Overwatch League, Week 2 recap: San Francisco Shock and Boston Uprising fight to the very last second

Boston and San Francisco sit side by side in the Overwatch League standings.

The last game of week 2 of the Overwatch League found us watching two teams toward the second half of the standings. But with the season still in its infancy, a win here would be instrumental in giving one of these teams sturdier ground to stand on moving into week 3.

The Uprising had the unfortunate luck of clashing with the Seoul Dynasty earlier in the week. In the week prior, they had also struggled against the New York Excelsior. The Shock, on the other hand, has not yet played against a Korean team. Instead, their losses were against the Los Angeles Valiant and the Philadelphia Fusion.

Map One: El Dorado

Boston rolled easily to the first checkpoint, with San Francisco rapidly giving up ground in the presence of Boston’s DreamKazper as Hanzo. With Babybay getting taken out with a scatter arrow and Kalios charging in to finish up the rest of the Shock, the first section of the map didn’t feel like any sort of contest. And aside from one brief engagement, Boston made it all the way to the cusp of checkpoint two before San Francisco finally got the kills to give themselves an advantage in numbers.

Suddenly it was the Shock getting the individual picks necessary. With less than two minutes left, Boston finally got to the second checkpoint. As SF jumped onto the high ground in an attempt to contest Boston, DreamKazper on McCree was able to get some crucial kills including on the Shock’s Mercy. But the support elimination came in a little too late, with Dhak already having used his Valkyrie, and Sleepy still had his Transcendence to use to keep San Francisco alive and on the payload. Without that same support, Boston’s push died out before the payload reached the end.

San Francisco’s attack started just as quickly as Boston’s with Babybay on Widowmaker getting two headshots onto DreamKazper. Boston’s Gamsu decided to laser focus on Babybay, jumping all the way toward the San Francisco’s spawn point in an attempt to take that Widowmaker out. But Babybay showed his escape artist side, not only evading the hunting but also taking out both Neko and Kellex as he came out of hiding. He continued to be Boston’s cause for concern as the Shock moved into the second portion of the map. With him in the air and Danteh on Genji on the ground, San Francisco cruised to the second checkpoint with over four minutes on the clock.

Despite an unsuccessful first attempt at pushing the payload through the last portion of the map, the Shock recovered beautifully. All San Francisco needed was to win one more direct fight against Boston, and after that, it was the entire team perched on top of the payload as it rolled right to the finish.

Map Score: Uprising 2, Shock 3

Match Score: Uprising 0, Shock 1

Map Two: Horizon Lunar Colony

Boston opened their attack with STRIKER sneaking onto the objective. He alone was able to take a tick before San Francisco managed to divert attention to deal with him. The next Boston push got the next tick, and DreamKapzer seemed to be about to cap it with a Dragonblade when Nevix shredded him with Roadhog. For the Uprising, the third time was the charm and they capped point A.

The Uprising’s first attack on point B was much more successful, with STRIKER able to take down multiple San Francisco players in his first sweep across the objective. With the Shock so dislodged, the most San Francisco could do was stall for as long as possible, sending players out in ones and twos before Boston inevitably locked the objective down.

The Shock opted to take the slow-and-hefty approach to taking the first point, but their first attempt was unfortunately cut short. With DreamKazper building up his ultimate insanely fast, he used it to completely clear San Francisco from the point. The Shock entered their next attack with some ultimates at their disposal, but they were used to no effect. Instead, it was Boston’s STRIKER nabbing two eliminations from a Pulse Bomb.

With the tank-heavy approach not working, San Francisco switched it up to a more agile composition including Sombra. But their adjustments did not change DreamKazper’s level of Genji play. With both support ultimates at his back, DreamKazper comfortably took out any San Francisco player who challenged the point. Impressively, Boston held strong on Horizon Lunar Colony.

Map Score: Uprising 2, Shock 0

Match Score: Uprising 1, Shock 1

Map Three: Oasis

Boston started off the control map with a commanding first take of the point on City Center. It wasn’t until the Uprising had 99 percent in the bank that San Francisco finally found their foot on the point. But once the Shock got the point, they would not relinquish control, accomplishing what many would consider impossible. From zero to 99 percent, the Shock fended off the Uprising to cap the first point.

The Shock continued to show their strength immediately on University, taking the point and immediately pushing forward to drive the Uprising as far away from the point as possible. Babybay was devastating on Junkrat, taking out members of the Uprising with both his mines and his Riptire. With 83 percent already in San Francisco’s favor, Boston finally wrenched the point back but their security would be short lived. Back and forth, the teams battled. With control percentages on both sides extremely high, it came down to one final fight that the Shock managed to win. The Uprising contested mightily, sending player after player into stall, but the damage was done. San Francisco would cap the second point and go on to win the map.

Map Score: Uprising 0, Shock 2

Match Score: Uprising 1, Shock 2

Map Four: Eichenwalde

And so it would come down to the results of the fourth map to decide if San Francisco was getting the victory or if both teams would move to a map five.

Boston started out right away with a very clean push. DreamKazper quickly took out San Francisco’s Pharah while the Boston tanks cleared San Francisco out on land. The Uprising was able to easily push the payload until halfway down the second section of the map when a few Boston players were caught overextending, while DreamKazper used a Deadeye at an inopportune time. But the Uprising did open things up next push with a Self Destruct, and it was only a matter of time before Boston gained the second checkpoint.

The Uprising continued their roll easily through the last portion of the map, with STRIKER easily picking members of the Shock off from the side. Unable to mount a cohesive defense, San Francisco could only watch as Boston finished up the map.

On attack, it took San Francisco a while to find the opening they needed to actually push through. While individual members of the Shock would break through the backline and get picks, it was never enough for San Francisco to get the advantage. DreamKazper on Pharah would reign over the skies unchecked as the Shock attempted over and over to get a grasp on the Uprising. It wasn’t until DreamKazper was taken out right as he was using his barrage that San Francisco was able to move onto the point and even then the Uprising made a strong showing of stalling the Shock for as long as possible. In overtime, San Francisco finally took the first point.

It took one reset for San Francisco to get back on the payload and move it forward. Just as the Shock were preparing for the cart to slide into the second checkpoint, the Uprising came flooding out of the castle to defend. As players dropped and support ultimates were popped, Babybay on Widowmaker roosted in the background, trying desperately to get a pick onto a Boston support player in order to give San Francisco an edge. It was Boston’s Neko on Zenyatta who ultimately robbed Babybay of this opportunity and San Francisco’s attack fell sadly short.

Map Score: Uprising 3, Shock 1

Match Score: Uprising 2, Shock 2

Map 5: Lijang Tower

The last map of the series started with a bang, with picks traded quickly and violently. Somehow, the Uprising found themselves in possession of the point first. Fighting was intense both on the point and around the point, with Babybay and DreamKazper on Pharahs making picks for their respective teams. Unfortunately for Babybay, his team was unable to gain any ground on the point. As Boston’s control neared 100 percent, DreamKazper found two kills with his Rocket Barrage and that’s all the Uprising needed to prevent the Shock from even contesting during overtime.

On the next point, San Francisco took control first. Able to gain 77 percent, the Shock wasn’t too worried about Boston using both their support ultimates to take the point away. Despite getting caught in a Boston Graviton, San Francisco’s next attack was there, helped along by a deadly Riptire from Danteh. With the map going into overtime in favor of San Francisco, Babybay got a huge Deadeye with two kills but somehow it was Boston taking control back yet again thanks to DreamKazper.

As Boston neared 99 percent, it was the San Francisco tanks who jumped in to save the day. First, it was Nomy’s Primal Rage forcing back Boston’s tanks from the point. Then it was Nevix with a huge play that took out two of the Uprising. Just like that, the Shock tied the map up and took it to one last point.

Just as the third map got underway, a technical issue caused the game to pause. But it was quickly resumed with Babybay immediately wreaking havoc among the Uprising with Pharah. With Boston a bit trapped on the bridge, Babybay was able to laser focus on Gamsu, Kellex and DreamKazper to give San Francisco even more time on the point. With 99 percent for the Shock, Kalios finally launched a Self Destruct into the air in an attempt to stop Babybay’s reign of terror. With Babybay forced to pause his rockets and back away, Boston jumped onto the point.

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With so much already built up for the Shock, San Francisco could afford to take their time formulating their take back of the point. Before Boston was even able to catch their breath, San Francisco was back bearing down on them. Babybay picked up right where he left off, executing a two-kill Barrage right into the point. With teammates falling left and right, Gamsu clung to the point for a little while longer with a Primal Rage. But soon enough the Shock was back in control with most of their team on the point. Able to swat away every single Boston attempt to contest, San Francisco was able to etch out one of the more amazing wins of the Overwatch League so far.

Map Score: Uprising 1, Shock 2

Final Match Score: Uprising 2, Shock 3

Player of the Match: Danteh, San Francisco Shock