Note: this interview was done by James Hardwick ﻿the day before ASUS ROG started.

We sat down with one of our latest Starcraft 2 recruits Kristoffer 'TargA' Marthinsen﻿ before his trip to ASUS ROG. Besides talking about his expectations we also discussed game balance and other competitive events.

With Heart of the Swarm just over 3 months old, how do you think the balance is right now?

TargA﻿: I think the game is fairly balanced, there are some stuff that could be changed, widow mines needs reworking and the medivac speed boast. There needs to be a downside to using the speed boast. For zerg, I think the swarm hosts are way too good vs toss and eventually it will be the only choice vs toss which means it will be WoL all over again.. Protoss seems pretty fine at the moment, the void rays are still a bit too good but its very gimmicky and map dependent!

If there is something that you would remove or change from the game, what would it be?

TargA﻿: ﻿I would remove everything protoss has and remake the race.

Protoss? Why not Terran?

The recently introduced World Championship Series is coming to a close on season 2. What are your thoughts about the system Blizzard have put into place, and what could they do better?

TargA﻿: ﻿The WCS system is a good idea with an incredibly shitty delivery. I think having 3 world finals a year is way too much, and espescially when they're a week after the regional finals. They should've copied Riots model and everything would be great. The players that participate in a region should also have to live there. I am more than fine with koreans competing in the european WCS as long as they live there. They will help us become better as they have to practice with koreans and it will be harder for them to hide builds, since they cant hide in their tiny korean bubble.

I also think that the qualifiers need improving as well as the broadcasting, but ESL have been doing a great job improving so far, so I hope it will just get better and better.

(Editor's note: TargA unfortunately did not make it out of the group stage at ASUS ROG.)

This weekend you will be participating in ASUS ROG Summer in Helsinki, Finland. The tournament hosts some of the best players from around the globe, how are you feeling going into the event about your chances?

TargA﻿: ﻿I was on vacation a few days after Valencia and I got sick after the vacation, so my practice have been way less than what I usually do, but I still think I have ok chances, I am aiming for top 8 this time : )

In your group there is Quantic.Hyun, coL.viPro and Newrosoft.Welmu. Who are you most looking forward to playing against? Who do you wish you didn't have to play against?

TargA﻿: ﻿I look forward to playing HyuN, last time we played in a tournament he destroyed me, and I want revenge! I think the current meta game suits me and I have a very good idea of how he plays. I usually struggle vs welmu in tournaments, so I hope that changes.

The first place prize is a whopping $10,000. If you was to win this, what would you do with all that money?

TargA﻿: ﻿I would probably pay for a nice dinner for all of TaKes employees and a nice dinner for my parents when I get back to Norway and then save a ton of the money!

Is there anything in Finland that you would like to see or do before you leave?

TargA﻿: ﻿Fuzer dancing

What are the plans for after ASUS ROG? Do you have any other tournaments lined up?

TargA﻿: ﻿I have WCS challenger and I hope that I get to go to DH Bucharest!

Thanks a lot for the interview, is there anything else you would like to say to finish off?

TargA: I want to thank Team Dignitas and all of their sponsors for the support: Intel, Alienware, Scan, be quiet!, Mad Catz, Kingston HyperX, Qpad, Twitch, Multiplay, Creative, WD and iiyama.

