I had a chance to interview Nathanias, a college student who became known in Starcraft 2 for his 4 port banshee build. Despite currently being clanless, he is an up and coming player who has some surprises up his sleeves. In this interview you will learn who Nathanias is and what he thinks of the game.

Can you tell me what an average day like is for you? Where do you go? What do you see?

Nathan: Well I'm currently attending Penn State University as an English major. I typically wake up late thanks to a carefully crafted schedule, attend my Korean Class (the only one that's fun) and occasionally get coffee with a friend. Aside from that, it's just schoolwork and nights of Streaming StarCraft.

Can you tell me about your starcraft2 career so far?

Nathan: I grew up playing custom Brood War games with my friends, never good it seriously. I purchased SC2 the night it was released and mostly played teams as well. Around April 2011 however, I decided to follow Liquid_TLO and play Terran. For a very long time I barely got by, and was known by my friends for abusing builds like 2port banshee. I went from gold in April to Masters in October and haven't looked back since.

So, how did you come up with your nickname?

Nathan: Before my family discovered StarCraft, we all played Diablo together. I had asked my father to help me find a way to make my name sound heroic or epic, and after fiddling with a few letters we ended up with Nathaneus. I eventually went for Nathanias out of personal preference.

Alright, now for more specific questions on StarCraft2, what’s your best matchup?

Nathan: In the past few weeks I've spent so much time diversifying my builds across the board I don't really have one I feel strongest in, but my highest winrate as of late probably goes to TvZ. I play a very macro heavy style in the matchup.

Who do you think is the best player in the world for each race?

Nathan: For Terran, I don't think anyone can deny the consistency that MVP has shown time and time again. Even though players like Taeja and MKP have made decent runs, no one wins as much as MVP does. As for Zerg, I don't see any Koreans staying on top enough to pick one of them among the group, but I'd say the strongest zerg Tournament wise is definitely Stephano. In terms of Protoss, Rain has been putting up some serious games as of late, and may have this title for some time to come after this season of GSL.

What would you change if you were a game developer for Starcraft2 (WoL)?

Nathan: The only thing about the game design that ever really upset me were how some units were seen as so strong that instead of having roles weakened, they were essentially removed. I've never liked the corrupter or the Viking, two units that are practically useless in 99% of situations where you don't need to kill Colossi or brood lords. Since the release of the game a few other units have just become less fun, such as the reaper. I think I wish some units had more balanced roles that gave reasons to make them, rather than to just counter other units or act as a stepping stone (brood lord).

Are you going to any tournaments soon and if so what do you expect to place?

Nathan: I'm going to be attending the MLG Fall Championship in Dallas this November. As a developing player I haven't been able to put up any results yet but I believe if there is any good opportunity for me to turn some heads it will be at this event. I never give myself ranking expectations, as long as I feel I played well and gained something from my matches that's all that matters.

Alright thank you Nathanias for doing this interview! You can now shamelessly plug yourself in!

Nathan: haha I stream my hours of practice every night at twitch.tv/nathanias, commentating matches as well as replays in the hopes that my viewers can improve with me. For any updates on what I'm doing in SC2 you can follow me @darknathanias on twitter ^_^.

I want to thank Nathanias and Dignitas for this opportunity. Thanks for reading!