Legendary Interview: Savjz

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This interview happened kind of by accident, if I’m honest. Savjz has been a great friend to IHEARTHU.com, of which I am extremely grateful. He along with the rest of team Doge have adopted this place as their own.

Savjz recently hit legendary on the new ranking system, and we wanted to embed the emotion filled clip of the game in which that happened. After all, it’s a big achievement - and a lot has happened for Mr. Savjz in the past several weeks. He went from a casual regular Hearthstone player, to becoming one of the world’s best - competing at the highest level, and dominating in the IHEARTHU.com King of the Hill - 4 weeks running, and had 2000 viewers watch him get that Legend status. You can see that VOD below.

Long story short, it was easier to get Savjz to do an interview than have him write up something to accompany the embedded video! I am extremely happy that we ended up doing it. I certainly learned a few things about my new friend, and I think it’s most definitely great timing as this up-and-comer begins to enter a bigger spotlight.

Many people are being introduced to the concept of eSports through Hearthstone and I think that’s a really wonderful thing. eSports has grown exponentially in the past 3 years and I think Hearthstone is just helping it along. Just like traditional sports, the game is obviously important - but what is truly compelling is the humanity behind it. The spirit of competition, the reaction of a big win, the crushing feeling of watching your favorite player defeated. This impromptu interview was not planned, but after doing it…I am definitely planning on doing more, and hopefully eSports fans will enjoy it, and people new to the scene will get a sense of why it’s so compelling! I hope you enjoy!

Watch Savjz go Legendary!

Name: Janne Mikkonen
ID: Savjz
Date of Birth: 02/02/1988
Location: Järvenpää, Finland
Twitter: @Savjz
Stream: TwitchTV

What previous history do you have with CCGs?

I’ve played Magic the Gathering on/off for over 10years, no pro tours or anything like that but I am mechanically a strong player there and pretty good constructed and a limited deck builder. I have fairly consitently finished in prizes on mtg prerelease events and I still go to those when ever new sets are out. Unlike many other Dogehouse team members, I did not play WoW:TCG however.

Did becoming one of the best Hearthstone players happen by accident, or was it a goal you worked towards?

Once I saw hearthstone on stream for the very first time I knew I was just built for that type of game. I have played many games way too much in the past and I tend to really dig into what ever game I play, and I love card games. In the past I have played a lot of CS, WC3, WoW and LoL for example.

In WC3 I was actually the first player to hit the maximum level of 50 on european solo ladder at the time they released that system. My wc3 alias was n0mad and I did make some cashes at live events and I played for a sponsored multi-gaming organization named Destination Skyline (DSky). My long time 2on2 teammate Satiini is actually a lot more famous from wc3 and also from sc2 as I kinda stopped at the top when I got bored and he just kept going. I was never

So in the end it was kind of my passion for card games and the “hardcore” attitude towards gaming that found a perfect match from hearthstone.

How do you evaluate success in the context of a pro-gaming career?

I don’t really have a pro-gaming career but I would say that in the end it’s evaluated in dollars earned. Right now I think of hearthstone still as a hobby but it might get serious with the twitch partnership I just got today as my viewer numbers these past days have been beyond my wildest dreams.

What is your most memorable match to date?

The first match against max in the IHEARTHU.com King of the Hill #3, with the indentical rogue decks. I was super nervous about the thing, it was my first “important” hearthstone game and it was a long chess-like match.

What do you attribute becoming one of the best players in the world to?

I think it was the passion towards the game and a strong will to improve. I’ve always been really hard trying to keep improving and improving, but the good thing is that I like the game so much it doesn’t feel anyhow taxing - I enjoy the a lot even though I have played it “like crazy” for the last few months. Another important thing in my opinion is that I try to always keep an open mind, and constantly try to re-evalutate cards and listen carefully to other peoples opinions on decks, cards and matchups for example. I think it is extremely important to share ideas with others and have people who’s opinions you find valuable. Even though I think of myself as a top-tier deck builder, without the other dogehouse guys I would maybe still be playing shattered sun clerics and argent commanders, lol

What do you most look forward to in Hearthstone?

I’d love to have either a league with prizes or some sort of tournament series with prizes big enough to be attract real cutting edge evolving meta game and strategy. The 2P tournament was a good start but I wish we had that every week. ESL weekly tournaments with razer prizes is also a step towards the right direction. The stuff that went down in Berlin was the biggest and the best thing with hearthstone so far, so I’m hoping we get more of that!

Favorite class to play, and why?

Rogue!! I love the decision making involved with the class. It’s such a common scenario with rogue to have 3-4 ways to deal with something as simple as a 3-3 on the board. You might have backstab,deadly poison, eviscerate and si7 all in your hand. It’s so much fun thinking it through what to use and what to save and try find the most efficient ways to deal with stuff and gain advantages little by little.

Least favorite class to play against?

I guess this is a boring answer, but it has to be mage. Ice. Block. That card makes me rage. I don’t mind the freezes as much but cheating death is not a fun mechanic to play against.

With a name like Janne Mikkonen, did your parents intend you to play in the NHL?

lol wtf I have no idea what to say to that :DDDDD

And that’s it! Any Shoutouts?

Dogehouse woof woof lol