When Origen first qualified to LCS, few expected them to become a world championship competitor.
But that is exactly where they’ve ended up, and on the way proving themselves to be the second best European team.
Still, Alfonso ”Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez seems pessimistic.
– Realistically speaking it’s going to be erry tough because of our seed, he tells Aftonbladet Esport.

When the newcomers from Origen started their LCS adventures, qualifying through the spring challenger series, few would have predicted that they were on a path to become the second best team in Europe. But precisely that is what Origen has proven themselves to be, much to the surprise of commentator Trevor ”Quickshot” Henry’s surprise.
– They stepped up and really showed that they are the second best team in Europe, the League of Legends expert told Aftonbladet Esport in an interview before the LCS European finals.

”Mentally I wasn’t worried”

So far among the European teams, it is only the record breaking lineup of Fnatic that have been able to prove themselves to constantly be better than Origen. Still, the newcomers did manage to qualify to the world championship thanks to a victory in the deciding match against Unicorns of Love. However, Alfonso ”Mithy” Aguirre Rodriguez and his team mates had actually been setting up for another opponent.
– We prepared harder for Roccat than we did against UOL. We knew that Roccat was the dark horse of the tournament and we wanted to make sure they didn’t upset us. Mentally I wasn’t very worried about the whole gauntlet situation, every win for me was an achievement since I was very happy with how far we had made it, Mithy tells Aftonbladet Esport.

”Very excited to play against the best teams in the world”

For Mithy, this won’t be the first time competing against the world elite. He and his old team Lemondogs managed to qualify for the world championship of 2013, also then placing second behind Fnatic. Even though he has already played there once, the excitement does not seem to have diminished.
– I feel exactly the same going into worlds this time compared to last time. I’m very excited to be able to play against the best teams and players in the world, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity of learning a lot from them.

What did you learn from your last worlds experience?
– I learn’t that playing on feeling is extremely unreliable when playing against very good players. My style completely changed after playing at worlds of season 3. Now I think a lot about what I do, I try to have a game plan in mind at every point of the game.

Having that previous worlds experience, can you use that to help your team mates in any way?
– I think that all of my team mates are experienced enough, even more than me, that there is no need for me to help them in any way. Except for maybe Jesper ”Niels” Svenningsen. But he is very smart so I doubt it’s going to be a problem. If I do find anything I could help anyone out with then I will of course be willing to do so.

”The Chinese and Korean teams look strong”

The world championship is very different from the regional leagues in many ways. Instead of only competing against the fellow European teams, Origen are now facing the very elite of the world. And since they don’t usually play the foreign teams Mithy thinks it’s hard to prepare for the opponents.
– I haven’t been able to play against other teams on a strategic level so it’s hard to measure from just watching VOD’s, but when it comes to mechanics, team fights and play making the Chinese and Korean teams look strong and consistent, Mithy says and continues:
– We will see once we start practicing against those teams and experience the different styles.

What is the atmosphere like in the team right now?
– Everyone is pretty hyped to play amongst the best players in the world and get as much value from it as possible. It would be great to get out of groups and that’s what we will aim for, but realistically speaking it’s going to be very tough because of our seed.