Houston got a massive win against the Hangzhou Spark after a slow start during Week 1 of the Overwatch League. The Outlaws slightly changed their lineup with Alexandre “Spree” Vanhomwegen coming in for the first time this season, and Jacob “Jake” Lyon playing the entire match. Outlaws fans certainly have a lot to look forward to with this revitalized Houston Team.
Courtesy of: Gamenews
The Houston Outlaws’ DPS line stole the show on Busan. Houston pulled out a 3 DPS, 2 Support, 1 Tank team composition with Jiri “Linkzr” Masalin on his signature Widowmaker, Dante “Danteh” Cruz on Tracer and Jake on Sombra. The Spark quickly took the point early in the round, but were not able to hold on. The Spark couldn’t seem to find an answer to Houston’s fast paced play and Linkzr’s skill on the sniper. During Round 1, Houston took Sanctuary with 100% to 14% checkpoint capture percentage.
During Round 2, Houston took MEKA base without losing the point once. Linkzr continued to dominate with Widowmaker, taking advantage of Hangzhou’s strategy of directly moving onto the point and completely ignoring the sniper as he scored numerous early kills and assists. Houston showed their ability to absolutely dominate with off-meta heroes. In addition, Danteh’s signing continues to pay off in dividends with his incredible play on Tracer.
This map began with Spree being subbed in for Linkzr. Danteh continued to perform well, this time showing off his skill on Sombra. Round 1 found Houston winning most of their pushes off the back of his massive EMP’s. However, during Round 2, Hangzhou held on tight and kept fans on the edge of their seats with an extremely efficient attack and leaving Houston with large time deficit.
In just 40 seconds and some overtime, Houston managed to take the first checkpoint and then some during during Round 3. Moreover, the Outlaws put up a great defense against the Spark during Round 4. Hangzhou eventually fell to a massive 3 kill D.VA bomb from Spree and gave Houston their second map win of the match.
Houston stuck to their 3 tank, 3 support team composition, no matter what the Spark threw at them and their strategy paid off. During Round 1, the Outlaws took point A by separating and eliminating the Spark’s support line, forcing the Spark to draw back and let Houston take point A with almost no fuss. However, the Spark put up a fight during Round 2 with a DPS heavy team comp that shredded through Houston.
Photo by FANTOM
Despite the Spark’s efforts with strong DPS Play, Houston forced Hangzhou’s hand by cornering them into playing a triple-tank, triple support team composition during round 4. As a result, Houston continued to quickly separate and eliminate all of Hangzhou’s support line. Austin “Muma” Wilmont’s stellar play on Reinhardt continued to shine as he led his team to victory.
Unlike the first 3 maps, it seemed like Houston couldn’t get anything going during Dorado. Hangzhou froze all of Houston’s momentum during their first push attempt. Moreover, as Houston attempted to keep pushing, Hangzhou shredded through Houston with aggressive play and managed to hold the high ground.
During round 2, Hangzhou managed to get a very early kill onto Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty that forced the Outlaw to fall back. Houston would only have enough time and space for one team fight, which they lost rather quickly against more of Hangzhou’s very aggressive play. Despite the loss, Houston got a massive earthshatter from Muma and a great graviton surge from Danteh on Zarya.
Houston looked the best they have ever been against the Hangzhou Spark. The Houston Outlaws have a versatile roster that allows them to excel with different strategies and team comps. In addition, Outlaws fans will notice a common theme this season: Danteh making monstrous plays with Sombra and Tracer no matter who he plays against. If the Outlaws keep looking this good, they could be a the team to watch.
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