Where could Alphari end up next season in the LEC?

Barney “Alphari” Morris might not stay with Astralis for much longer. 

The offseason is approaching quickly and lots of rumors about upcoming roster swaps are starting to spread on social media. One of the most discussed players is Astralis top laner Alphari, who has played for the organization since it joined the LEC for the 2019 season, while Astralis was still known as Origen. 

Even though Origen didn’t manage to perform in 2020, Alphari has consistently been the best player on the team and is now one of the most coveted players in the league. While nothing is official yet, it looks like he won’t play under the Astralis banners next year, but is instead in talks with Rogue and Vitality.

Alphari likely to join Rogue for 2021 LEC season

According to the Twitter account LEC Wooloo, who has been a reliable source for LEC transfers, Alphari is in talks with both Rogue and Vitality but is most likely to join Rogue. According to Wooloo, the rumor of Alphari to Rogue is at a high certainty. 

Rogue comes off of a shaky 2020 World Championship where they didn’t manage to advance from the group stage. Rogue was placed in group B alongside tournament favorites DAMWON Gaming and JD Gaming. It wasn’t expected for Rogue to make it out of such a tough group, but finishing in fourth place behind PSG Talon wasn’t acceptable. 

Rogue especially struggled to find success through the top side of the map, making it very likely that the organization is looking to swap out top laner Finn “Finn” Wiestål. Finn was promoted to the LEC roster back in February but has not been able to perform against the absolute best talent in the region, and also struggled on the international stage. 

Alphari on the other hand has been dominating up top at an individual level despite him not having a great team to back him up. His strong laning phase has gotten a lot of respect from fans and experts, and could be just what Rogue needs.  

Vitality could be another candidate to pick up Alphari 

If Rogue doesn’t end up signing the British top laner, then Vitality might. According to Wooloo, Alphari had also been in talks with Vitality as the team reportedly doesn’t plan to re-sign with Lucas “Cabochard” Simon-Meslet.

Rumors state that Vitality will be looking to build the 2021 roster around its bot lane of Markos “Comp” Stamkopoulos and Labros “Labrov” Papoutsakis. Adding Alphari to that lineup could give the team the experience needed, while the bot lane will continue to gain in new experience.

It’s likely that official news about Alphari will hit when the League of Legends free agency period begins on November 16.