Origen is the brainchild of longtime mid laner of Fnatic and European fan favorite xPeke. Founded in December of 2014, xPeke had outright control of handpicking who he wanted on the roster. A mix of veteran players and young, raw talent began to take shape. Amazing, formerly of North America’s Team SoloMid, was recruited to come play jungler. Controversial and erratic support mithy (who was fined and even suspended by Riot for extremely toxic behavior in solo que) had LCS experience playing with Lemondogs in the Season 3 World Championship. He was paired with rookie ADC Niels who was highly sought after but had limited competitive experience. Rounding out the roster, and following xPeke over from Fnatic, was top laner sOAZ. With the team in place, it was now time for Origen to embark on their mission to Worlds.
First having to qualify for the EUCS Spring Qualifier, Origen’s journey started with the Challenger Ladder. After dismantling Millenium Spirit in their bracket final to advance, Origen would only lose one game, to LowLandLions.White, to secure first place in the regular season. In the Spring Playoffs, Origen beat Reason Gaming 2-1 in a best of three series to advance to the finals, where they swept Copenhagen Wolves Academy (formerly the LowLandLions.White team that had beaten Origen). Their win secured Origen an automatic spot in the LCS Summer Season.
First place in the EU LCS Summer Split was strongly dominated by Fnatic (who went undefeated), leaving H2k-Gaming and Origen to battle it out for second place. After a collection of impressive performances by each player in distinctive games, Origen secured second place and a first round bye. Origen would take out H2k 3-1 in the semifinals before succumbing to Fnatic in the finals (the series went the full 5 games, the first 2 losses Fnatic suffered all split). The second place finish secured Origen a spot in the 2015 Season Europe Regional Finals. Their first series, against Team ROCCAT, went the full 5 games as well (a shock to some). Origen realized they would need to turn it up another level in preparations of Worlds, and they did exactly that in a 3-0 series win against Unicorns of Love and earned a trip to the 2015 World Championship.
Jungler Maurice ‘Amazing’ Stuckenschneider
Wouldn’t Team SoloMid like Amazing back after replacing him with Santorin (who was recently let go by TSM)? Their loss, Origen’s gain. Amazing has repeatedly been one of Europe’s top Challenger players, and his style fits right into what Origen wants to do. He prefers high damage champions with high mobility in order to provide optimal pressure to Origen’s lanes. Riot disabling Gragas for the rest of Worlds (technical glitches) will hurt him, and if SKT bans Rek’Sai his champion pool becomes somewhat limited. He’ll still look to put early pressure in the lanes, especially mid. He can sometimes get caught out putting deep wards in the enemy jungle, and his aggressive playstyle can get him in trouble at times.
Games Played: 18
KDA: 45/45/153
Top 3 Played Champions: Gragas (7), Rek’Sai (4), Evelynn (2)
Mid Laner Enrique ‘xPeke’ Martinez
xPeke has been a staple in the EU LCS, starting in season 1 when he was the top laner for Fnatic. After moving to mid lane, he has consistently been one of the best players at that position. After four years with Fnatic, he left the team to start anew. xPeke stated that the name Origen meant a new beginning for him. xPeke excels on assassin champions, and his Zed plays were renowned. His playstyle is being aggressive and putting pressure on towers early. Sometimes this leads to over aggression or overextending in lane. Switching from a more utility based jungler (Clearlove) to Amazing (a much more aggressive jungler) has improved his game as well.
Games Played: 18
KDA: 79/33/106
Top 3 Played Champions: Vladimir (5), Varus (3), Viktor (2)
AD Carry Jesper 'Niels' Svenningsen
Another great find by xPeke, this was the one question mark heading into the season for Origen. No one knew how Niels would respond to competitive play and the pressure of tournaments, but so far he has responded exceptionally. He initially was on the SK Gaming Prime team that failed to qualify for the EU Challenger Series before Origen tabbed him to play ADC. Coming out of solo que, he was widely compared to Rekkless. His playstyle and mechanical skills are comparable to Rekkless but where he differs is his commitment to team fights. He’s not worried about dying, and he often will commit to team fights over selfishly farming. When he gets up in lane, great things happen for Origen. When he falls behind however, things can spiral out of control quickly. His positioning is generally solid though, and he’s been a great contributor to Origen.
Games Played: 18
KDA: 95/24/110
Top 3 Played Champs: Corki (6), Sivir (5), Kalista (3)
Support Aguirre ‘Mithy’ Rodriguez
Combining the veteran presence of Mithy with rookie Niels has proved to be a genius move by xPeke. Mithy brings the highest winning percentage in the LCS from the support role thanks to his time on Lemondogs and Ninjas in Pyjamas. He’s been tabbed a hothead (he was banned for an entire year by Riot because of his toxic behavior), but his play makes up for it. His roams are always on point, and no one can question his mechanical skills. Much like the rest of his team, he brings an aggressive playstyle to the rift. His greatest attribute is his plays and positioning in the mid-to-late game team fights. His warding could use some improvement (Origen has required Amazing to also assist with warding to help out), and he will often overextend into the enemy jungle in order to place deep wards.
Games Played: 18
KDA: 16/51/189
Top 3 Played Champs: Alistar (4), Thresh (4), Annie (3)
