Two-time TI winner Jesse “JerAx” Vainikka is competing once again but with a twist. The legendary Dota 2 player participated in Ludwig’s World’s Greatest Gamer event, and afterward, claimed it was harder that competing in some Dota 2 tournaments.
During a post-match interview after securing third at the event, JerAx commented on his performance in the event and stated that it has been “tougher to compete here than some of my Dota 2 tournaments.”
According to JerAx, not having confidence in his gameplay put a strain on his mindset as he would think his opponent would be better than him at the beginning. Since he was mostly prepared for Fortnite and Trackmania, JerAx didn’t expect to move onto the later stages of the tournament, but his natural-born skills proved him otherwise.
Throughout World’s Greatest Gamer, players competed in various games ranging from Fall Guys to XDefiant. JerAx displayed a solid understanding of almost all the titles that were played in the tournament, placing second twice in Fortnite, winning a round in Trackmania, and topping his group in CS:GO, while also winning at Street Fighter.
Considering the number of professional first-person shooter and fighter game specialists in the mix, JerAx’s universal gaming skills impressed many Dota 2 fans following the event. Though it was a community event, most participants trained hard for the tournament, including JerAx.
In addition to JerAx, another familiar name for Dota 2 fans was also participating in the event. Despite getting overshadowed by JerAx’s run, Saahil “Universe” Arora was a sight for sore eyes as the former TI winner has been away from competitive gaming since 2020.
After also retiring in 2020, JerAx briefly returned to competitive Dota 2 in 2022 with Evil Geniuses. Following a rather shaky run during his second stint, the player switched to coaching until the end of 2022 before going back into retirement once again.
