novo 2 Lijiang Tower 0 2 Volskaya Industries 1 3 King's Row 2 3 Junkertown 2

Awards

On May 1, Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth was named as a starter for the 2019 Overwatch League All-Star Game. ^[23]

References

1. Hangen, Christopher (September 14, 2019). "ESPN Stats & Info: OWL signing window analysis". ESPN. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
2. Mary–Justice, Amelia (October 22, 2018). "Blase, formerly Gladiators Legion, joins Boston Uprising". Inven Global. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
3. Abbas, Malcolm (October 27, 2018). "Toronto Defiant signs Envy and Neko". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
4. Mallow, Max (October 30, 2018). "Boston Uprising Adds ColourHex and Axxiom to Overwatch League Roster". DBLTAP. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
5. Garst, Aron (November 4, 2018). "Team UK reflects on Overwatch World Cup performance". ESPN. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
6. Boston Uprising (November 5, 2019). "Boston Uprising Sign Cameron "Fusions" Bosworth to Two-Way Contract" . Retrieved July 5, 2019.
7. Czar, Michael (December 3, 2018). "Striker traded from Boston to San Francisco". Daily Esports. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
8. "Overwatch: Boston Uprising sign alemao". ESPN. Reuters. December 6, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
9. Richardson, Liz (February 12, 2019). "Boston Uprising's main tank Gamsu traded to Shanghai Dragons". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
10. August, Charlotte (February 15, 2019). "Overwatch Esports: Overwatch League Season Two Kicks Off". ESTNN. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
11. Czar, Michael (February 19, 2019). "Overwatch League Season 2: Stage 1 | Week 1 Recap". Daily Esports. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
12. Rand, Emily (February 23, 2019). "Gamsu leads Shanghai to first Overwatch League win". ESPN. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
13. Linscott, Gillian (March 23, 2019). "Overwatch League Season 2 Stage 1 Quarterfinals Results". Hotspawn. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
14. August, Charlotte (March 23, 2019). "Overwatch League Stage 1 Playoffs Day 1 Recap and Upset Alert". ESTNN. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
15. Samples, Rachel (April 2, 2019). "Boston Uprising sign Persia ahead of Overwatch League stage 2". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
16. Richardson, Liz (April 2, 2019). "Dallas Fuel acquire NotE for rCk in Boston Uprising trade". Dot Esports. Retrieved June 11, 2019.
17. Richardson, Liz (May 6, 2019). "Washington Justice's Sleepy buys ice cream for his teammates after an Overwatch League win". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
18. McMahon, Mallory (June 23, 2019). "Overwatch League: Boston Uprising vs Paris Eternal Recap". The Game Haus. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
19. Salaun, Theo (June 30, 2019). "Overwatch League 2019 Stage 3, Week 4: Surefour's Top Plays, Prize Money". Bleacher Report. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
20. Heinisch, Sascha (July 15, 2019). "Stellar unretires and joins Boston Uprising". Upcomer. Archived from the original on July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
21. "Reign cap perfect Stage 4, clinch top-six playoff spot". ESPN. Reuters. August 25, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
22. D'Orazio, Nick (April 2, 2019). "Boston Uprising signs Contenders player, Zion "Persia" Yang, trades NotE for rCK". Inven Global. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
23. Richardson, Liz (May 1, 2019). "Here are the starting lineups for the Overwatch League All-Star Game". Dot Esports. Retrieved May 1, 2019.