“It's About Life, Not Background Noise": Solodana on Ukrainian Twitch, the Valorant Community, and Her Path to Maincast

Solodana — is a Valorant streamer and Maincast commentator working at the intersection of esports broadcasts and Ukrainian Twitch.

Anastasiia has been growing her Twitch channel since 2021, where she's already built a community of over 12,000 viewers. Her path spans from her first Valorant streams to commentating professional matches on Maincast — one of Ukraine's leading esports tournament broadcasters.

On engaging with her community, changes in Ukrainian Twitch, the growth of the Valorant scene, and her own experience in streaming and commentating — in this DeTalks interview.

You started streaming on Twitch in 2021, switching from Dota 2 to Valorant. What hooked you about the game?

The transition really turned out to be interesting. I was drawn to the agents' abilities and their skills. Valorant is a very gripping game because it's essentially in 3D, unlike Dota, where you can watch a situation from above and control it without unexpected special effects.

In Valorant, everything's different: the game keeps you on edge every round. You have little time, you need to react quickly, gather information, and something unpredictable can happen at any moment. And when you win through that small dose of stress, it feels satisfying.

Over the past year, Valorant went through a global rebalance of agents and weapons. Which changes did you feel the most, and how did they affect your playstyle?

The developers are moving toward a classic shooter [FPS], where duels play a bigger role. Personally, the hardest thing for me to accept was the nerf to Clove, one of my favorite characters.

The difference is really significant because of the loss of the second smoke [grenade] and the change to overheal [healing]. It hasn't affected my playstyle much, but now, when I get an overheal, I still go for extra duels. But with only one smoke, you have to play more carefully — stay closer to your team, since it's better to die somewhere that's actually useful.

You play sentinels a lot. That role just got significant nerfs. What, in your opinion, was cut well, and what actually hurt the role?

Yes, I mostly play them. The most unpleasant part — was the major nerf to [the agent] Cypher. When an agent gets weaker, interest in them drops sharply. Maybe they're doing it for the sake of rebalancing.

On the other hand, [the agent] Harbor got literally 'lifted off his knees.' He has a useful wall that lasts a long time and blocks a lot of space in front of opponents, slowing them down a bit. There's also a separate ability that temporarily blocks enemy actions, which is a really good ability for a controller of his level. I'd like something similar for [the agent] Viper — she was very strong a year ago.

Because of the sentinel nerfs, people have to play more actively. You can't just sit back carefully anymore — you have to use your abilities more aggressively. Game dynamics might increase, but it's pretty sad, since we'd already gotten used to it and honed our skills, and now everything's changing.

How has Ukrainian Twitch changed from 2021 to 2025?

It's really nice for me to see new faces appearing regularly. I understand how hard it is to be consistent: to build an audience, find the resources and time. Under today's conditions, that's an achievement. The community has grown so much that I can't even name 20 people who represent Ukrainian Twitch anymore — it's much bigger than that.

Streamers talk to each other, send each other raids, and you realize you don't know everyone by far. There are more people now, and viewer motivation has grown too — that's really nice.

What do you think most affects the growth of the Ukrainian streaming community?

First, people started switching from YouTube to Twitch. They realized it's a place where you can relax, chat, and spend time comfortably. You just put YouTube on in the background, but Twitch — is about life.

Second, people from other creative fields are joining — singers, actors, comedians. They bring their own audiences and make the platform more interesting, drawing in new viewers.

Have you ever run into toxicity in the Valorant community specifically because you're a streamer?

Yes, toxicity is a constant presence in my life — in Valorant too. My mom's always calmed me down with a phrase that came up relatively recently: any community is made up of people, and people, in turn, come in all kinds.

If I hear hate — it's better to just mute it right away. You want to sort it out, but your nerves are worth more.

Usually players find out I'm a streamer only at the end of a match, since I keep my nickname hidden. Sometimes they find out through a stat-checking website, but that's rare.

Often the reaction is even more positive than not. People are curious to learn about me, especially when they see rare items [raid loot]. Most of the time, hate comes from playing badly by their standards, or not liking my voice. Or the classic: 'oh, a woman,' and that's enough to cause a problem.

You often organize fundraisers and support volunteer initiatives. How did this become part of what you do?

With the weight of reality and understanding that terrible things are happening right now, you appreciate even more that you're able to create content and have a safe space to do it in. I want to channel that gratitude into supporting the people building that wall of safety.

You can help with money, supplies, or get physically involved — for instance, weaving camouflage nets. With small steps, we're all making a shared contribution.

How did you end up at Maincast? Was it a dream, or an accident?

More of an accident. I followed esports, but mostly just the final stages of tournaments. I rooted for NaVi back in the Dota days, then later in Counter-Strike, and then Valorant came along too.

I started streaming, met the people I now work with, including Yukio. We ran customs [specially made, custom games], and he'd join in to commentate on the Valorant matches. Then the tournament branch expanded, we were given rights to broadcast Tier 2 tournaments, and when Ukraine came under the jurisdiction of the central office in Poland — that was a huge jump.

I tried commentating — it went well. Then I tried being a host. And they messaged me and offered me the chance to work in the Maincast studio. I thought, 'Wow, this is a whole new level,' and gave it a try.

Do you feel the Ukrainian scene strengthening right now? Is there a chance to grow to Europe's level?

It's hard to say, because there's enormous pressure on players. To break through to the professional level, you have to go through a lot of stages. Riot doesn't have the right infrastructure for the Tier 2 scene functioning properly to unlock more opportunities for players.

Even if you make it to decent online tournaments and show what you can do, it's still not enough to break into Tier 1. On top of that, there are problems with leaving Ukraine for tournaments that require an offline presence. So it's hard for Valorant to set records in times like these.

What do you see for Ukrainian Twitch in a few years? And what role would you personally want to play in that ecosystem?

I like the pace of its growth. I want more people to come to Twitch: to spend time, have fun, support the military, and meet new faces. I've made a lot of friends specifically thanks to this platform.

On November 20, the Ukrainian language appeared on Twitch as an interface option — that's a huge breakthrough. Streamers will now be able to land in the front page's recommendations thanks to localization.

As for me, I want to help Valorant, since few people stream in Ukrainian, and I'll keep believing in this game regardless. But I also want to grow other directions. My equipment's been letting me down lately, so I started playing more story games and strategy games, to chat with my community and 'ground myself,' since competitive games can sometimes get really frustrating.