The Houston Outlaws have signed former Afreeca Freecs and Meta Athena DPS ArHaN. With this signing, every Overwatch League team has at least one Korean player.
Please help us welcome the newest member to the Houston Outlaws, @jkjj1103! #GreenWall #UpTheAnte pic.twitter.com/q11G7FLE9M
— Houston Outlaws (@OutlawsOW) March 30, 2018
ArHaN played all four seasons of APEX with Afreeca Freecs Blue, later shortened to just Afreeca Freecs. His team finished second in the first season of APEX, losing in the grand finals to Team EnVyUs. However, ArHaN failed to find the same level of success afterward, coming no closer than a third place finish in APEX Season 3. His coach at the time was TaiRong, now the head coach of the Houston Outlaws.
The Outlaws bring in ArHaN after a Stage 2 that saw the team struggle compared to their promising Stage 1. While the Outlaws had the second best record in Stage 1 at 7-3, the team only went 5-5 in Stage 2, just enough for seventh place in the Stage. The team is now fifth in the overall standings at 12-8, just one game ahead of seventh and a spot outside the playoff picture.
Much of the Outlaws' problems in Stage 2 were put on the team's lack of a dedicated Tracer. Clockwork often played Tracer on assault maps, while Jake was the Tracer player at most other times. At rare points, the team would put flex DPS LiNkzr on the speedy hero. While ArHaN has played Tracer in professional matches before, he is most well-known for his Genji play.
ArHaN will be the 12th player to join the team and the second midseason pickup. FCTFCTN was picked up by the team in mid-February.