Overwatch League, Week 2: Dallas Fuel shut out by Houston Outlaws

Day 2 of the second week of the Overwatch League started with a battle for Texan supremacy.

The Houston Outlaws went into this matchup with their first match of the week already under their belts,  a staggering win against the Shanghai Dragons. The Dallas Fuel, on the other hand, was coming in fresh. Or at least as fresh as a team could be after losing both their matches last week.

Indeed, Dallas was starting the first season of the Overwatch League with a limp after falling to the Seoul Dynasty and the Los Angeles Valiant. Standing between them and a chance to recover their pride was their Texan brethren, Houston.

Map One: Junkertown

Dallas started the series off on attack. Just as they did yesterday, Houston set up with Jake on Junkrat (now called “Jakerat”) and LiNkzr on Widowmaker. With the first engagement devolving into a bit of a stalemate, Houston found themselves actually setting up on the point with Muma dropping his Orisa shield right on the payload. And just when Dallas looked like they had cleared the area, Houston’s respawns came rearing back with Jake dropping Dallas players everywhere. Shockingly, Dallas wasn’t able to even make it back onto the payload to mount one final push before their time ran out. A full hold on Junkertown is extremely rare, but the Outlaws were able to accomplish it and set a new standard of good defense.

On attack, Jakerat continued to wreak havoc, raining down mines behind Dallas’ Orisa shield. As Jake scatted the Fuel to the winds, LiNkzr hunted them down as Tracer. With no time for Dallas to make it back to the payload, it was all too easy for Houston to rumble along to the goal line.

The Outlaws wrapped up this map — which seemed to be one of Dallas’ stronger maps after last week — in record time, seeming to continue their show of dominance that started against the Shanghai Dragons yesterday.

Map Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 1

Match Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 1

Map Two: Horizon Lunar Colony

Dallas gave it another go at attack on Horizon, and while they again met with difficulty thanks to Jakerat, Seagull’s Genji starting the breakdown of Houston’s defense. After forcing out the Outlaws’ Valkyrie, Houston and Dallas traded blows until the Outlaws finally lost the ability to send in reinforcements.

On point B, Houston successfully fended off Dallas’ first two pushes. Jakerat struck again and again, whether it was his Riptire carefully picking off Custa’s Mercy or just using it to decimate a whole group of Dallas players. Just as he did yesterday against Shanghai, Jake roosted on the beams above the point, going uncontested until Mickie finally charged up there with D.Va in an attempt to bump him off.

Dallas’ final charge nearly feel apart before it reached the point, with Muma on Winston exploding into their ranks and taking out the supports with a Primal Rage. Seagull and Effect made it onto the point, only to get manhandled by Houston’s tanks and supports.

In order to win the map, Dallas had to hold Houston to point A but LiNkzr on Widowmaker had other plans. With two headshots, he took out both Dallas supports, effectively destroying the defense with two clicks and a reload. After point A, the Outlaws rolled right onto point B and once again LiNkzr opened up the field with a quick headshot pick. It took only a few seconds for Houston to gain the one tick they needed to take the map.

Map Score: Fuel 1, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 2

Map Three: Oasis

After taking halftime to regroup, Dallas and Houston went back at it on the control map. This time, it was Seagull on the Junkrat that helped Dallas take control of the point first (taking out Jake on Genji, no less). But Jake was undeterred, rearing back with an extremely effective Dragonblade. With Houston’s control meter at 99 percent, Dallas mounted one final attack that ended up faltering under Genji’s reflects and Rawkus’ Zenyatta orbs.

With Houston one more objective away from taking the series, the teams moved to City Center. As before, Dallas took the point first. But once again, a Jake Dragonblade sent the Fuel packing, with a Valkyrie not even enough to bring back every Dallas member that fell. Jake went so far as to push the remaining Dallas members into the dangers of traffic, himself falling to a passing car. On the Fuel’s next push, Mickie attempted to swing things back in his team’s favor with a Whole Hog, but even as he was trying to gain ground Muma and Jake took out the rest of his team around him.

Just like that Houston secured their second win of the week and their place as the Overwatch League team in Texas.

Map Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 3

Map Four: Eichenwalde

Going into the last map of the series, Taimou subbed in for Seagull. And on attack first, Taimou on McCree ended up wiping the map of anyone in neon green. Dallas quickly took the first objective and started the payload rolling. Unsurprisingly, Jakerat struck again soon after, killing Effect with a Riptire. Dallas took a moment to regroup and mounted a strong attack, almost coming out on top after making key picks. However, they did not stop LiNkzr’s McCree, who mercilessly hammered down any Dallas member he could find.

With the payload stalled underneath the archway halfway between the first and second objective, Taimou switched to Widowmaker, desperate to get a kill that would give his team the advantage. Unable to do so, the clock ticked down into overtime. Jakerat smartly used one last Riptire to zone Dallas away from the payload, burning the Fuel’s last chance to make forward progress.

Houston’s first attack was unsuccessful thanks to Taimou on Junkrat, completely owning the enclosed spaces around the archway with his mines and grenades. The Fuel was able to make the objective a contest up until Jake unleashed a damage-boosted Rocket Barrage behind Dallas’ shields. But the Fuel came back strong, diving on top of the payload and driving the Outlaws back behind the gate.

Next: Overwatch League, Week 2 recap: Houston vs. Shanghai

Once again it was Jake who finally opened up the path to the goal line. While his Dragonblade only got one elimination, it forced out a Dallas support ultimate. With the Fuel already giving ground, Coolmatt followed up with a two-kill Self Destruct that let Houston cruise right on through to a clean sweep.

Map Score: Fuel 1, Outlaws 2

Final Match Score: Fuel 0, Outlaws 4

Player of the Match: Jake, Houston Outlaws