FISSURE Playground #1: Format, Teams, and Expectations

FISSURE Playground #1 will bring together 16 teams in Belgrade, Serbia, from July 15 to 20, 2025. This is the first major LAN event in CS2 following the recent BLAST Austin Major, featuring a total prize pool of $1,000,000. The format is familiar: teams are divided into four GSL-style groups, with the top two from each group advancing to a single-elimination playoff bracket. All group stage and playoff matches (except the final) are played as Bo3, while the grand final is a Bo5. According to the organizers, the event offers a “wet launch” of the new CS2 season – big money, without the boring formalities.

Among the invited teams, only GamerLegion (ranked 9th in the VRS) and 3DMAX (10th) were in the VRS regional top 10 as of May, while the only HLTV top-10 team present is FURIA. The full list of participants includes: GamerLegion, 3DMAX, Virtus.pro, Complexity, HEROIC, Astralis, paiN, SAW, FURIA, Rare Atom, MIBR, BIG, BetBoom Team, TYLOO, Lynn Vision Gaming, and Wildcard. The lineup features a mix of former stars and exotic combos – far from the typical major-final rosters.

Notably, alongside the European and Brazilian powerhouses, several fresh squads and mixed lineups are also competing. Brazilian side FURIA temporarily bolstered their roster with Latvian star Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis. Group A features three squads that are essentially straight off the street: GamerLegion signed a new AWPer, Kurzy, while both Wildcard and SAW brought in two new recruits each. In Group C, Virtus.pro added former NAVI leader Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy, Astralis picked up Danish IGL Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, and MIBR signed Brazilian rifler Nicollas “nicks” Polonio. In Group D, Swedish side Heroic completely overhauled their roster, while Russian team BetBoom swapped snipers – Sasha “zorte” made way for Artem “ArtFr0st” Kharitonov. Some international mixes also stand out: Complexity built a roster combining players from the US, Norway, and South Africa, while Wildcard features a truly global squad with Americans (JBa, Peeping) and Europeans (susp, fr3nd).

Key matches on the first day look promising: on July 15, we'll see 3DMAX vs Lynn Vision, GamerLegion vs Wildcard, paiN vs Rare Atom, and FURIA facing SAW. In Group D, the openers will be Complexity vs BetBoom and HEROIC vs BIG. The tournament is largely viewed as a warm-up after the Major: many of the top contenders – Team Vitality, Team Falcons, Team Spirit, and FaZe – are skipping the event to prepare for Intel Extreme Masters Cologne. As HLTV notes, “most of the top teams chose to extend their break” until the August IEM Cologne, while FISSURE will spotlight the “smaller” squads and their freshly built lineups.

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Seeing such unusual teams at a LAN is a rarity. Star players are scattered across different rosters, and some lineups are missing their long-time leaders altogether. This unpredictability is what makes FISSURE Playground so intriguing: it’s not the usual “major-style” CS – instead, it’s about raw mixes and bold experiments. If any rookies or recent signings stand out, this is where they’ll have a shot. So all eyes on Belgrade: with IEM Cologne still ahead, it’s a perfect moment to test who’s really ready in the ever-evolving world of CS2.