New York Excelsior vs Houston Outlaws

No one's quite sure what to think about the Houston Outlaws. Their level of play is seemingly indefinable as it fluctuates and shifts and changes seemingly overnight. On a whim, as they say. One day they'll come out swinging and take down a tournament favorite. Then, just a few mere hours later, they'll struggle against a bottom-feeder.

Making sense of it all is not only a fool's errand but probably impossible, too.

Their regular season record is quite deceiving, too. With seven wins and three losses to their name (alongside a +7 map differential), you'd think that they'd be fighting for a spot near the very top -- that they'd be trading blows with the Gladiators and Shocks and Fuels of the world. That, however, hasn't been the case. They always dropped the ball whenever it mattered most which is why so many people consider them a dangerous mid-tier gatekeeper that can, at times, overperform; nothing more, nothing less.

We cannot, however, question their talent. They've also grown quite a bit over the last few weeks, too. And, well, you don't get to be 7W-3L without doing *something* right. They've won four of their last seven games, with their only losses coming at the hands of LAG and San Francisco.

Their wins, however, are a lot more telling: they took down Toronto, Washington and even Atlanta, too. That's quite impressive overall, and if they can with their forthcoming two matches -- and, let's face it, they're almost guaranteed to -- they'll improve to an even more impressive 9W-3L and, in doing so, basically solidify their spot in the Midseason Madness tournament.

They're the better team and have many more tools to work with when compared to NYXL, so our choice here is rather clear.