Overwatch League, Week 3: Houston Outlaws extend win streak with victory over Florida Mayhem

The Houston Outlaws are on a hot streak heading into week 3 of the Overwatch League.

Fresh off a big 4-0 sweep of the Dallas Fuel, Houston came into their first match of the week with confidence, their first winless week of the Overwatch League a distant memory. But while they might look and feel like a dominant team, their place in the league standings did not reflect that. Sitting at 2-2, they were solidly middle of the attack, which meant that the Outlaws’ work was far from over. They had to keep winning if they wanted to keep up with the likes of the Los Angeles Valiant and the Philadelphia Fusion.

Coming into this matchup, the Florida Mayhem seemed to be taking on the role of spoiler. With a 1-3 record, Florida had a ways to go if they wanted to make a significant impact in the league. However, there’s more than one way to make an impact. One would be to ruin Houston’s night and record.

Map One: Numbani

On attack, the Outlaws elected to go with a single support composition. Their first attack was nullified but the second was successful, less to do with them and more to do with Florida getting caught in the wrong position. With no one from the Mayhem to contest as the Outlaws were pushing the objective, Houston quickly took the point.

After pushing the payload for a bit, the Mayhem threw the Outlaws off the payload. This time, they made sure to take prime positioning right around the Outlaws’ spawn and was able to hold the payload for quite some time in that way. With around a minute and a half on the clock, Houston finally took control back and pushed the payload to the second checkpoint.

Florida held again on the last section of the map and with 30 seconds left, it was Houston’s last chance to push the payload to the end. Jake as Genji was never able to find the right time to use the Dragonblade, constantly getting eliminated prior to getting it off. It was the Mayhem who held strong.

On defense, it was Jakerat making his first appearance of the series. With LiNkzr on Widow, TviQ had to slowly make his way around the point to see if he could catch the Outlaws in the back. As soon as he missed his first rocket, it was over. Along with Coolmatt taking out two of Florida’s team, the Mayhem collapsed.

With just over a minute remaining, Florida finally made a successful push thanks to a big TviQ Dragonblade. Then it was Cwoosh with a hefty Primal Rage to literally drive Houston back and let Florida continue to push the payload. With the Mayhem close to the second checkpoint, another tussle occurred. It was a huge Jake Dragonblade that closed it out for the Outlaws.

Now with less than 30 seconds remaining, Florida made one last push. It looked almost like it would wilt immediately, with Jake taking out Cwoosh immediately. But the rest of Florida was able to get to the payload to contest it. With a Valkyrie on Houston’s side, however, it would be the Outlaws holding strong.

Map Score: Outlaws 2, Mayhem 1

Match Score: Outlaws 1, Mayhem 0

Map Two: Horizon Lunar Colony

Houston’s attack was very rapid and very successful. With LiNkzr leading the way on Widowmaker, the Outlaws not only took point A but cruised onto point B. And while that in itself is not too uncommon, it is uncommon for a team to immediately attack point B and win that initial fight. That’s exactly what Houston was able to do, thanks to LiNkzr staying on Widowmaker and getting some incredible picks, including one onto Zuppeh’s Mercy who had been roosting in the beams. Before the Mayhem had time to recover or make sense of the situation, the Outlaws had taken the second point.

The Outlaws looked just as impressive on defense. LiNkzr continued to terrorize as Widowmaker, but it was Houston’s ability to come back from a near team sweep to regain control of the point that was most impressive. Indeed, there was a moment in the battle where Florida had already dispatched some of Houston’s heaviest hitters, including the Orisa. But the Outlaws rallied right back instead of simply letting the Mayhem take the point. Houston would finish on defense with an impressive full hold.

Map Score: Outlaws 2, Mayhem 0

Match Score: Outlaws 2, Mayhem 0

Map Three: Ilios

Starting on Ruins, LiNkzr stayed on his deadly Widowmaker, able to take out the opposing Widow in Logix. However it was Florida who took the point first, allowing them to push way forward to badger the Outlaws as they attempted to regroup. TviQ on Tracer absolutely popped off, taking out Rawkus first, a quick two more and finished up on Muma, who looked as if he had already given up, knowing exactly what his fate would be.

However, with 99 percent on the board, the Outlaws switched the point in their favor. Florida’s attempt to retake the point looked nearly successful, but LiNkzr on Genji was able to push them back. Nothing the Mayhem could put together would budge the Outlaws, and Houston was able to steal point one.

Coming out on the Well, it was Jakerat leading his team to success and a first point take. LiNkzr on McCree was simply doing some poke damage when he turned to discover TviQ as his own McCree creeping up on him. LiNkzr flashbanged him immediately, but as he was about to finish TviQ, Coolmatt flew in, accidentally bumping TviQ back. That one action allowed TviQ to pick off Muma before falling to LiNkzr. That one pick started the Mayhem toward progress on taking the point back.

From there the Mayhem was able to build up 99 percent control until the Outlaws took it back. With still some room on the board, Florida approached the point carefully, even successfully avoiding a Jake Riptire. But when they did finally move to engage, it was LiNkzr that got the one crucial pick onto Zebbosai. Without their Mercy, Florida really had no legs to stand on as they continued with their attack and were the ones ultimately driven back to concede another map to Houston.

Map Score: Outlaws 2, Mayhem 0

Match Score: Outlaws 3, Mayhem 0

Map Four: Junkertown

On defense first, the Mayhem took an interesting approaching to their set up, with Zebbosai on the Sombra instead of taking the role of a second support. In the end, no composition would have been able to deny Jake’s arrows as Hanzo and Houston quickly moved through the first checkpoint.

From there, the Outlaws just kept rolling. They moved into the last portion of the map still in a Orisa and Bastion formation. It’s not until the payload was on the cusp of the end that the Mayhem made room for themselves to breathe by taking out the Outlaws’ supports. The respite they bought was temporary. Jake led the way for Houston with an Attack Visor, and with the picks coming in, all Florida had was the close spawn point and desperation. Soon enough, the Outlaws finished the map.

Houston decided to set their defense up very close to the payload, forcing Florida to fight for every inch. As the health meters started to fall, it was the Mayhem coming out on top. However, the advantage to the defense setting up so far up was that it would give the Outlaws a chance to come back and contest prior to the payload reaching the first checkpoint and that’s exactly what they did with a huge Jake Riptire ensuring they would be successful.

Next: Overwatch League, Week 3: Philadelphia Fusion upsets New York Excelsior

With time slipping away to less than 30 seconds, LiNkzr single-handedly locked the map down for Houston. Cool as water, LiNkzr executed three flawless headshots in succession as Widow, and with that the sweep was complete.

Map Score: Outlaws 3, Mayhem 0

Final Match Score: Outlaws 4, Mayhem 0

Player of the Match: LiNkzr, Houston Outlaws