With the queue already getting longer with i'view submissions, I thought I'd step right along and release the next volume, this time with one of fragD's new members, RocketSurgeon. Enjoy!

Player Info:
RocketSurgeon was until recently a relative unknown in the top tier of North American TF2, getting his first taste with the big boys in P.TV's Shotgun Shootout tourney, where he played with the boatride pug. That lead to joining up with the reformed Frag Dominant, and total stardom ;)

Interview:

GotFrag: Lets start with the past - what competitive game did you start out in, and with what teams?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I played for various teams in the Tribes game series starting from 1999 to around 2001 but never got into any serious competitive leagues. Sometime around 2002 I played DAOC (Dark Age of Camelot) on the Galahad server as the GM of Stout the #1 Albion guild on the server. We were the undisputed PvP guild at the time until instant-ae/stun/mezes. Then I moved onto Starcraft playing it intermittently (non-competitively) as a pub game from its release date until 2007 during the beta phase of TF2.

GotFrag: How did you end up with the team around you?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: A little bit of luck and a lot of time played to get good. I knew Ashenhaste (Jason Pittman) from the first days of TF2 as we were both on the Tribalwar based team –SM- he basically invited me to play for DOZE AND SABER’S GAY BOATRIDE OF FUN for the Pwnage.tv tourney as medic and from there it was all magic, baby. The stars aligned for me when Jason decided to pursue his career in music, paving the way for me to step up from secondary to the primary soldier of the team.

GotFrag: What drew you to competitive TF2 (beyond just the uniqueness of the game)?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I never played TFC or any of its variations and mods in different games but I heard good things about TF2 on the Tribalwar forums so I decided to try it out. The first time I played I was hooked, the game not only looked good but most importantly it was fun.

GotFrag: Do you like the way TF2 is evolving? Are you for or against the constant tweaking Valve's implementing?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I like the way the competitive community is rebounding with the formation of several powerhouse teams after the fall of so many during the first CEVO season. There is no doubt in my mind that the coming CEVO season will be much more competitive than the previous one. As for Valve tweaking with the game and adding “perks” I couldn’t care less as long as an option is added to disable them all for competition, at least until all of them are released when the competitive community can decide which “perks” will be allowed. However, the current maps imo are fine and shouldn’t be altered anymore, especially to appease the habitual whiners on the steam forums.

GotFrag: What do you think of the tactical differences between the North American and European scenes? (ie. more Heavy-usage) Any opinion about which one works best?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I don’t think it has escaped anyone’s attention that European’s love to run a heavy on maps like granary which is played with two soldiers in NA. Generally HW usage in North America is fairly situational based but in my opinion the mobility and versatility of two soldiers two scouts and a demo is far superior to any combination with a heavy on a map like granary (other maps are different of course). I think the most boring yet hilarious demo I’ve ever seen in my entire life was between two European teams minigunning each other from opposite sides of control point three on granary for about five minutes (lol). NA battles for the center point tend to be more explosive and quicker as oppose to long drawn out wars of attrition seen in the European leagues.


GotFrag: What about the local scene - what two clans are the most fearsome in your mind?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: Pandemic and Eximus are the two best clans I’ve seen so far.


GotFrag: What other players of your own class do you have the most respect for? Who do you think is the most dominating/fearsome in your class (aside from you, har har).

fragD|RocketSurgeon: This is easy, the Kobe Bryant of TF2 soldiering himself: Reptile of Pandemic fame. Epic Rocketry. There are a lot of good soldiers in TF2 but if you were to pick one person to franchise your team around from the entire TF2 community it would be him.

GotFrag: What do you think of the upcoming medic changes? Do you think they're balanced enough to be in matchplay?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I won’t know for sure until the updates are out but everything seems good except the crit uber gun.

GotFrag: Excited for Goldrush? Think the style has a place in the competitive scene?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: I’ve played the player made escort maps and they were pretty fun and I have no doubt that some of them will be played by the competitive community with some proper adjustments.

GotFrag: Any final comments/shoutouts you'd like to make?

fragD|RocketSurgeon: Shout outs to all my loser friends and the guys on the team. And of course shout outs to the FragD STAFF and SPONSORS, SEND ME TO SAN JOSE :p

I'd thank Rocket for his time, but he made a Kobe reference, so screw that - NASH4LIFE! GO SUNS! Stay tuned for a little Euro-flavour in the next installment :)