Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier is a Hearthstone player for Team Liquid hailing from Melun, France. He has a strong background of StarCraft and is also actively playing Poker for Pokerstars Team. He began his gaming career in Korea making a name for himself in the world of esports.
One of the wildest adventures ElkY ever did was a bungee jump from 230 m high even though he is scared of heights. Bertrand has also trained to run 15K marathons. He loves spending time with his girlfriend, eating healthily and meditating. Liquid ElkY is quite an active member in a charitable organization called ‘Champions for Peace’ dedicated to serve unity around the world through Sport.
Where it all began:
Bertrand developed a passion for video games when he was 3 years old. His older brother bought his first computer and they would play games like Duke Nukem 3D and Total Annihilation as well as the Basketball Mattel console. Thanks to his sibling, Grosspellier’s relationship to gaming changed towards a whole new level that made him more competitive and being the younger brother, there was no way he could win.
Grosspellier moved to Korea to start his professional gaming career competing in StarCraft upgrading his skills, rising up the ranks as Zerg and Terran. He spent six years in Korea and then started playing professional Poker.
It was in 2015 that Elky went back to gaming but this time it was Hearthstone. During an interview with Pokerlistings, he explains why he chose the HS video game.
“If there is one game that could see a boom like poker did, it’s Hearthstone. A lot of poker players play it already, as there are many parallels. Both are card games, both are played with boards, and both give you the possibility to bluff.”
The Team:
Team Liquid is an esports organization launched in 2000 that is based in The Netherlands. The association started out with a StarCraft team as soon as the game was released. As esports was growing year after year, TL saw the need grow their company and support pro units that play League of Legends, Hearthstone, CS: GO, Dota 2, Smash, Halo, Street Fighter and FIFA. Team Liquid are also synonymous with their informative website on esports coverage on Tournaments, professional teams and pro players.
Team Liquid have created their Hearthstone lineup in March 2014. ElkY joined TL in November 2015, a pro squad that was always his favourite in esports. Grosspellier forms part of the HS roster with Liquid Savjz, Liquid Dog, Liquid Neirea and Liquid SjoW to help win esports tournaments.
Competition Participation and Winnings:
ElkY’s most memorable esports tournament was at the 2001 World Cyber Games representing France that kick started his gaming career. He lost the finals against Boxer, the world’s best player in StarCraft at the time to rank second claiming a total prize of $10K.
Grospellier’s latest card game participation was at the 2017 World Series of Poker. He took part in the $111,111 No limit Hold’em for One Drop to win the second highest reward of a staggering $2.2 million. Due to Bertrand’s pro gaming skills of fast gameplays, he set a personal best, breaking the Guinness World Record for the Single Table Sit & Go that finished in one hour.
Liquid Elky won his first Hearthstone tournament, the Insomnia Truesilver Championship Redemption Cup 2016 that was held in Birmingham. All the way through the competition he beat 69 pro players to win first place, taking the Championship title.
