Barney “Alphari” Morris has been hailed as one of the greatest western top lane players to load into a League of Legends match. Origen’s lone bright point for many splits, the hyped import came to North America with staggering salary rumors. Yet, between his time spent in the LEC and LCS, Alphari still doesn’t have a domestic or international title to his name.
What are Alphari’s origins, and what can we expect to see from him at future events?
Alphari will be most recognized for his historic underdog run at the 2017 World Championship during his time on the Misfits roster in Europe. Alphari quickly distinguished himself as a force to be reckoned with. Alphari was a part of the Challenger roster that promoted Misfits to what was once called the EU LCS. Despite losing to Faker’s SKT T1 in a close five-game series, Alphari had caught the attention of fans and managers alike.
Alphari stayed with Misfits until LEC Spring Split 2019, where he would move to the returning Origen. 2019 and 2020 were disappointing years for Alphari’s domestic achievements, but he was still getting plenty of respect for his individual play even as Origin floundered as a group.
In 2021, Alphari made the jump across the Atlantic and joined Team Liquid in the LCS.
Despite a strong start in North America with Team Liquid securing the LCS Lock-In 2021 title, it’s been so close but so far for Alphari in the region. Team Liquid has placed second in both splits during 2021, falling to Cloud9 and 100 Thieves in two finals performances.
Alphari’s performance during the regular split has been consistently impressive, but Team Liquid seems to fall apart once it has reached the last step of playoffs. Nonetheless, Alphari and Team Liquid managed to qualify for the World Championship 2021. Seeded into Group D, Team Liquid face an intimidating set of opponents between it and escaping the group stage. LEC champions Mad Lions, LCK second seed Gen.G Esports, and LPL fourth seed LNG make up the group.
Practice seems to be going well enough, with Alphari reaching Challenger on EUW just before Worlds began. Alphari may not have claimed the domestic title he swapped regions to claim, but fans’ opinions of his individual play is still quite high. Alphari has remarked that failing to make it past the group stage would be a disappointment, so he has his work cut out for him.
Alphari remains a potentially world-class talent but is without the accolades to back it up. It feels like only a matter of time until he has trophies to his name.
Team Liquid will make its Worlds 2021 debut on October 11.
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