OWL Summer Stage: Houston Outlaws fall apart, lose 3-0 to Florida

Kicking off the OWL Summer Stage Qualifiers, the Houston Outlaws were unable to keep up its tournament momentum from the spring and fell 3-0 to the Florida Mayhem. Houston spent the series playing off its back feet, constantly looking disorganized. For a team that the entire commentary desk picked to win the Outlaws certainly didn't play the role.

The loss included strange attempts at counter-picks and poor Ultimate economy. While the Outlaws attempted a last stand on Circuit Royale, it wasn't enough to avoid an 0-3 to kick off the split. This is Houston's second loss in a row if we're including their loss to the Atlanta Reign in the Spring Stage Grand Finals.

This first OWL match of the new split was hallmarked by a lack of coordination by the Houston Outlaws. The problems began with choice of composition, playing unlikely Heroes when forced into a corner. Houston wasted multiple Ultimates, including two Dragon Blades during a panic Genji pick.

Part of this discord for the Outlaws may have been a fantastic first match of the split by Florida main tank Jeong-Wan 'Someone' Ham. Playing multiple tanks and taking advantage of a meta that looks to be splitting from Sombra, Someone bullied the Outlaws DPS. On the back of this performance are team MVP numbers for Someone, including an average of 12 eliminations and 9K damage on map three.

One of the top OWL teams in spring, the Houston Outlaws looked as disjointed as they did in 2022. Is the meta shifting out of their favor, was it first match jitters, or a sign of something worse? We won't know more until we see them play again on Saturday against the bad-luck Boston Uprising.

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