Overwatch League Stage 2: New York Excelsior get big win over Houston Outlaws

Two of the top teams in the Overwatch League clash for a big Saturday match.

The Houston Outlaws came into this match after losing an extremely close game earlier in the week to the Philadelphia Fusion. It was their second loss since the very first week of the league, and the only one during regular season play. The loss stung, but didn’t dislodge Houston’s place as one of the premiere teams in the league.

Meanwhile, New York has been a giant of the Overwatch League since day one and that hasn’t changed. The Excelsior warmed up earlier in the week with a 4-0 sweep of the Boston Uprising, and showed no signs of letting up. But the Excelsior’s sworn enemy the London Spitfire, the only team that has been able to beat them twice, is a team that Houston has been able to beat twice. Would the Outlaws be able to make a statement by adding New York to their list of vanquished foes?

Map One: Volskaya Industries

New York started on defense first, with Saebyeolbe on his signature Tracer, Libero on Genji and Ark on Ana. Houston attacked with Clockwork on Tracer, and LiNkzr on McCree. Right away, both supports were felled for Houston, forcing them back. The Outlaws’ next attack also fell apart at the hands of Jjonak and Saebyeolbe.

With all pushes easily dealt with, Houston was down to one last push in overtime. Despite taking out Saebyeolbe and a couple of others on the Excelsior, the Outlaws were unable to sustain their presence on the point as Jjonak rained down orbs from the high ground on the side of the objective. Houston’s last hope rested in Muma in the midst of a Primal Rage, and that only lasted so long before he was downed as well.

Switching sides, New York only needed to take about half of the point to win the map. LiNkzr went Widowmaker in an attempt to get some crucial picks to break up New York’s attack. Aware of the Widowmaker, New York approached the point carefully, using rooms and corridors. It was the Excelsior who managed to strike first, taking out Rawkus. Coolmatt soon followed at the hands of Saebyeolbe. From there, the Outlaws fell wherever they were on the map and the Excelsior took the early lead in the series.

Map Score: Outlaws 0, Excelsior 1

Match Score: Outlaws 0, Excelsior 1

Map Two: Ljiang Tower

Starting on Control Center, Libero went Sombra and New York elected to go without the usual Zarya that comes out on this particular map. The Excelsior quickly overwhelmed the Outlaws and took control of the point first. As New York’s control point ticked up into the 70s, Muma on Reinhardt came up huge for the Houston, opening the point up with two kills.

New York came back onto the point with an EMP to start things off. Things seemed to be going well for the Excelsior, but the Outlaws were able to trade picks this time, holding strong on the point. Able to maintain control of the objective, Houston was able to build all the way up to 99 percent on the point. But even as the map went into overtime, Boink on Lucio and Jake’s Junkrat were taken out by New York. That would be enough to take the point back.

But as New York reached 99 percent themselves, Houston found a magic combination. With a Zarya Graviton Surge out on the point catching everyone, Jake notched a devastating Riptire right into the Excelsior group. That combination won the Outlaws the first point.

Moving onto Gardens, Libero’s Pharah helped New York take quick control of the point right away. After getting completely handled by first Saebyeolbe and then Libero, Rawkus found his footing on the map by taking out Libero’s Pharah himself. With the threat in the air neutralized, Houston made their way onto the point to flip it. The Outlaws stalled on the point for as long as they could before giving it up to the Excelsior.

Very soon, New York had 99 percent on the objective. In overtime, Houston threw everything they had at the objective, including another pick on Libero from Rawkus. But nothing in their arsenal was enough to get the point back, and New York took themselves the second point.

It was down to Night Market to decide the map winner. While Meko on D.Va helped position the Excelsior on the point to take the point first, Houston downed a couple of members of New York outside the objective, setting themselves up to come back to the point and take it. Their plans, however, were foiled. Meko was able to stall long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Those very reinforcements were able to take out LiNkzr, and New York maintained possession of the point.

Every Houston engagement looked nearly successful, but the turning point just never came. The Excelsior won the point and the map despite some very good gameplay from the Outlaws, going up by two in the series.

Map Score: Outlaws 1, Excelsior 2

Match Score: Outlaws 0, Excelsior 2

Map Three: King’s Row

New York set up with a dive composition on defense. Houston attacked with Muma once again on Reinhardt, Jake on Roadhog and Spree on Zarya, with LiNkzr following them up on Hanzo. Right away, Jake lumbered into the corridors on the side of the objective, making his way around to the high ground and getting a big hook on Ark. Muma followed, whacking away at Libero with his hammer, eventually taking him out. Rather easily, Houston took point A and got the payload moving.

As they started down the road, a Nano Boosted Saebyeoble was able to take out Jake. However, New York had to back track as Houston unleashed both a Graviton Surge and a Dragonstrike. Unfortunately, the combination only took out Janus on Winston. Even so, the payload made steady progress until just before the second checkpoint, where Saebyeolbe was able to stick a Pulse Bomb on Muma and take him out. That pick started the Houston retreat.

Coming back to the payload, Libero was taken out early. Muma extended the Excelsior’s disadvantage by charging forward and knocking Jjonak off the map while he was in Transcendence. After smacking Saebyeoble off the payload, Houston got the second checkpoint. From there, the Outlaws made huge progress toward the end of the map, with LiNkzr starting things off with an arrow into Ark. It was just a matter of time before Houston took out all New York members trying to stall and completed the map.

So New York had a tall order as they took up the mantle of offense. But they started off strong, with Libero on Hanzo taking out LiNkzr’s Widowmaker and Jake’s Tracer in quick succession. Very quickly, New York had the first point in their grasp while Houston regrouped in spawn.

Job done on Hanzo, Libero switched onto Pharah. Houston rallied behind Muma’s Reinhardt shield, and thanks to his expert Reinhardt play he was able to use an Earthshatter to severely impair the Excelsior. Houston followed up that ultimate with a big Graviton Surge that disrupted New York’s next push. In the end, Houston was able to take a large chunk of valuable time off of New York’s clock.

Finally, New York found a way to create a path for themselves and from there it was a relatively smooth push to the second checkpoint. After Jjonak nabbed a huge kill on LiNkzr’s Genji that stuffed LiNkzr’s available Dragonblade, the Excelsior were basically able to roll right through to the very end of the map, pushing King’s Row to time bank rounds.

Even though Houston had a very solid attack round, New York ended up with just over 15 more seconds in the bank. So Houston would attack first, using their same tank-heavy composition that they did the first time around. And once again, the Outlaws found success. Jake hooked and killed Saebyeolbe, and then followed it up with a kill on Libero. Even faster than before, New York was forced to give up the first point.

Facing much less resistance than they did before, New York scrambled to mount an attack before the payload reached the second checkpoint. Libero was able to get a two-kill Dragonblade that looked like it might help the Excelsior put the attack away but the Outlaws came roaring back. And thanks to a Dragonstrike from LiNkzr, Houston ended up being able to take the second checkpoint in overtime. Finally in the last section of the map, New York stabilized around the payload. With Rawkus falling first, the Outlaws faltered and their turn on the payload stopped.

With just over two minutes available to them, New York were tasked with matching Houston’s incredible second attack run. Right away, Jjonak took out Jake, Libero took out Rawkus and the rest of New York was able to pick off various members of Houston to take the first point very fast. But the Outlaws came rearing right back, with everyone plunging down onto the payload through the upper window in an attempt to contest. It was Houston’s try to stall New York for as long as possible as far away as possible from the finish line, but the eagerness may have been a bit overzealous as New York easily picked off every single member of the Outlaws.

With everyone gone, Houston was unable to come back in time to put together a hefty defensive hold prior to the second checkpoint, and Saebyeolbe did not help their case by sticking a Pulse Bomb onto Muma. With the payload nearly there, Houston threw everything but the kitchen sink at New York, but it was too little too late. New York pushed the payload home and took the guaranteed series win with them.

Map Score: Outlaws 5, Excelsior 6

Match Score: Outlaws 0, Excelsior 3

Map Four: Route 66

On defense, Libero played New York’s Sombra, a very useful hero for the first portion of this particular map. LiNkzr went Widowmaker, and started raining down bullets into the New York tanks with reckless abandon. Jake on Tracer zipped into the New York ranks, and was able to take Mano but was then taken out by Ark. Eventually, the Excelsior gained the upper hand in manpower and the Outlaws were forced to retreat.

Stopped again and again, Houston found themselves with one last push with LiNkzr was now on McCree. While their past pushes weren’t downright successful, each one had been able to nudge the payload closer and closer to the first checkpoint and Houston used this to their advantage on their last push. With everyone on the team very close on the payload, it didn’t take much for the Outlaws to be able to push it far enough forward to keep the attack alive.

Houston was able to push the payload about two-thirds of the way to the second checkpoint before New York pushed them back. Their next push was dismantled after Saebyeolbe landed a Pulse Bomb onto Boink. With almost no time left, Houston hustled onto the payload to contest in overtime. Libero dropped right on top of them with Dragonblade blazing. Boink went down first once again and the rest of Houston soon followed as the rest of New York closed in.

Having been denied the second checkpoint on the map, Houston now had to do the same to New York if they wanted to avoid a full sweep in the series. Boink looked for a moment like he would play Sombra for the Outlaws but he ended up going with Mercy, while LiNkzr went Soldier 76. New York moved forward with Mano on Roadhog, Libero as Reaper and Jjonak supporting with Moira. After realizing that Houston did not have a Sombra, Libero switched to Genji.

The Outlaws managed to build up nearly all of their ultimates by the next fight, and LiNkzr would use his Attack Visor to push New York back in a hurry. The Excelsior’s next push focused on dislodge LiNkzr from the high ground atop Big Earl’s, and while they were successful they lost too many members in the process and had to retreat once again.

Next: Overwatch League Stage 2: Philadelphia Fusion shock Houston Outlaws with reverse sweep

But New York’s next attack caught Jake first. Finally with an advantage, the Excelsior barreled through, reaching the first checkpoint on the edge of Libero’s Dragonblade. Moving into the second portion of the map, New York continued to roll right through, slapping members of Houston back as they tried to engage. With the payload nearly there, Muma jumped down onto it to start Houston’s stall. But it was only a matter of time before there were no more Outlaws available to hold the payload back from the finish line, and New York would complete their sweep of Houston.

Map Score: Outlaws 1, Excelsior 2

Match Score: Outlaws 0, Excelsior 4

Player of the Match: Ark, New York Excelsior

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