A similar Solo situation emerges as Taiga becomes the name for 322 memes.
If you regularly watch pro Dota 2 games, you may have noticed a wave of chatters constantly spamming Taiga's name recently. In case you missed it, the popular professional Dota 2 player, Tommy "Taiga" Le, is currently in the hot seat. The Norwegian who formerly represented OG Esports faced colossal matchfixing allegations. The player quickly became the new symbol of matchfixing - or in Dota 2 terms, 322.
A new 322 meme - Taiga's name tainted with matchfixing
Recently, a prominent Russian content creator, morphine, posted a 30-minute long video which packed his personal investigation against Taiga. The video showed audio recordings, Discord messages, payment receipts, and all sorts of evidence that exposed Taiga's involvement in matchfixing during his time with OG. (You can read more in-depth explanation of Taiga's 322 case below.)
The set of evidence presented in morphine's investivation is incredibly damning. And although they are not officially proven true, pro players and members of the community came forth to express their disappointment in the player. And quickly after, Taiga's name flooded Dota 2 streams.
Chatters would mention Taiga whenever a throw or a questionable play is made from a team. "Taiga moment", "Taiga has entered the game", or " TaiBet". Chatters would consistently use his name as they imply suspicions for matchfixing.
Other players tied to the 322 term
This pattern has obviously been seen in previous matchfixing or account sharing incidents. The first popular matchfixing incident involved Russian player, Alexey "Solo" Berezin, who placed bets on his own game which earned him $322 dollars. Hence, the 322 term. Solo's name was for a long time tied to matchfixing, just like Taiga's current situation.
In March 2022, a Malaysian pub star, Cheng "vtFαded" Jia Hao, was caught account sharing during an official Dota Pro Circuit tournament. He then became the go-to name to mention for account sharing scandals as Dota 2 chatters would meme about him logging into players' accounts mid match.
So far, only OG has responded to the newly released evidences against Taiga. Other than that, Taiga himself and his current organization, LEVIATAN, has been radio silent. We'll continue to keep you updated with more information regarding the Taiga 322 case.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Dota 2 news and updates.