Tundra Esports reverse sweep Team Falcons to win FISSURE PLAYGROUND Belgrade

Image: Tundra Esports

Tundra win the first Tier 1 Dota 2 tournament of 2025 in style, coming back from a 0-2 grand finals deficit.

Western European Dota 2 powerhouse Tundra Esports have been crowned as champions of FISSURE PLAYGROUND Belgrade 2025 after pulling off an incredible 3-2 reverse sweep over regional rivals Team Falcons in the tournament's grand finals on Monday (February 3).

With their victory, Tundra bagged the grand prize of $400,000 out of the FISSURE PLAYGROUND's $1 million prize pool. Still fresh off a roster overhaul in early January that saw the additions of Anton “dyrachyo” Shkredov and Bozhidar “bzm” Bogdanov, Tundra have made a strong case for being the best Dota 2 team in the world right now.

Meanwhile, Falcons settle for second place and $170,000 in consolation. This also marks Falcons' 10th Top 3 tournament finish since the organisation's debut season in 2024, though falling short of their seventh championship in that same period certainly isn't the best way for the team to start off 2025.

Tundra cap off Belgrade victory with reverse sweep over Falcons

Both Tundra and Falcons received direct invites to FISSURE PLAYGROUND, even if they didn't have the best of starts in the tournament's Swiss format Group Stage.

Tundra lost their opening match Yakult's Brothers before bouncing back against Shopify Rebellion, only to be on the brink of an early elimination with a loss to Talon Esports in round three. However, they managed to right the ship just in time to make it to the Playoffs, scoring back-to-back 2-0 sweeps over Wildcard Gaming and Gaimin Gladiators.

Meanwhile, Falcons also lost their first round matchup, falling victim to an upset from HEROIC. Although they were quick to shake off that loss and rack up three straight wins overAVULUS, Wildcard, and Gaimin Gladiators to also make it to the Playoffs.

Tundra seem to have learned much from their arduous journey in the Group Stage, as they defeated HEROIC in three games in the upper bracket quarterfinals, then soundly swept Team Spirit in the upper bracket semifinals to advance to the upper bracket finals. Falcons took a similar path, defeating Team Liquid in three games before sweeping BetBoom Team to get their first matchup with Tundra of the tournament.

Tundra kept their momentum going in the upper bracket finals, as they scored their second straight 2-0 sweep of the Playoffs to become the first team in the grand finals. However, Falcons were quick to bounce back with their own sweep over PARIVISION in the lower bracket finals, and earn a rematch with Tundra in the championship round.

Tundra Esports3-2Team Falcons

The grand finals kicked off with a 66-minute banger, where Tundra's strong teamfight-oriented lineup gave them a significant lead by the midgame. However, Falcons managed to turn the tables as the game wore on late behind Stanislav “Malr1ne” Potorak's Puck and Ammar “ATF” Assaf's Bristleback – even if Oliver “Skiter” Lepko's Spectre didn't have the usual impact one would expect from the hero.

Despite a stubborn defense from Tundra, Falcons' relentless onslaught eventually gave them a hard-fought first win of the series. Malr1ne led the way for his team in the series opener with 13 kills and 25 assists on a game-best four deaths while ATF added 18 kills and 13 assists against 10 deaths.

Game two then saw Skiter put on a perfect 24-kill, 17-assist performance on his carry Dragon Knight to pace a lopsided 52-16 kill lead for Falcons, which gave them a commanding 2-0 series lead.

With their backs against the wall in game three, Tundra went for a team composition with overwhelming initiation power led by dyrachyo's Lifestealer, bzm's Tiny, and Neta “33” Shapira's Sand King. Martin “Saksa” Sazdov's Riki ensured constant vision over Falcons' movements while Matthew “Whitemon” Filemon's Phoenix provided strong teamfight presence from the backlines.

Game three was closely contested until the 28-minute mark, when Tundra scored a huge teamfight win and a couple more pickoffs right after that essentially broke things wide open. Falcons were left scrambling thereafter, as they were corralled in their base in fear of giving up more pickoffs until a snowballing Tundra forced them to call GG after 43 minutes of action. Dyrachyo and bzm led their team to their first win of the series by notching eight kills apiece and combining for 24 assists against four and three deaths respectively.

Game four was one of the most one-sided games of professional Dota 2 in recent memory, as Tundra simply curbstomped Falcons to force the grand finals to a deciding fifth game. Tundra racked up nine kills before Falcons could even get their first, the game eventually snowballing out of control to tie up the series after a 25-minute rout, up 36-12 in kills and 30,000 net worth. You read that right, Tundra's gold lead actually outpaced the game's duration – a sight you simply never see at the highest level of competitive Dota 2.

All Tundra heroes had at least six kills in game four. Dyrachyo on Phantom Assassin led the way with nine, bzm on Monkey King had eight, Whitemon pitched in with seven, while 33 and Saksa had six apiece. Of Tundra's 12 deaths, Saksa tanked five, bzm only had one, while the rest of the lineup only suffered two.

Falcons seemed utterly demoralized by their game four loss, as Tundra completed the incredible reverse sweep with a 30-minute stomp. Bzm put on a show in the closeout game as he racked up 14 kills and seven assists on just one death with his signature Invoker pick, dominating Malr1ne's Earth Spirit in the laning stage and styling on Falcons in teamfights.

Dyrachyo on Morphling, and Whitemon on Phoenix, also combined for a clean seven kills and 23 assists to pace Tundra's 27-5 kill lead. That earned them the first Tier 1 tournament championship of 2025.