esports
The EU pro on his back-to-back titles, rising through the pro ranks and getting spicy on Twitter.
Pierre "Turbopolsa" Silfver just came off of a very good year. The Swedish Rocket League pro began 2017 without a starting job, opting instead to sub for a top EU squad for season three of the Rocket League Championship Series. Amazingly, by the end of the year, he had earned back-to-back RLCS championships and cemented himself as one of the best players in the game.
While the Gale Force Esports star has proven his elite status with incredibly consistent play and elevated LAN performances, he's just as surprised by his rapid rise as everyone else. But you might not know it from Twitter: Turbopolsa exudes confidence and admits that he enjoys prodding rivals and stirring up drama. Still, he has the skills and titles to back up his boasts, even if he sees it as playful banter (most of the time).
With RLCS season five underway, Gale Force have thus far bucked the so-called winner's curse, and they're looking just as dominant as they did at November's World Championship. Ahead of this weekend's matchups against FlipSid3 Tactics and EnVyUs, we caught up with Turbopolsa to discuss his rise into the pro elite, Gale Force's ongoing Rocket League prowess, and why he always tries to keep things spicy on social media.
Before the titles
Turbopolsa became much better-known when he rose from his substitute position to help Northern Gaming win the RLCS championship last June, but the 19-year-old player has been a fixture of the EU competitive scene since the early days. "I wasn't meant to get into competitive Rocket League at first," Turbopolsa recalled. "From the beginning, I had no intention of even going pro."
After playing ranked matches for a while and briefly joining another team, he found himself on KA-POW alongside Martin "Sniperkid138" Wiulsrød and current compLexity (ex-Method) captain, Linus "Al0t" Möllergren. In the community-driven Rocket League Central Pro League tournament, they made it to the playoffs and realized that they had a serious chance at thriving in the upcoming first RLCS season.
"We barely lost to iBUYPOWER at the time [in the RLC Pro League playoffs], so we knew we were a really good team — basically top four in EU," he said. "We saw that RLCS was announced and we instantly decided to jump on that. We knew we had a good shot at that."
But after finishing fourth in EU in the first stage of RLCS season one, third-place team Mock-It Esports asked him to join them for the second half instead. Thinking he'd have a better chance of making LAN with Mock-It, he took the opportunity to play alongside Philip "Paschy90" Paschmeyer (now with Renault Sport Team Vitality) and Alexander "Sikii" Karelin (now of Fnatic). Unfortunately, Turbopolsa said he felt like an outsider on his new team, and he believes that they made the move to weaken KA-POW and boost their own chances of making the live final. Indeed, KA-POW felt short in qualifiers and disbanded soon thereafter.
"I regretted it after that, since it felt like they only did it because they wanted to ruin KA-POW's chance. They only brought me in because it was an easier way to the LAN spot. I felt like Sikii and Paschy were only being [friendly] with each other, and didn't care about me," Turbopolsa said. He suggested that it was strictly a business relationship, and that he felt excluded by his Mock-It teammates. "We were only talking when scrimming and stuff — no texting whatsoever. When I was with KA-POW, I was talking with them every day. I knew Sikii and Paschy were talking and playing games with each other all the time, but I wasn't involved at all."
Ultimately, they lost both rounds at the first RLCS championship and made a quick exit. "At the time, I was quite sad since it was the first LAN and my dad was with me, so I wanted to do well. But after a couple of hours, I just realized that there would be more chances," he said. And the failure made his decision to leave Mock-It much easier: "I wasn't really happy at the time I was there. I was thinking, 'If we do bad, I'm going to leave instantly.' That was just a sign that I was going to leave."
The following season, he teamed with Al0t and Dogukan "Dogu" Yilmaz to form OhMyDog, which made EU league play but missed the playoffs with a seventh place finish. Their only series wins came against the region's best teams, Northern Gaming and eventual champion FlipSid3 Tactics. "Unfortunately, somehow we only beat the top two teams," he said. "I have no idea how it happened."
From sub to champion
Coming into season three, Turbopolsa said he had offers to start for some teams, but didn't believe that any of them had a reasonable shot at contending against the region's heavyweights. "I didn't think we could do well or even qualify for LAN, so it was pointless for me," he admitted. "I knew that Northern at the time would be having trouble with Maestro, so I took that opportunity."
As the team explained before the season three championship, Northern Gaming starter Nicolai "Maestro" Bang knew he had exams in the same likely timeframe as the World Championship, so the team brought in Turbopolsa — a LAN-experienced veteran — to fill the substitute role on the off-chance that he'd be needed. That's exactly what happened, and Turbopolsa didn't play with the team until the final series of the regional playoffs. When the World Championship came around in June, he helped Northern rise up from the loser's bracket to take the title against Mock-It.
Now Turbopolsa was an RLCS champion, albeit one without a team. Despite his success with Northern at LAN, the team decided to stick with Maestro as a starter and soon signed with EnVyUs. Marius "gReazymeister" Ranheim filled in for Maestro during summer events, and then took the permanent starting role when Maestro departed before the next RLCS season.
Asked if he thought he deserved consideration to stay on as a starter after the championship win, Turbopolsa replied, "I mean, yeah. At the same time, EnVy already decided to bring in gReazy, so not really. It's a really tough decision for Remkoe and Deevo, because I could have had a really good day [at LAN] … well, three days. So it was a really hard decision for them."
Instead, Turbopolsa was a free agent — but not for long. About a week after the championship, he got a message from Gale Force captain Jos "ViolentPanda" Van Meurs asking Turbo to try out with him and Alexandre "Kaydop" Courant (both past RLCS grand finalists) at last June's DreamHack Summer in Sweden.
"I immediately said yes to that, since I knew both Panda and Kaydop are both really good players. And I didn't expect us to be right here, to be honest. I thought I was going to go there, play some games, and go home. But we did really well and decided to stick together," Turbopolsa said. "I would not turn them down if they offered me a spot."
A powerful Force
They did, he agreed, and Gale Force have been mostly dominant ever since. They finished second in all three summer offseason tournaments, but kept grinding through those irritating close calls in the hopes of finally securing a major win. "It was obviously frustrating, but at the same time it was like… when we finally get the win, that one tournament is going to be a huge relief for us," he recalled. "Second place isn't the worst in the world."
ViolentPanda and Kaydop eventually won the Universal Open 2v2 without Turbopolsa, and when RLCS season four league play rolled around, Gale Force were slightly overshadowed by surging new threats in the form of Method and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). But they kept their composure and consistency, finished 5-2 in league play, and then bounced back to win the European regional championship.
At November's World Championship, Gale Force were unstoppable, going on a winner's bracket run that saw them breeze through G2 and Ghost before a hard-fought 4-3 winner's final against Method. When they faced the exhausted Method again in the grand finals, Gale Force took the 4-0 sweep to claim the title — Turbopolsa earned his second RLCS championship, alongside the MVP medal. As far as what drove their success that weekend, Turbopolsa said, "Our attitude and mentality. We have great communication, and we warmed up like how we should warm up."
As ViolentPanda told us following the win, they're not flashy players — they're all mechanically gifted and they know it, but they're not trying to show off. Rather, they all play very consistently, focus on passing and team plays, and let in very few goals along the way. "We all have a similar play style. We just mesh well with each other," Turbopolsa said. "We have similar thoughts about how we want to play the game, so I think that's the reason why we're doing good right now."
Unlike his first championship team, Turbopolsa was part of the Gale Force squad throughout the entire journey, from the offseason until they collectively hoisted the trophy onstage. And unlike his unhappy season one situation with Mock-It, he feels a genuine connection with his teammates. "We're really good friends right now," he said. "We talk almost every day. We try to scrim every day as well, so we have no bad blood at all — we almost never have any arguments."
Furthermore, he applauds ViolentPanda's role as the team's leader. Panda is known as a facilitator, typically leading the team in assists and sacrificing his own potential on-the-pitch glory in favor of team success. "He makes sure that we're focused and tells us to keep our focus in the game — don't care about anything else," said Turbopolsa. "He's a good captain, and he cares about both me and Kaydop. He puts me and Kaydop before himself."
As for Kaydop, Turbopolsa praises his shooting and mentality, saying, "He's never upset or grumpy at all — always positive no matter what." Turbopolsa actually handed Kaydop his MVP medal onstage following the World Championship win, but it wasn't for keeps. "No, he gave it back," said Turbopolsa. "At first, I forced him to give it back, but then I was nice enough to ask if he really wanted it or not. He said, 'No.'"
Rising to the top
Much like Gale Force's team approach, Turbopolsa isn't an especially showy player on the pitch. He'll turn it up from time to time and score goals in bunches, such as a game two hat trick during the World Championship grand finals and another this past week in RLCS league play against Paris Saint-Germain. However, he's more focused on passing and precise mechanics, and being in the right place at the right time for his team.
Asked what makes him an elite player, Turbopolsa replied, "My general positioning and my decision-making. I'm consistent, and I'm not a flashy player at all. I'm not trying to do some crazy stuff on the wall and roof and shit. Just keep it simple."
He suggested that while he isn't always the standout player, his consistency helps elevate his teams. And like ViolentPanda, he's happy to defer to teammates. "I put my teammates before me, and let them do whatever they want to do so they can get all the credit they want," he said.
Turbopolsa said that he has always been very competitive in sports like soccer and floorball, and that it influences his approach to pro Rocket League. "I feel like I never want to lose. I always want to win," he said. "And if I lose, I just try to see what I'm doing wrong and fix that issue."
As to how he's gotten to this skill level and risen to such prominence over the last year, he honestly isn't sure. "I don't know how I got to this point. I don't see myself as one of the best," he added. "I think that I got very lucky on the way to … I was lucky to be here. I don't know."
Likewise, Turbopolsa never envisioned himself being known as one of the best players in the world. "Not at all. I always thought Kuxir97 was gonna be the best player in the world, like forever and ever," he said, mentioning longtime FlipSid3 Tactics star and fellow RLCS champion Francesco "Kuxir97" Cinquemani. "I still look up to him, because he's Kuxir."
Keeping things spicy
Despite the back-to-back wins and his status as the only two-time champion in RLCS history, Turbopolsa suggests that besides being able to support himself, his life hasn't changed that much over the last year. As for what his life is like these days outside of Rocket League, he said, "Not doing much, actually. I'm just sitting at home."
On Twitter, however, his personality really seemed to start shining through following the win with Northern Gaming. He seems to take pleasure in prodding (and sometimes goading) other pro players and teams, and that same kind of attitude has appeared onstage as well. At the RLCS World Championship, Turbopolsa told stage host Alex "Goldenboy" Mendez that he was "definitely going to smash Ghost, that's for sure." (To be fair, Gale Force did.) Most players take his zingers in stride, but others opt to bicker with him. He doesn't seem fazed by it.
"I definitely try to spice it up a bit. For me, personally, everyone sweet-talking each other is just boring. So I just try to spice it up a bit with some banter," he suggested. "I'm friends with almost everyone; you probably notice who I'm not friends with. It's almost always banter. I don't know why people are being so upset about everything."
"Honestly, it's quite fun," he admitted. "I'm not gonna lie. I always try to make people enjoy the banter, always like to spice things up by making some tweets when people lose matches and stuff. For me, it's just a fun way to express myself."
On the other hand, back in October before the World Championship, Turbopolsa tweeted about depression in his family and admitted that he has "been rude, toxic, immature, and just blatant acting like a child on social medias to make me feel better." He added that jokes about his weight had affected him, and that he would try to improve himself both physically and mentally. Ultimately, he surmised: "Fucked up in life, trying to make up for it."
We also saw some emotion pour through during The ELEAGUE Cup in December, when G2 beat Gale Force in a tense grand finals to take the win. Immediately after the loss, Turbopolsa was shown with his face tucked into his shirt, seemingly crying. He admitted that the pressure of being the reigning RLCS champions, combined with their history of runner-up finishes, weighed on him in the moment.
"It was just … we had a lot of grand finals second-place finishes. After that win in RLCS, I thought we were past that," he said. "I guess losing that sixth game, when Kaydop accidentally hit the post and JKnaps came in to score and make a game seven, I just felt like we were going to lose game seven. Just because that happened. I don't know … I just really wanted to win since it was a really big tournament, and it was the first ELEAGUE tournament."
Today, Turbopolsa feels much better than he did last fall: "I think I'm way past that now. I'm doing well now." He said he's tried to view situations through other people's perspectives since then, and tries to avoid some of the conflict he's encountered in the past. Well, maybe just a bit. "I haven't been as toxic recently, so I made progress on that one," he remarked.
A strong start
Just this week Turbopolsa tweeted that he's "never felt so good in a long time." And he has good reason to be pleased: Gale Force Esports are off to a 3-0 start in RLCS league play (with a sterling 9-2 games record), breaking the so-called curse that has diminished every previous champion in the following season. Even so, and despite his apparent happiness, they're trying not to get overconfident about the hot start, particularly since two of those wins came against the struggling Fnatic and exceL.
"To be honest, we have played two of the worst opponents, I'd say — so our starting 3-0 wasn't a big deal, kind of, since we still have compLexity, EnVy, and Vitality and all the good teams left," he suggested. "PSG is also good, but that was a really good match. I feel like we have big games left in the season, so we shouldn't take the 3-0 as a big deal."
Gale Force took a lengthy break after ELEAGUE and came into January's DreamHack Leipzig tournament without any team practice. They made it into the Top 8, but Gale Force didn't look quite as polished as usual and they fell to Renault Sport Team Vitality. "They played well and we can only blame ourselves for that," Turbopolsa said, admitting that it was a good reminder to get back in gear. "To stay on the top, we need to keep grinding and not let anyone else get past us."
That said, Turbopolsa said that he's practicing smarter rather than just harder. In the past, he might have logged 80 hours of Rocket League play across the previous two weeks, but now he's landing right around 30 hours in that same span. He's cut out ranked play ("pointless," he said) and now focuses solely on team scrims against other top squads and occasional 6 Mans matches with other high-level pros. "Even though I'm playing less, I'm still getting effective practice playing against top teams, and with my team only," he asserted.
Vitality looks like Gale Force's biggest threat in Europe this season, as the former Mock-It roster has seemed better than ever under their new banner — and they're also sitting at 3-0 so far. What has made them so effective this season? "Honestly, I don't know," said Turbopolsa. "It's a mix between FairyPeak being on top of the world and FreaKii also stepping up right now."
Surprisingly, Turbopolsa picked Team EnVyUs as their next largest challenge. The former Northern squad went a rough 2-5 last season and nearly bounced out of the RLCS, but they're back with rookie Jordan "EyeIgnite" Stellon in place of gReazymeister. Turbo said that EnVy have looked surprisingly strong of late in scrims, even if their current 1-2 RLCS record isn't very intimidating.
"We have scrimmed EnVy quite a lot the past weeks, and we always have trouble against them. Their new recruit EyeIgnite is doing very good right now," Turbopolsa said. "For me, gReazy was trying to play so fast — like faster than he ever could. So by bringing EyeIgnite to the team, they can play a slower, more precise game. They are calm, and they think through what they are doing and don't rush things. Basically, he's a very smart player, and he brings a lot to the team."
Serious threats lie ahead, certainly, but Gale Force seem well-primed for the challenge. Turbopolsa credits his team's attitude and work ethic for their strong early start, and as mentioned, they know they can't relax if they want to stay at the top — and potentially become the first full team to repeat as RLCS champions. Will that happen this season? And will Turbopolsa become the first three-time champion?
"Well, I certainly hope so," he replied. "We're gonna work hard for it."
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