Houston Outlaws ‘Up the Ante’ for Stage Two

Resuming the inaugural season with stage two of the Overwatch League, changes to the game and changes within rosters bring an exciting, new challenge. Team composition changes had to be made after the patch update including the dreaded “Mercy nerf”, and the Outlaws were no exception.

Last week, we saw Outlaws’ main healer, Bani, choose Ana over his usual Mercy, and even get subbed by Boink on Lucio-centric maps. Healers weren’t the only ones affected of course, as Zarya-centric maps like King’s Row and Lijiang Tower subbed off-tank player Spree for coolmatt. The Outlaws DPS seem to have a pretty even rotation now with Clockwork, LiNkzr, and JAKE, but we are yet to see Mendokusaii take the stage. In a tweet following the match on Saturday, Mendo told his fans, “[I’m] going to sit patiently and wait for my time… there’s no need to force me in when things already work”. However, the most exciting change to the roster is the addition of a new tank player, FCTFCTN, who played alongside 3 other Outlaws at the Overwatch World Cup 2017. We’ve yet to see him on stage, but his contract has officially been approved.

Regardless of the changes, one fact has remained: The Outlaws came to win. Two important victories occurred within the first week of stage two. On Thursday, they defeated the stage one winners, London Spitfire. Watching from home, I felt their performance started lackluster, but they showed the resilience and perseverance to beat the top team in the League. To finish the weekend strong, Outlaws swept the Boston Uprising in a 4-0, giving them an optimistic look at Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Fusion.

(above) Houston Outlaws’ team and management taken from @OutlawsOW on Twitter