The international audience became acquainted with Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Shrage at Intel Extreme Master San Jose in 2014. Unicorns of Love throttled Team SoloMid with a stupefying Twisted Fate jungle pick, but when eyes wandered to the mid lane, PowerOfEvil controlled Danish darling Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. PowerOfEvil gained thousands of followers in a day, and many uttered the question “Why didn’t TSM ban Syndra?”

It seems only fitting PowerOfEvil should make his debut on his new team, Origen, at the same tournament that made him famous in North America and Europe. PowerOfEvil continued to impress throughout the year until the end of summer in the European LCS for Unicorns of Love when the entire team flagged. Support Zdravets “Hylissang” Iliev Galabov told theScore there were multiple problems affecting the team’s ability to focus on practice toward the end of Summer, which could have lead to PowerOfEvil’s decline in the public’s eye. On a team with more teamwork like Origen, there’s no reason to suspect PowerOfEvil won’t shine again.

There’s a difference between shining and meeting expectations.

Origen’s World Championship performance allowed them to not only get out of a group few predicted them to escape, but make semifinals, where they lost to the eventual champions, SK Telecom T1. Often, when teams go on such miraculous upswings, fans expect only improvement from there. While Origen impressed at Worlds when expectations were low, they may crumble at San Jose or in LCS while all eyes are watching.

The announcement made by Origen owner Enrique "xPeke" Cedeño Martínez made demands of PowerOfEvil even higher. xPeke has revealed that PowerOfEvil won't be taking over his role as mid laner of Origen, but will supposedly be rotating with him in a six-man roster. PowerOfEvil won't just have to compete with the mythos of xPeke which, at this point, far surpasses his current form, but with the pressure of xPeke's fanbase questioning why he's playing instead of their hero.

xPeke has been immortalized at his peak. Fans will remember the highlight reels of xPeke dominating mid laners at international events. Even if xPeke has a terrible game until 20 minutes when he lands an ideal ultimate, that’s the moment when his fans will come to his defense; “he’s still xPeke. He’s still our hero.”

Though PowerOfEvil is likely the better player in many capacities, he can’t necessarily compete with the pressure of one of the largest European fanbases loyal to a single player. In the past, PowerOfEvil has prided himself in mental resilience, and this role may require it more than ever.

Even with the difficult transition for PowerOfEvil, it's easy to see xPeke would avoid retiring. He's only just begun to decline from his peak, and with determination and practice, he may still be able to recapture his form. By xPeke's own admission in his announcement, however, it seems he's had less time to focus on the game. He said that because of tasks he needed to do for Origen, he hasn't been able to practice as much as he would like, and this extended back into the regular season as well.

xPeke's retirement would allow him to focus on running his business, a position in which he has yet to truly distinguish himself. With Origen’s Worlds performance, xPeke can capitalize to create a brand. While sponsors might be concerned about losing the power of xPeke's charisma on Origen's starting roster, both Andy “Reginald” Dinh and George “HotshotGG” Georgallidis have remained key figures in Team SoloMid and Counter Logic Gaming. Reginald has the reputation of ruthlessness and business savvy. HotshotGG’s PR blunders would be genius if they were intentional, as they’ve given CLG a unique identity that matches their name.

Should xPeke retire at this point, he could stand apart in a new way from his North American forebears. Reginald and HotshotGG retired after more or less slogging through mud and relying on their reputations as great players — which they truly were at their peaks — until they had dwindled, and no goodwill remained. Fans pressured them to cut themselves loose to improve the competitive level of their teams.

xPeke had the opportunity to step down at a point where his decline had only just begun, and his mythos hasn’t experienced true tarnish. As an owner, xPeke could put himself in the background, but continue to create commentary or stream on a less committed schedule than professional play requires. In this way, he could remain attached to his brand, but also remove some of the pressure from PowerOfEvil. xPeke’s fans can still experience the legend and watch Origen’s games without it.

That doesn't mean xPeke's presence as a continuing player on Origen is all downsides. xPeke's style differs from PowerOfEvil's and influenced Origen’s teamplay. Perhaps because xPeke was inconsistent and couldn’t be relied upon to carry every game, he took a step back and put the pressure on other players for shotcalling and power play. In contrast, PowerOfEvil stood out as the central figure of Unicorns of Love, farming up and leveling his foes with flashy ultimates. Origen's style could vary depending on their mid laner.

With PowerOfEvil, Paul “sOAZ” Boyer, Jesper “Niels”Svenningsen, Origen can truly become a consistent triple threat team. Without PowerOfEvil, xPeke can continue to hold mid while Maurice "Amazing" Stückenschneider props up the side lanes.

Multiple identities are not easily executed by a single team, as has been exhibited with other six man rosters this year. SK Telecom T1 performed better in Champions Summer when Lee "Faker" Sanghyeok rotated less often with Lee "Easyhoon" Jihoon. EDward Gaming fragmented when they added new solo laners to their rotation. While these aren't the only reasons for SKT's rise and EDG's woes, it stresses the challenges of keeping a single team committed to multiple identities.

When asked why Origen didn’t adapt to the top carry style that pervaded the World Championship, sOAZ told theScore that even if a team can play the proper champions, it can be difficult to change a style or feel comfortable in certain compositions as a unit. Since Origen have had some difficulty freely adjusting their playstyle to accommodate the meta in the past, a rotating roster could either help them develop these skills or cause additional problems.

In these cases, a lot of pressure falls on the coaching staff. Given the alleged departure of Coach Tadayoshi “Hermit” Littleton, it’s difficult to know if Origen will be put in the right hands. It’s also difficult to know if Hermit himself, who described his coaching style as facilitating, would have been the right fit for a rotating roster or a player like PowerOfEvil who looked to me as a player, still green, in need of a guiding hand to break out of farm-to-carry ruts and curious champion and itemization fixations.

When many teams have called themselves six man rosters before, such as Counter Logic Gaming this summer, they've often settled onto one player. Over time, Origen might find it easier to fall into step with PowerOfEvil. sOAZ also said, “I’m 10 times better at playing a supportive role,” meaning that PowerOfEvil’s addition might actually allow Origen to enhance their natural style.

Because of xPeke’s inconsistencies, Origen often slated him as the third carry fallback with both Niels and sOAZ being relied upon more often to deal damage. Given sOAZ’s expressed preference to play more supportive roles, moving him into the background and making Origen more mid and bottom lane focused could allow them to improve.

With the increased cost efficiency of Rod of Ages and a buffed Gunblade, some of PowerOfEvil’s favorite mid lane champions like Cassiopeia or Swain could rule the meta, allowing Origen to be set in a good position initially. Improvements to AD carry items and champion changes stand Origen in good stead for when they play around Niels.

There are, however, trends in the new season that negatively impact both PowerOfEvil and the rest of Origen, regardless of who they sit mid. Unicorns of Love and the most recent iteration of Origen relied on late game play. PowerOfEvil preferred to stall, farm, and carry, and Origen would build minion waves and rotate around objectives after a weak laning phase.

Changes to the way minions behave when a team has a lead could make this playstyle much more difficult to execute. With minions getting buffs when a team has a gold lead, the first 10-20 minutes decide a game, meaning Origen and PowerOfEvil will both need to completely overhaul their styles.

PowerOfEvil, a more confrontational mid laner, may make the transition easier for the team than xPeke. xPeke and sOAZ have long had a reputation for double Teleport play. With the introduction of things like Rift Herald, those strategies have lost some of their effectiveness, so the style of late game rotation has become less ideal. If PowerOfEvil can act earlier, he can become relentless.

The signing of PowerOfEvil is far from a bad move for Origen, but the six man roster proposal leaves other questions. xPeke may find himself spread too thin in 2016, and I hope if that's the case, we'll see more and more of PowerOfEvil in the mid lane. PowerOfEvil is an exceptional player who can easily recover from a team-wide stutter on Unicorns of Love in a new environment, and xPeke may just need to tell himself he's still playing to be able to let go and take over the business.

If xPeke doesn't take more and more of a step back, Origen will have to focus resources on preparing PowerOfEvil for the expectations he faces, double down on scrims to get the team comfortable with running varying strategies, and find multiple ways of tackling the new minion wave mechanic. A six man roster, in all likelihood, won't mean less time playing for xPeke, but more work for the entire team.

The 2016 League of Legends season may as well be a brand new game, and Origen have higher expectations to fulfill and bigger challenges to tackle. It's up to us as spectators to accept that, just like last year, Origen are starting over.

Kelsey Moser is a staff writer for theScore eSports. You can follow her on Twitter.