After Kings of the North (KotN) Season 3 in Toronto and PSISTORM Cup 3 in Fairfax, Frostbite was able to interview Kelazhur about his recent tournaments and about the balance of the game.

DISCLAIMER: The answers were edited for clarity.

Frostbite: You played at Kings of the North Season 3 in Toronto, with an impressive run, finished second after coming out of the loser’s bracket. During your seeding matches you went 6-1, losing only to Scarlett. Can you give us some insight on that game?

Kelazhur: I remember I opened 3 rax reaper in Galactic Process and got a pretty decent lead versus her in the early game. I managed to maintain that lead by denying her 4th, but the second time I tried to deny it she caught me off-guard by switching from Roach Ravager to Muta ling bane and crushing my bio-tank army then following it up with a 5th base and heavy muta harass

F: Regarding the seeding at KotN, were you surprised you topped the group going 6-1? Or with the practice you did, it was expected?

K: Just a little unexpected, I used same old builds for that stage and didn’t think I’d beat some of the players I did.

F: In the semi-finals, you played against MaSa and lost 0-2. According to Aligulac, you’ve been having quite the hard time against him. Why do you think that is?

K: He always has the most annoying early game builds and even when I prepared for them they somehow worked. I hardly ever go into an even macro game with him, which is where I feel I would be the strongest.

F: TvT is also one of the harder matchups for you, what makes it so difficult for you?

K: I don’t really know. I just find it harder to out maneuver my opponent there than in any other match-up.

F: At Kings of the North, in Losers Bracket Round 3, you faced viOlet and defeated him 2-1. Back in DreamHack Montreal, he beat you 3-2. Do you think you improved just enough to beat him?

K: I think at DH Montreal I already had the level to beat him, I just played that series out very narrow-mindedly. I was 100% set on him opening roaches and only practiced for that. Felt like I could still make it work and didn’t even try to adapt to his Queen Ling opener.

F: Well back at Kings of the North, in the losers finals, you beat MaSa 2-1 in a couple exciting games. What happened since the last match for you to overcome him as an opponent?

K: I think just the preparation for his builds finally paid off. Eventually it had to (laughs).

F: Finally you faced Scarlett with a 0-1 deficit coming in from the Losers Bracket. What was your mindset going into that match? Knowing that she was the only one that beat you in the seeding games?

K: I just thought “I’m gonna cheese the @&$! out of this series” (laughs).

F: So that’s why you 3 raxed her every game?

K: Yes! (smiley face)

F: What are your thoughts on some the proposed balance change? Specifically like the tankivac change and new cyclone?

K: I think tankivac change is weird after so long.It was so hard to adapt and now we have to adapt back. The new cyclone is very boring.

F: Why do you say the cyclone change is boring?

K: Because they took away the little micro it already had, there’s no ground lock on and the new attack has 0 kiting capabilities

F: Continuing on that subject, what do you think of the direction Blizzard is taking where they want mech to be viable?

K: I think they are making reasonable decisions, but at this point they might as well switch the cyclone with the goliath because that’s what it will be, except the goliath is 100x cooler

F: Have you played in some of the PTR ladder?

K: I have not, I’m too busy with tournaments. I still have Copa America and WESG, I already have little time to practice for that.

F: Two weeks ago, you played in the PSISTORM Cup 3 as well as the WESG qualifier, You won as well as qualified in both without dropping a map. Would you say the results were expected when looking at the players who signed up?

K: Maybe? I never take my victories for granted but I did feel very confident for PSISTORM Cup.

F: How is the state of the game in your opinion? Balance wise?

K: I think the game is pretty balanced, but Protoss still has an edge in PvT.

F: Do you ever feel bad knocking out your friends in tournaments? Like violet and Masa in KotN?

K: Yeah always, but what can you do? It’s part of the competition.

F: Will we be seeing you at BlizzCon?

K: Maybe. Depends on when I get back from Hydra’s wedding.

F: Are you happy that a big tournament is coming to Brazil with WESG?

K: Sure, the more tournaments in Brazil the better!

F: Are you looking forward to potentially playing Scarlett again or even playing the Korean Slayer Neeb?

K: Always looking forward to play good players.

F: Do you think you can beat Scarlett if you play her again in WESG?

Yes, I think so.

F: Thank you for your time, Any shoutouts before we end?

K: Shoutout to ESChamp and PSISTORM for organizing great events these past couple weeks, and to my team OSC-ROOT as always.

Follow Kelazhur : @ROOTKelazhur



Follow ROOT Gaming: @ROOT4ROOT

Follow Frostbite: @PsiFrostbite