Our StarCraft II player, Kristoffer 'TargA' Marthinsen has performed very well in the WCS for the past few months, becoming a household name for the Premier League. We decided to catch up with him and ask him questions about all things StarCraft, including the current WCS system and how he came about to know about the game. Without further ado, enjoy the interview!

Let’s start off with your background, when did you come to know about StarCraft? Were you aware of the BW scene?

TargA: I first heard of the brood war scene when I watched a documentary about a Norwegian brood war pro that traveled to Korea and won a tournament there, probably 8-9 years ago. I watched some brood war games, didn’t understand much of it and I didn’t like the graphics, so I stuck to playing fun games in wc3.



I never planned on playing sc2, I have a friend that was playing a ton, and he told me that he was good at the game, so I told him that I could beat him by playing less than 100 games (he had 6-700 games in the beta.) I started playing, watched some replays and the game was amazing, so after I beat him I continued playing.

Is there any particular reason why you chose the Zerg?

TargA: Since I had no idea about StarCraft at all, I picked Zerg because it sounds bad ass.

What would you say your most memorable experience is in StarCraft 2 so far?

TargA: I think IEM Kiev is my most memorable experience, I was studying in Australia at the time and I was home in Norway for the Christmas break, none of the SEA players could attend so I got the spot and I practiced a ton for the tournament. I had Pomi, HasuObs and MMA in my group.

My first opponent was Pomi, I had no idea about how he played, and I got destroyed. Next opponent was HasuObs, I had practiced 2 super cheesy builds and both worked perfectly vs. him. So if I wanted to advance I had to beat MMA. I somehow won the first map, then the second map I 6 pooled him, and it was working as well until I decided to run after his SCVs and forgot to double check if he left any SCVs left, of course he did and he got a bunker up so I lost. The last game I got the worst possible positions on Antiga shipyard and I got badly outplayed, which meant I was out.

I spent the next few days drinking, eating good food, meeting cool people and just enjoying Kiev!

What is your favorite matchup to both play and watch, and why?

TargA: My favorite matchup is ZvZ, the matchup is just a ton of fun to play, you can play it super risky, all in, aggressive play or you can play somewhat safe and passive. In general I don’t have any favorite match ups to watch, because every match up has playstyles that ruins the fun of the game. I like to watch aggressive players like Hyun, Leenock and DRG.

There was quite a debate after the 3 hour long game (longest game in professional StarCraft 2!) between MaNa and Firecake that happened on Akilon Wastes quite recently. How do you feel the current balance is in the current metagame (ZvP in particular)?

TargA: I think it’s more of a map issue than balance, it’s stupid that it’s possible to sit on 3 bases and make a death ball, it’s even worse when you can sit on 4 bases and make a death ball. There are no ways to punish it on Akilon, both races can do it. If they reduce the minerals on the bases and spread the expansions further from each other, the game will get harder for the passive players.

Blizzard has already released some details about the upcoming changes for the 2014 WCS system. One of the main concerns was the distribution of Korean players on all regions, and their dominance. Do you have any comments on this?

TargA: I don’t mind having Koreans, as long as they live in the area they participate in. It’s hard as hell to do research vs. “unknown” players like Duckdeok, if they live in Europe; we would hit them on ladder, practice with them, and get familiar with their playstyles and so on. Europeans play so many online and offline tournaments and stream, so it’s way easier to prepare.

Going back to more personal questions, how do you normally practice? Do you have a set regime that you do every day or are you more laid back?

TargA: I don’t have a schedule for practice, but before a big tournament I play as much as possible (8-12 hours) every day, ladder and customs as well as watch vods/streams, if there aren’t any tournaments I play 0-4/5 hours. Also if I know my opponents, I try to find practice partners that play a similar style and I watch vods and replays to prepare.

You’ve been on Team Dignitas for quite a while now, how has that experience been for you in general (especially in regards to team mates)?

TargA: It’s been a fun experience so far, Dignitas have sent me to a ton of tournaments so far, and I obviously like going to tournaments! With regards to the team mates, we played in a few team leagues, didn’t do that well, but it was still fun to participate. We also talk a bit on Skype every now and then, but we are in like 3-4 different time zones, so it’s like someone asks something game related in the Skype group, then 8 hours later it gets answered etc!

Do you have plans to go to any specific events in the near future?

TargA: Yep, I’m going to a Norwegian tournament in 2 weeks, at Spillexpo, after that I am most likely going to 2 tournaments, but I can’t announce it though.

What are your hobbies other than StarCraft? Mind sharing something about you that the fans may not have known?

TargA: When there are no tournaments, I play Dota 2, I also go to the gym, and do some powerlifting exercises and I watch way too many TV series.

That’s all the questions I have, any shout outs?

TargA: Thank you for doing the interview, shoutout to Tomken, Roz, IceIceIce, Team Dignitas and sponsors: Alienware, Scan, be quiet!, Mad Catz, Intel, Kingston HyperX, QPad, Twitch.tv, Multiplay, Creative Sound Blaster, WD, and iiyama.

Remember to follow dignitasTargA on Twitter @TargA01. Feel free to tweet @dbrisingr if you have any comments or suggestions!