Today, one of esports' legendary players returns to competitive gaming. We are proud to announce that ElkY has joined the Hearthstone division of Team Liquid. Bertrand is one of the most successful non-Korean players in Brood War's history—arguably second only to Grrrr...—and he is a true trailblazer, traveling to Korea to pursue his dream before progaming was even considered a rational pursuit. His desire to become the best led him to a far away country because he understood that it was not possible anywhere else, and it is that same desire that compelled him to return to esports. It was only a few days ago that he made a surprise appearance at BlizzCon for a Hearthstone showmatch against Daniel Negreanu, but his road does not end there. He will make his first competitive appearance under Team Liquid at SeatStoryCup just as this announcement goes live.
ElkY and I have a long history that goes back for more than 15 years. We both played Brood War competitively and had been practice partners for a long time before I moved to Korea at age 18. In Seoul, it was ElkY that took care of me, showed me the city, and taught me the foundations necessary to become a progamer. Later on, after our careers had ended and we both transitioned into poker, our friendship continued and we were able to rely on each other when needed. As we all know by now, his success extended into his new career; for the past 10 years his travels through the poker circuit have been well documented. During that time he accumulated over $10m in prize winnings, became a PokerStars sponsored player, set the Guinness World Record for most Single Table Sit & Goes played in one hour, and had countless TV appearances, and is one of the few players to win the poker the triple crown (WSOP, WPT, EPT wins). Now, he's back to complete the circle, and looking to be an ambassador for both poker and Hearthstone.
When he approached me about a return to competitive gaming through Hearthstone, it was a no-brainer that he fit in perfectly with the organization. The industry of esports has changed so much over the past decade, but his appetite remains strong as he plans to stream regularly along with competing with the best. We look forward to supporting him wholeheartedly, and we know that Neirea, SjoW, Savjz, Dog, and our entire coaching staff are all excited to have him on board.
-Liquid`Nazgul
Statement from Liquid'Elky
Team Liquid always had the best community in my eyes and has been at the forefront of the esport revolution for the past 15 years. I've been a huge fan for all this time, and I am delighted to finally join forces with my favorite team for my big return to esports. I'm already in the best poker team in Pokerstars and now I'm in the best esports team.
-Liquid`Elky
Elky's first match under Liquid will be at SeatStoryCup in a group consisting of Reckful, Gamers2 captain Lothar, and the recently crowned world champion, Ostkaka. His first opponent will be Reckful, a popular World of Warcraft/Hearthstone streamer, who will be a formidable first test. Come join us today in cheering for our newest player.
At this point I really just hope for Daniel Negreanu to join another Hearthstone team to continue the rivalry that started with the showmatch between the two at Blizzcon!
On November 13 2015 23:14 Solmyr wrote: GL to Elky and Team Liquid HS division. I don't play poker and have 0 clue about its pro scene but why changing poker for HS? Is it easier to make money in HS than in poker ?
I can't really express how I feel... I don't really follow HearthStone nor play it, but it is SO DAMN COOL to see ElkY returning to esports after such a long time.
While I am sure ElkY is joining to live that "esports" dream again, I cant help and see that this is PokerStars trying to get their fingers into the pot of 40+ million players(accounts) that play Hearthstone.
PokerStars is making alot of changes to their VIP system to invest into other markets in 2016(long story short) So dont be suprised to see PokerStars doing Hearthstone related stuff really soon.
Totally caught me off guard when he showed up on stream with the Liquid jacket. It's just so cool. Reminds me of when Sea joined, except there's an even richer history there. GLHF to all involved!
OMG what year is this??? I am so hyped. Never followed Hearthstone but wouldn't mind looking into it now. Is it easy to learn? and most importantly, (since I won't be playing), is it fun to watch?
holy shit it's mother fucking Elky the legend himself wow. Didn't follow e-sports when he was active in broodwar but definitely a huge fan of elky the poker player.
Maybe this HS as esport is just abomination. Today I dreamed I am there at Seastory cup winning at turn 6 with secret paladin with all those pros. I mean it can be done even against world champion. I hate gambling and I would like HS to go into fantasy and rpg direction not poker direction.
On November 14 2015 01:02 Solmyr wrote: Maybe this HS as esport is just abomination. Today I dreamed I am there at Seastory cup winning at turn 6 with secret paladin with all those pros. I mean it can be done even against world champion. I hate gambling and I would like HS to go into fantasy and rpg direction not poker direction.
On November 13 2015 23:14 Solmyr wrote: GL to Elky and Team Liquid HS division.
I don't play poker and have 0 clue about its pro scene but why changing poker for HS? Is it easier to make money in HS than in poker ?
well I don't think any player made 10 million in hearthstone yet
I recently watched elkys stream before and it seemed like he just had a lot of fun playing, so I assume Elky is mostly doing this cause he feels like it :p
I feel like I'm being trolled right now. This is just plain awesome. Have to agree with the poster a couple above me that the TvT between him and BoxeR was epic back at 2001 WCG...
What I think is funny that most people don't bring up is that ElkY was in the same group as Nazgul during the group stages. He and Nazgul were the 2 to advance and both inevitably lost to BoxeR.
On November 14 2015 02:39 Makro wrote: does that mean he's giving up poker and only focusing on hearthstone ?
amazing move nonetheless
He's been a highroller for over 10 years now. Probably capable of still grinding out >$1M a year. My guess is he's just doing this for fun since he's so rich from poker he can do whatever he wants with his life.
On November 14 2015 02:39 Makro wrote: does that mean he's giving up poker and only focusing on hearthstone ?
amazing move nonetheless
He's been a highroller for over 10 years now. Probably capable of still grinding out >$1M a year. My guess is he's just doing this for fun since he's so rich from poker he can do whatever he wants with his life.
I dont think he runs a >1M$ a year to be honset .... but he probably saved up enough from the days the game was easy and the gap between players was bigger. today is a different kind of poker , but he is still amazing player both on BW and Poker.
i have tears in my eyes as i read this... it brings back so much memories... the beginning of esport and the one Game which made me an addict to online gaming: starcraft/brood war! back in these days we read battlereports with tiny screenshots or just parts of it and elky was a star with grrr in korea.
On November 14 2015 02:39 Makro wrote: does that mean he's giving up poker and only focusing on hearthstone ?
amazing move nonetheless
He's been a highroller for over 10 years now. Probably capable of still grinding out >$1M a year. My guess is he's just doing this for fun since he's so rich from poker he can do whatever he wants with his life.
Well he is a multimillionaire, so he doesn't ever have to work a single day in his life in the future. I guess he just does this for fun and not for money.
On November 14 2015 04:08 ShoCkeyy wrote: You know ELKY's pretty old when you used to watch ElkY play in pro BW games and now will watch him play pro hearthstone almost 16 years later.
FTFY
Interesting news. Gonna echo Bisudagger here... would love a BW showmatch :D
On November 14 2015 04:08 ShoCkeyy wrote: You know ELKY's pretty old when you used to watch ElkY play in pro BW games and now will watch him play pro hearthstone almost 16 years later.
FTFY
Interesting news. Gonna echo Bisudagger here... would love a BW showmatch :D
He's 34. There's Japanese fighting games players older than him still dominating those games. Hell, Daigo Umehara is older than him.
Age has always only been an issue for your esport career with Starcraft it seems. Other games are either recent on the overall scene, or have old pros.
Whenever i hear something about Elky i have to think back to, i guess it was the year 1999 or 2000, when i was playing Broodwar with the german national team. National teams were a thing back then for some reason. We got a match coming up against France, so we basically thought, yeah, they are french, this is a wargame, should be a sure thing, right? Wrong, because France did have Elky (and some other pretty good players, i guess), so i recall getting stomped real hard..
That is AMAZING. I am a big fan of Elky from the BW to Poker. Now on HS. I guess once gamer always a gamer! Also, I bet a lot of more poker players will start playings HS.
Liquid`Nazgul: Statement from Liquid'Elky Team Liquid always had the best community in my eyes and has been at the forefront of the esport revolution for the past 15 years. I've been a huge fan for all this time, and I am delighted to finally join forces with my favorite team for my big return to esports. I'm already in the best poker team in Pokerstars and now I'm in the best esports team. -Liquid`Elky
Im like 98% sure those arent Elkys words. Key expressions like "so sick", "one time baby", "jenny get over here", "i run so bad", "sick life" do not appear. So yeah pretty much fake news confirmed.
I wasnt around when Elky was the shit , but from what I read and saw on youtube , this guy is fucking awesome ! too bad he came back to hearthstone , but it makes sense, GL
Liquid`Nazgul: Statement from Liquid'Elky Team Liquid always had the best community in my eyes and has been at the forefront of the esport revolution for the past 15 years. I've been a huge fan for all this time, and I am delighted to finally join forces with my favorite team for my big return to esports. I'm already in the best poker team in Pokerstars and now I'm in the best esports team. -Liquid`Elky
Im like 98% sure those arent Elkys words. Key expressions like "so sick", "one time baby", "jenny get over here", "i run so bad", "sick life" do not appear. So yeah pretty much fake news confirmed.
lol. Either way :
On November 14 2015 06:35 NasKe_ wrote: WAOW
That is AMAZING. I am a big fan of Elky from the BW to Poker. Now on HS. I guess once gamer always a gamer! Also, I bet a lot of more poker players will start playings HS.
Pretty sure they're just playing HS for fun. If they can become pro, then so be it. But I doubt they'll ever get to that stage, it's too much time consuming if they happen to have the same schedule as the poker's tournaments (or close to). LotV ? Nah. Not a chance.
On November 13 2015 23:53 BirdistheWord wrote: Elky is alrdy a multimiljonair from poker so i guess he does HS just for the fun
10m in earnings doesn't cover buyins. You have no way of knowing his current wealth. No one does.
Doesn't cover cash games as a whole also which is where most pros make their pocket change! Recently Elky looked a bit less motivated by poker. Guess he needs a bit of fresh air!
On November 15 2015 04:49 Dingodile wrote: Do poker players earn monthly salaries from teams?
edit: serious question in poker world, i have no clue about poker.
The deal varies from player to player, but for a high profile player like Elky then yes, he would almost certainly receive a substantial amount of money from Pokerstars every month
And for having seen him play SC2 LOTV recently he won games against Master players with out even 3 days of training with terran. This guy is just an insane gamer. I hope he will also do some lotv Sc2 streams sometimes.
I played against him early this year for about 3+ months (after i had a 2 years break) the guy was terrible, out of shape, angry and very slow, his terran was B- at most... i don't like Brood War fanboys, old players are usually bad players since the game wasn't developed, i respect Grrr.. but this guy was unskilled and slow with bad manners.
On December 23 2015 07:43 Herecomestrouble wrote: I played against him early this year for about 3+ months (after i had a 2 years break) the guy was terrible, out of shape, angry and very slow, his terran was B- at most... i don't like Brood War fanboys, old players are usually bad players since the game wasn't developed, i respect Grrr.. but this guy was unskilled and slow with bad manners.
You have no respect for the game if you don't appreciate Elky's legacy.
Isn't B- like really good? And he probably barely even plays bw. Odds are the guy didn't even play vs Elky, and I really don't see Elky, a professional high stakes poker player who deals with the stress of bad luck every day, being "angry" over broodwar.
In fact I have known Elky a long time and have played both poker and brood war against him and never saw him being disrespectful.
EPT
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