2020 Houston Outlaws season
# 2020 Houston Outlaws season

The 2020 Houston Outlaws season is the third season of the Houston Outlaws's existence in the Overwatch League (OWL). The Outlaws planned to host two homestand weekends at the Revention Music Center in Houston's downtown Theater District. While their first homestand took place, all other homestand matches were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Outlaws failed to make it past the quarterfinals in each of the three midseason tournaments of the season. Houston ended the season with a 6–15 record and were eliminated from postseason contention on September 3 after a 1–3 to the Boston Uprising in the North America play-ins tournament.

## Preceding offseason

### Sale of the franchise

On June 12, 2019, Immortals Gaming Club (IGC), the parent company of Immortals and the Los Angeles Valiant, acquired Infinite Esports, the parent company of Houston Outlaws and OpTic Gaming, marking the first major sale of any Overwatch League franchise. By OWL rules, one company may not own more than one OWL franchise; while Riot Games and Activision Blizzard approved the sale, IGC operated Valiant and Outlaws as entirely separate entities, with oversight by OWL representatives, until they sold the Outlaws.

On November 14, 2019, Beasley Broadcast Group announced the acquisition of the Houston Outlaws from Immortals Gaming Club. The purchase marked the company's third esports venture.

### Organizational changes

In September 2019, the Outlaws released both head coach Kim "TaiRong" Tae-yeong and assistant coach Kim "Hyunwoo" Hyun-woo – both who had been in their positions since the team's inception in 2017 – after Houston's disappointing 2019 campaign. The following month, Houston signed Harsha Bandi, the former assistant coach of the Vancouver Titans and former analyst of the San Francisco Shock. Following, the team signed former Montreal Rebellion coach Chris "Dream" Myrick to their coaching staff.

### Roster changes

Free agents :

| Role | Player | Player | Contract status | Date signed | 2020 team |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Role | Handle | Name | Contract status | Date signed | 2020 team |
| Damage | Arhan | Won-Hyeop Jung | Free agent | – | – |
| Support | Bani | Christopher Benell | Free agent | – | – |
| Support | Boink | Daniel Pence | Free agent | October 19 | Houston Outlaws |
| Legend  Re-signed/Retained by the Outlaws.  Departed from the Outlaws. ||||||

The Outlaws enter the new season with three free agents, one player which they have the option to retain for another year, and six players under contract. The OWL's deadline to exercise a team option is November 11, after which any players not retained will become a free agent. Free agency officially began on October 7.

**Acquisitions**

The first signing for the 2020 season was on October 18, when the Outlaws signed DPS João Pedro "Hydration" Goes Telles, who had most recently played for the Los Angeles Gladiators. Three days later, the team acquired DPS Jeffrey "blasé" Tsang from the Boston Uprising. The following month, Houston picked up former Vancouver Titans flex support player Jung-geun "Rapel" Kim and former New York Excelsior flex tank Kim "MekO" Tae-hong. The team added former Seoul Dynasty support player Lee "Jecse" Seong-soo on January 2.

**Departures**

On October 17, the Outlaws announced that they would not re-sign free agent DPS Jung "Arhan" Won-hyeop, who had been with the team since its inception in 2017. The following month, on November 9, the team announced that they would also not re-sign main support Chris "Bani" Bennell. On December 7, flex DPS Jake "Jake" Lyon announced that was retiring from professional Overwatch competition. A month later, on January 14, off-tank player Matt "Coolmatt" Iorio retired as a player and moved to an organizational role with the Outlaws.

## Roster

### Transactions

Transactions of/for players on the roster during the 2020 regular season:

* On July 15, the Outlaws released tank Alexandre "Spree" Vanhomwegen.
* On August 1, support Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty retired.

## Standings

| Pos | Con | Teamvte | Pld | W | BW | L | PCT | MW | ML | MT | MD | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | ATL | Philadelphia Fusion | 21 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 0.90 | 59 | 19 | 0 | +40 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | PAC | San Francisco Shock | 21 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0.86 | 56 | 17 | 2 | +39 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | ATL | Paris Eternal | 21 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 0.71 | 50 | 31 | 0 | +19 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | ATL | Florida Mayhem | 21 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 0.67 | 48 | 30 | 0 | +18 | Advance to playoffs |
| 5 | PAC | Los Angeles Valiant | 21 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0.52 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 0 | Advance to playoffs |
| 6 | PAC | Los Angeles Gladiators | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 0.52 | 43 | 39 | 5 | +4 | Advance to play-ins |
| 7 | ATL | Atlanta Reign | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0.48 | 43 | 35 | 0 | +8 | Advance to play-ins |
| 8 | PAC | Dallas Fuel | 21 | 9 | 0 | 12 | 0.43 | 35 | 44 | 0 | −9 | Advance to play-ins |
| 9 | ATL | Toronto Defiant | 21 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 0.33 | 32 | 48 | 0 | −16 | Advance to play-ins |
| 10 | ATL | Houston Outlaws | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0.29 | 32 | 50 | 3 | −18 | Advance to play-ins |
| 11 | PAC | Vancouver Titans | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 0.29 | 23 | 48 | 0 | −25 | Advance to play-ins |
| 12 | ATL | Washington Justice | 21 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0.19 | 21 | 54 | 1 | −33 | Advance to play-ins |
| 13 | ATL | Boston Uprising | 21 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0.10 | 14 | 61 | 4 | −47 | Advance to play-ins |

## Game log

### Regular season

2020 game log (Regular season record: 6–15) :

February–April 4–7

1

February 15

Florida Mayhem

3

0

Houston Outlaws

Philadelphia, PA

3:00 pm CST

The Met Philadelphia

Hosted by the Philadelphia Fusion

2

Busan

0

1

Havana

0

3

Eichenwalde

2

2

February 16

Washington Justice

3

0

Houston Outlaws

Philadelphia, PA

3:00 pm CST

The Met Philadelphia

Hosted by the Philadelphia Fusion

2

Lijiang Tower

0

3

Junkertown

1

3

King's Row

2

3

February 22

Boston Uprising

3

2

Houston Outlaws

Washington, DC

4:00 pm CST

The Anthem

Hosted by the Washington Justice

2

Ilios

0

2

Temple of Anubis

2

3

Dorado

1

3

Blizzard World

3

0

Oasis

2

1

Nepal

2

2

Lijiang Tower

0

4

February 23

New York Excelsior

3

0

Houston Outlaws

Washington, DC

2:00 pm CST

The Anthem

Hosted by the Washington Justice

2

Ilios

0

2

Hanamura

1

3

Havana

0

5

February 29

London Spitfire

3

2

Houston Outlaws

Houston, TX

6:00 pm CST

Revention Music Center

Hosted by the Houston Outlaws

2

Busan

0

2

Blizzard World

1

1

Temple of Anubis

2

2

Junkertown

3

2

Ilios

1

6

March 01

Toronto Defiant

1

3

Houston Outlaws

Houston, TX

6:00 pm CST

Revention Music Center

Hosted by the Houston Outlaws

2

Nepal

1

3

King's Row

4

0

Horizon Lunar Colony

1

1

Dorado

2

7

March 07

Paris Eternal

0

3

Houston Outlaws

Washington, DC

4:00 pm CST

The Anthem

Hosted by the Washington Justice

1

Oasis

2

0

Havana

1

1

Eichenwalde

2

8

April 05

Houston Outlaws

1

3

Paris Eternal

Online

8:00 pm UTC

9

April 11

Houston Outlaws

3

1

Boston Uprising

Online

10:00 pm UTC

10

April 12

Houston Outlaws

3

2

Toronto Defiant

Online

8:00 pm UTC

11

April 26

Houston Outlaws

2

3

Dallas Fuel

Online

10:00 pm UTC :

May Melee qualifiers: 1–3

12

May 02

Houston Outlaws

0

3

San Francisco Shock

Online

11:00 pm UTC

13

May 09

Houston Outlaws

0

3

Atlanta Reign

Online

11:00 pm UTC

14

May 16

Houston Outlaws

3

0

Vancouver Titans

Online

7:00 pm UTC :

Summer Showdown qualifiers: 1–3

15

June 14

Houston Outlaws

0

3

Philadelphia Fusion

Online

7:00 pm UTC

16

June 20

Houston Outlaws

3

1

Los Angeles Gladiators

Online

11:00 pm UTC

17

June 27

Houston Outlaws

2

3

Florida Mayhem

Online

7:00 pm UTC :

Countdown Cup qualifiers: 0–4

18

July 17

Houston Outlaws

2

3

Dallas Fuel

Online

9:00 pm UTC

19

July 26

Houston Outlaws

1

3

Washington Justice

Online

11:00 pm UTC

20

July 31

Houston Outlaws

2

3

Los Angeles Valiant

Online

9:00 pm UTC

21

August 01

Houston Outlaws

0

3

San Francisco Shock

Online

11:00 pm UTC :

### Midseason tournaments

2020 midseason tournaments game log :

May Melee: 0–1

Knockouts

May 22

Houston Outlaws

1

3

Dallas Fuel

Online

7:30 pm UTC :

Summer: 1–1

Knockouts

July 03

Houston Outlaws

3

1

Florida Mayhem

Online

9:00 pm UTC

Quarterfinals

July 05

Houston Outlaws

0

3

Philadelphia Fusion

Online

1:00 am UTC :

Countdown Cup: 0–1

Knockouts

August 07

Houston Outlaws

0

3

Los Angeles Valiant

Online

9:00 pm UTC :

Bonus wins awarded: 0 :

### Postseason

2020 playoff game log :

North America Play-ins: 0–1

Round 1

September 03

Houston Outlaws

1

3

Boston Uprising

Online

7:00 pm UTC :

