Sandro Olofsson, also known as Lord Helseth, is the team captain of the Civilized Gentlemen, and his motto is, “There’s a difference between peasants and kings.” He plays purely to compete, shunning any game that doesn’t give him the opportunity to be the very best. He says that the depth of Guild Wars 2‘s combat system keeps him coming back, especially when he can play mind games with his opponents.

Lord Helseth plays a mesmer almost exclusively, with over 8,000 games played with his favorite profession. Although he’s dabbled in necromancy and thievery, he hasn’t touched any of the other professions; he prefers to stick with the mesmer and its butterfly-themed aesthetic. Being among the best Guild Wars 2 players has given him the opportunity to duel and theorycraft with other people who are at the top of their chosen professions, he says, and this keeps his skills sharp.

On the Civilized Gentlemen:

Lord Helseth describes his own team as having a flashy, high-risk and high-reward playstyle. They enjoy making the game as hard as possible for themselves, which gives them more opportunities to pull off impressive moves. He advises spectators to keep a particular eye out for Levin, who can often be found deliberately orchestrating bizarre situations in order to test and hone his reaction time.

On the Abjured:

Lord Helseth says they’re the most consistent team, but that they lack competition within the North American scene. Because they can easily crush most opponents, they’re not primed to handle surprises—Lord Helseth credits this as the reason for their upset to Orange Logo. “They defeated themselves,” he says, and insinuates that the Abjured might be in trouble if the Civilized Gentlemen throw something at them they’ve never seen.

On Orange Logo:

He believes that Orange Logo has a lot to prove and that they’ve been struggling in the ESL. Still, he says, the World Tournament Series isn’t determined by being the most consistent team leading up to it; it’s about which team can win all of the games in the series.

“They’re both good teams,” Lord Helseth says of the opposition, deigning to rate them each a 3 out of 10.

Mark your calendars! You can catch Lord Helseth at the World Tournament Series Finals on August 8 at gamescom in Cologne, Germany. He and his team will be facing off against the top PvP teams from around the world for the lion’s share of the $50,000 USD prize pool and the title of World Champion. Watch the action beginning at 1 a.m. Pacific Time (UTC-7), either in person at the ESL One booth or live on the official Guild Wars 2 Twitch channel, and stay tuned for a Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns™ feature announcement during the finals! North America vs. Europe vs. China—who do you stand behind? Tune in for this epic showdown, and show your favorite region some support!