OMEGA League Interview: Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg

OMEGA League is in its final Playoffs Stage and right now you can join our live stream so not to miss any exciting battles of Divine, Immortal, or Ancient Divisions.
We also take into account the desires of those who cannot watch the broadcast live, but don't want to miss all the interesting moments. In addition to the VODs, we have prepared a transcript of the interviews for you - you can quickly read the essence without watching the video (but we will be pleased if you watch it).

August 16, 2020 (after winning over Team Liquid with the 2:1 score).

Sheever: “First of all, congratulations on the series and second - I’m here with Jenkins and Lacoste. And Jenkins has some really deep questions to ask you.”

Jenkins: “What’s your favorite ice-cream?”

Zai: “I think, pistachio, as of now, yeah.”

Jenkins: “Okay. Yeah, that’s fair. Ok, if you were to do the last match, except you’re engaging in Mortal Kombat with swords on a battlefield with Team Liquid. Do you think you guys would still have one?”

Zai: “Would we have our normal bodies, or would we have characters’ and stuff?”

Sheevar: “A good question.”

Jenkins: “That’s a good question. I’d say normal bodies.”

Zai: “Yeah, cause then I think we’re ok. I mean, they had quick for who’s a big guy. But I think we got a few more big guys. So, I think it’s an easier one, to be honest if it was like that on a battlefield.”

Jenkins: “That’s pretty fair.”

Lacoste: “I have one question for you. I’m just wondering how many times Matumbaman said, “Thank you” every single time Puppey got Static Storm in the last game?”

Zai: “I don’t think he said, “Thank you” once. You know, he’s not very gracious. He’s just calling for him to use it. He never says “Please” in the midst of a battle, which is pretty bad-mannered. Carry players, you know.”

Sheever: “Hey, zai, what have you been doing over the last month and a half? How have you celebrated your break? Because you guys have been basically on holiday for a bit, right?”.

Zai: “I’ve been trying to do as much non-dota stuff as possible: being out in the sun on a quick vacation with family and just trying to be outside for way more than I’ve been doing before the summer vacation hit. Because then I was basically non-stop playing Dota. So, it was nice to have a change.”

Sheever: “It sounds like a very good change of pace. I’m also curious, because sometimes when you guys come back from a break, we’ve talked about this earlier, you’re kind of traditionally showing up on a LAN. You learn at a LAN - you don’t necessarily prepare super hard before the tournament starts. How does that happen here, in this case? Have you practiced a lot before this week, or did you just show up today, and it’s like “ok, let’s see what we’re gonna play”?”

Zai: “No, we started playing over this past week as a team. And then, I think, people started playing individually a bit before that. So, we had about a week for scrims and stuff like that. But it is challenging because it takes way longer to get on the same page when it comes to stuff like that. Whereas if you’re out of land together, you’re talking all the time and stuff like that. So, it’s quite a bit faster. When it comes to online games, I think the process is just going to be a bit slower for us. But I think we’re off to a good track after coming back.”

Sheever: “I would say so with that victory. I’ve got a final generic question over this series for you. Obviously, you won, which is great. But how do you guys feel like you did compare to how you thought you were coming? If that question makes sense.”

Zai: “I’m pretty content with the way we ended up winning. I mean, I don’t think any of us expected to win, to be honest. I don’t think we had that mentality going in, because we respect Liquid and they’re playing way more dota than we’ve been playing over the past few weeks. So, I think we came in with respect for them, and the games were extremely close, and we’re lucky to win the third game. We are satisfied with the outcome and what we’ve expected.”

Sheever: “Alright, any final questions from you, gentlemen?”

Jenkins: “Yeah, I have a question. What’s your outdoor activity of choice? What do you do to get outside as a dota player, as a gamer?”

Zai: “I’ve gotten into running a bit more lately, which is something I never really cared for before, but nowadays, I kind of like it. I just go out and listen to music while running for half an hour/hour, and it’s just nice to get away from my computer to get outside.”

Jenkins: “Do you get the runners high? People talk about the high that some people can get.”

Sheever: “I don’t get that.”

Zai: “Occasionally, yeah, but it’s [pause] rare, you know. It’s not every single time you get to run. Most of the time, it’s suffering.”

Sheever [to Jenkins]: “You gotta run more.”

Jenkins: “It is, really, it is.”

Sheever: “Cause it sounds nice: you’re outside, you’re listening to music, but then the running part… [laughs] kind of puts me off a little bit.”

Zai: “You could walk as well.”

Sheever: “That’s true. Yeah, good advice, anyway, to be outside. Anybody, even if you do play dota the whole day, you should probably go outside at least once a day, a little bit, maybe, if you have the choice.”

Jenkins: “Especially these days.”

Sheever: “Yeah, especially these days. Thank you, zai, for taking the time to talk to us. I also want to point out that Jenkins did call you the offlane king, as well. So, it’s not just random questions about other things. He also gives you a lot of credit as well. Congratulations once again. Looking forward to seeing you guys playing a lot more in the weeks to come and enjoy the rest of your Sunday.”

Zai: “Thank you.”

* * *

For all the relevant information about the new league from WePlay! Esports and Epic Esports Events you can follow us on social media: Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.