fragster: elfi, you lost your round of 16 match at DreamHack Valencia against TheStc in a very close series. How do you feel about it?
Samuli 'elfi' Sivonen: I feel really bad at the moment. First map was so horrible, I should have won the first game easily. It was a total free win but I lost. I am really sad now.
What were your expectations for the tournament here?
elfi: With my overall results here I think this was the minimum. The round of eight was my goal, then I would have had enough points for the qualification for DreamHack Winter. But overall this tournament has been really good.
So all your games in the group stage were good in your opinion?
elfi: Yeah, I think they were good. But my groups were very easy. In the first group there were only me and viOlet and some guys I didn't know. So that was that thing.
Let's jump over to another topic. What do you think about the results of WCS Europe?
elfi: Well, they are really good in my opinion. But Zerg is really imbalanced at the moment. There are so many Zergs in Europe winning tournaments. But of course they will have good chances, especially Stephano and Nerchio will do very well. And maybe VortiX and LucifroN can surprise the Koreans.
If Zerg is so imbalanced in the moment: Why are all of the Korean WCS participants not playing Zerg?
elfi: I don't know. I did not follow the WCS Korea but overall the qualifier was not good because some of those really good players like MC couldn't play due to overlapping schedules.
Is there any player who is a favorite for the World Finals in your opinion?
elfi: Not really, I think. There is not one player I would root for there. So I can't name anybody. (laughs)
Are you sad that you didn't make it to the World and even the European Finals?
elfi: Yeah, I am really sad. Especially the Finish qualifier was really bad for me. It was so close. I had to win two best-of-three games against Naama. I won the first and then won the first map again, just to lose the second and third afterwards.
Okay, maybe another topic again. You did decide to leave Team Acer some time ago. Why did you do so?
elfi: Because I thought that would be really good for my career. Now I can get in every tournament I want and everything. It has been going on now for four months and it has been a really good time for me.
But overall you were happy with Team Acer or were there any problems?
elfi: Overall, the team was good but LAN events were always quite bad in my opinion because the hotel was far away. I had to travel very long, even for one hour to the event place. That was quite bad. You had to wake up at 06:00 and then get breakfast and travel for one hour.
How did you get the private sponsors SteelSeries and ASUS ROG?
elfi: It mostly came through Finskaja who is my manager at the moment. He is the man behind this.
Do you have the choice to play the tournaments you like to play with your private sponsors?
elfi: There is not any pressure like "You do have to go there and there". It is more that I want to go to every event I can attend.
With you playing very many LAN events: What's the highlight of the year for you? Maybe Assembly?
elfi: Yeah, Assemblys are really big for me because it takes place in Finland. I did never do really good there but, well, maybe sometime I could do better there. (laughs)
What are the next tournaments coming up for you?
elfi: I think the DreamHack Bucharest event will be next month. And then there will be the ASUS ROG Invitational tournament in Stockholm. These two will be my next tournaments.
Will we see a tournament winning of elfi there?
elfi: I hope so. Especially in the ASUS ROG. I would really like to win there.
Let's talk about Bucharest and DreamHack Winter. If you are not getting the needed points in Romania, are you going to play the BYOC qualifier in Sweden in November?
elfi: Yeah, I think so. I will go to the qualification tournament there if I don't get enough points. But, of course, I trust in myself enough that I will at least get five more points in Bucharest to get the invitation for Winter there.
What about more international events like MLG or any Korean event? Do you think about travelling there in the future?
elfi: Yeah, especially MLG. I have been at Korea for the WCG event. MLG next would be very nice. But, well, I have to get done the next qualifier. Last time I woke up and looked at Team Liquid and thought "Oh well, they are playing the MLG tournament and I did not even know about this qualifier."
Thank you for the interview.