The Houston Outlaws have found themselves in a very peculiar position in Season Two of the Overwatch League. One of the most visible teams— and owned by the CEO of esports powerhouse Optic Gaming — their players have appeared on everything from popular YouTube series to the Today Show. Yet, in Season Two, the Outlaws have yet to find their stride, currently winless in Stage Two of the season.

Transferred from the San Francisco Shock to the Outlaws between seasons, Dante "Danteh" Cruz is the newest member of the Houston team. Like many other DPS players in the League, however, he’s found himself playing a large amount of Zarya, a tank, coming into Season Two, as the season strongly favors the three-tank, three-support meta known as GOATs.

i do not like goats :[ ggs @Fusion — danteh (@danteh) April 20, 2019

“I don’t really like the current meta; I’m not really a fan of GOATs,” said Danteh in an interview with Twin Galaxies after a match. “I like playing DPS characters a lot. I think GOATs, is like, really boring. Especially since we’re not good at it, it’s hard to look good as a player, so it’s all-around not fun for me.”

If it were up to Danteh, the League would shift back to a meta that favored more balance between the roles. Season One of the Overwatch League saw teams often playing 2-2-2 (Two tanks, two DPS, two support), a meta that saw DPS players—especially high-mobility flankers like Danteh—as major playmakers, able to help carry a team by taking out high-value support targets. In such a meta, the Outlaws’ strengths could shine through.

“We’re a lot better at DPS; like a sniper meta,” confided Danteh. “Linkzr (Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin) is one of the best snipers in the League. I think everyone has their niche and good roles. Like, Jake (Jake “Jake” Lyon) is really good at Junkrat and Hanzo and, like, silly heroes. I’m really good at the flankers. Muma (Austin "Muma" Wilmot) is really good at all tanks, he can play like, everything.”

Despite this pool of talent, the Houston Outlaws have not been able to find their time in the sun. Over the past three months, they’ve only won 42.86% of their fights with the classic GOATs composition of Brigitte, Lucio, Zenyatta, D.Va, Reinhardt, and Zarya. However, with a little experimentation, the Outlaws have been seeing an uptick in their performance. According to Winston's Lab, even the swap of placing Danteh on Sombra and rotating out D.Va marks a nearly 8% chance to win the fight.

As we continue to see teams experimenting with different compositions to take on GOATs, we expect to see even more unique comps coming out, especially from teams with as deep of a hero pool as the Outlaws. However, some Overwatch League spectators don’t have the patience (or desire) for the Outlaws to figure it out.

(Photo Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)

“We actually have a lot of haters,” said Danteh. “There’s just like people that want to see us lose. It’s a little rough sometimes.”

Even the Overwatch League Casters have taken some shots. “Outlaws fans, dismayed, but they’re used to it,” said Christopher "MonteCristo" Mykles during Houston’s match against the Seoul Dynasty this past weekend.

We’re hoping to see the Outlaws quickly find their way out of this rut, but with only a week left in Stage Two, the team finds themselves out of Stage Playoffs contention. While getting a win or two before the stage ends would really boost morale, that may be a challenge as Houston still faces the unpredictable Guangzhou Charge (1-5) and the dominant London Spitfire (5-1).



(Header Photo Credit: Robert Paul for Blizzard Entertainment)