FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 kicks off - All teams and key storylines to watch

FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 features 16 top-tier teams competing for a share of the US$1 million prize pool.

FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 kicks off today, 23 October, with the world’s best Dota 2 teams gathering in Belgrade, Serbia, to compete for a share of the US$1 million prize pool. The tournament began slightly later than BLAST Slam IV, but will run throughout its off-days. Although it isn’t the first Tier 1 event of the 2025/2026 season, FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 will crown the season’s first champion–making it one of the most anticipated tournaments of the new season.

In this event, we’ll see reigning world champions Team Falcons compete among top-tier contenders and rising talents, several of whom will be fielding substitutes. FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 will conclude on 2 November, where the winners take home US$350,000 in winnings.

The tournament begins with a best-of-three Group Stage running from 23–27 October. The top eight teams will advance to a double-elimination Playoffs stage featuring the standard best-of-three format, leading up to a best-of-five Grand Final.

Teams competing at FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2

1. BetBoom Team
2. PARIVISION
3. Tundra Esports
4. Heroic
5. Nigma Galaxy
6. Team Liquid
7. Team Spirit
8. Team Falcons
9. Aurora Gaming
10. Vici Gaming
11. Team Yandex
12. Virtus.pro
13. MOUZ
14. Runa Team
15. Yakult Brothers
    Team Cobra (renamed from Perrito Panzon)
     

FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 sees several stand-in situation

While FISSURE PLAYGROUND 2 features most of Dota 2’s top powerhouses, several will unfortunately compete without their full roster.

Nigma Galaxy’s Lebanese duo, Omar “OmaR” Moughrabi and Tony “No!ob” Assaf, faced visa issues preventing their travel to Serbia. In an exciting twist, legendary offlaner Ivan “MinD_ContRoL” Borislavov Ivanov will reunite with the organisation after two years, standing in for OmaR. Meanwhile, former Shopify Rebellion support Kirill “Hellscream” Lagutik will step in for No!ob. 

Over at Vici Gaming, Hao “plAnet” Lin will substitute for Jiahan “Pyw” Xiong in position 4. This marks Vici Gaming’s first tournament since announcing their return to competitive Dota 2. The iconic Chinese organisation has been absent for nearly three years, aside from a brief appearance during this year’s TI qualifier season.

MOUZ, with a newly assembled roster, will also field a stand-in. Their Malaysian midlaner Nai Zheng “MidOne” Yeik faced visa complications and will be replaced by Ukrainian player Artem “Lorenof” Melnick. Despite this setback, the roster still boasts some of the scene’s most renowned players, including Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp and Remco “Crystallis” Arets.

More storylines to watch

Beyond the stand-ins, the tournament will showcase many revamped rosters for the new season. Some have already found early season success, while some are unable to find balance, especially after significant roster shuffles.

Team Liquid, now featuring former Gaimin Gladiators duo Marcus “Ace” Hoelgaard and Erik “tOfu” Engel, lacked in their first major outing of the season–failing to reach the Playoffs at BLAST Slam IV. This event offers them an opportunity to regain momentum and reassert their dominance.

Team Spirit, now without longtime captain Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov, will compete with new position 5 Nikita “Panto” Balaganin. The team barely qualified for the BLAST Slam IV Playoffs, showing flashes of inconsistency they’ll be eager to iron out.

HEROIC has been on fire with their recent victory at FISSURE Universe Episode 7, where they defeated Team Liquid, MOUZ, and Nigma Galaxy. Their strong early-season form follows an impressive Top 6 finish at T. Their early season victory was accomplished despite notable roster changes, including moving Adrian “Wisper” Cespedes Dobles to the midlane and re-signing Cedric “Davai Lama” Deckmyn for the offlane.

Virtus.pro, now fielding former Evil Geniuses stars Tal “Fly” Aizik and Abed Azel “Abed” Yusop, will also be looking to bounce back after a lackluster debut performance at FISSURE Universe Episode 7.

Another team to watch closely is Team Yandex, who initially acquired the Cyber Goose roster from Eastern Europe (EEU). With the additions of former Gaimin Gladiators carry Alimzhan “Watson” Islambekov and Tundra Esports’ Martin “Saksa” Sazdov as a stand-in, this squad will be an interesting watch.

On the other hand, BetBoom Team introduces new carry Ilja “Kiritych” Uljanow, while Tundra Esports brings in a fresh duo–Matthew “Ari” Walker (position 4) and Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko (carry).

Aurora Gaming will feature an exciting blend of Eastern European and Southeast Asian talent, including Malaysian support Chon Kien “Oli” Chan and Indonesian midlaner Rafli Fathur “Mikoto” Rahman, who will compete alongside some of EEU's most accomplished players such as Miroslaw “Mira” Kolpakov and Alexander “TORONTOTOKYO” Khertek.

Meanwhile, the South American stack Perrito Panzon, which qualified through the region's qualifier, will compete under the name Team Cobra at this event.

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