Dallas Fuel vs Houston Outlaws

Finally, to close out the week, we have a fantastic, age-old rivalry: Dallas Fuel vs. Houston Outlaws, the Texan el clasico! On the one hand, there's a lot to like with this match-up. On the other, it won't exactly give us with the most insane, top-tier Overwatch possible, but it won't disappoint either.

With so much pride on the line, we should see both challengers on their absolute best behavior. But before that happens, let's take a closer look at where they've been and how they looked in the recent past. Houston, on paper, has more momentum coming into the series in no small part because of their 4W-6L record. That said, they didn't have the toughest of opposition up to this point. They've lost to Florida Mayhem and Washington Justice mid-February (two embarrassing losses all things considered), followed by two equally abysmal showings against Boston Uprising and the New York Excelsior. March was a bit more favorable as they took a win over Toronto -- a much necessary uptick in performance after going the distance with the Spitfire just a day earlier.

Things then improved quite a bit and in the nick of time, as well. They followed up with a very clean showing against Paris, before yet again beating Toronto. So, schedule-wise, the Outlaws had a fairly meek success rate even with second-rate opposition. They went 1-1 with Paris and Boston, with two wins over Toronto giving them at least some semblance of optimism for the future. Their play is all over the place. The entire League upgraded quite a fair bit during the off-season and Houston, frankly, didn't change as much as they needed to. As things stand -- even in this improvized online-only variant of OWL -- they're one of the worst teams in the League and will probably remain at their current power level for the foreseeable future. A couple of unexpected upsets might come and go, but as a whole, 2020 has been a resounding disappointment for the Outlaws.

Dallas, on the other hand, started off as badly as they could back in February by dropping both matches against the Los Angeles Valiant and San Francisco Shock during their Dallas homestand. It was a rough prelude, but it also set them up for growth and improvement. Well, *slow* growth and *slow* improvement. Still, better late than never. Their 2W-4L record doesn't do them any justice as it's much worse on paper. Dallas fought valiantly in most of their recent games and the fact that they only have two wins on the board isn't indicative of their actual power level -- they're deceptively dangerous and are more than capable of trading heavy blows with some of the best teams the League has to offer.

They've avenged their loss to the Valiant in week nine (an insane five-map brawl of a series), and they nearly got the upset over San Francisco Shock last week -- the reigning, defending champions, mind you! It was a spectacle from start to finish, with both teams going back and forth, giving it their all map after map. Dallas got the edge on Lijiang Tower before allowing the Shock to even things out on Rialto. Numbani was, then, a complete shocker as they full-held San Francisco without breaking a sweat, before failing to register even a single point on Hanamura. The final decider on Busan was, yet again, as exciting and nerve-racking as possible.

The fact that they lost in no way diminishes their efforts. On the contrary -- they've shown incredible growth in a very short amount of time. With a win over Houston they'll inch closer to equalizing their win-loss tally and starting the second half of the competitive season on neutral ground. They want to prove their worth, and getting a statement win over Houston will allow them to put everyone on notice. It might not be quick or commanding, but they should definitely be able to emerge victorious once all is said and done.