Origen Rebrand To Astralis, Part Ways With xPeke and Deficio
The LEC franchise Origen has been restructured and rebranded under the well-known esports organisation Astralis. With this move, Astralis also parted ways with general manager Martin "Deficio" Lynge and Origen founder Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez. The organisation has named Baltat "AoD" Alin-Ciprian as the new head coach, working alongside assistant coach Bjørn-Vegar "iHansen" Hansen and performance manager Lars Robl.
In a press release, director of sports for Astralis Kasper Hvidt said: "First of all, we need to thank Martin and Enrique for their massive efforts in Origen. They have been vital for our venture into League of Legends, and we part with them as active members of the organization with very mixed emotions. We needed to establish a new direction with a clearer Astralis footprint, and it was obvious to all, this would require real change." Former LEC caster and analyst Deficio had been with the team for two years, during which the team had failed to qualify for the League of Legends World Championship both times. Founder of Origen xPeke has so far not commented on the changes.
The idea behind the rebranding away from Origen and to Astralis according to Astralis co-founder Jakob Lund Kristensen is to unify the teams under one umbrella and make use of the "completely new ways for fans to interact with a team." According to Kristensen, taking on the Origen brand had been an all-in approach that hadn't worked out stating that "the Origen legacy is really 'all or nothing' and in this case, since it won’t be all, it will be nothing."
Astralis have made a name for themselves first and foremost in Counter-Strike:Global Offensive (CS:GO), fielding arguably the best roster of all time with four prestigious major victories. Astralis Group and RFRSH Entertainment had acquired Origen in 2018, becoming one of the ten founding members of the LEC as a franchised league under this brand.
What this might mean for the future of the players on the team is currently unknown.
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Image via Astralis Group