Nine shocked fans by talking about serious problems at the beginning of his career

Leon “Nine” Kirilin stated that he first learned about Dota when he was 7 or 8 years old, after which he completely immersed himself in the passion for the game, because of which he left school after the 9th grade. The pro-player admits that it was a very difficult period when he faced severe depression, and the breakdown of the old computer only aggravated the situation.

The corresponding story was told in a video on the YouTube channel ARD.

“I've been playing Dota all my life. I first learned about it when I was about 7 or 8 years old. For me, games were a way to escape from the real world. My life was unbearable. And gaming gave me an alternative. I would say I found my way back to life through games.

At the same time at the start they were taking up all my time. I left after 9th grade with a diploma after high school. I was skipping too much. For a while after that, nothing just happened to me - there was just gambling and depression, I didn't know what to do next. Naturally, it was absolute hell at home during this time. My mom never understood why I was skipping school.

Then, in 2017, I had a very old PC and it broke. Then depression came out at its peak. I didn't leave the house for about 3 weeks, I didn't play, I didn't do anything, I had no friends. I just sat at home and asked myself, what am I doing with my life? I had the worst thoughts.”

At some point Leon “Nine” Kirilin decided that he wanted to get out of this state, because of which he persuaded his mother to buy him a new PC with the condition that if after six months the player could not return the money for it, he would do as she said. With a new PC, the future cyber athlete spent several months almost all his time on the game, after which his career began to develop rapidly.

“And at some point... I just didn't want to end it that way. I called my mom into my room, talked to her, asked her to buy me a PC. Told her that if I didn't earn anything for 6 months, couldn't pay her back, I would do whatever she said. Thank god she believed in me.

She bought me a PC even though we had no money. I think for the next few months I ate very little - a small sandwich for the day or something like that. But from there on, things happened very quickly. We didn't fight anymore. I became a successful player and joined my first professional team.”

Leon “Nine” Kirilin left Tundra Esports last December, but played as a substitute for Team Falcons in the first season of PGL Wallachia as Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorac had visa problems in Romania.

Recall that earlier famous blogger Arsen Markarian said that Dota 2 destroyed the nervous system of several generations of players.