Houston Outlaws vs Florida Mayhem

For our third match of the day we have a clash between Houston Outlaws and Florida Mayhem. Now while this is by no means the match of week, it should be more than entertaining as both teams are looking to continue their winning ways.

Last week we saw Houston finally get into the win column with two dominant 4-0 wins. Their domination over the Shanghai Dragons was somewhat expected though, but their shellacking of Dallas Fuel? Not only was it quick - clocking in at under 90 minutes for all four maps (including pre and post-game segments), but it wasn't even enjoyable to watch regardless of your allegiance.

They were simply unstoppable against Dallas, starting off with their incredible defense on Junkertown where they didn't allow Dallas to take even a single point. It wasn't a pretty sight, as the Outlaws had the perfect strategy to completely shut down EFFECT who failed to do anything during the entirety of the series. (on both Tracer and McCree)

Perhaps most surprising was seeing just how good Jake's Genji was when it was needed the most. He put on a clinic on Oasis (26/8 Kill-to-death ratio), and even though he crashed into an explosive wall from Seagull, he managed to be the deciding factor with his eight "Dragon Blade" kills.

Overall, the Outlaws finally performed up to expectations, and up to their own potential. Whether or not that trend will continue remains to be seen but it's promising nonetheless.

As for Florida, they remained in good spirits throughout their tough losses and finally after three grueling defeats they managed to get their first win on the board - and in pretty dominant fashion. (albeit against a struggling Shanghai Dragons) They didn't give them any trouble on Dorado, with Shanghai being able to take just a single point. That trend continued onto Anubis and Ilios. Whatever the Dragons did well, Florida did better and needed less time to complete the task. With a better tank lineup in Cwoosh and Manneten, as well as two supports that are far more better and in-sync than Freefeel and Altering/Fiveking, the Dragons really couldn't do anything.

In the end, it wasn't easy for Houston to enter the second week on an 0-2 record and still perform this well. They weren't fazed by their previous shortcomings and they played some of their best games yet. They decided on their six man core (a fantastic one to boot), and they're working on further strengthening their synergy with each passing week. Looking at their two games this week, it is the perfect opportunity for the Outlaws to cement themselves as a Top 6 team for the time being. They have a ton of potential and fantastic players in every single role and have been highly praised by Seoul Dynasty who are still probably wondering how Houston managed to play such a good match in the preseason. (LiNkzr's fantastic defense on Junkertown and Jake's impenetrable mine wall on Lunar Horizon come to mind as key highlights)

Regardless of how well Florida played last week they shouldn't be able to put up too big of a fight. That said, TviQ and Logix should be able to keep things pretty competitive on certain maps, so expect an exciting four map scrap.