Origen (esports)

Origen
SportLeague of Legends
Founded7 December 2014 (2014-12-07)
Folded15 September 2020 (2020-09-15)
LeagueLEC
Based inCopenhagen, Denmark
Murcia, Spain (until 2018)
Head coachAndré "Guilhoto" Guilhoto
ManagerEnrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez
BroadcastersRiot Games, Twitch
PartnersOzone Gaming Gear
Trig Esports
Azubu
Parent groupAstralis Group

Origen was a professional esports organisation based in Europe. Its main League of Legends team participated in the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), the top-level league for the game in Europe. It was founded by Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez after his departure from Fnatic.

In 2018, Origen was acquired by RFRSH Entertainment, a company that owned Danish CS:GO team Astralis. Astralis and Origen later separated from RFRSH Entertainment in July 2019, and founded the Astralis Group. On 15 September 2020, the Astralis Group announced that all esports teams owned by them, including Origen, would be merged into the Astralis brand.[1][2]

History

2014

On 7 December, Origen was founded.[3] 17 December, xPeke, Amazing, Zvanillan (Niels) and Mithy were announced as the first four players of the team.

2015

Origen facing SK Telecom T1 in the 2015 Worlds semifinals

January 2015 sOAZ joined.[4] 4 February, Team qualifies for the challenger series.[5] 8 April the team finished first in 2015 EU CS Spring Playoffs and qualified for 2015 EU LCS Summer Split. 30 April, Ducky joined as temporary coach.[6]

On 16 May, Cyanide, Araneae and Casadar joined as substitute players. On 1 September, Ducky stepped down as coach.[7] On 17 September, team analyst Hermit became head coach.[8]

Origen qualified for the 2015 League of Legends World Championship. The team defeated Flash Wolves 3–1 in the first round of bracket.[9] Origen reached the semi-finals of the tournament before losing to SK Telecom T1.[10]

2016

Origen finished the Spring Split 5th, with an 11–7 record. In the playoffs, Origen swept Unicorns of Love and defeated H2k-Gaming, but ultimately lost to G2 Esports in the 2016 Spring EU LCS finals, finishing the split in 2nd place.

Origen surprised many by struggling in the 2016 Summer EU LCS, where they finished 9th, the penultimate place.[11]

2017

In the 2017 Spring Split Promotion Tournament, Origen defeated Misfits 3–2 in order to re-qualify for the 2017 European LCS Spring Split. Origen was then joined by Team ROCCAT and Misfits.

In the 2017 European LCS Spring Split, Origen finished with a 0–13 record, as well as a 2–26 game record, with their only game wins coming against Giants Gaming and Team ROCCAT. Origen finished 5th in group B, and 10th overall in the EULCS, sending them to the 2017 EULCS Summer Promotion Tournament

In the 2017 EULCS Summer Promotion Tournament, Origen lost in the first round to Misfits Academy 3–0, and were soon relegated from the European LCS after losing 3–0 to Giants Gaming.

2018

On 29 March 2018, Origen and Riot Games confirmed that Origen, along with some of the teams from the 2017 Challenger Series, would compete in the new European Masters competition in April 2018. In April 2018, Origen announced that former KT Rolster jungler Choi "inSec" In-Seok, Ki "Expect" Dae-han, formerly of G2 Esports, World Championship semi-finalists Henrik "Froggen" Hansen and Konstantinos "FORG1VEN" Tzortziou as well as Jesse "Jesiz" Le of Fnatic would be their roster for the upcoming tournament. Origen came first place in the European Masters competition, defeating Polish side Illuminar Gaming 3–0 in the final.

On 20 November 2018, RFRSH Entertainment (parent company of Astralis) officially announce participation in the LEC with Origen.

2019

On 1 August 2019, Origen and Astralis are reported to be moving over to Astralis Group, which will split from RFRSH Entertainment. The team owner nikolaj later announces that the transaction will not be complete until August 9.

2020

On 15 September 2020, Origen rebranded as Astralis⁠.

References

  1. ^ @astralisgg (15 September 2020). "A NEW ERA BEGINS. One brand. One Family. #ToTheStars" (Tweet). Retrieved 15 September 2020 – via Twitter.
  2. ^ "A New Look In The LEC". www.astralis.gg. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  3. ^ Lingle, Samuel (8 April 2015). "xPeke returning to LCS as Origen secures Challenger victory". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Introducing Origen's top laner". Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Origen qualifies for the challenger series". Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  6. ^ Introducing Origen’s coach origen.gg
  7. ^ "LeDuck stepping down as head coach". Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  8. ^ Origen announced Tadayoshi "Hermit" Littleton as new Head Coach Archived 11 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine origen.gg
  9. ^ Lingle, Samuel (15 October 2015). "Riding Niels' standout performance and a pocket Anivia, Origen down Flash Wolves". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  10. ^ Deesing, Jonathan (21 October 2015). "Worlds Pits Korea vs. Europe in a Battle for Semis". Red Bull eSports. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  11. ^ "EU LCS 2016 Summer Split preview: Origen". esports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 15 March 2019.