The 2019 Houston Outlaws season was the second season of the

Houston Outlaws The Houston Outlaws are an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Houston, Texas. The Outlaws compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, Houston Outlaws is one of the leag ...

's existence in the

Overwatch League The Overwatch League (OWL) is a professional esports league for the video game ''Overwatch'', produced by its developer, Blizzard Entertainment. The Overwatch League follows the model of other traditional North American professional sporting le ...

(OWL) and their second under head coach Tae-yeong Kim. After finishing 22–18 the previous season, the Outlaws were looking to improve on their record and qualify for the season playoffs for the first time. The Outlaws began the season winning three of their matches in Stage 1. The stage was capped off by a 1–3 loss to the

Atlanta Reign Atlanta Reign is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Reign compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, Atlanta Reign began play as one of eight ...

that prevented Houston from qualifying for the Stage 1 Playoffs. Houston performed poorly in Stage 2, as the team did not claim a single victory in their seven matches of the stage. After the All-Star break, the Outlaws hit their stride, posting a 5–2 record in Stage 3 and qualifying for the Stage 3 Playoffs. However, lost to the

Vancouver Titans The Vancouver Titans are a professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The Titans compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, the Vancouver Titans beg ...

0–3 in the quarterfinals. A 1–3 loss to the

London Spitfire London Spitfire is a professional ''Overwatch'' team representing the city of London, United Kingdom. The Spitfire compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, London Spitfire is one of the le ...

in Week 3 of Stage 4 officially eliminated the Outlaws from season playoff contention. Houston ended the season on a 5-game losing streak to finish the season with a disappointing 9–19 record.

Preceding offseason

Player re-signings

From August 1 to September 9, 2018, all Overwatch League teams that competed in the 2018 season could choose to extend their team's players' contracts. Outlaws elected to release three of its players, Russell "FCTFCTN" Campbell, Lucas "Mendokusaii" Håkansson, and Matthew "Clockwork" Dias; Mendokusaii and Clockwork were moved to non-player roles with the team.

Free agency

All non-expansion teams could not enter the free agency period until October 8; they were able to sign members from their respective academy team and make trades until then. On September 18, Outlaws traded GG Esports Academy player Yoo "Smurf" Myeong-hwan to

San Francisco Shock The San Francisco Shock are an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in San Francisco, California. The Shock compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, the San Francisco Shock ...

in exchange for Dante "Danteh" Cruz.

Regular season

The Outlaws opened their 2019 season with a match against the new expansion franchise

Toronto Defiant Toronto Defiant is a Canadian professional ''Overwatch'' esports team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Defiant compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) and are a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2018, Toronto began play as one of eigh ...

on February 15; the Outlaws lost 2–3. Houston finished Stage 1 with a 3–4 record and did not qualify for the stage playoffs. In Stage 2, the Outlaws faced their in-state

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

, the

Dallas Fuel Dallas Fuel is an American professional ''Overwatch'' team based in Dallas, Texas. The Fuel compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a member of the league's West region. Founded in 2017, Dallas Fuel is one of the league's twelve founding team ...

. Houston, who had never lost to Dallas, lost the match 1–3. The Outlaws ended the stage with a winless 0–7 record. In Stage 3, Houston found themselves in an eight-game

losing streak ''Losing Streak'' is the second studio album by ska punk band Less Than Jake, released on November 12, 1996 on Capitol Records. The album was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami, Florida and Mirror Image Studios in Gainesville, Florida, bo ...

; however, a win over the

snapped both Houston's losing streak and San Francisco's eleven-game

winning streak A winning streak, also known as a win streak or hot streak, is an uninterrupted sequence of success in games or competitions, commonly measured by at least 4 wins that are uninterrupted by losses or ties/draws. Although sometimes claimed as a ...

. The Outlaws, who had a winless Stage 2, finished Stage 3 with a 5–2 record and secured a spot in the Stage 3 Playoffs. The Outlaws faced the second-seeded

in the Stage 3 Quarterfinals on July 11; Houston was unable secure a map win and lost the match 0–3. The Outlaws were officially eliminated from playoff contention after a loss to the

on August 10.

Sale of the franchise

On June 12,

Immortals Gaming Club Immortals, LLC, doing business as Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), is a collective esports and gaming company. The company rebranded from Immortals to Immortals Gaming Club in 2019 after they acquired Brazil's Gamers Club. IGC owns and operates IGC E ...

(IGC), the parent company of

Immortals Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

and

Los Angeles Valiant Los Angeles Valiant (stylized as VΛLIΛNT) is an American professional ''Overwatch'' esports team representing the city of Los Angeles, California, although the team is operated in China. Valiant compete in the Overwatch League (OWL) as a memb ...

, acquired Infinite Esports, the parent company of Houston Outlaws and

OpTic Gaming OpTic Gaming is an American professional esports and entertainment organization headquartered in Frisco, Texas. The organization currently operates a ''Call of Duty'' team in the Call of Duty League, OpTic Texas, they also operate a ''Overwatch ...

, marking the first major sale of any Overwatch League franchise. By OWL rules, one company may not own more than one OWL franchise. Both Riot Games and

Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. (the publicly traded parent company of Activision Publishing) and Viven ...

approved the sale, but IGC must operate Valiant and Outlaws as entirely separate entities, with oversight by OWL representatives, until IGC sell the Outlaws.

Final roster

Standings

Record by stage

League

Game log

Regular season

Awards

On May 8, Dante "Danteh" Cruz was named as a reserve for the

2019 Overwatch League All-Star Game The 2019 Overwatch League All-Star Game was the second Overwatch League (OWL) All-Star Game that matched the top players in the Atlantic Division (ATL) against those in the Pacific Division (PAC). The game was played on May 16, 2019 at Blizzard A ...

References

{{Houston Outlaws 2019 Overwatch League seasons by team

Houston Outlaws seasons