Not Houstonable: Outlaws get revenge 3-0 win over Gladiators in Spring Stage

No memes today: The Houston Outlaws of predicted legend leapt off the page and onto the win column against the Gladiators today with a 3-0 victory. This Outlaws and Gladiators match marks the start of the Spring Stage for both teams. The two teams faced each in the Pro-Am West tournament last month, with the Gladiators knocking the Outlaws out of contention.

The story of that encounter was the Gladiators' dominance in the Winston/Ramattra matchup. The same cannot be said today, as MVP tank Lee "Fearless" Eui-Seok showed why is one of the best. Fearless dominated as Winston throughout the day while Los Angeles tank Dante "Danteh" Cruz couldn't find an answer.

Bend, but don't break. Flexibility is usually the prime strength of a Los Angeles Gladiators team that found ways to win multiple times in the pre-season. However, that same flexibility became a weakness today as the stalwart Fearless bent the Gladiators to his Winston-based will. Danteh Hero-swapped multiple times today and never quite found an answer to the best tank and two of the best supports in OWL.

And it isn't like Danteh didn't try. Throughout the series he played Winston, Zarya, Junker Queen, and Ramattra, to no avail. Part of that was because of the Outlaws star Sombra player Jeong "Happy" Woo Lee. Happy was able to stall out the Gladiators on multiple maps, averaging only 1.5 deaths per ten minutes as Sombra.

This stalling became crucial on the final map of Shambali. It looked as though the Gladiators were about to wake up on the back of a Zarya/Reaper composition to combat Winston. However, poor Ultimate economy and key eliminations from the Houston support line led to a 3-0 victory for the Outlaws.

The Houston Outlaws will play again on Saturday against the other Los Angeles team. Meanwhile, the Gladiators next Spring Stage match is on Sunday against the Toronto Defiant.

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