2020 Boston Uprising season

The 2020 Boston Uprising season was the third season of Boston Uprising's existence in the Overwatch League and their first under head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis. Boston planned to host two homestand weekends in the 2020 season at Citizens Bank Opera House in Boston,^[1] but all homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 Boston Uprising season
Head coach	Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis
Owner	Robert Kraft
Conference	Atlantic
Division	North
Region	North America
Results
Record	2–19 (.095)
Place	North America: 13th League: 20th
May Melee	Did not qualifty
Summer Showdown	Knockouts
Countdown Cup	Did not qualify
Season Playoffs	Did not qualify
Total Earnings	$0
← 2019 Boston Uprising 2021 →

The Uprising qualified for one midseason tournament, the Summer Showdown, in the 2020 season but were eliminated by the Washington Justice in the knockouts round.^[2] The Uprising ended the season with 2 wins and 19 losses in the regular season and were eliminated from postseason contention after losing to the Atlanta Reign in the North America Play-in tournament.^[3]

Preceding offseason

Organizational changes

In September 2019, Boston announced that former Florida Mayhem head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis would be the fill the team's head coach vacancy, which had been empty for over a year.^[4] A month later, the Uprising released assistant coaches Jordan "Gunba" Graham and Jackson "Shake" Kaplan; the team signed Ilias "iLka" Kaskanetas, who had most recently been the head coach of European Overwatch Contenders team Angry Titans, as an assistant coach.^[5] On December 9, the team signed former HSL Esports support player Valentin "Ascoft" Wulfman as an assistant coach.^[6]

Roster changes

Free agents

Role	Player		Contract status	Date signed	2020 team
	Handle	Name
Support	Aimgod	Min-Seok Kwon	Free agent	November 8	Washington Justice[7]
Support	Kellex	Kristian Keller	Free agent	November 5	Toronto Defiant[8]
Legend   Re-signed/Retained by the Uprising.   Departed from the Uprising.

The Uprising enter the new season with two free agents, four players which they have the option to retain for another year, and four players under contract.^[9] The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.^[10]

Acquisitions

Boston made their first offseason acquisitions on October 28, when they signed support Seo "Myunbong" Sang-min and DPS Min "Jerry" Tae-hui from Korean Contenders teams from O2 Blast and Meta Athena, respectively.^[11] On November 7, Boston promoted support Gabriel "Swimmer" Levy and off-tank Walid "Mouffin" Bassal from their academy team, Uprising Academy. While Swimmer was promoted to play strictly for Boston, Mouffin was put on a two-way contract.^[12] On November 21, Uprising signed former Seoul Dynasty DPS Sang-Beom "Munchkin" Byun,^[13] and a day later, they signed tank Thomas "brussen" Brussen.^[14]

Departures

The Uprising announced on October 21 that they would not elect to retain all four of their players with a team option – support Yang "Persia" Zion, support Renan "alemao" Moretto, off-tank Richard "rCk" Kanerva, and DPS Lee "Stellar" Do-hyung. Additionally, they also announced the same day that they would not re-sign either of their free agents – Kwon "AimGod" Min-seok and Kristian "Kellex" Keller.^[15] The following day, the team transferred DPS Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang to the Houston Outlaws.^[16]

Roster

2020 Boston Uprising roster
Players	Coaches
Role No. Handle Name Nationality Damage 17 Colourhex Birse, Kelsey New Zealand Damage 1 Jerry Min Tae-hui South Korea Tank 10 Axxiom (I) Park Min-seob South Korea Tank 25 Fusions Bosworth, Cameron United Kingdom Tank 3 mikeyy Konicki, Michael United States Tank 5 Punk Gilchrist, Leyton Australia Support 24 Halo Hamand, Kobe United States Support 13 Myunbong Seo Sang-min South Korea	Head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis
Legend: (I) Inactive (S) Suspended (2W) Two-way player Substitute Injury / Illness	Latest roster transaction: May 21, 2020.

Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:

• On March 2, the Uprising released DPS Byun "Munchkin" Sang-beom.^[17]
• On March 3, the Uprising signed support Kobe "Halo" Hamand.^[18]
• On April 4, the Uprising released tank Walid "Mouffin" Bassal.^[19]
• On April 14, the Uprising released support Gabriel "Swimmer" Levy.^[20]
• On May 11, the Uprising signed tank Leyton "Punk" Gilchrist.^[21]
• On May 12, tank Thomas "brussen" Brussen retired.^[22]
• On May 21, the Uprising signed tank Michael "mikey" Konicki.^[23]

Standings

Pos	Con	Team v t e	Pld	W	BW	L	PCT	MW	ML	MT	MD	Qualification
1	ATL	Philadelphia Fusion	21	19	5	2	0.905	59	19	0	+40	Advance to playoffs
2	PAC	San Francisco Shock	21	18	7	3	0.857	56	17	2	+39
3	ATL	Paris Eternal	21	15	4	6	0.714	50	31	0	+19
4	ATL	Florida Mayhem	21	14	3	7	0.667	48	30	0	+18
5	PAC	Los Angeles Valiant	21	11	1	10	0.524	41	41	0	0
6	PAC	Los Angeles Gladiators	21	11	0	10	0.524	43	39	5	+4	Advance to play-ins
7	ATL	Atlanta Reign	21	10	0	11	0.476	43	35	0	+8
8	PAC	Dallas Fuel	21	9	0	12	0.429	35	44	0	−9
9	ATL	Toronto Defiant	21	7	1	14	0.333	32	48	0	−16
10	ATL	Houston Outlaws	21	6	0	15	0.286	32	50	3	−18
11	PAC	Vancouver Titans	21	6	0	15	0.286	23	48	0	−25
12	ATL	Washington Justice	21	4	0	17	0.190	21	54	1	−33
13	ATL	Boston Uprising	21	2	0	19	0.095	14	61	4	−47

Source: The Overwatch League
Rules for classification: 1) Wins plus bonus wins 2) winning percentage (excluding bonus wins); 3) map differential; 4) head-to-head record; 5) head-to-head map differential

Game log

Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 2–19)
February–April: 1–8 1 February 09 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 New York Excelsior New York City, NY 3:00 pm EST     Hammerstein Ballroom Hosted by New York Excelsior 0 Oasis 2 1 Blizzard World 2 2 Temple of Anubis 3 2 February 22 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Houston Outlaws Washington, DC 5:00 pm EST     The Anthem Hosted by Washington Justice 2 Ilios 0 2 Temple of Anubis 2 3 Dorado 1 3 Blizzard World 3 0 Oasis 2 1 Nepal 2 2 Lijiang Tower 0 3 March 01 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Houston, TX 1:00 pm EST     Revention Music Center Hosted by Houston Outlaws 0 Lijiang Tower 2 1 King's Row 2 1 Hanamura 2 4 March 07 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Washington Justice Washington, DC 7:00 pm EST     The Anthem Hosted by Washington Justice 2 Busan 0 1 Havana 2 2 Eichenwalde 3 1 Horizon Lunar Colony 2 5 March 08 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Atlanta Reign Washington, DC 7:00 pm EDT     The Anthem Hosted by Washington Justice 0 Oasis 2 1 Havana 2 2 Eichenwalde 3 6 March 28 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Toronto Defiant Online 8:00 pm UTC     7 April 11 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Houston Outlaws Online 10:00 pm UTC     8 April 18 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Toronto Defiant Online 1:00 am UTC     9 April 26 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Florida Mayhem Online 8:00 pm UTC
May Melee qualifiers: 1–2 10 May 03 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Florida Mayhem Online 9:00 pm UTC     11 May 10 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Online 1:00 am UTC     12 May 16 Boston Uprising 3 – 2 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 10:30 pm UTC
Summer Showdown qualifiers: 0–3 13 June 13 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Paris Eternal Online 7:00 pm UTC     14 June 21 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Philadelphia Fusion Online 7:00 pm UTC     15 June 27 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Online 11:00 pm UTC
Countdown Cup qualifiers: 0–4 16 July 18 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 San Francisco Shock Online 10:00 pm UTC     17 July 19 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Los Angeles Valiant Online 10:00 pm UTC     18 July 24 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online 7:00 pm UTC     19 July 25 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Dallas Fuel Online 11:00 pm UTC
August: 0–2 20 August 15 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Los Angeles Gladiators Online 11:00 pm UTC     21 August 21 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Online 7:00 pm UTC

Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log
May Melee: 0–1 Qualifying match May 23 Boston Uprising 2 – 3 Paris Eternal Online 1:00 am UTC
Summer Showdown: 0–1 Knockouts June 28 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Washington Justice Online 11:30 pm UTC
Countdown Cup: 0–1 Qualifying match August 02 Boston Uprising 0 – 3 Vancouver Titans Online 11:30 pm UTC
Bonus wins awarded: 0

Postseason

2020 playoff game log
North America Play-ins: 1–1 Round 1 September 03 Boston Uprising 3 – 1 Houston Outlaws Online 7:00 pm UTC     Round 2 September 04 Boston Uprising 1 – 3 Atlanta Reign Online 9:00 pm UTC

References

1. Silverman, Michael (December 23, 2019). "Boston Overwatch team to hold two matches at Opera House". Boston Globe. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
2. Rockwood, Bryan (June 30, 2020). "The Uprising's Summer Showdown is Cut Short by the Justice". The Game Haus. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
3. Alford, Aaron (September 5, 2020). "Gladiators Narrowly Advance; Excelsior Slide By at OWL Playoffs". Hotspawn. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
4. Howard, Brandon (September 5, 2019). "Boston Uprising Find Their Head Coach For The 2020 Season". TheGamer. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
5. Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Boston Uprising remove 2 assistant coaches, add more staff". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
6. Staff; Boston Uprising (December 9, 2019). "Boston Uprising hire Assistant Coach Valentin "Ascoft" Wulfman". The Overwatch League. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
7. "Justice round out Overwatch League roster with AimGod". ESPN. Reuters. November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
8. "Overwatch League moves: Defiant add Kellex". ESPN. Reuters. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
9. Morello, Matt (July 30, 2019). "2020 Team Needs and Player Contract Status". Overwatch League. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
10. Richardson, Liz (October 4, 2019). "Overwatch League reveals player contract status for entire league". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
11. Scrubasaurus (October 28, 2019). "Uprising sign Myunbong and Jerry". Over.gg. Retrieved October 28, 2019.
12. Richardson, Liz (November 7, 2019). "Boston Uprising promote Swimmer and Mouffin". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
13. "Boston Uprising sign DPS player Munchkin". ESPN. Reuters. November 21, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
14. Richardson, Liz (November 22, 2019). "Boston Uprising sign Brussen". Dot Esports. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
15. Richardson, Liz (October 21, 2019). "Boston Uprising release 6 players". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
16. "Boston Uprising trade Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang to Houston Outlaws". GamingLyfe. October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
17. Richardson, Liz (March 2, 2020). "Munchkin leaves the Boston Uprising". Dot Esports. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
18. Castelot, Ophelie (March 4, 2020). "Halo joins Boston Uprising". ESTNN. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
19. "Boston Uprising release Mouffin following allegations of sexual misconduct". ESPN. April 4, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
20. Samples, Rachel (April 14, 2020). "Swimmer steps away from competitive Overwatch, parts ways with Boston Uprising". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
21. Linhares, Nádia (May 11, 2020). "Boston Uprising adds Punk to Overwatch League roster". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
22. Richardson, Liz (May 12, 2020). "Brussen leaves Boston Uprising, retires from Overwatch". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
23. O'Dwyer, Samuel (May 21, 2020). "Boston Uprising signs new main tank player, mikeyy". Dot Esports. Retrieved October 14, 2020.