Overwatch League Stage 2: Houston Outlaws beat Boston Uprising in 4-0 sweep

Boston hoped to recoup their losses while Houston looked for continued dominance.

The Boston Uprising seem to have hit a snag in their Overwatch League upward trajectory. They went from nearly making the Stage 1 playoffs to getting shut out by the Philadelphia Fusion their first game of Stage 2, a team they had previously handled with ease.

Meanwhile, the Houston Outlaws continue to up the ante, opening Stage 2 with a huge win over the London Spitfire yet again. If anything, their loss to the Spitfire during the Stage 1 playoffs seemed to only fuel this competitive squad with motivation to keep playing better each and every time they take the stage.

The last time Houston and Boston faced off, the playoffs had been on the line. Boston had played very well, but were not strong enough to get the job done. Would the results be different this time around?

Map One: Hanamura

On defense first, Houston put Bani on Ana, Clockwork on Tracer and LiNkzr on Soldier 76. Boston attacked with a dive composition, but with Kellex on Lucio and Neko on Moira. Nearly immediately, Houston drew first blood, ending Boston’s first attempt. Eventually, Neko would switch to Zenyatta to give Boston more ranged damage. While the Uprising’s next attack fell apart, Gamsu persisted long enough to demech Coolmatt on D.Va. Instead of jumping off to map to respawn in the suit, Coolmatt decided to stay on the point as baby D.Va. That ended up being enough of a disadvantage for Boston to make their way finally onto point A, even able to survive a LiNkzr Attack Visor.

Boston’s first assault on point B netted them one tick on the board. It didn’t take long for the Uprising to come back and finish the job, especially with Rawkus falling first to STRIKER’s Tracer.

Switching sides, Houston attacked with LiNkzr on Widowmaker, supported by Bani on Mercy. Boston decided to defend very far forward, but even as they were able to demech Coolmatt and take out Rawkus, the Uprising lost Kalios on D.Va in the process. One man down, the Uprising were unable to stay strong as the Outlaws pushed forward toward the point, especially with Clockwork on Tracer eating through the health of all squishes on the objective.

Right after taking point A, the Outlaws made a push onto point B. They were able to get a tick before they were pushed back. Once again, Boston attempted to defend forward of the point. Bani on Ana was able to Sleep Dart Gamsu, resulting in his quick elimination, and that was the opening necessary for Houston to wind their way onto the objective. From there, the Outlaws were just a Rawkus Transcendence away from also capping point B.

So the map went into time bank rounds, where Houston had over a minute advantage over Boston on the clock. The Uprising attacked first, but Gamsu was cut down first by Clockwork. So Boston would try again, attempting to send their DPS around to the left. Having sniffed out the play, Houston was able to defend handily. It came all the way down to a final push in overtime, which started with Kalios catching one member of Houston with a Self Destruct and ended with DreamKazper pulling out a huge Dragonblade to clean the point of Houston. However, Boston was unable to get even a tick onto point B.

To defend, Neko went back to Moira but the healing was just not enough to keep Boston alive. Very quickly, Houston barreled their way onto point A and capped it. Just as quickly, the Outlaws moved onto point B. With LiNkzr back on Widowmaker getting crucial headshots, Houston easily took the one tick they needed to win the map.

Map Score: Uprising 3, Outlaws 4

Match Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 1

Map Two: Lijiang Tower

Control Center was up first, which meant both teams ran Reinhardt, Zarya and Moira. Jake, subbing in for Clockwork, played his signature Junkrat while LiNkzr played Zarya, and it was his highly charged beam that helped Houston win first control. But it didn’t take long for STRIKER to help Boston find their way onto the point to start building percentage of their own.

The point flipped back in Houston’s favor with a huge Earthshatter from Muma followed by hammer swings that took out Kellex and a Fire Strike that picked off Gamsu’s opposing Reinhardt. With the Outlaws up 99 percent, the Uprising were unfortunately unable to get back to the point to contest.

Moving onto Night Market, LiNkzr and Rawkus were downed very quickly, giving Boston the point first. With the Uprising up 83 percent, LiNkzr finally got things going without even using his Attack Visor. With multiple eliminations under his gun, Houston made their way onto the point.

The next engagement became extremely drawn out, with man advantage swinging crazily between the two teams. The fight lasted so long that Houston was able to build all the way up to 99 percent. In overtime, the scuffle continued but this time advantage stayed with Houston. Boston was relegated to contesting one-by-one, but soon enough the Outlaws completely swatted away the remaining members of the Uprising to take the point and the map.

Map Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 2

Map Three: King’s Row

On defense, Muma stayed on Reinhardt and Spree came in on Zarya. Boston featured DreamKazper on Doomfist, an unconventional pick that paid off on their second push. Kalios played a large role on Zarya delivering large amounts of damage that the rest of Boston could capitalize on. The Uprising successfully got the payload going.

Houston was able to fend off one wave of Boston, but they would be unable to withstand a big Kalios Graviton Surge. Even though DreamKazper missed the combo opportunity with his Meteor Strike, the rest of Boston got enough damage into the trapped members of Houston to get a clean team kill and get the second point.

After one minor stall, Boston got to work once again, able to keep enough people on the payload to push it through a LiNkzr Deadeye. But the Outlaws were eventually able to stabilize and push Boston back. With around a minute and a half on the clock, the Uprising found themselves finally getting the picks needed to get the payload going toward the end. Houston threw everything they had at the objective but a final Earthshatter and Graviton Surge helped carry Boston to completion.

After finding success on offense, Boston ran DreamKazper on Doomfist again for defense. Houston put LiNkzr on Hanzo and Jake on Junkrat to attack. Right away, LiNkzr got a kill onto Kellex, but DreamKazper would avenge his teammate by taking him out. Houston found themselves beating a hasty retreat.

The best Reinhardt play of the entire league thus far came out on the next defensive stand, where Gamsu got four players nearly in a row with his Earthshatter. He then followed it up with a charge that immediately took out one, and the rest would fall to his hammer. But not to be out done, Jake miraculously got four members of Boston with a Riptire, even as the rest of his team was caught in a Graviton Surge and imminently threatened by a Self Destruct. With that hero play, the Outlaws finally found themselves in possession of the first point and got the payload moving.

Boston wouldn’t let Houston get any distance for free, immediately coming back to the payload to contest it for as long as possible. The Outlaws held strong over the objective through two mighty contests from the Uprising to cruise to the second checkpoint. But shortly after, Boston cleaned them up for a team kill, forcing Houston to regroup. But the Outlaws quickly got eliminations in their next push, causing the payload to roll dangerously close to the end. Jake’s Riptire slotted in behind Gamsu’s shield to take him out of the equation, and LiNkzr would clinch the run for his team with a point-blank Dragonstrike right over the point to take out any Boston members still remaining around the payload.

So this map as well went into time bank rounds, Boston on attack first with 1:04 to work with. Instead of Doomfist, DreamKazper was Hanzo this time. Right away, Boston moved onto the point, able to get a tick on the point without even getting any eliminations. DreamKazper then came up big with his arrows finding pick after pick. Very quickly, Boston had the payload moving. But because the payload took so much time to get moving on this particular map, Boston’s time dipped right away into overtime. The Uprising were able to get the payload slightly through the second portion of the map before they were driven back and their overtime ran out.

Houston had 1:36 on the clock, slightly more than Boston had, but because Boston took the first point so quickly Houston would essentially need to do the same to contest. The Uprising were able to trap the Outlaws into a tight corridor, successfully stopping their first push. But once LiNkzr switched to Widowmaker and got two quick headshots, Houston had their room to take the objective.

In overtime, the Outlaws started the payload escort. LiNkzr switched to Mei in order to use the ice wall to stall the Uprising as long as possible. He also used the ice wall to separate Boston’s teammates from each other, making team coordination very difficult. Even so, the Uprising had many ultimates to work with coming into the last fight over the finish line, and threw them all at the Outlaws. For a while, it looked like it could go either way. However, it was that extra help from the ice wall that got Houston over the goal line and their second win of the week.

Map Score: Uprising 4, Outlaws 5

Match Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 3

Map Four: Watchpoint: Gibraltar

Houston took up their last defense with LiNkzr on Widowmaker and Jake on Genji. DreamKazper was Boston’s side of the Widowmaker duel, but he would fall to LiNkzr, along with Kellex. With the payload in the middle of the tunnel, the Uprising withdrew to regroup.

Their next attack fell apart due to LiNkzr again, with the Widow getting the finishing blow onto Kellex as well as picking up DreamKazper as he sailed through the air after a grappling hook. Jake ruined Boston’s next push with a huge Dragonblade. With less than a minute left, Boston continued to attack over the top of the tunnel but were once again slaughtered by Jake’s Dragonblade, this time with clean up provided by Muma. With mere seconds left, the Uprising made a desperate last surge to the payload, but were only able to nudge it forward a tiny bit before the Outlaws stopped them in their tracks.

With a full hold under their belts, the Outlaws didn’t need to push the payload very far to get the win. Boston attempted to defend aggressively, and were able to demech Coolmatt very quickly. But LiNkzr once again got a headshot on DreamKazper. With Kellex falling as well, Houston was able to push the payload through the tunnel. With the cart nearly there, Neko was forced to use Transcendence to keep his tanks alive long enough to fend off Houston.

Next: Overwatch League Stage 2: London Spitfire beats New York Excelsior yet again

With plenty of time to work with, Houston pushed again with a Rawkus Transcendence leading the way. Jake unleashed his Dragonblade while LiNkzr took out Kellex. In a blink of an eye, the Outlaws were there and completed the 4-0 sweep.

Map Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 1

Final Match Score: Uprising 0, Outlaws 4

Player of the Match: Muma, Houston Outlaws