The Houston Overwatch League franchise has announced the signing of their Overwatch League roster and support staff, as well as the branding of their team as the Houston Outlaws
WE ARE THE HOUSTON OUTLAWS! @OpticGaming's Official Franchise for the @OverwatchLeague! #GreenWall #UpTheAnte https://t.co/TTR1B4pk4B pic.twitter.com/uIhD25yeja
— Houston Outlaws (@OutlawsOW) October 31, 2017
The core of the team is comprised of most of FNRGFE, including DPS player clockwork, flex tank coolmatt69, main tank Muma, and supports Bani and Boink. DPS buds is the only FNRGFE player to not be brought on.
Additionally, the team has signed DPS player Mendokusaii. Despite the relative lull in his competitive participation, he has been a much-discussed prospect for OWL. Aside from side projects like Team Välfärd, Mendokusaii has not been seen in professional tournament play since his time with Cloud9 at OGN Apex Season 2.
Augmenting the roster of the Outlaws are multiple World Cup players. On the dps side, JAKE, formerly of LG Evil, offers a highly flexible hero pool. He plays as one of Team USA’s DPS duo with sinatraa, and alongside coolmatt69’s off-tank play. Finnish player LiNkzr, along with his position as Team Finland DPS, recently secured a win in Overwatch Contenders Season 1 Europe with Team Gigantti.
Belgian player SPREE, formerly of FaZe Clan, will be playing flex for the Outlaws, reflecting his role on Team Belgium. Rounding out the roster is Team USA support Rawkus, also of FaZe pedigree.
The Outlaws also announced a posse of support staff. TaiRong, MESR, and HyeonWoo will coach the squad. Tairong and HyeonWoo both previously coached Afreeca Freecs, previously known as Afreeca Freecs Blue. Former Team Liquid main tank Mesr will also coach the squad, despite his announcement of retirement from competitive Overwatch in September of this year. The GM for the roster is former pro turned analyst flame, who played for Splyce in 2016 and coached Kelvin and the Chipmunks in Contenders Season Zero North America.
The final Houston Outlaws roster is:
- Jake "JAKE" Lyon (DPS)
- Jiri "LiNkzr" Masalin (DPS)
- Lucas "Mendokusaii" Håkansson (DPS)
- Matt "clockwork" Dias (DPS)
- Alexandre "SPREE" Vanhomwegen (Flex)
- Matt "coolmatt69" Iorio (Flex)
- Austin "Muma" Wilmot (Tank)
- Chris "Bani" Benell (Support)
- Daniel "Boink" Pence (Support)
- Shane "Rawkus" Flaherty (Support)
- TaeYeong "TaiRong" Kim (Coach)
- Adam "MESR" De La Torre (Coach)
- HyeonWoo "HyeonWoo" Kim (Coach)
- Matt "flame" Rodriguez (General Manager)