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The most well known Finnish StarCraft 2 player Samuli “elfi-” Sihvonen has resigned from his old organization Team Acer today. His contract with Acer was about to expire in three months and Sihvonen had informed that he was not going to stay in the team with the current terms. Due to the contract negotiations, Acer was not planning on sending him to the upcoming DreamHack Open events in Jönköping, Valencia and Bucharest because the main event at DreamHack Winter would fall outside the contract’s time frame.
The result was that both Acer and Sihvonen agreed to terminate the contract early, at the end of May, so that Sihvonen might have a chance to participate to the already mentioned events. Sihvonen will be backed up by personal sponsorship. ASUS ROG, SteelSeries and SETT.fi will enable Sihvonen to remain as a full time StarCraft 2 player. To recognize his main sponsor ASUS Republic Of Gamers, Sihvonen’s player id will henceforth be ROGǂelfi.
![[image loading]](http://sett.fi/asus/teamliquid_elfi.jpg)
SETT.fi also found out what Sihvonen is doing besides gaming.
Hello elfi-, many are familiar with you in the gaming arenas, but what else are you up to?
Most of my time is spent learning and practicing StarCraft 2. The game is still evolving so much, and you must constantly follow the best players to be able to keep up with the tactics. Otherwise, I’ve been trying to shape up a bit by jogging at least twice a week. The rest of the time I like to read manga books, and of course I also play for fun with my dota2 friends, and every once in a while there might be something else going on. 
How did you start playing PC games? When did it turn out into a profession?
Well, of course at first I played just for fun with my friends. I developed fast and at some point I was told about competitive gaming which totally got me excited and I started playing more. I’ve now been playing PC games professionally for about 1.5 years and competitively for about 6 years.
What has been your greatest achievement? What event has left the best tournament memories?
My greatest achievement is absolutely the second place at IEM Guangzou. Event gotting in the tournament is a good achievement in itself and many were surprised by it. Going to the tournament was easy because no one expected me to do well, and I was sceptic even myself. But surprisingly, everything started to go smoothly and I won my group 3-0. Then I got a bit lucky with my opponents as I managed to avoid all the Koreans and went all the way to the grand finals which was a complete surprise to all, me included.
My best memories of a tournament are probably of the ASUS ROG Invitational in Helsinki. It was great to get into an invitational tournament where the players were treated outstandingly, and it was good to play in front of a Finnish crowd and get surprised by the number of live spectators in Finland. Of course the championship would have been great, but winning the bronze match in front of the home audience was also tasty.
My best memories of a tournament are probably of the ASUS ROG Invitational in Helsinki. It was great to get into an invitational tournament where the players were treated outstandingly, and it was good to play in front of a Finnish crowd and get surprised by the number of live spectators in Finland. Of course the championship would have been great, but winning the bronze match in front of the home audience was also tasty.
During your gaming career you have represented a number of world class organizations like Fnatic (WC3), Power Gaming (SC2) and Acer (SC2) - How has being in an organization affected your playing? Do you think the situation will change now that you are under several personal sponsors instead of an organization?
This surely will have a huge boost to my motivation. It affects my gaming by giving a chance to show that you are counted on, and it’s always nice to be the star in your team (well, in this case there is no one else in the team but anyways 
). Likewise, during my WarCraft 3 times I got the most motivation when I was the star of my team Hoorai, so at least I appreciate the feeling it brings. Coming back to the current situation, I believe that this is an excellent opportunity for me to develop. Even though the demands of the sponsors are now dedicated directly to me instead of an organization, it makes setting and following your goals much easier.
). Likewise, during my WarCraft 3 times I got the most motivation when I was the star of my team Hoorai, so at least I appreciate the feeling it brings. Coming back to the current situation, I believe that this is an excellent opportunity for me to develop. Even though the demands of the sponsors are now dedicated directly to me instead of an organization, it makes setting and following your goals much easier.In which events are you attending in the near future?
My first tournament as an independent player will be Vectorama in Oulu, Finland. A week after that I will go to DreamHack Summer. The qualifications for HomeStory Cup V and TSL4 are also starting soon, and my goal is to qualify to both to them. In a long term, I’m attending all of the DreamHack Open tournaments and trying to get enough points so that I can get into the final event in DreamHack Winter.
Shoutouts
Firstly, I want to thank Team Acer for our co-operation. I especially appreciate their support at the start which enabled me to attend the Intel Extreme Masters and ESWC tournaments. Also, thanks to my team mates for awesome memories in different events, see you in future tournaments!
Now it’s time to get my Twitter and Facebook accounts running, so please start following me! Thanks to ASUS ROG, SteelSeries and SETT.fi for their support.
DON’T FORGET MARU.
Now it’s time to get my Twitter and Facebook accounts running, so please start following me! Thanks to ASUS ROG, SteelSeries and SETT.fi for their support.
DON’T FORGET MARU.
