The off-season often brings buzz and excitement to new and old fans alike. Showmatches, new signings, and even new teams bring something fresh to the upcoming season of the Overwatch League. However, due to a relatively quiet off-season, it seems that the Houston Outlaws may face their toughest hurdle yet: stagnation.
Courtesy of the Houston Outlaws
After narrowly missing the playoffs last season, the Houston Outlaws finished the season 22-18 with a 94-77-2 map record, finishing 7th in the league. Despite missing playoffs they took multiple match wins from the current champions, London Spitfire, in Stage 1, 3, and 4.
Despite a rough 0-2 start in the first week, the Houston Outlaws would only drop 1 match to the Seoul Dynasty before heading to the Stage 1 playoffs with a 7-3 record. Despite losing to the Spitfire in the playoffs, Outlaw fans were excited about the upcoming stages and their team possibly making the playoffs at the end of the season.
The Outlaws started strong in week one with a 3-2 win against the London Spitfire and a 4-0 win against the Boston Uprising. However, as Stage 2 started to unfold, the Outlaw would take tough losses against the Los Angeles Valiant and the New York Excelsior. They would finish with an extremely average 5-5 record with a 22-22-0 map record.
Stage 3 was easily the Houston Outlaws’ weakest stage, finishing 4-6 with a 20-24-1 map record. Despite their losses, they would pick up wins against the London Spitfire and the Los Angeles Valiant, two playoff level teams.
The Houston Outlaws’ fans and players were on the edge of their seats alike in Stage 4. The possibility of a playoff berth was within reach. However, Houston fans would have to settle with a 7th place finish. Despite the disappointment, the team would go 6-4 with a map record of 22-18-1 with a near win against the New York Excelsior and a win against the Philadelphia Fusion. Giving fans a bright future to look forward to in Season 2.
Courtesy of Blizzard
Despite Jake and LiNkzr’s skill as DPS players, one of Houston’s weaknesses was their Tracer play.
Houston needed to sign someone who could fulfill this role and they found it in Danteh. Statistically, Danteh placed in the top five for most damage per ten minutes of play, furthermore, he placed 12th overall in most eliminations per ten minutes. Furthermore, Danteh shines with heroes such as Sombra, adding more depth to the team’s already deep Hero pool.
Almost every coach from Season 1 is returning for Season 2. TaiRong has been coaching the Houston Outlaws for over a year now, furthermore, TaiRong won the first Overwatch World Cup with now Outlaws player ArHaN in 2016 as a support. Houston believes that their coaching staff and players already have great synergy.
The Outlaws’ assistant coaching shows the team’s emphasis on experience and above all, team synergy. Veteran MESR played in the Overwatch World Cup in 2016. Furthermore, HyunWoo played on the same professional Overwatch team as TaiRong, Afrecca Freecs. However, the most noteworthy advancement is Clockwork’s transition from former Outlaw player to now assistant coach. Clockwork understands the ins and outs of the Overwatch league and above all, knows the players on his team and their playstyles.
Similar to their coaching staff, most of the players on the Houston Outlaws are returning for season 2. Houston’s biggest strength will be their veteran players and their ability to perform on the big stage.
Courtesy of Medium
Four players on the Houston Outlaws participated in the 2018 Overwatch World Cup, Bani, Linkzr, Muma, and Rawkus, each representing their respective home countries. Jake, the face of the Outlaws, looks to bring his infamous Junkrat play style that has been dubbed “Jakerat”. Clearly this team won’t suffer from any growing pains such as communication issues. One can only hope that the Houston Outlaw have found their groove with this current roster and if they have, this team could be the one to watch.
The Outlaws have a tough schedule for the upcoming season due to their division placement. However, they start the season against the new Toronto Defiant, which will allow fans to see the classic clash of veterans vs new blood.
They play against the following teams once this season:
Houston is in the toughest division of the entire Overwatch League, meaning that the team has to play against former champions London twice and arguably, the best team in the league, Excelsior, twice. Furthermore, they have to play against playoff level teams, the Boston Uprising, and the Philedelphia Fusion, twice.
The Houston Outlaws will also play against these other teams twice this Season:
Courtesy of Blizzard
With the return of Muma, one of the best, if not the best main tanks from the west, it seems that Houston has their work cut out for them. It seems like GOATs is still the meta for the upcoming season, so his Reinhardt play will be crucial for the team’s success. Furthermore, Muma has been seen streaming on using heroes that had little to no play time such as wrecking ball, hinting at the possibility for new compositions for the upcoming season. Furthermore, Houston has also revealed that they will be playing with Wrecking Ball in the upcoming season in a recent tweet as shown below.
Despite their tough schedule,The Houston Outlaw have incredible potential to go to the playoffs this season, because of their prior experience and team synergy. However, if their work in their pre-season practice and their lack of changes, don’t pan out they can be in huge trouble due to the juggernauts in their division.
Finally, if Houston can create a new composition that utilizes Muma and Jake’s off meta picks such as, Junkrat and Wrecking Ball, the Outlaw could not only get to playoffs, but change the landscape of the game all together.
Featured image courtesy of the Houston Outlaws.
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