Team Vitality vs Origen

This is where things get a bit more interesting: Origen vs. Team Vitality. First of all, with both teams being insanely volatile and inconsistent, this is by no means an easy bet. Furthermore, this game should, in theory, be a lot more competitive than one would expect coming into the split. Still, it's bound to deliver entertainment-wise, so it's well worth your time.

Origen is coming in as the heavy favorite, but things are by no means as one-sided as the odds would suggest. Gauging OG's current power level is proving to be mighty difficult for a wide variety of reasons. They struggled in every sense of the word ever since Summer began, but have somewhat stabilized into mid-tier gatekeeper status. Now, on the one hand, there's a ton of talent and depth present within their line-up. Many seasoned veterans and mechanically gifted players wear the OG jersey, so it's hard not to trust their long-term potential. On the other hand, they just haven't impressed in any which way. Sloppy play, non-existent team cohesion, and egregious mistakes across the board have defined Origen's 2020 Summer Split run.

Then came last week.

Signing Jactroll (formerly of Team Vitality) was a move many criticized and with good reason. It made no sense whatsoever, primarily because he was never a much better support when compared to Destiny, but also because his innate playstyle is the exact opposite of how Origen wants to play the game out -- it's aggression against subdued, macro-oriented play. But for whatever reason, Origen looked far better than anyone thought was possible. It was as if Jactroll's inclusion changed OG ever so slightly in the most positive direction. They were a bit more proactive, and a lot more aggressive once those mid and late game team fights came along. It's still too early to tell for sure, but it seems as though they lacked that very key characteristic that has defined Jactroll ever since he reached the LEC with Team Vitality way back when. And their wins weren't flukes either -- they beat G2 Esports and Misfits Gaming fair and square, through the sheer fact of playing better League of Legends. It was a spectacular showing, and it took everyone by surprise.

Now, granted, the sample size is still incredibly small, but at least it's entirely positive. Jactroll and Origen, while a strange pairing, seems to have worked out. This means that whatever we knew about Origen from their first few weeks of play can now be deemed as inconclusive evidence -- they've changed seemingly overnight. And fortunately, it's for the better.

Team Vitality, on the other hand, is an absolute mess in every sense of the word. They're talented -- of that everyone is certain -- but they're facing an uphill battle and their inherent tendency to make egregious mistakes in the most important moments of the game have plagued their play from day one. Once they get going and start off on the right foot, they can definitely tango with the best teams the LEC has to offer. When that isn't the case (and it mostly isn't), they're just a complete non-factor. Sometimes they're great, but more often than not they're just scattered across the map, with no concrete game plan in sight. There's very little synergy on display and their individual play often leaves a lot to be desired. Comp and Labrov are fantastic, but they're far from infallible, and the same can be said of their mid laner Milica who hasn't been able to impact the map quite as much as Vitality needed him to.

Overall, they're an okay mid-tier team with some potential, but they're nowhere near as clean or consistent as they need to be to actually warrant a spot higher up the standings. We're siding with Origen on this one as they have the edge in every conceivable fashion. That said, depending on how well Vitality drafts, this might be a lot closer than most people expect.