The 2019 Houston Outlaws season was the second season of the Houston Outlaws's existence in the Overwatch League (OWL) and their second under head coach Tae-yeong Kim. After finishing 22–18 the previous season, the Outlaws were looking to improve on their record and qualify for the season playoffs for the first time.
The Outlaws began the season winning three of their matches in Stage 1. The stage was capped off by a 1–3 loss to the Atlanta Reign that prevented Houston from qualifying for the Stage 1 Playoffs. Houston performed poorly in Stage 2, as the team did not claim a single victory in their seven matches of the stage. After the All-Star break, the Outlaws hit their stride, posting a 5–2 record in Stage 3 and qualifying for the Stage 3 Playoffs. However, lost to the Vancouver Titans 0–3 in the quarterfinals. A 1–3 loss to the London Spitfire in Week 3 of Stage 4 officially eliminated the Outlaws from season playoff contention. Houston ended the season on a 5-game losing streak to finish the season with a disappointing 9–19 record.
Preceding offseason
Player re-signings
From August 1 to September 9, 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. Outlaws elected to release three of its players, Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell, Lucas "Mendokusaii" Håkansson, and Matthew "Clockwork" Dias; Mendokusaii and Clockwork were moved to non-player roles with the team.[1]
Free agency
All non-expansion teams could not enter the free agency period until October 8; they were able to sign members from their respective academy team and make trades until then. On September 18, Outlaws traded GG Esports Academy player Yoo "Smurf" Myeong-hwan to San Francisco Shock in exchange for Dante "Danteh" Cruz.[2]
Regular season
Stage 1
The Outlaws opened their 2019 season with a match against the new expansion franchise Toronto Defiant on February 15. Despite taking the first two maps, Toronto was able to grab the second two to force a fifth tiebreaker map on Busan; the Defiant won that map as well – completing a reverse sweep – as the Outlaws lost 2–3.[3] Two days later, Houston faced the Boston Uprising. Similarly to their previous match, the series was tied up after four maps and went to a fifth tiebreaker map on Ilios. Houston was, again, unable to pull out a win, as they went on to lose by a 2–3 scoreline for the second game in a row.[4] For their second week of play, Houston first faced the Hangzhou Spark on February 23. Although the Outlaws were favored to lose the match, they took the first three maps of the match en route to a 3–1 victory, marking their first win of the 2019 season.[5] The following day, the Outlaws took on the 2018 regular season juggernauts New York Excelsior. Through the first three maps, Houston failed to claim a single point on any of the maps and only grabbed a single tick on the fourth, as the team was swept 0–4.[6]
In their only match of week three, Houston faced the Florida Mayhem. Supported by strong performances by Jake "Jake" Lyon and Dante "Danteh" Cruz, the Outlaws took the first three maps and dropped the fourth to claim a 3–1 victory.[7] The team only had one match in week four, as well, in a match against the winless Los Angeles Valiant. With the match tied up 1–1 after three maps, Houston was able to full-hold the Valiant on map four Route 66 to win the match 2–1.[8] Houston's last match of the stage was a must-win game against the Atlanta Reign to keep their Stage 1 Playoff hopes alive. After dropping map one Ilios and taking map two King's Row, the Outlaws were full-held on the third map Horizon Lunar Colony. Needing to win the fourth map Rialto to bring the match into a tiebreaker map, Houston failed to stop Atlanta's push from completing the map and were unable to complete it themselves, as Houston lost 1–3, eliminating them from playoff contention and ending the stage with a 3–4 record.[9]
Stage 2
Houston's first match of Stage 2 was in week two against the Stage 1 championsVancouver Titans on April 13. The Outlaws took the first map without letting the Titans take a single round, highlighted by a strong performance from Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin on Soldier: 76. However, they were only able to take a single point in the next three maps combined, causing Houston to lose the match by a 1–3 scoreline.[10] The team next faced the Philadelphia Fusion on April 19. Despite solid individual performances from the Outlaws' players, the team play was not as coordinated as that of the Fusion. Unable to claim a single map, Houston was swept 0–4 in the match.[11] Two days later, Houston took on the Shanghai Dragons. LiNkzr, again, performed well in the match, along with his teammate Austin "Muma" Wilmot, but the Outlaws were unable to win a single point in any map until the fourth map, which they still lost. With a 0–3 loss against the Dragons, Houston did not win a single map in week three.[12]
For week four, Houston traveled to the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas for the Dallas Fuel Homestand Weekend. Their first match of the weekend was against the Seoul Dynasty on April 27. Houston showed an overall better ultimate economy than in their previous few weeks of play but was unable to convert that into a map win, as they were swept 0–4.[13] Their next match, a day later, was against their in-state rivalsDallas Fuel. Houston, who had never lost to Dallas, split the first two maps 1–1 going into halftime. The Outlaws were unable to win the following two maps, however, and lost the match 1–3.[14] Looking for a win going into their final week of Stage 2, Houston first took on the Guangzhou Charge on May 2. The Outlaws dropped the first two maps to quickly go down 0–2 in the match, but after halftime, they were able to pick up wins on King's Row and Rialto to tie the match 2–2. Houston had not won a 5-map match in the 2019 season, and that trend would continue against the Charge, as they were not able to secure a win on Busan to lose the match 2–3.[15] The Outlaws' final match of Stage 2 was against the London Spitfire two days later. Houston was swept 0–4 by London, and ended the stage with a winless 0–7 record.[16]
Stage 3
The Outlaws faced the New York Excelsior in their first match of Stage 3. Houston was able to take the first map off New York, but the Excelsior managed to grab the second, tying the match up 1–1 going into halftime. Coming out of halftime, the third map was won by the Outlaws, while the Excelsior won the fourth, bringing the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map. Houston ultimately lost the fifth map, losing the match 2–3.[17] A week later, the team faced the Stage 2 championsSan Francisco Shock in a match Houston was heavily favored to lose. Like their match against New York a week prior, the game went to a fifth tiebreaker map; however, unlike their last game, Houston took down San Francisco and won the match 3–2. The win snapped both Houston's eight-game losing streak San Francisco's eleven-game winning streak.[18] The team carried that success over into their next match, as they were able to sweep the Boston Uprising 4–0.[19]
For their first match of week three, Houston took on the Paris Eternal. After going up 2–0 in the first half of the match, Houston was run over by Paris in map three. However, the Outlaws took map four to win the match by a 3–1 score, giving the team their first three-game winning streak of the season.[20] Houston's next match was three days later against the struggling Florida Mayhem, who were on a 15-game losing streak. After taking the first map, the Outlaws were edged out by the Mayhem in the next three consecutive maps, going on to lose the match 1–3.[21] The team looked to bounce back from their loss in their final two matches of the stage. The Outlaws first took on the Washington Justice on June 28. After winning the first map and tying on the second, the Outlaws won the final two to take the match by a 3–0 scoreline. Two days later, they faced the Toronto Defiant in their final match of the stage; the Outlaws took the match by a score of 3–1.[22] The Outlaws, who had a winless Stage 2, finished Stage 3 with a 5–2 record and secured a spot in the Stage 3 Playoffs.[23]
The Outlaws faced the second-seeded Vancouver Titans in the Stage 3 Quarterfinals on July 11. The series opened on Ilios; the Outlaws consistently lost team fights, even when they had a player advantage, as they lost the map to go down 0–1. The second and third maps, Eichenwalde and Volskaya Industries, saw similar results. The Titans created solid defenses, and despite solid Widowmaker play from LiNkzr, Houston was unable to win either two, losing the match 0–3.[24]
Stage 4
The Outlaws' first match of Stage 4, along with the first match with an enforced 2-2-2 role lock by the League, was against the Paris Eternal on July 25. Although Houston took the first map Busan convincingly, they were unable to take the following three and lost the match 1–3.[25] Two days later, the team took on the Los Angeles Gladiators. Behind stellar performances from Dante "Danteh" Cruz and Alexandre "SPREE" Vanhomwegen, the Outlaws took down the Gladiators by a 3–1 score.[25] Houston took on the Philadelphia Fusion in their first match of week two on August 2. Going into map four Havana, Houston was down 1–2. Both teams finished the map in overtime but Philadelphia was able to complete the map in their overtime round, leading to a 1–3 loss for the Outlaws.[26] Two days later, Houston faced the Atlanta Reign. The Outlaws were unable to contain Atlanda DPS Jun "Erster" Jeong throughout the match, as the Outlaws did not win a point on Lijiang Tower and were full-held on Blizzard World. Despite losing most of the match, Houston did not play Matt "coolmatt" Iorio or Jacob "JAKE" Lyon, as the team went on to a 1–3 loss.[27]
The team next faced the London Spitfire on August 10. Houston was dominated on the first map Lijiang Tower and narrowly lost the second map Volskaya Industries. Down 0–2, Houston needed a win on King's Row, the third map, but ultimately lost; after taking map four, Houston lost the match 1–3.[28] The loss eliminated the Outlaws from season playoff contention.[29] Now playing for pride, the Outlaws took on the red-hot Washington Justice the following day. Houston was still playing without JAKE, but managed to take the match to a fifth tiebreaker map. Unfortunately for the Outlaws, they were unable to take map five and lost the match 2–3.[30] The team's final match of the season was against the Chengdu Hunters on August 17. The Outlaws could not pull out a win after the match went to a fifth tiebreaker map, falling 2–3.[31]
Sale of the franchise
On June 12, Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), the parent company of Immortals and Los Angeles Valiant, acquired Infinite Esports, the parent company of Houston Outlaws and OpTic Gaming, marking the first major sale of any Overwatch League franchise.[32] By OWL rules, one company may not own more than one OWL franchise. Both Riot Games and Activision Blizzard approved the sale, but IGC must operate Valiant and Outlaws as entirely separate entities, with oversight by OWL representatives, until IGC sell the Outlaws.[33]
