Zai Talks About Stepping Into MATUMBAMAN’s Shoes For Team Liquid

Team Liquid’s offlaner Ludwig "zai" Wåhlberg became the latest member of the team to be pulled aside for a post-match interview following its victory in Division I of the Western Europe Dota Pro Circuit 2023 (WEU DPC 2023): Winter Tour against Into The Breach (ITB)

During the interview, the Swedish player talked about taking responsibility for drafting for his team following the retirement of former carry Lasse "MATUMBAMAN" Urpalainen. He said it feels like more responsibility and requires a lot of focus and effort than before.

Zai noted that it felt natural to be involved with drafting

During the winner’s post match interview, Team Liquid’s zai was asked by panel host Natalie "NatTea" Mahoney about taking up the responsibility of drafting for his team after the departure of MATUMBAMAN as she had previously interviewed fellow teammate Aydin "iNSaNiA" Sarkohi about the topic, with the latter crediting zai for stepping up.

Zai replied by saying “It’s definitely a bit different, I think you have some more responsibility and you feel that weight on your shoulders but you have to be on it 24/7, you can’t be caught slacking. I think it felt more natural, because we were just doing what we did before. At the end of the day, you just have to pick the good heroes and avoid the bad ones. It’s that easy.”

He added on by saying that he had been involved with the drafting phase in his previous teams, saying that he had taken an interest.

“I think apart from my first few years, like the early Team Secret days, I have been involved with the drafting to some extent. Like obviously I'm not the drafter but at some point I took an interest into it and it felt like a natural progression. But yeah, it's not just me, it’s a team effort and someone has to press the buttons and so far, it’s been me. ”

Team Liquid are currently on top of the WEU DPC standings with 4 consecutive wins. Additionally, a win against Nigma Galaxy later today will most likely guarantee the team a direct qualification for the upcoming Lima Major alongside Team Aster, who had already qualified.