Elias Nerlich, aka Eligella, aka Eliasn97, has already achieved quite a bit at just 24 years old. He owns his own fashion label, his own soccer club, and co-owns the gaming and esports team Fokus Clan. He has also developed a fitness app and sells his own vitamin water.

As the cherry on top of the cream pie, he is also currently the most watched German Twitch streamer. But how did he become so successful?

Of burning houses and the beginnings of gaming

Born on December 10, 1997 in Berlin, Elias grew up in the Mariendorf district until he was about five years old. The streamer and YouTuber has no exact memories of that time, but one thing is clear: one day, the house of his family of seven burns down. The reason for this was probably a fallen lamp that set fire to the entire upper floor.

Elias then has to move with his entire family to an apartment in Tempelhof-Kreuzberg. He lives there until the age of 14 and goes to elementary and secondary school in the district. But then his parents separate and he moves again with his father and brother.

His first gaming steps he makes on the Nintendo 64 and later on a Gamecube. Just for fun he plays Mario Party, Mario Kart or other parlor games – esports are not yet an issue at that time.

From soccer to FIFA

According to his own account, the Berliner originally wanted to become a professional soccer player. But although he trained all his life, it was never enough for a professional career. In 2016, he broke his fibula and had to give up his dream of becoming a professional for the time being.

He is operated on twice and released one day before the release of FIFA 17. The doctor’s order: Keep your feet still for six weeks! FIFA 17 comes just in time! Elias develops a passion for the game and spends most of his time in the hospital bed just gaming. He has up to 6,000 games in FIFA 17.

And the gaming time pays off: In his first Weekend League, he wins out of 40 games, 34-35 of them! This puts him in the top 100 in the world that weekend, and he begins to take a closer look at FIFA as a professional sport.

Make money with FIFA?

In FIFA 18, Eligella then makes it to 20th place in the world rankings. EA then invites him to a tournament in Barcelona. At the time, he is one of the few players without a manager or contract, but that would soon change. He was eliminated from the tournament shortly before the knockout round, but the esports agency STARK Esports took notice of the newcomer.

The Bochum-based agency signs Elias in 2018 and places him in Hertha BSC’s newly founded Esports team. For the Berliner, this is a dream come true, he officially becomes a Hertha Esport player and starts earning his money with the hobby.

The next step: YouTube

In September 2018, Eligella posts his first video online on YouTube, where he presents himself to a larger audience for the first time. In the process, the camera presence even makes him uncomfortable at first. His club advises him to stream and YouTube videos.

With some practice and support, he starts making videos with other great FIFA players and real footballers and quickly builds a large following. In return, though, he works hard, cutting videos until 4 or 5 in the night and having to get back to appointments and playing for his team the next day.

As his videos progress, he increasingly notices that he enjoys the entertainment part of his videos more than the game itself. In FIFA 20 he is more and more often overtaken by other players and it is no longer enough for the big events. In April 2020, he decides to start streaming on Twitch and begins a new phase in his career.

The big breakthrough

Thanks to his existing following, he starts his streams with around 3,000 viewers already and grows quickly. Yet he hardly streams any FIFA content, preferring to chat with his fans in the Just Chatting category.

According to his own statements, the Corona crisis in particular played into his hands, as more and more people have been online and streaming since the beginning of the pandemic.

At the latest Among Us and FIFA 21 streams, Eliasn97 finally makes it to the upper Twitch league. By the end of 2020, he is streaming almost daily and can thus record a strong increase in viewers.

Currently, he reaches an average of around 34,000 viewers and even got over 50,000 new followers last month. This even puts him ahead of the most successful German Twitch streamer to date: Montana Black.