The Houston Outlaws struggle in the 2020 Overwatch League meta

Houston’s Overwatch League team has had a disappointing start to its season. They lost both of their first two matches with the lowest map win/loss ratio of any team. There has never been a meta that suited the Outlaws and 2020 is no exception. In the 2018 Dive meta, Outlaws preferred slower compositions and they never looked comfortable in the GOATs meta of 2019. This year they again find themselves missing key skills to excel in the current meta.

Here’s how the Outlaws are struggling in each of the three roles.

All statistics used in this article are taken from the Overwatch League Stats Lab. 

Damage

The two most-played Damage heroes in the current meta are Mei (84% playtime) and McCree (43%). Houston Outlaws are underperforming on both those heroes. The issue is that neither of their main Damage players specialize in these heroes. Both of Houston’s starting damage dealers, Jeffrey “blasé” Tsang and João Pedro “Hydration” Goes Telles are more known for their projectile and Doomfist play than Mei or McCree. 

What makes the decision to run blasé more puzzling is that one of the star hitscan players of the entire league, Jiri “LiNkzr” Masalin, is sitting on Houston’s bench.

Tank

The key issues with the Outlaws tank play is Muma overextending on Reinhardt, dying and leaving his team defenseless. Muma has the fourth-highest first death rate on Reinhardt (18%), and the Outlaws never win fights when Muma dies first. In a meta where McCree and Widow are so popular, the Outlaws can’t afford to lose their only shield tank this often. 

Support

The Outlaws have been running a variation on the current Lucio/Ana support meta. In an apparent throwback to GOATS, they frequently choose Brigitte instead of Ana. Only one other team has played Brigitte for more than 15 minutes, the Florida Mayhem. Shane “Rawkus” Flaherty performs better on the hero (in terms of eliminations, hero damage, and healing) for the Outlaws than Mayhem’s Jun-soo “Kris” Choi.

This could be a bold attempt to redefine the meta in Houston’s favor…  If it was working.