Arguably one of the most prolific memes in Dota 2 esports is no other than the 322.
For starters, 322 occurs when a team or player performs poorly or ridiculously despite having a lead in a game. It is synonymous with calling out that a party is throwing the match, here’s why.
Image source: Persson from “Know Your Meme”
In Dota 2, the 322 meme originated from one pro player’s act of throwing his match for a mere bet of $322. Alexey “Solo” Berezin, is considered the father of 322 Dota.
It’s important to note that Solo only threw one match during the StarLadder StarSeries Season 6. He bet against his team, RoX.KIS, at the time, was playing versus zRage. As such, the bet worth $322, which Solo somehow did not receive, became the iconic meme for 322 Dota.
Although StarLadder initially gave Solo a lifetime ban, the ban was eventually reduced to only one year. Some players called out StarLadder’s leniency at the time, and Valve’s lack of reaction to the incident. However, Solo’s fans justified that he didn’t 322 Dota in an official Valve tournament, so it’s up to StarLadder’s accord to set their ban severity.
Variations of the 322 Dota meme
What is still taboo in esports became a rampant meme that players spam. Today, fans can often see the Twitch chat spammed with “Dota 322” text when a team loses a fight while being ahead.
This may not directly mean that the teams are in fact match-fixing, but is a tribute to match-fixing. In some cases, viewers also spam 644, a multiplication of 322 Dota, when the other team loses a fight or feeds back. As a result we have two variations of 644 meme and 322 meme used simultaneously.
Regardless, Solo is certainly one of the lucky few players, who committed 322 Dota in Esports that wasn’t a heavily-addressed taboo yet. Today, or rather just months since the infamous Dota 322 incident, players who replicated the act, received much-severe punishments from Valve.
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One unfortunate case of Dota 322 that became overblown back in 2014 was Arrow Gaming’s Yi Liong “ddz” Kok and Hsien Wan “Lance” Fua. Synergy League permanently banned the duo for making questionable decisions and feeding while they were ahead in their match.
The two players initially denied the Dota 322 allegations on Reddit, titled “I AM DDZ, I am NOT 322”.
Arrow Gaming 2014 Dota 2 roster featuring ddz and Lance
There were also conflicts with the team management and accusations among themselves, which eventually resulted in the two players confessing their wrongdoings. Unfortunately, Valve took this case seriously this time around and gave them lifetime ban from Valve-sponsored tournaments. To put things into perspective, that’s career-ending since Valve runs the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC), Majors, and the International Championships.
The ripple effect on the players’ reputation as pro players also meant that no team ever wants to hire them. Additionally, the rest of Arrow Gaming also received harsh implications, but without any reliable evidence. The other players didn’t receive lifetime ban from Valve, but they do still receive the 322 meme in their chat.
Valve and many other prominent tournament organizers made it clear that they do not tolerate any match-fixing and game throwing in any form. Yet, even after all these years since Valve set examples of Arrow Gaming, we still occasionally hear talents, typically from Southeast Asia and South America get caught red-handed.
Just a year ago, Team Orca and Apex were banned from DPC 2022 for their match-fixing involvement. Familiar names in the rosters included Cheng “vtFαded” Jia Hao and Lai “AhJit” Jay Son, who have debuted in TI Championships previously. From Philippines, the rising stars, Omega Esports’ players threw matches behind their management’s back, tarnishing the esports org’s namesake.
With match-fixing cases still rampant, 322 will always live on as the eternal meme to mock the stupidity of these players.
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