Solo Reflects on the Aftermath of the 322 Scandal

Alexey “Solo” Berezin, a professional Dota 2 player from 9Pandas, recently shared his experience of emotional recovery following the infamous match-fixing scandal. During a personal Twitch stream, he discussed the factors that helped him return to competitive gaming.

“Dealing with it wasn’t as difficult as it might have seemed from the outside,” Berezin explained. “Of course, I was very nervous and worried. But as I remember now, I quickly overcame that fear. There was a feeling of being broken, but I had a group of friends with whom I started streaming, playing various games, and talking more about Dota. Basically, I distracted myself. I think the streams helped a lot. I don’t remember exactly how long after the 322 incident I started streaming, but it seems like only a month had passed before I began.”

When asked about support from others, Berezin acknowledged the significant help he received from his friend Andrey “Dread” Golubev, especially at the beginning of his streaming career. “Dread was the most popular CIS streamer on Twitch at that time. We just had fun together; we had a great group of friends, so I was able to distract myself. In short, I got through it okay. There have been more difficult situations in my life.”

The 322 scandal refers to an incident in 2013 when Berezin bet $100 against his own team, winning $322 as a result. This event led to the term “322” being used in the esports community to describe match-fixing. Despite the controversy, Solo avoided a lifetime ban and went on to become a champion in five Majors and other significant tournaments.