Fancy yourself as a bit more than a one-trick pony when it comes to Overwatch? Does the idea of being paid to professionally compete in video games sound like your cup of tea? Do you adore last-second patches before intense tournaments that can flip the balance of matches in a second with little to no recourse?
If you answered yes to these questions, then a new opportunity has just reared its head within the Overwatch League, and it’s a chance that is extremely rare.
The Houston Outlaws have announced that they are holding open try-outs for the public to join their team for the 2021 season.
Granted, there are a few caveats to be able to try-out; you won’t be able to waltz in after purchasing the game and expect to spend some time with whoever is left on their roster, but the obstacles in place are feasibly navigated presuming that you’re actually ready to step into the big leagues.
Do you have what it takes to play for the Outlaws?
Apply for our try-outs below ↴https://t.co/q4kI3rwemMApplications close Oct 19th at 3PM CT. Those who are chosen will be reached out to via discord!#AnteUp pic.twitter.com/gam72bbTck
— Outlaws (@Outlaws) October 17, 2020
After the apparent Thanos snap that is occurring during this offseason, teams have massive openings in their roster with no immediately clear means of how these teams are going to refill them back to fighting strength; the only team currently that has the majority of their roster cemented in currently is the San Francisco Shock, which makes sense: why change something that is clearly working out so well.
Yet as we’ve seen in every other esport, champions inevitably fall and are replaced by younger, more eager versions of themselves that are desperate to taste victory; although it seems to be taking a bit of time for other teams to figure out the winning formula against the titans of San Francisco.
An interesting aspect of the Outlaw’s tweet is the first bullet, where it states that SR must have a 4600 peak across three seasons, although it does not clarify if the shift in how SR is calculated, where players no longer start with extremely high SR and barely play to maintain that rating, is somehow factored into the requirement.
Enforcing a peak of 4600 post-patch, where players would have to recontest in competitive game modes, would arguably bring a far higher quality of players.
Regardless, we’ll see soon enough how this works out for the Outlaws, and if they can find some surprise picks by sourcing the public instead of reaching entirely into streamers, or conversely, T2/3 of Overwatch.
Here’s wagering that we’ll begin to see a few more teams in the future trying to source new players.