elfi leaves Team Acer, now sponsored by ASUS ROG

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.

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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.

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.

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.

Last edit: 2012-06-02 18:10:31

MrMotionPicture United States. June 02 2012 08:31. Posts 2726

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Oh my! I hope he finds a more fitting team for his needs.

"Elvis Presley" | Ret was looking at my post in the GSL video by Artosis. True story. | ROOTqxc.729/FXOqxc.955

Waxangel United States. June 02 2012 08:32. Posts 19152

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noooo elfi T_T

Hey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint?

jmbthirteen United States. June 02 2012 08:34. Posts 9616

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So because he wasn't going to sign the same contract, Team Acer wasn't going to send him to events that happened during the contract he was currently on? Not cool Team Acer.

"Don't Bro Me If You Don't Know Me"

An2quamaraN Poland. June 02 2012 08:34. Posts 359

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Team Liquid would use some protoss.

Gladiator6 Sweden. June 02 2012 08:35. Posts 6831

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Cool that Asus ROG will be backing him up instead of him leaving with nothing so early.

Flying, sOs, free, Light, Soulkey & ZerO

shief Poland. June 02 2012 08:36. Posts 2

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elfi v_v

Chromodoris Sweden. June 02 2012 08:37. Posts 131

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Classy move by Asus, Steelseries and SETT to sponsor him. I hope he finds a new team soon.

Nudibranchs are awesome. ♥ ThorZaIN.

Torte de Lini Canada. June 02 2012 08:38. Posts 27075

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): I hope he joins another team soon!

https://twitter.com/#!/TorteDeLini (@TorteDeLini)

Lonyo Guernsey. June 02 2012 08:38. Posts 2021

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On June 02 2012 08:34 jmbthirteen wrote:
So because he wasn't going to sign the same contract, Team Acer wasn't going to send him to events that happened during the contract he was currently on? Not cool Team Acer.

It makes some sense.
He wasn't going to agree to a new contract, so wouldn't be contracted for the main DH event, so they didn't want to send him to sub events/qualifiers when he wouldn't be attending the main event for them.
It's easy to understand why they wouldn't want to send him, especially when they have other players they probably could/will send, who will still be with them when the main event happens.

I think it's good they let him go rather than treating him "badly" because he wasn't going to stay by holding him to his contract but not sending him anywhere. It's the best choice for both parties really.

HOLY CHECK!

BlackCloud Canada. June 02 2012 08:39. Posts 144

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hes gunna get pickd up fast,this guys goooood

jmbthirteen United States. June 02 2012 08:43. Posts 9616

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On June 02 2012 08:38 Lonyo wrote:

Show nested quote +

i don't like it. its bad for teams to operate this way. EG was talking to Thorzain pre DreamHack Stockholm, and mouz still sent him there knowing they may might not resign him and it wasn't the main DH event. There is still a lot of value in sending a player to the upcoming DH events.

And they better let him go, they weren't going to send him to any events! Bad move from Acer to operate this way. Seems very childish.

Last edit: 2012-06-02 08:44:17

"Don't Bro Me If You Don't Know Me"

Josh_rakoons United Kingdom. June 02 2012 08:45. Posts 1157

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Noooooo

Sphaero Germany. June 02 2012 08:49. Posts 783

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On June 02 2012 08:43 jmbthirteen wrote:

Show nested quote +

Well, there are slightly different circumstances if you ask me. Thorzain was a highly rated Swede competing in a big tournament in Sweden. This includes two things: low travel expenses and big exposure for him and Mousesports. From a business standpoint it made way more sense for Mouz than it would be in Acer´s case.

Fan of Mousesports since 2002 / Mouz Doto strongest Doto

catplanetcatplanet June 02 2012 08:50. Posts 2231

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NOW HE CAN JOIN TEAM GRUBBY

Badfatpanda United States. June 02 2012 08:50. Posts 9261

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Wow, nice move to support him with individual sponsors but it's a shame, he's really become more than just a PvP gosu and he still has so much potential.

Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. -Beethoven | Mech isn't a build, it's a way of life. -MajOr | Charlie.Sheen: "What is sarcastic, kids who have no courage to fight?" | #TerranPride #yolo #swag -Naama after 2-0'ing MC at HSC VI

Serimek France. June 02 2012 08:51. Posts 673

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elfi needs to show great games at DH Opens now.

Z : JD, Stephano, TLO - P : Grubby, Feast, Oz, MaNa - T : MMA, Polt — Root for TL, TSL & Millenium — "I will smash open Stephano at DreamHack, 'cause I'm the only King of the Franks" Feast

7mk Germany. June 02 2012 08:52. Posts 9444

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Acer is a weird team...

http://twitter.com/#!/Doc_Awesome . Effort, herO and HerO hwaiting :)

Deadstrider Netherlands. June 02 2012 08:53. Posts 255

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GL to elfi finding a new team

Sphaero Germany. June 02 2012 08:55. Posts 783

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On another note, I´m really wondering, if he will stay solo like White-Ra and Grubby or join another team. At least in EU I see no top team with a real need of a strong Toss at the moment, maybe Millenium and Empire to increase their depth of the roster.

Fan of Mousesports since 2002 / Mouz Doto strongest Doto

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