New Origen Lineup Could Be Contenders in the 2020 LEC Season

With the preseason now in full swing, All-Star voting to deliberate, and a whole host of roster moves and updates to keep track of, it's a busy time of year for the average League of Legends player. As such, no one could really blame you for missing the news on LEC team Origen and the announcement of their 2020 spring split roster.

Some notable names dominate the list, namely the transfer of two dominant LEC players, Jungler Andrei "Xerxe" Dragomir formerly of Splyce and AD Carry Elias "Upset" Lipp formerly of FC Schalke 04. I think both of these changes are monumental for the Origen lineup, and in particular, Xerxe's depth of champion knowledge and diverse jungle picks will create the kind of chaos Upset has shown he can thrive in. Upset himself has also shown great promise in only two full years of play on the LEC stage.

Additionally, Origen rounded out their bottom lane by swiping OCE import and former Mammoth Esports support Mitchell "Destiny" Shaw. Having had play on the Worlds stage with Mammoth, and additionally having spent time as an ADC for Avante Garde, it'll be exciting to see how he matches up with Upset.

Though I haven't seen it spoken of in many other places, it strikes me as simply mind-blowing that Origen was able to pull this roster together seemingly scot-free. Notably, the OG boys were able to grab a powerful and diverse jungler in Xerxe while still managing to keep their previous jungler Jonas "Kold" Andersen
on the roster. Kold comes with his own litany of achievements, and his his time on both the Unicorns of Love and Splyce before that make quite the case for him as a veteran player.

Origen seems to be the team right at the cusp of greatness within the LEC. While the shining stars of the league remain G2 and Fnatic, the current and former "Kings of Europe" respectively, Origen has never failed to at least compete with them.

With these roster moves, I believe we could see a Origen resurgence in 2020, perhaps a repeat of their grand first split in the then-EU LCS?

Photo courtesy of Riot Games