A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.

$18 Million Haircut

What this meme means

Team Spirit carry Yatoro shaved his head at The International 10, Spirit won $18.2 million, and the “bald buff” was born.

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Day four of the TI10 playoffs

The International 10 was held in Bucharest. On October 15, 2021, day four of the playoffs, Team Spirit carry Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk showed up for a lower-bracket match against Virtus.pro with a shaved head. According to Liquipedia, his teammate Mira did the shaving.

The stakes were high: Spirit had lost 29 of their previous 30 meetings with Virtus.pro. This time Spirit won the series and locked in a top-four finish. Sources report the score differently, with some saying 2–1 and others 2–0.

The new look got noticed right away: ONE Esports ran a separate piece on Yatoro's new haircut that same day, with before-and-after photos.

A dedication to the god of Dota

In a post-match interview with the Russian-language broadcast, Yatoro explained: “I dedicated them to the god of Dota so we'd win four maps today.” English-language media relayed it as “I shaved my head as a sacrifice to the god of Dota.”

Team Spirit went all the way and won TI10, taking the $18,208,300 grand prize. That's where the joke name “$18 Million Haircut” comes from: the money went to the whole team, but the meme credits it to the carry's bald head.

The quote exists in two versions: the Russian interview talks about a dedication to the god of Dota, while the word “sacrifice” appeared in English-language retellings.

The bald buff at TI11 and TI12

That's how the “bald buff” was born: shaving your head before a big match for luck. At TI11 in October 2022, PandaMoo of Thunder Awaken, skem of BOOM Esports, Arteezy of Evil Geniuses, and beastcoast assistant coach Raykill all shaved. Yatoro himself didn't shave that time, and Spirit were knocked out of the tournament.

In October 2023, Yatoro shaved again, before the TI12 grand final against Gaimin Gladiators, according to esports media. Sources disagree here: one of them ties the second shave to the DreamLeague Season 21 grand final.

Articles about the “bald buff” describe shaving bald as a running joke of a tradition: viewers note which players shaved before a big match and link it to luck in that match.

The before-and-after collage in the catalog

The catalog image is a collage of two photos of the same player; according to the source's caption, it's Yatoro of Team Spirit. On the left he has pink hair and is wearing headphones at a computer; on the right he's already shaved bald and wearing a black jacket.

The before-and-after format is the core of the meme: a makeover right before a match, after which the team went on to win the title.

The pink hair in the left photo and the shaved head in the right one are the main visible difference between the two shots.

Captions about the bald buff

These examples are made up for illustration: “Shaved my head before finals week. Waiting on my 18 million”, “Bald buff activated, MMR going up”, “Mom, it's not a haircut, it's a strategy.”

Related memes include “Team Spirit's practice room at TI10” and TORONTOTOKYO's “ez game”; all of them come from Spirit's championship run at TI10. “Bald buff” captions fit when someone gets a drastic haircut before a tournament or an exam.

Another made-up variation pairs before-and-after photos with a prize caption that names something mundane instead of 18 million, like passing a physics exam or getting a promotion.