Overwatch League, Week 4: Seoul Dynasty defeat Houston Outlaws in close contest

The Houston Outlaws have looked strong, but are they strong enough for the Seoul Dynasty?

To date, the biggest surprise of the Overwatch League was when Seoul was completely swept by the London Spitfire. It was supposed to be a blockbuster, a close contest, a match guaranteed to reach a fifth map. But it ended up the exactly opposite of that, with the Dynasty not taking a single point period until the last map of the series. Was it because Seoul didn’t put ryujehong in their roster? Was it because London managed to find the chink in their armor?

Whatever the problem was, the loss caused them to slip out of the top slot in the standings. They’re now resting at fourth, just below their Friday night opponent: the Houston Outlaws. The Outlaws have come into their own over the past couple of weeks, but the more critical fans will be quick to point out that their victories have been solely against mediocre teams at best. Whether they’ve improved enough to be able to notch a win over a substantial opponent remains to be seen. Seoul would be their test.

Map One:  Eichenwalde

LiNkzr remained out for the Outlaws going into this matchup, having been out since Wednesday due to illness. Starting on defense, Houston put Jake on Tracer and Clockwork on Pharah, a hero that he normally does not play. Seoul attacked with FLETA on Pharah and Wekeed on Tracer. ryujehong was also back in action on Zenyatta.

The Dynasty struggled on attack, falling early and quickly at the hands of the Outlaws. Even when ryujehong downed Jake, Houston didn’t panic, responding with a cool Self Destruct kill onto Tobi, Seoul’s critical Mercy. It wasn’t until the clock ticked into overtime that the Dynasty found their firm footing on the objective and held onto the point just long enough to cap it.

Houston stalled Seoul again early on in the second section of the map, but FLETA on McCree cleared the way for the payload to get moving again. As usual, the Outlaws made their big stand outside the doors of the castle. In overtime, with his teammates falling around him, ryujehong got and used his Transcendence at just the right moment to sustain Seoul to the second checkpoint.

FLETA once again worked the members of Houston as the payload moved into the castle. But as they rounded the corner, Jake popped a Riptire, causing the entire Dynasty team to back away from the payload to wait it out. Indeed, the Riptire caught no one, but it did push the map into overtime. In desperation mode, Seoul jumped onto the payload but Zunba would quickly fall. Even after getting resurrected, Zunba fell again to a Coolmatt Self Destruct. A Transcendence and a Valkyrie ended up falling short for the Dynasty, and their attack ended short of the last point.

Houston came out on attack on fire, with Jake on Junkrat specifically targeting ryujehong. Very quickly, the Outlaws capped the first point and got the payload moving. However, Seoul flexed their defensive strength in the next section of the map, lording over the payload from their position on the archway. After two failed pushes, Jake got the perfect Riptire, taking out two Seoul players with one being the all-important Tobi, who had just triggered Valkyrie to boot.

Seoul would regain control of the payload just outside the castle doors. The stall ended up being lengthy but costly for Seoul, who invested a Valkyrie and a Primal Rage into the fight. As Houston started down the castle hallway, Jake scored a two-kill Riptire. But the Outlaws ended up having no time to celebrate, as Wekeed returned the favor with a two-kill Riptire of his own.

However, Jake did get the last laugh. Having been resurrected, Jake got another two kills with a mine, allowing the Outlaws to roll dangerously close to the goal line. From there all Seoul had were stall tactics, using everything in their arsenal. But by controlling Tobi, Houston found the kills they needed to win the map.

Map Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 3

Match Score: Dynasty 0, Outlaws 1

Map Two: Horizon Lunar Colony

Seoul went on attack first, running their composition with ryujehong on Sombra. Houston, however, didn’t fall for it. Coolmatt quickly took out ryujehong, causing Seoul to reset. During the next tussle, Houston was drawn off the high ground onto the point, which is what ryujehong wanted for maximum EMP effect, but when ryujehong actually activated it, Houston had already scattered from the point. Jake took out Miro and the push quickly petered out.

With the clock ticking down to zero, Seoul finally mounted a successful push. The Outlaws attempted to come back and contest, but this time the EMP would do its damage as it was combined with FLETA’s Dragonblade. After capping point A, the Dynasty switched FLETA onto Widowmaker for point B and it immediately paid off. With FLETA getting headshots from back in the shadows, Seoul was able to take two ticks on the second point before getting pushed back. But the Dynasty would very quickly get back on the point to clean up the last tick, and it is fortunate they did, since they only had 10 seconds left on the clock.

Houston attacked the first point with Jake on Tracer and Rawkus on Sombra. The Outlaws were much more successful at drawing Seoul immediately off the high ground, and very quickly were able to out-position and out-man the Dynasty.

Unfortunately for Houston, their first try at point B netted nothing despite going into the fight with four ultimates. Subsequent pushes were equally unsuccessful, one failing due to Jake getting cornered by FLETA and another getting flattened by a three-kill Riptire courtesy of Wekeed.

With a few more rejections, Houston arrived for their final push. Zunba ensured that it started off terribly by immediately getting two kills from his Self Destruct. Bani would pop Valkyrie, but he couldn’t do much about Wekeed then getting a two-kill Riptire. After that, the rest of Houston dropped one by one to give Seoul the equalizing win.

Map Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 1

Match Score: Dynasty 1, Outlaws 1

Map Three: Ilios

The map opened on Lighthouse, and thanks to a quick pick on Rawkus as Mercy Seoul took the point first. With the point in hand, FLETA felt free to rain down rockets as Pharah, including a point-blank elimination on Clockwork’s opposing Pharah. Except for a quick second where Houston had control, this point was all Seoul. FLETA easily held court over the map, dominating Clockwork and cleaning out the point with a Rocket Barrage when the Outlaws came in for their final push. Easily, Seoul took the first point.

FLETA started off big on Ruins as well, immediately taking out Boink as Mercy. But when the point unlocked, Houston was able to get three eliminations in their favor and took the point first. Seoul flipped the point thanks to a two-kill Self Destruct from Zunba, but Houston stall tactics were able to rack up 64 percent before giving up the point.

After a few unsuccessful attacks, Houston used many of the ultimates they had built up to retake the point with Seoul up to 95 percent. As the Outlaws hit 99 percent, the Dynasty stole the point away. Zunba once again got a kill with his Self Destruct onto Jake and even with Rawkus on the point trying to keep everyone up with Transcendence, it wouldn’t be enough. Houston faded away to give Seoul a quick two-point sweep on Ilios.

Map Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 0

Match Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 1

Map Four: Junkertown

Houston set up on attack first behind Muma’s Orisa shield, Clockwork on Widowmaker and Jake on Junkrat. Seoul came out of the gate with ryujehong on Roadhog and Wekeed on Junkrat as well. Jake would get the first big play with a Riptire within seconds of the map starting, winding it around to take out Meko and ryujehong. But FLETA unhesitatingly wiped that gain from the map with four quick Widowmaker headshots, allowing Seoul to cruise to the first checkpoint.

The Outlaws threw themselves in hastily in front of the checkpoint in an attempt to contest it, but the fight was essentially wasted because the Dynasty had already taken the point. As Houston withdrew to regroup, FLETA was able to take a favorable position on the high ground as the payload moved into the next section. While things looked frightening for the Outlaws at first, Houston was able to boop FLETA off the high ground. Then it was a matter of Jake getting a couple of Junkrat kills to fend Seoul off.

With Seoul regrouping, it was Houston who took the high ground instead. The Outlaws were able to hold back the Dynasty for only a beat, but it was enough to make the task of making it through the last part of the map quite the challenge for Seoul.

Indeed, the Dynasty struggled to get anything going in their first few attempts, even with ryujehong attempting to use his Transcendence to try to keep pushes going. Jake did a fantastic job of locking down FLETA, killing him both pre- and post-resurrection. However, the Dynasty got more than enough breathing room when Wekeed landed a deadly three-kill Riptire into Houston’s backline.

As the Dynasty moved toward the end, Houston dove back onto the payload. With a first pick onto Tobi, the Outlaws managed to outlast the Dynasty, supported by Rawkus’ Transcendence. The support ult negated FLETA’s Dragonblade and Seoul was stopped short.

Despite some early setbacks, Houston was able roll relatively unhindered to the first checkpoint on attack. As the payload moved into the second portion of the map, Jake and Coolmatt pushed aggressively forward and Seoul paid the price. First Coolmatt took out FLETA, then Jake came in with a four-kill Riptire. The payload reached the second checkpoint untouched by Seoul.

With over five minutes on the clock, Houston started down the home stretch. The Outlaws were able to get some distance toward the end, but the Dynasty doubled down, pushing them back several times. But with such a huge time advantage, Houston had plenty of time to reset and re-attack. With a big Riptire from Jake that got both FLETA and Tobi, Houston cleaned up and Seoul didn’t have enough time to get back to the payload to stop them.

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Map Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 3

Match Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 2

Map Five: Lijiang Tower

The Overwatch League’s dreams came true as the series moved to the tiebreaker map. FLETA did come out on Gardens raining rockets as Pharah, but it was Boink playing most aggressively for Houston, wildly attempting to get environmental kills every chance he got. But Seoul would get on the objective first, forcing Houston to withdraw.

Unfortunately for the Outlaws, Houston was never able to get back onto the point. Over and over they were repelled, largely due to the threat FLETA posed as he loomed over everyone in the skies. Clockwork on a Pharah of his own was no contest, and very quickly Seoul wrapped up the point.

Moving onto Night Market, Houston got off to a fantastic start thanks to Jake getting an early pick onto Munchkin. Jake then bought Houston even more percentage as he slipped in quietly to take out two in Seoul’s backline. Houston would ultimately give up the point when both supports fell, but Muma managed to stall Seoul with a Primal Rage to build up even more percentage.

The Outlaws did not hesitate to come right back to flip the point and suddenly, they were up to 99 percent. Seoul managed to get it back but invested a lot into the fight, including a Valkyrie. Houston confidently pushed onto the point again, and even with Jake falling early, the Outlaws had no trouble picking up all the kills they needed to take the point.

So the map went to a third and final point: Control Center. Zunba was able to propel Seoul to an early point take with his legendary Zarya capabilities. Houston did mount a huge push, but even as it seemed that only heroes in green were on the point Seoul never truly stepped off the point. Because the Dynasty kept contesting the objective, it never flipped and this held true until all their respawns came back into play. Back in action, Zunba went in on anyone within range, cutting everyone down.

With time for one final push, Houston barreled onto the point only to get caught in a Graviton Surge. Wekeed then proceeded to deliver the killing blow by slipping a Riptire right into the suspended Outlaw players. With this devastating blow, Houston’s chance to flip the point and get the upset came to an end.

Map Score: Dynasty 2, Outlaws 1

Final Match Score: Dynasty 3, Outlaws 2

Player of the Match: Zunba, Seoul Dynasty