elfi
From Liquipedia StarCraft 2 Wiki
elfi
Player Information
Name:
Samuli Sihvonen
Nationality:
Born:
October 24, 1990 (age 34)
Race:
Alternate IDs:
elfittaja-
Approx. Total Winnings:
$44,866
Years Active:
2010 - 2015
Years Active (caster):
2018 - 2024
Links
History
| 2010-10-10 — 2011-03-11 | Power Gaming |
| 2011-03-11 — 2011-09-06 | Virus Gaming |
| 2011-09-06 — 2012-06-02 | Team Acer |
| 2013-04-14 — 2014-02-20 | Ence eSports |
| 2014-03-10 — 2014-07-25 | Vega Squadron |
| 2015-??-?? | Retirement |
Retired:
2015
Recent Matches
elfi   | 1:2 (Bo3) |   Snute |
September 24, 2015 - 19:30 CEST | ||
| elfi | 1:2 (Bo3) |  MaNa |
September 10, 2015 - 16:00 CEST | ||
| elfi | 3:4 (Bo7) | Serral |
September 5, 2015 - 18:00 EEST | ||
| elfi | 3:1 (Bo5) | ZhuGeLiang |
September 5, 2015 - 15:30 EEST | ||
| elfi | 0:3 (Bo5) |   uThermal |
July 28, 2015 - 20:40 CEST  | ||
Samuli "elfi" Sihvonen (born October 24, 1990) is a retired Finnish Protoss player who last played for Vega Squadron.
Overview[edit]
Samuli Sihvonen is a Finnish Protoss player and one of the best performing Finnish SC2 players. elfi is commonly believed to be the second best known Finnish player with many major tournament appearances and results under his belt.[1]
Playstyle[edit]
elfi is commonly thought of as a "slow" player, APM wise. Grubby for example said that "- - he is too slow to be good".[2] Ironically elfi has beaten Grubby, and many Korean players, like MC for example, who are commonly believed to have really fast mechanics. Some people still regard his playstyle cheesy: elfi's playstyle has evolved a lot, and he has no trouble taking the game to the late game. Any mistakes by the opponent early game will be punished, however. elfi made a name for himself as "the PvP master", but currently elfi believes that it's not his strongest match-up. elfi is known to perform funky and original builds, which often receive attention by casters.
Biography[edit]
elfi started playing competitively in around 2005.[1] He used to be one of the best Finnish Warcraft III players, playing under the ID "elfittaja" and representing teams such as Fnatic. He won the Finnish WCG qualifier in 2008.[3] elfi has been concentrating fully on playing StarCraft II competitively since its launch.
Wings of Liberty[edit]
elfi started his professional StarCraft II career by being picked up by Power Gaming as the first player for their roster. Soon after recruiting elfi Power Gaming also signed NaNiWa, who only 6 days later decided to join Team Empire instead. elfi remained the only player in Power Gaming until March 11, 2011, when Power Gaming transferred him to Virus Gaming for an undisclosed fee. When he joined the team, he explained that he chose them to be able to train with their Finnish players, such as Satiini and Sein.[4] In August 6, 2011, elfi reached the final of WCG 2011 Finland Qualifiers, therefore securing a spot in World Cyber Games 2011.
One month later, on September 6, elfi left Virus Gaming, because the team couldn't afford to pay for his travel expenses for the foreign events he had qualified for.[5] On September 9, it was announced that elfi joined Team Acer.[6]
On October 4 elfi took his first major prize pool by placing 2nd at IEM Season VI - Global Challenge Guangzhou. This came after a strong group stage where he went 6-0 defeating IdrA, Jim, and Jinro. He went on to meet IdrA in the finals of the tournament after defeating Strelok and HasuObs, but was unable to defeat him for another time and eventually lost by a score of 3-1. He subsequently competed in the next IEM event, IEM Season VI - Global Challenge New York, after a tough bracket during the second qualifier which had him facing Stephano, Adelscott, and Tarson. In New York elfi won his group but was knocked out by a score of 3-2 in the quarterfinals by KiLLeR.
From November 4 to 5, elfi participated in the ASUS ROG Stars Invite in Finland. His opponent in the first round was the reigning MLG champion, HuK, who was one of the favorites to win the event. Nevertheless, elfi defeated him, and proceeded to the semifinals where he met SeleCT, who knocked-him out. elfi defeated White-Ra by a score of 3-1 to take the third place at the tournament.
June 2, it was announced that elfi had left Team Acer.[7] He picked up a personal sponsorship from ASUS ROG, SteelSeries, and SETT.fi. His contract with Team Acer was going to end in three months, and therefore elfi announced that he was not staying in the organization under his current contract. Due to contract negotiations Acer did not send him to any of the upcoming DreamHack Summer, DreamHack Valencia or DreamHack Bucharest events as the season concluding event, DreamHack Winter, was held after the time his contract ended. After negotiations both parties agreed to end elfi's contract earlier, in late May, to offer elfi the chance to participate upcoming events. elfi started playing under personal sponsorship by ASUS ROG, SteelSeries and SETT.fi. His gametag became ROGǂelfi, standing for Republic of Gamers, elfi's primary sponsor.[1]
During the time of his personal sponsorship he participated in the ASUS ROG The GD Invitational. During group stages he managed to defeat MaNa in a deciding game to determine who advance from group stages to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals he defeated LucifroN 2-0 to advance to the semifinals where he defeated TLO 3-1. In the finals he faced off against ThorZaIN where he fell in a close 5 game series 3-2.
Late November, 2012, elfi Tweeted the following: "It's time to start looking for team now. My current contracts are ending soon and I miss team action". Why, and when exactly his contract ended is unknown, but according to elfi both parties agreed that it was best not to continue the contract.
Mid April 2013 Finnish eSports personality, Procyh, announced a new Finnish team - Ence eSports with elfi in the roster as their StarCraft II player.[8][9]
World Championship Series[edit]
2012 WCS Finland Nationals[edit]
On July 28, 2012, elfi participated in the World Championship Series 2012 Finnish Nationals. After defeating Fuzer in the first round, elfi lost to Protosser and fell to the losers bracket. Elfi then went on to take out Satiini, Serral, imakki, and then got his revenge on Protosser by defeating him 2-0. After defeating Welmu, elfi went on to face Naama in the finals where he managed to win the first series 2-0 but lost 1-2 in the second series after becoming one game point away from victory, and finished 2nd place overall, while notably having a winning record against every opponent he versed in the tournament. As only one Finnish player could qualify, he fell short and did not qualify for the 2012 Battle.net European Championship.
Heart of the Swarm[edit]
2013 Dreamhack Stockholm[edit]
The first major Heart of the Swarm tournament that elfi participated in was Dreamhack Stockholm 2013. Although he advanced at the top of his Stage 1 group, over Adelscott, Flo, and Gowerly, he came last in his group in Stage 2. Despite his promisig earlier performance he was only able to take a single map off of ziktomini and lost 2-0 to HyuN and Puzzle.
2013 WCS EU Season 1[edit]
elfi initially tried to get into the Premier League through the Premier League Qualifiers, but the closest he got would be the quarterfinals of the bracket on Day 4 where he was eliminated 2-0 by TargA. Trying his hand at the Challenger League Qualifiers elfi again had little success until the third day, losing twice to DarkHydra and once to Brat_OK. However, on May 12, 2013, the last day of qualifiers, he was able to beat Spirates, Sonder, Monsteuh, and TargA to qualify for the Main Tournament.
Although he quickly dropped out of the bracket stage after a 2-1 loss to Dayshi, elfi was able to qualify for the Season 2 Premier League through the group stage. After initially losing 2-0 to beastyqt he scored back to back 2-0 wins against monchi and then SaSe to advance.
2013 Dreamhack Summer[edit]
In between WCS seasons, elfi made his way to Sweden for the Dreamhack Summer Open. After getting out of his first group without dropping a map, elfi found himself in much more difficult group in Stage 2, going up against Ret, Goswser, and Jaedong. Although he lost to Jaedong, he was able to 2-0 both Ret and Goswser to advance to Stage 3.
elfi landed in one of the closest groups of the third stage with Tefel, TaeJa, and ThorZaIN. TaeJa, Tefel, and elfi would tie three ways for first place, with each having a 2-1 match record. However elfi would be eliminated as he had the worst map score of the three at 4-4.
2013 WCS EU Season 2[edit]
elfi was placed in Group A in the Round of 32 along with Mvp, Tefel, and beastyqt. After losing his first match to Mvp 2-0, he was able to get back to the fifth match after beating beastyqt. Unfortunately, he would lose there to Tefel, thus dropping down to the Challenger League.
Trivia[edit]
- In Finnish SC2 scene elfi is commonly called "Teuroisten Ritari", or "The Knight of Teuroinen", originating from the village elfi lived in as a child.[10]
- elfi was an Undead player in Warcraft III.
- With a win record of over 65% in PvP according to TLPD International as of July 2012,[11] elfi is known for having exceptionally strong PvP.
- On September 2012, elfi received the Gamer of the Year award and a €500 stipend from the Finnish eSports Federation SEUL ry.[12]
Achievements[edit]
Gallery[edit]
Interviews[edit]
- [e] 2013-09-22 | ence.Elfi Interview after DreamHack Bucharest 2013 by Aron Ambrosiani of BarCraft STHLM at 2013 DreamHack Open/Bucharest
- [e] 2013-06-17 | ence.Elfi Interview at DreamHack Summer 2013 by HotBid of TL.net at 2013 DreamHack Open/Summer
- [e] 2013-04-27 | Thoughts by the Ence duo: Serral and elfi by elfi of Ence at 2013 DreamHack Open/Stockholm
- [e] 2013-04-27 | elfi discussing about his career by Sett.fi at 2013 DreamHack Open/Stockholm
- [e] 2013-04-24 | elfi on the way to Dreamhack by Sett.fi at 2013 DreamHack Open/Stockholm
- [e] 2013-04-13 | Ence eSports Introduction - elfi interviewed by Ence eSports
- [e] 2013-01-12 | Fuzer interviewing elfi by Samuli "Fuzer" Romppanen of SETT.fi at LANTREK'13
- [e] 2012-09-22 | elfi and Protosser interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at 2012_DreamHack_Open/Valencia
- [e] 2012-08-18 | elfi interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of hitpoint.cz at IEM Season VII - Cologne
- [e] 2012-08-15 | elfi on tour in Germany by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi
- [e] 2012-08-04 | elfi interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of Cadred.org at ASUS ROG Summer 2012
- [e] 2012-08-02 | elfi interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at ASUS ROG Summer 2012
- [e] 2012-07-30 | "Towards Assembly: Samuli "elfi" Sihvonen" by eXelon Gaming
- [e] 2012-07-28 | WCS Nordic: elfi's analysis by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at 2012_StarCraft_II_World_Championship_Series:_Nordic_Nationals
- [e] 2012-07-28 | WCS Nordic: "Naama against elfi - battle of the wills" by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at 2012 WCS Nordic Nationals
- [e] 2012-07-28 | "WCS Nordic: elfi and Protosser initial thoughts" by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at 2012 WCS Nordic Nationals
- [e] 2012-07-10 | "I don’t want to say any names now but there has been always few guys whos I've feared in PvP." by Zone eSports
- [e] 2012-06-16 | elfi and Welmu interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at 2012_DreamHack_Open/Summer
- [e] 2012-06-09 | elfi interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at Vectorama 2012
- [e] 2012-03-08 | elfi interviewed by GI-cip at IEM Season VI - World Championship
- [e] 2012-03-08 | elfi after group stage by Jarmo Keto of SETT.fi at IEM Season VI - World Championship
- [e] 2012-03-08 | "Disappointed Samuli "elfi-" Sihvonen" by Jarmo Keto of SETT.fi at IEM Season VI - World Championship
- [e] 2012-02-24 | elfi interview by Semmler of ASUS ROG at Assembly Winter 2012
- [e] 2012-02-24 | Samuli "elfi" Sihvonen interviewed by Gaming.fi at Assembly Winter 2012
- [e] 2012-02-24 | elfi and Welmu interview after the group stage by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at Assembly Winter 2012
- [e] 2011-11-24 | elfi interview by GameluxNL at DreamHack Winter 2011
- [e] 2011-11-23 | elfi - introduction (article) of SETT.fi
- [e] 2011-11-22 | elfi and Naama interviewed by Wabbit by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi
- [e] 2011-11-03 | elfi joining Virus Gaming (article) by SETT.fi
- [e] 2011-10-14 | IEM NY: elfi interview by sKsDhalism at IEM Season VI - Global Challenge New York
- [e] 2011-09-10 | "I Have to go from tournament to tournament without visiting home" - Interview with elfi as he signs for Team Acer. by Max Kieturakis of Team Acer
- [e] 2011-08-07 | ASM'11: elfi and Welmu interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at ASUS ROG Summer 2011
- [e] 2011-08-04 | ASM'11: elfi interviewed by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at ASUS ROG Summer 2011
- [e] 2011-06-19 | DHS'11: elfi after dropping out by Teemu Hiilinen of SETT.fi at DreamHack Summer 2011
See Also[edit]
First Person View Match VODS[edit]
Statistics[edit]
Matchup Statistics
| vs | vs | vs | vs  | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | Record | Win% | |
| as | 256 - 176 | 59.3 % | 240 - 148 | 61.9 % | 261 - 213 | 55.1 % | 12 - 0 | 100 % | 769 - 537 | 58.9 % |
| as | 1 - 2 | 33.3 % | 0 - 0 | - | 0 - 0 | - | 0 - 0 | - | 1 - 2 | 33.3 % |
| Σ | 257 - 178 | 59.1 % | 240 - 148 | 61.9 % | 261 - 213 | 55.1 % | 12 - 0 | 100 % | 770 - 539 | 58.8 % |
Earnings Statistics
{"xAxis":{"type":"category","name":"Year","axisLabel":{"rotate":0},"axisTick":{"alignWithLabel":true},"data":["2010","2011","2012","2013","2014","2015"]},"yAxis":{"type":"value","name":"Earnings ($USD)"},"series":[{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"1v1 Earnings","data":["71","8606","8060","10489","3980","12965"]},{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"Team Event Earnings","data":["0","167","314","200","14","0"]},{"emphasis":{"focus":"series"},"stack":"total","type":"bar","name":"Other Earnings","data":["0","0","0","0","0","0"]}],"size":{"width":1400,"height":400},"grid":{"top":"15%","left":"15%","right":"12%","bottom":"10%"},"tooltip":{"trigger":"axis"},"legend":{"1":"1v1 Earnings","2":"Team Event Earnings","3":"Other Earnings"},"div":"chart-area-0"}1v1 Medal Statistics
| Tier |  |  |  |  |  | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A-Tier | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| B-Tier | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| C-Tier | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Total | 29 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 49 |
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ROGelfi announcement
- ↑ Grubby talking about elfi
- ↑ "Elfittaja wins WCG Finland". myMyM.com. August 3rd 2008.
- ↑
"Virus recruits again'". Team-aAa.com. March 10th 2011. Translated version
- ↑ "elfi leaves Virus Gaming". Team-aAa.com. September 6th 2011. Translated version
- ↑ "Acer welcomes elfi." aceresport.com. September 9th 2011. TL.net Forum thread
- ↑ elfi leaves acer
- ↑ "Ence eSports announcement". Twitter.com. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
- ↑ "elfi's tweet on joining Ence". Twitter.com. 2013-04-14. Retrieved 2013-04-14.
- ↑ elfi's TL fanclub
- ↑ elfi on TLPD International
- ↑ Katariina Keränen (30 September 2012). "Rentoa tunnelmaa ensimmäisessä eSports-gaalassa " [A relaxed atmosphere in the first eSports-Awards] (in Finnish). Retrieved 14 October 2012.