Origen Unveils Lineup

With so many rosters shuffled in the preseason madness, it was only natural for the rumors to start flying as soon as Origen was announced to exist at all. World-famous mid laner xPeke's hand-selected team echoes his rival Froggen's attempts last season to create a so-called "super team." A move which ultimately led to an Alliance roster that ended up spearheading the European scene at Worlds. Now, the Origen rumors can be (mostly) laid to rest, as the Challenger team's finally and formally announced all but one player.

HAND PICKED PLAYERS

• Mid Lane – Enrique "xPeke" Cedeno-Martinez
• Jungle – Maurice "Amazing" Stuckenschneider
• ADC – Jesper "Zvanillan" Svenningsen
• Support – Alfonso "mithy" Aguirre

Founding player xPeke's best known for his long and illustrious career with venerable esports organization Fnatic, and he has long been considered one of the best midlaners in Europe. His maverick tendencies are best encapsulated by his namesake play: to "xPeke" is to "backdoor" enemy bases, sneaking in behind their team to deliver a fatal blow to the Nexus, often when they mistakenly believe themselves to have the advantage. Unfortunately for Fnatic fans, his departure from their roster was almost as unexpected as his victories, though at least it wasn't a departure from the European scene itself. Though little is otherwise known of Origen's staff or development, what is known is that this is xPeke's baby -- the team was hand-selected by him to spearhead their collective ambitions through 2015. He's recruited former Team SoloMid (TSM) jungler Amazing, who's returning to Europe after spending a stint in North America that eventually led to the World Championship. Former Ninjas in Pyjamas support player Mithy also secured a spot, fresh off a half-year ban. His involvement finally lays to rest persistent rumors of Evil Genius's Mitch "Krepo" Voorspoels' involvement with the team. Zvanillan, formerly Niels of SK Gaming Prime, rounds out the bottom lane. Though he has overall less experienced than his teammates, his reputation as one of the top players in the European Challenger ladder and circuit precedes him. As yet, no top laner has yet been announced for Origen.

ORIGEN THEORY

There are two notable attributes of Origen's team composition: possibly excepting the as-yet unconfirmed top laner, none of the players have teamed up professionally before. On one hand, while this does mean they are unencumbered by any lingering issues or habits of their prior organizations, it also means that the roster is entirely untried, and the level of synergy between any individual player is a near-total unknown. Crossing the occasional path in solo queue doesn't necessarily give insight as to how well they can cooperate under pressure, or after living together in the same gaming house for months on end. But here's a reason for the hype: three of the four known names are proven talents. Amazing, Mithy, and xPeke have all reached the summit of the European circuit at some point within the last two years, representing the region at the League of Legends World Championship. Only Zvanillan has yet to have that honor. Though they've formed too late to take part in the Expansion Tournament for the spring split, all eyes will be on xPeke's chosen men as they fight through the EU Challenger Series. For more updates on Origen, be sure to follow them on Twitter @Origengg and Facebook.

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