Astralis Reportedly Entering LEC As Origen
According to ESPN staff writer Jacob Wolf, Astralis’ parent company RFRSH Entertainment has acquired Origen in its entirety and will be using the team’s branding starting with the 2019 League of Legends European Championship (LEC) Spring Split.
This may come as a shock, as Astralis is well-known in the esports scene as one of the most dominant CS:GO teams around. Many EU fans are questioning the decision as they wanted to see Astralis expand their branding across multiple esport titles.
On the surface, Astralis becoming Origen makes sense (at least from a branding standpoint). Right now, Origen is still a very recognizable brand in the world of competitive League of Legends. While they have been absent from the competitive scene for a long time, fans still remember the insane roster that was able to reach Top 4 at the World Championship in 2015.
It was the year that forged Zven (then Niels) and Mithy into a powerhouse bottom lane duo, thus making Origen one of the most competent EU teams in history.
Unfortunately, their success didn’t last long, especially after Zven and Mithy departed in favor of G2 Esports. Multiple questionable roster changes later, and Origen became the laughing stock of the region. They finished last in the 2017 EU LCS Spring Split and were forced to play in the Summer Promotion tournament against Misfits Academy and Giants Gaming. Origen lost both matches and was subsequently dismissed from the LCS.
It was a bittersweet ending to an incredible journey. Eventually, Origen no longer played or looked like the team many fans fell in love with. At that point, their exclusion from the EU LCS was unsurprising.
As an organization, they’ve been relatively quiet these last few years. The only time they actually participated in a League-related tournament was the first season of the EU Masters when they fielded a very formidable roster consisting of Expect, inSec, Froggen, FORG1VEN, and Jesiz. This line-up eventually won the whole tournament after taking down Illuminar Gaming in a relatively clean 3-0 match.
Fans are still wondering just how strong the new roster will be in the upcoming season. They have the financial backing, and they’re entering the franchised league with a ton of hype. Fortunately, we won’t have to much longer. The off-season is already in full swing. It’s only a matter of time before the first official (or unofficial) announcement is released.
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