Houston Outlaws vs Shanghai Dragons

For our first match of the day we have a fairly uneventful clash between the Houston Outlaws and the Shanghai Dragons.

The Outlaws are currently in a bit of a conundrum. They began Stage 4 at the best possible way - they demolished London Spitfire in 4-0 fashion and then outclassed Boston Uprising. Everyone thought this would be their meta, with Brigitte coming into the mix and Junkrat being more of a staple pick rather than a niche strategy for certain maps. They don't really have a solid Tracer player on their roster - Jake and LiNkzr can play her at an acceptable level but nowhere near as good as it should be - so the fact that they could run the main counter-comp and negate any dominant Tracer player like Striker or Profit was a huge boost.

Then something crumbled. After a fantastic showing on King's Row against the Gladiators they were completely outclassed on the next three maps and then two days later were 4-0'd by the San Francisco Shock. With such inconsistent results it's nearly impossible to predict whether or not they're a capable team right now as it really depends on the day. Are they well prepared? Will LiNkzr pop off or not?

Last week was an abysmal one for Outlaws fans as their team not only played sloppy as a unit but they failed to leave a mark on an individual level as well. Rawkus took a good portion of the blame and with good reason - his positioning and impact on Zenyatta was dreadful. That said they did show some signs of life here and there and the issues that plagued their play in week two could be fixed with some hard work in a week's time.

As for the Dragons, their only hopes are aimed towards beating Florida Mayhem in week four for that elusive first win. Other than that their regular season is essentially finished. To their credit they are playing better with each passing week. They gave Seoul a run for their money and even though they lost 4-0 it was far closer (especially in the first half of the match) than it looks. They failed to utilize their strengths, they never push their advantages nor do they make use of openings.

They're just too passive when it matters the most and other than a couple of sensational plays by Ado it was still a pretty mediocre showing.

If the Outlaws manage to get to twenty one wins they could actually stand a chance of reaching the playoffs. Their biggest chance is to tie with Seoul Dynasty (currently sitting at 1W and 4L) and then eventually beat them in a tie-breaker. It's a long shot overall, but it's possible. That means that they would have to win at least three of their next matches which is far from impossible.

They're up against Shanghai, Florida Mayhem and the Dallas Fuel. They would have to win all three in a row since their clashes with the Los Angeles Valiant, Philadelphia Fusion and the New York Excelsior probably won't go in their favor.

For Houston this is the definition of a must win. Sure, they're expected to come out and dominate regardless but they're fighting for that last important playoff spot and they don't have the luxury of dropping maps, especially not to the Dragons.