RESULTS: Houston Outlaws Avoid Upset With Reverse Sweep Against Florida Mayhem

The Houston Outlaws came into today's match with a record of 9-6 and in 5th place in the Overwatch League. Suffering a 0-4 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Valiant earlier in the week, Houston was looking to end Week 3 with a momentum building victory. The Florida Mayhem entered today's match with a record of 1-13 and in 11th place in the league. Looking to double their season win total with a win over Houston, Florida was motivated to stage an epic upset. Here is a short breakdown of how the match went. 

Hanamura was up first and saw offensive fireworks from both teams. The Houston Outlaws and Florida Mayhem would both capture each control point in their attack rounds to force a 2-2 tie. Playing some of the best Overwatch they have shown this season, the Mayhem were able to capture both Point A and Point B in their second attack round to bring their score to four points. Continuing their impressive play, Florida was able to build a formidable defense to prevent the Outlaws from capturing both control points in their second attack round. This gave the Florida Mayhem the 4-3 win on Hanamura and the 1-0 lead in the match. Superb numbers from the trio of Johan "CWoosH" Klingestedt (36 eliminations, 13,865 damage blocked and 12 deaths as Winston), Tim "Manneten" Bylund (36 eliminations, 12,664 damage blocked and only nine deaths as D.Va) and Andreas "Logix" Berghmans (41 eliminations, 20 final blows and only nine deaths as Tracer) were the driving forces of Florida's victory.

Lijiang Tower was the following map, and once again the Florida Mayhem were able to outplay the Houston Outlaws. Preventing Houston from capturing a single hill, Florida was able to use the strong performances of Manneten (22 eliminations, 11,907 damage blocked and only four deaths as D.Va) and CWoosH (20 eliminations, 13,204 damage blocked and only six deaths as Winston) to capture the first two hills and take the 2-0 win on Lijiang Tower. Surprising everyone, the Florida Mayhem took a 2-0 match lead going into halftime.

Florida and Houston traveled to Hollywood for the third map of the match. The Mayhem were not able to completely ride the momentum they built in the first half, as they were only able to collect one point in their attack round. This allowed the Houston Outlaws to get back into the match, as they were able to capture the payload and deliver it to the first checkpoint to secure two points and the win on Hollywood. This would cut Florida's lead to 2-1 heading to the fourth map. Matt "Coolmatt" Lorio (18 eliminations, 9.476 damage blocked and only three deaths as D.Va) and Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin (18 eliminations and only four deaths as Widowmaker) would be instrumental in getting the Outlaws back into the match.

Needing a win to force a match deciding map five, the Houston Outlaws looked to have a strong performance on Watchpoint: Gibraltar to avoid collecting their 7th loss of the season. Florida did their best to build a strong lead in their attack round, as they were able to deliver the payload far enough to collect two points, but were not able to complete the map. Seeing a chance to tie the match, Jake "Jake" Lyon would go on an 16 kill streak with Genji that would end up being the driving force for Houston to deliver the payload to the very end and complete Watchpoint: Gibraltar. Tied 2-2, the Houston Outlaws now had a chance to complete the reverse sweep. The tank duo of Coolmat (32 eliminations, 11,212 damage blocked and only six deaths as D.Va) and Austin "Muma" Wilmot (35 eliminations, 18,601 damage blocked and only five deaths as Winston) were also instrumental in Houston evening the score.

Ilios was the final map of the match and would decide if a major upset was going to be completed or avoided by a reverse sweep. It would be the latter, as the Houston Outlaws were able to fend off the upset minded Florida Mayhem. Houston was able to capture the first two hills to take home the 2-0 win on Ilios and the 3-2 match victory. 

Muma was named the player of the match, as his high level Winston play helped the Houston Outlaws complete the reverse sweep against a determined Florida Mayhem roster. The Outlaws' tank player finished with 121 eliminations, 57,443 damage blocked, 42 final blows and only 21 deaths.

With the win, the Houston Outlaws improved to a record of 10-6 and avoided being on the wrong end of a major upset. The loss dropped the Florida Mayhem to a record of 1-14 and prevented them from collecting a statement win for Stage 2. 

Interested in more Overwatch League coverage? Check out our recap of the Philadelphia Fusion and New York Excelsior match from earlier today.

(cover photo courtesy of Robert Paul via Blizzard Entertainment)