Houston Outlaws vs Los Angeles Valiant

For our third match of the day we have a very interesting match-up between the Los Angeles Valiant and the Houston Outlaws.

Now for the Valiant this match has zero significance. They're already the number one team in the Pacific Division and have a playoff bye which means they don't have to tryhard too much. They can relax and test out the waters however that doesn't mean that they won't try to win.

The Valiant didn't enter their yesterday's match against London with a lot of focus however. They were coming in with a ton of momentum after taking New York down and yet they failed to put up a solid offensive against the Spitfire. They barely tied Blizzard World and then lost on Lunar Horizon Colony. The fact that they were down 0:1 at half-time was a shocker considering they had six wins and zero losses coming into that match.

But they displayed immense mental fortitude and managed to rebound and reverse sweep London for the win. It wasn't pretty in the beginning however as the match went on they kind of took matters in their own hands and with Agilities stepping up it wasn't hard to start dominating.

They were quick to adapt and change team comps on the fly and when they started on Lijiang Tower they had all the momentum in their favor as Agilities was able to kill both the opposing Zenyatta and Mercy in just a couple of seconds. When they got ahead they never let go and soon enough they looked like the Valiant that people expected to see in the first place.

Houston on the other hand remains an enigma however their solid showing against the Dallas Fuel does instill some confidence in Houston fans.

However if they want to retain their chances of reaching the overall season playoffs this is a must win game. It's not going to be easy, in fact the chances are incredibly slim - especially after the Gladiators won against New York - but it's not impossible. If they win against the Valiant tonight they have Philadelphia and New York next week. While both matches might not be that winnable they do have a chance, especially against the Fusion.

Sadly though it seems like this is where the road ends for the Outlaws. We're going with the Valiant on this one and with good reason. They are playing on a much higher level and they have more than enough tools to take Houston down tonight.