EPTToday ROG.Elfi sailed through a series of Protoss opponents, showcasing his always excellent PvP before finally taking down BLASTroof in a PvZ in the finals. We got some thoughts from him on life, the finals, and cats before he went off into the night to prepare for TSL4.
#13: EU/NA Qualifier 9
Here is what the standings looked like at the end of play. Top 32 bracket on Liquipedia.
| 1st | ROG.Elfi |
| 2nd | BLASTroof |
| 3rd-4th | TypeReaL |
| 3rd-4th | myRCupCake |
| 5th-8th | Ai.Cytoplasm |
| 5th-8th | Ai.tarrantius |
| 5th-8th | BabyKnight |
| 5th-8th | ESC.monchi |
Interview with ROG.Elfi
Congrats again! You had a nice string of games today. Can you introduce yourself for those who might now know you yet?
Hello everyone I m Samuli "elfi" Sihvonen from Finland and playing for Asus ROG.
How does it feel to have won a TSL qualifier?
Awesome I ve been struggling a lot lately and most TSL qualifiers have been horrible for me but now I can sigh a little. ^^
Today you had a nice string of matches, getting almost entirely PvP until the finals. Do you think that helped? Are you still most confident in that matchup?
Yes that was good for me, my PvP is strong thought its not even close to how good it was and well I am happy cupcake won agains BabYKnight he is impossible for me lately. 
And well I guess PvP is my best matchup but I'm not that sure anymore.
And well I guess PvP is my best matchup but I'm not that sure anymore.Not sure anymore?
PvP has changed so much lately and people are starting to understand it more. Before everyone had such big flaws in their builds so I could abuse timings and 4 gate as much I wanted but now you pretty much have to camp mass colossus and I suck in mass colossus fight atm.
Let's switch gears a little. Tell us one thing about yourself that people may not know.
Oh thats a hard one...hmm...I guess its clear I love cats so something else...well I will go with I like reading manga then!
Do you have any pre-game rituals? Do you still watch videos of Maru before playing?
I do watch Maru still before games but not that often. Usually its only in LAN tournaments when I do.
Did you replace Maru with anything? What do you watch now? Have you moved on to other cats?
HELL NO maru is still my #1 cat and will allways be DON'T FORGET MARU!!!!
That's a relief. What's your favorite maru video?
'I am Maru 3' is best Maru video there is, it's made as birthday present for Maru!
How do you feel about dogs? Do you only like cats?
Dogs are evil they are sneaky bastards who make you think they are cool but dogs are really selfish in truth. Owls and hedgehogs are also quite cool but not as cool as cats.
Do you have a cat yourself?
Naa I dont have cat atm my old cat died sometime ago. 
I will get new cat in future and it's name will be Pekka.
I will get new cat in future and it's name will be Pekka.Oh that's sad . Why Pekka?
. Why Pekka?Not quite sure where that name came from but I m starting to doubt that names coolness for some reasons but I've made my decision...
Ahhhh nice. Let's talk about Starcraft a little. You have been sponsored by ASUS ROG and SETT.fi now for about a month, how has that been going?
I feel like my team is doing everything they can do to keep me motivated and help me with my practice I hope I can do the same and get good results for us, but only time will tell, but for now everything has been perfect for me.
Qualifying for TSL4 is a nice start! In game 1 of the finals the game went for a weird turn when you killed roof's natural and main while he took out your natural. Were you ever worried during the expansion trading?
Hmm well not really, I was kinda feeling I had big lead since I would be able to defend my main but earlier I thought I had lost when my sentrys died early, that roach ling timing so far was first time ever so even though my observer saw those I couldn't react since no experience of that.
In game 2 you were behind in several expansions, but killed them all with DTs at the same time. Did you expect that to work so well?
Well actually I thought I would do more damage and kill his 3rd base also but he noticed DTs and killed them with banes, so I'd say that was nearly even since he didn't have that many miners on his 4th and 5th base.
In game 3 you got killed by banelings, did that influence your decision at all to go for a 5-gate strategy in the following game?
Now that I think about it I didnt think about that at all but well the human mind is weird so I bet that had something to do with my choice. Since I've noticed ealier also that if someone gets cheesed he often wants to do same also but also 4 positions had alot to do my strat, thought he might have hard time finding I'm not going forge and also that he thought its only cross was really helpful.
but also 4 positions had alot to do my strat, thought he might have hard time finding I'm not going forge and also that he thought its only cross was really helpful. Is there anyone you hope to play in TSL?
Not really I have already played vs big korean names so now I only care about who is best for me, so I'd rather see my opponent have a Protoss logo in front his name.
There are 2 qualifiers left. Anyone you hope makes it in?
I hope Finnish players can make it, the more Finn players the better. But I think it will be really hard since no one really has that many points so they need to win.
At least you have Welmu! Any last comments? Shoutouts?
I want my sponsors for theird support Asus ROG sett.fi for their support and steelseries for sending me new mouse and keyboard which made me win this tour though I have not practiced too much with them yet. Follow me at twitter and facebook @ROGElfi and DONT FORGET MARU!
Follow me at twitter and facebook @ROGElfi and DONT FORGET MARU!Sponsors:
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