zai

Player Information

Name:

Ludwig Eric Wåhlberg

Nationality:

Sweden

Born:

August 5, 1997 (age 28)

Region:

Europe

Years Active (Player):

2013 - 2023

Roles:

Manager
Offlaner

Alternate IDs:

mmbzai

Approx. Total Winnings:

$4,237,892

Signature Hero:

Links

History

Heroes of Newerth

2011-??-?? — 201?-??-??

Pokémon Crew

2012-02-22 — 2012-??-??

Blackfade

2012-??-?? — 2012-??-??

Team Decerto(Sub)

2012-??-?? — 2012-??-??

It's Gosu eSports

2012-09-05 — 2013-??-??

Trademark eSports

2013-??-?? — 2013-06-24

ex-Trademark eSports

2013-07-16 — 2013-10-25

Team_USA_(HoN Team)

Dota 2

2013-??-?? — 2013-11-22

Stay Free

2013-11-22 — 2013-12-23

SSD

2014-01-31 — 2014-02-21	SadBoys
2014-02-21 — 2015-01-06	Evil Geniuses
2015-01-06 — 2015-08-30	Team Secret
2015-08-30 — 2016-05-24	EG(Sub)
2016-05-24 — 2016-06-13	Kaipi
2016-06-13 — 2016-08-27	Evil Geniuses
2016-09-15 — 2017-08-30	Evil Geniuses
2017-09-05 — 2017-09-26	The Dire
2017-09-26 — 2018-09-05	OpTic Gaming
2018-09-11 — 2021-11-03	Team Secret
2021-11-03 — 2023-11-01	Team Liquid
2024-02-23 — 2025-01-17	Tundra(General Manager)

Recent Matches

Liquid	1:2 (Bo3)	GG
October 28, 2023 - 10:00 PDT TI2023

Liquid	1:2 (Bo3)	TSpirit
October 27, 2023 - 16:10 PDT TI2023

Liquid	2:0 (Bo2)	Talon
October 20, 2023 - 14:20 PDT The International 2023

Liquid	2:0 (Bo3)	EG
October 14, 2023 - 14:45 PDT The International 2023

Liquid	2:0 (Bo2)	Thunder
October 13, 2023 - 12:30 PDT The International 2023

Upcoming Tournaments

No Upcoming Tournaments

Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg (born August 5, 1997) is a Swedish player who was previously the general manager of Tundra Esports.

Biography

Despite his very young age, zai made a name for himself in Heroes of Newerth, playing on teams such as Trademark eSports and Team USA, and winning DreamHoN 2012 at the age of 14. In 2013 he transitioned to Dota 2 alongside fellow HoN pros Ensoe, Tralfamadore and, most importantly ppd, with whom he found quick success with team Stay Free and later Super Strong Dinosaurs. In late January 2014, he transferred to the support role and joined ppd, Arteezy and EG players Fear and UNiVeRsE in team S A D B O Y S, which would mark the start of his breakthrough in the Dota 2 scene. As S A D B O Y S went 16-2 in games in their twenty days of playing together, the team caught the attention of Evil Geniuses. On the 21st of February 2014, S A D B O Y S and zai were picked up by Evil Geniuses.^[1]

On 6th January 2015 it was announced that zai had left EG to join Team Secret and he'd be switching back to the offlane role.^[2]^[3]

After Team Secret's 7th-8th finish at The International 5, zai left the team to complete his high school education.^[4] When the substitute player slot was introduced by Valve along with the Major system zai became the official substitute of EG.^[5] Players are permitted to be registered to more than one team (but are only allowed to accept one invite to a Major tournament)^[6], and zai utilised this to join Kaipi after completing his studies, whilst still remaining the official substitute for EG.^[7]

On 12th of June 2016 it was announced that zai would be rejoining EG along with UNiVeRsE,^[8] mere weeks before The International 2016. Despite having to go through the Open and Closed Qualifiers, the team managed to qualify for TI and reach 3rd place.

Zai remained at EG for another year as part of a new lineup with his friend Arteezy, led by Danish captain Cr1t-. Despite a strong start to the season, the team was unable to keep up the strong performances culminating in a disappointingly early finish at The International 2017. Following TI7, zai chose to leave EG to form a new team with his former captain, PPD. This team would soon be picked up by OpTic Gaming.

At OpTic, zai would switch back to the offlane. However, the team was unable to achieve any meaningful success. In December 2017, zai switched back to being roaming support, with 33 replacing him in the offlane, and performances markedly improved. Despite a decent season and a top eight finish at The International 2018, zai decided to depart OpTic and return to Team Secret, where he would once again play in the offlane.

Following another third place finish at The International 2021, after over three years at Secret, zai departed from Team Secret to join Team Liquid. ^[9]^[10]

Trivia

He has reached the top 4 at The International on 5 separate occasions, the most top 4 finishes of any player besides Puppey, who has 6.

Statistics

His career high for kills in a single professional match is 19. He achieved this feat while playing for Team Secret as Queen of Pain in Game 1 of their Upper Bracket series against Alliance during The Summit 3 European Qualifiers.
Had the highest average assists per game (15.26) at The International 2016.
Had the highest average assists per game (18.56) during Tour 1 of the 2023 DPC WEU Upper Division.

Stats acquired from datdota as of 2023/04/15.

Achievements

Additional Content

Interviews

Miscellaneous

2024

[e] 2024-04-26 | zai: A Career Worth More Than An Aegis by Monster Energy
[e] 2024-02-23 | Zai returns to Dota 2 as Tundra Esports’ general manager by KZ of Esports.gg

Spotlights

Highlights

Gallery

References

[Evil_Geniuses_Welcome_New_Dota_2_Team-1] Evil Geniuses Welcome New Dota 2 Team

[2] Team Secret January 6th Roster Change

[3] Other EG Players Speak Out on Transfer Drama

[4] [1]

[5] [2]

[6] [3]

[7] [4]

[8] [5]

[9] [6]

[10] [7]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

Date	Place	Tier		Result	Prize

2023-07-30	2nd	Tier 1	Riyadh Masters 2023	1 : 3	$2,500,000
2022-10-30	3rd	Tier 1	The International 2022	1 : 2	$1,703,810
2021-10-17	3rd	Tier 1	The International 2021	1 : 2	$3,601,600
2020-09-06	1st	Tier 1	OMEGA League: Europe Immortal Division	3 : 0	$200,000
2020-01-26	1st	Tier 1	DreamLeague Season 13	3 : 2	$300,000
2019-08-24	4th	Tier 1	The International 2019	0 : 2	$2,059,804
2019-05-12	1st	Tier 1	MDL Disneyland® Paris Major	3 : 1	$350,000
2019-01-27	1st	Tier 1	The Chongqing Major	3 : 1	$350,000
2016-08-13	3rd	Tier 1	The International 2016	1 : 2	$2,180,898
2014-07-21	3rd	Tier 1	The International 2014	1 : 2	$1,037,778

Date	Tier		Award	Prize

2023
2023-07-30	Tier 1	Riyadh Masters 2023	MVP (3rd Place)	$2,500
2019
2019-02-24	Tier 2	ESL One Katowice 2019	Mercedes-Benz MVP	-