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Overwatch League, Week 5: Houston Outlaws stun London Spitfire with 3-1 win

By Christine Wang Dickson

Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment
Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment /
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A huge matchup with playoff implications closed out Thursday night’s Overwatch League games.

Who is going to the Stage 1 playoffs?

That’s the question on everyone’s mind as the first stage of the Overwatch League comes to a close. After the customary three matches during the afternoon on Saturday, the top three teams in the standings will get the chance to face off immediately in a series of elimination matches where the first and second place finishers walk away with serious cash prizes.

After their 3-0 victory against the Florida Mayhem on Thursday, the New York Excelsior became the first team to lock up a playoff spot. However, the two remaining teams that will join them are still very much in the air. With that being said, every game and every map counts for the teams still in contention. The London Spitfire, second in the current standings, and the Houston Outlaws, in sixth, both fall into that category.

Map One: Eichenwalde

Houston went on defense first, with Jake on his signature Junkrat and LiNkzr back on the active roster as Tracer. London attacked with birdring on Tracer and Profit on Genji. Quite quickly, London found Bani on Mercy, then Jake. Before long, the Spitfire had the first point and were moving the payload.

Houston fell back to defend on the rooftops above the archway, with Jake making it difficult for London to move forward without taking damage from his Junkrat. After about a minute of stall, the Spitfire did find the picks to make their way through. As the payload neared the castle doors, birdring got a big Pulse Bomb stuck onto Rawkus’ Zenyatta, causing the Valkyrie to be forced out. Fortunately, Houston withstood London’s onslaught which included a Profit Dragonblade that was quickly negated by Transcendence.

Houston bought as much time as possible poking forward to get individual picks that would force London to delay their push. As the Spitfire collected themselves to make a final push, Coolmatt sprung a perfectly placed Self Destruct that took out four members of London immediately. That late decimation put London in the desperate position of having to throw themselves at the payload as soon as possible to prevent overtime from ticking away. Gesture was able to fly in with a Primal Rage, but he wouldn’t be long for the world. Houston held the payload strong just short of the second checkpoint.

On attack, Jake remained on Junkrat and LiNkzr switched to McCree. London featured a countering McCree and Junkrat in birdring and Profit, respectively. The Outlaws struck true on their second push, with Jake able to get the pick on Closer’s Mercy.

Houston faced little resistance as the payload moved through the second portion of the map. Profit was killed early over and over, with Closer never far behind him. As the payload neared the goal line, London only had WooHyaL able to reach the payload in time. Unfortunately for London, the payload was so close to the finish line that as soon as WooHyaL was pushed away, the match was over. Houston had won.

Map Score: Spitfire 1, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Spitfire 0, Outlaws 1

Map Two: Temple of Anubis

Houston set up their attack on the lower platform, with Jake again on Junkrat and LiNkzr on his well-known Widowmaker. London attacked with Profit on Genji and birdring on Tracer, who was downed early in the Spitfire’s first charge forward. But as soon as London returned, they sent Gesture on Winston after LiNkzr on the high ground, immediately dislodging his position. Meanwhile, Profit and birdring went around to the right and dove onto the point. Very quickly, the Spitfire had driven the Outlaws off the objective and took control of it.

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Gesture fell during London’s first push onto the second point, which effectively ended it. Their next charge took down Jake, and even though they didn’t get too much else they did draw out Valkyrie, setting themselves up nicely for the next fight. But surprisingly, London’s next attack went poorly even after investing their Valkyrie, with birdring falling early again and then Coolmatt taking out two with a Self Destruct.

Every time London tried to push the point, a member or two of the team would get downed before they even got anywhere near the objective. London’s struggle to put together a clean engage persisted, but with less than a minute left their attack started well with a pick on LiNkzr. However, Jake immediately struck with a Riptire that took out Closer. Forced to back up once again, London made their final leap at point B as the clock hit overtime. And even as Gesture jumped toward Houston’s spawn to take out Jake, overtime surprisingly ran out. London had made the crucial mistake of not putting anyone actually on the point to prolong their overtime.

On attack, Houston’s first push went extremely well. LiNkzr on Widowmaker immediately got a pick onto HaGoPeun’s Zenyatta, and it opened the floodgates for the Outlaws to bully their way onto the point. Fury came back for London to try and right the ship, but a Muma Primal Rage took care of that.

Moving onto point B, LiNkzr made an immediate impact once again picking off Gesture and Fury. But the rest of Houston were repelled, so the Outlaws used the reset to make some changes. Jake switched onto Pharah and LiNkzr abandoned Widowmaker for Reaper.

These changes did not make an effect immediately. Just as Houston did on defense, London did a fair job of getting crucial picks early during Houston pushes that would force the Outlaws to stall. But eventually, Jake did build up his Rocket Barrage, and he unleashed it full force into the face of Profit. That was the signal the rest of Houston needed to jump into the fray. As Coolmatt and LiNkzr attempted to push London off the objective, Jake hunted down members of the Spitfire from the air. With nearly the entirety of Houston the objective, London’s respawns could only withstand so much damage before the reinforcements stuttered and fell away to give Houston a 2-0 lead in the series.

Map Score: Spitfire 1, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Spitfire 0, Outlaws 2

Map Three: Oasis

The two teams started off on University, with Jake on Junkrat and LiNkzr on McCree. Immediately, Jake took down Profit which allowed Houston to step right up onto the objective as it unlocked to take it first. But birdring was able to catch Jake in the back, followed by LiNkzr not quite connecting with Nus on Mercy with his Deadeye, and that was enough for London to flip the point.

London played Houston’s next push expertly, forcing out a Valkyrie that was essentially rendered useless as the Spitfire made sure to re-kill anyone that Mercy resurrected. But the next push saw Jake taking out two with his Riptire, and that boosted Houston to a point flip.

As control percentages tipped into the 80s, the point flipped twice more. Houston had the last laugh, pushing London back twice to burn away overtime and cap the point.

LiNkzr started City Center off the right way for Houston, helping to take out both London supports. And despite seemingly winning the next engagement, the Spitfire was unable to cleanly flip the point until Houston was already up to 80 percent, thanks largely to multiple members of the Outlaws stalling on the point time and time again.

In an attempt to stop Houston’s push before it began, birdring tried to slash through Houston’s ranks with a Dragonblade. However, he ran into the tank of Coolmatt, which was ultimately his doom as Coolmatt went into Self Destruct mode. That opened things up for the Outlaws to retake the point, and from there they never let it go. Houston went up 3-0 and officially secured the series win.

Map Score: Spitfire 0, Outlaws 2

Match Score: Spitfire 0, Outlaws 3

Map Four: El Dorado

With the win already in the bag, Houston looked to get the clean sweep. A 4-0 would draw them even with London in map deferentials, a crucial stat that would give them the upper hand when it came down to official standings.

Houston defended with Jake once again on Junkrat and LiNkzr farther back on Widowmaker. Sitting on the high ground above the checkpoint, LiNkzr found Profit’s Genji not once but twice after he was resurrected, effectively push London back. Jake also contributed his part by taking out Nus, and then stalling London further by finding Gesture with a Riptire.

With a minute on the clock, birdring found both Houston supports. And with Profit hunting down and killing Jake in the backline, London was able to take the first checkpoint. From there, the Spitfire was able to make steady progress forward as Profit consistently threatened the members of Houston on the high ground with the possibility of his Dragonblade. By the time he used it, however, the support of his team was no longer around him and he would drop without much fanfare.

Again with time running low, London barreled their way to the payload flawlessly, mowing over Coolmatt early, then taking out Bani and LiNkzr even as he triggered his Dragonblade. The Spitfire would take the second checkpoint, but they soon found themselves in overtime as the payload moved on. This is when LiNkzr finally got an effective Dragonblade in the corridors of the last section of the map. With the support of a Valkyrie, Houston outlasted London and held them short of the last point.

On attack, the Outlaws had Jake stay on Junkrat and LiNkzr stay on Widowmaker. London had their own Junkrat and Widowmaker in Profit and birdring, and it was birdring who won the Widow duel first. Unable to make a play before Jake dropped, Houston had to pull back. But Jake did get a kill onto Profit to start the Outlaws’ next push while LiNkzr took the win on the next Widow duel. Those picks helped Houston’s tanks to bust the payload forward and late ultimates triggered by London did not make a difference as the first checkpoint was reached.

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Very quickly, the payload made its way forward, only getting snagged as it started to round the corner toward the second checkpoint. Jake, now on Tracer, and Coolmatt were able to open the area up around the payload, but instead of putting bodies on it to push it forward Houston committed themselves to trying to take out the remaining, retreating members of London. That became a huge mistake, as it allowed the Spitfire respawns to get back to the payload, taking out Bani in the process. Without the healing, Houston found themselves suddenly vulnerable and at a disadvantage. And unfortunately for Houston, they did not have enough time on the clock to regroup and re-attack the payload. Even as the Outlaws tried to make their way back, overtime burned away to prevent the 4-0 sweep.

Map Score: Spitfire 2, Outlaws 1

Final Match Score: Spitfire 1, Outlaws 3

Player of the Match: Coolmatt, Houston Outlaws