The Houston Outlaws looked to break their recent slump and Stage 2 losing streak against the Guangzhou Charge. Read below to see if Houston could finally put the pieces together and achieve victory.
Houston began the match looking incredibly solid during night market. While Guangzhou did manage to flip the point, it was clear that the Outlaws were dictating the pace. Furthermore, it seemed that the Outlaws managed their ultimate economy much better than normal and were able to dominate. Austin “Muma” Wilmont led his team with his stellar Reinhardt play and managed to get an incredible Shatter that allowed them to hold the point.
However, Houston looked too greedy and a little sloppier on both garden and control tower. It seemed the Outlaws couldn’t get any momentum going on gardens. In addition, their ultimate usage looked much sloppier. Finally, on control tower Guangzhou and Houston would trade the point multiple times. Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty would make an early pick onto Guangzhou’s Zenyatta to help turn the tides of a team fight. Furthermore, Houston would win multiple crucial team fights that would allow them to flip back the point nearly pushing them to victory. However, the Outlaws played too far forward and overextended themselves into a map loss.
Guangzhou took all of their momentum from Map 1 and brought it into Hanamura. This map would be marked by absolutely incredible Widowmaker play from Guangzhou’s Jung-woo “Happy”
Lee. In addition, the Charge utilized a Roadhog and Orisa based team comp that allowed them to make quick work of Houston’s front line. Despite quickly losing point A, Houston defended point B valiantly. Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin showed off his prowess on Mei with his great defensive plays. On attack, the Outlaws managed to take some great pushes onto the point, nearly taking point A. However, Guangzhou made some awe inspiring defensive holds that would keep Houston from victory.
Houston finally got the ball rolling on King’s row. Despite quickly giving up the first point, the Outlaws made another inspired defense on point B, cutting almost all of Guangzhou’s pushes short. In addition, Muma would have a cheeky Earthshatter that allowed Houston to continue the dominating defense. On attack, Houston struggled to take point A, however, after a bloody team fight, the Outlaws would come out on top and take point A. The Outlaw’s luck would turn during their push onto point B. After efficient ultimate usage and extremely hard fought team fights Houston would come out on top for a massive map victory.
Image Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
The team from Texas fought hard during their first push onto point A, faltering multiple times, however, they would grind out a team fight victory for a point take. Houston took points B and C very efficiently after focusing down Guangzhou’s main tank, Seung-pyo “Rio” Oh. After an extremely efficient attack, Guangzhou came back in full force with a very aggressive and effective point push onto points A and B. However, Houston showed their grit on defense, winning multiple team fights and defending point C, giving themselves another win to push the match into a Game 5.
Houston began Busan with an extremely DPS heavy team composition bringing Dante “Danteh” Cruz in for the first time in the match. However, the Charge quickly countered the DPS heavy team composition with great sniping from Happy again. Houston then switched to the classic 3-3 team composition, however, Gangzhou proved to be the better team. The Charge squeaked out a victory despite Houston pushing Sanctuary into overtime. Finally, Happy continued to dominate on MEKA base as he would make multiple picks slowly whittling down the Outlaws one by one. This forced Houston into an awkward position where they constantly played a man down. After a long fought match, Guangzhou eventually came out on top.
All Player Images Courtesy of the Overwatch League
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