UPDATE (June 3rd): Origen has confirmed the news on Twitter.
The new challenge. pic.twitter.com/g9rBHNECUi
— Origen (@Origengg) June 3, 2017
Original story (June 2nd):
European League of Legends organisation Origen have snapped up the promising roster of Wind and Rain (WAR), Esports News UK understands.
WAR recently qualified for the EU Summer 2017 Challenger Series, making their way through the qualifiers along with Red Bulls.
WAR upset several teams in the Challenger Series Qualifiers, including Red Bulls and UK representatives MnM Gaming.
In an industry obsessed with winning, MnM have shown us something more – opinion
Xataka.com wrote a rumour piece earlier today suggesting Origen are signing the players.
The article also states that Origen’s new general manager Isidro “Nafai” Tellez refused to confirm or deny the rumour, but Esports News UK has also learnt it to be true.
It’s clear changes are being made. Wind and Rain’s British team manager Alex “Kazehaya” Hirst recently cancelled a Reddit Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, while coach Johan “Lee Joo Ho” Olsen announced he had become a free agent.
Sadly today’s AMA has been delayed to a later date, we will keep you up to date on when it is though 😀 thank you for everyone’s support!
— Kazehaya (@Coach_Kazehaya) May 30, 2017
I am now a free agent, and is looking for new oppertunities, RTs are appreciated
— Johan L. Olsen (@CoachLeeJooHo) 31 May 2017
The Origen roster, formerly of WAR, consists of:
- Top: Danny “Dan Dan” Le Comte
- Jungle: Nikola “xani” Zrinjski
- Mid: Marcel “SRH” Wiederhofer (aka ScarletRedHands)
- ADC: Alejandro “DarkSide” Oyonate
- Support: August “Quixeth” Skarsfjord
The roster has come a long way. Originally playing under the org PAM in the Spanish second division, they broke away, changed their name to Polite and Mature and won Nordic tournament Ragnarok.
Their roster then changed slightly. Ploxy and Kakan were replaced by mid-laner ScarletRedHands and jungler Xani.
During the Challenger Series Qualifiers, they won four of five group stage matches and beat Tricked in the playoffs to progress to the Challenger Series.
Mid-laner ScarletRedHands also helped Radix Esports qualify for the UK Masters. His teammates spoke highly of him, saying he’s a ‘level 2 first blood god’ and can match anyone in the UK scene.
The news comes after Origen was rumoured to be acquired by German football club Hertha Berlin. The org later denied they were for sale in a tweet.
Origen is not for sale.
— Origen (@Origengg) May 30, 2017
WAR are said to be putting together a replacement roster for the Challenger Series summer split.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see WAR’s new roster go up against their old one when they play Origen in the Challenger Series.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
