Boston Uprising had underwhelming results for its fans in the history of the Overwatch League, albeit with glimpses of success such as Stage 3 of last season. This season, the Uprising could not find their footing and style which resulted in 19th place in the overall standings. Boston Uprising’s President of Gaming, Chris "HuK" Loranger, addressed the fans' concerns about the team and future moving into next season.
HuK addressed managing his players by saying you can have three players: one who sleeps during scrims and is toxic, another who is going through personal issues, and a third player who just might not be good enough. He went on to add that his job includes protecting the players and making sure any internal issues stay within.
A question was asked why Boston stagnated during the season. HuK replied with three reasons:
1. Scouting was not good and the level of competition rose
2. Coaching could be better
3. Players although he admits part of the blame
Up until being hired as the President of Gaming, HuK was a professional gamer for StarCraft II, winning multiple championships for teams like Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses. His esports experience led him to work for the Boston Uprising where he had to learn more about managing rather than playing. He states that there’s a lot to learn about being GM. One of the biggest issues is balancing professionalism and having an opinion since most people involved in OWL do not have personal experience, especially since they are young and are gamers.
Concerning what HuK would like to see more in Overwatch League is rivalries and trash talk. He talked about his rivalries like Greg "IdrA" Fields and Jang "MC" Min Chul in SC2 and how those rivalries made games more impactful. A good example is Atlanta Reign’s Dusttin "Dogman" Bowerman, who is one of the few trash talkers that looks like the bad but is good for the game in terms of competitiveness.
As far as building the Uprising’s roster in the future, HuK wants to pick up players that specialize in their roles. Says that they did not know about 2-2-2 role lock before the NotE/rCk trade. If they did, they would have reconsidered other factors of the trade.
One of the last things HuK acknowledged was what he wants the Uprising to achieve in the future. HuK’s vision is to mirror the New England Patriots’ culture and achieve similar success. He wants to hire more local Boston staff as Overwatch League focuses on homestands next season. He recognizes that the Uprising needs a lot of adjustments, even saying that current coaches are free to explore other options. He also announced that the Uprising has picked up head coach Vytis "Mineral" Lasaitis, previously with Florida Mayhem and is very excited to work with Mineral.
From having a 26-14 record last season to 8-20 record this season, HuK emphasized that Boston is going to make a lot of changes next season. Staff, players, coaches, and management are going to be to observed closely by HuK and more scrutinized by Uprising fans. If this AMA is anything to go by, HuK is thinking about long-term plans for his organization. Optimistic is the word to live by if you are the Uprising and its fans.
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