2019 Boston Uprising season

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

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 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 Esports 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[a]	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

Pos	Div	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	PAC	Vancouver Titans	28	25	3	0.893	89	28	0	+61	Advance to season playoffs (division leaders)
2	ATL	New York Excelsior	28	22	6	0.786	78	38	3	+40
3	PAC	San Francisco Shock	28	23	5	0.821	92	26	0	+66	Advance to season playoffs
4	PAC	Hangzhou Spark	28	18	10	0.643	64	52	4	+12
5	PAC	Los Angeles Gladiators	28	17	11	0.607	67	48	3	+19
6	ATL	Atlanta Reign	28	16	12	0.571	69	50	1	+19
7	ATL	London Spitfire	28	16	12	0.571	58	52	6	+6	Advance to play-ins
8	PAC	Seoul Dynasty	28	15	13	0.536	64	50	3	+14
9	PAC	Guangzhou Charge	28	15	13	0.536	61	57	1	+4
10	ATL	Philadelphia Fusion	28	15	13	0.536	57	60	3	−3
11	PAC	Shanghai Dragons	28	13	15	0.464	51	61	3	−10
12	PAC	Chengdu Hunters	28	13	15	0.464	55	66	1	−11
13	PAC	Los Angeles Valiant	28	12	16	0.429	56	61	4	−5
14	ATL	Paris Eternal	28	11	17	0.393	46	67	3	−21
15	PAC	Dallas Fuel	28	10	18	0.357	43	70	3	−27
16	ATL	Houston Outlaws	28	9	19	0.321	47	69	3	−22
17	ATL	Toronto Defiant	28	8	20	0.286	39	72	4	−33
18	ATL	Washington Justice	28	8	20	0.286	39	72	6	−33
19	ATL	Boston Uprising	28	8	20	0.286	41	78	2	−37
20	ATL	Florida Mayhem	28	6	22	0.214	36	75	5	−39

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) map differential; 3) head-to-head record; 4) head-to-head 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]