Another weekend of the OWL is in the books, this time from Houston. Here are some key takeaways from week 4’s games.
Houston’s first win
It looked like another losing weekend for the Houston Outlaws after a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat against the London Spitfire on Saturday. Things were looking grim in their second game after also losing their first map against the Toronto Defiant, and that’s when they finally got it together.
After losing Nepal, Houston came back on King’s Row to take the map 4-3. Then, they took Horizon Lunar Colony with a dominating defense on point A and Dorado. The crowd was behind them the whole way, which could make a strong case for having the home-field advantage.
Atlanta’s first games
The Atlanta Reign played their first games of the 2020 OWL season this weekend and finished 1-1. In their first match against the Toronto Defiant, they looked dominant. They took Nepal 2-0, kept the Defiant from taking point A on Blizzard World, and won Temple of Anubis 2-1.
They didn’t look so hot in their second match, however, losing 3-1 to the Paris Eternal. The losses on Busan and Dorado felt close and they won 2-1 on Hanamura, but they got stomped on King’s Row and ultimately lost the match. Atlanta plays against Boston next weekend, which they need to win if they hope to prove any doubters wrong after the loss to Paris.
Other takeaways
The Philadelphia Fusion continued their roll in their game against Boston this weekend. They looked as good as ever, sweeping Boston 3-0. The Florida Mayhem lost both of their matches, one against the New York Excelsior and the other against the London Spitfire. The Spitfire looked solid, taking both wins, albeit only winning 3-2 against bottom-tier teams. Toronto looked awful in week 4 and will need to reevaluate their strategy.
The OWL will head back to Washington D.C. for Week 5. The Washington Justice went 0-2 in their homestand in week 3 and will look to turn things around against Boston and New York at home next weekend.
