FISSURE Playground #3 continues on September 9 with 16 CS2 teams returning for the second round of group-stage action.
FISSURE Playground #3 continues on Wednesday, September 9, with the second round of action, as 16 Counter-Strike 2 teams continue their quest to claim the trophy and the biggest slice of the US$1 million prize pool.
At Esportbet, you can find free CS2 previews and expert predictions for the upcoming matches, along with odds from the best bookmakers for esports punters.
5star eSports’ first game of the tournament played out as expected, with the Mongolian squad failing to keep up with 9z Team.
The match ended in a very one-sided victory for 9z, who won with 13-3 on Cache and 13-4 on Nuke, effectively proving that 5star are not cut out to compete at this level.
Their next game will not be much easier, as 5star face The MongolZ, who are fresh off a disappointing reverse-sweep loss against MIBR.
The match started with MongolZ winning Ancient 13-5, before losing Mirage 10-13 and Inferno 12-16.
MongolZ have not produced the most inspiring results of late, going 2-4 in their last six. However, they are -1250 favourites on the best esports bookmakers for a reason, fielding a significantly more experienced and higher-quality roster.
Upsets happen, but this is MongolZ’s game to lose.
The MongolZ -10.5 rounds
FaZe Clan found themselves in the headlines after the first round of play, having suffered a shock loss against Alliance with 9-13 on Ancient and 11-13 on Nuke.
Results like that should raise some alarms, but considering FaZe’s recent performances and against much stronger teams, that result can be viewed as a fluke.
Magic started their FISSURE Playground #3 campaign with a 1-2 defeat against Legacy, but they showed some fight.
Magic lost Ancient 7-13, won on Dust2 with 13-7, and forced overtime on Mirage before losing 14-16. It was a promising display from magic, who continue to make a name for themselves as feisty underdogs.
FaZe and magic last met at the end of May, when magic won 2-1. While FaZe have since shown good things, their form has been lacking, and the loss to Alliance does not inspire much confidence either.
Boasting a stronger win rate on Ancient at 62% to 50%, Anubis at 50% to 33%, and Dust2 at 33% to 25%, while having a respectable 83% win rate on FaZe’s best map, Cache, magic look poised to take one map.
magic +1.5 maps
Legacy took care of business in the first round of play, beating magic 2-1.
They had to dig deep to come out ahead, so while Legacy deserve praise for starting the tournament strong, they have not looked as polished as expected.
Alliance managed to produce a major upset in the first round of action, beating FaZe Clan 2-0.
It marked their first notable victory in weeks, and 24th win against a top-30-rated team in the last six months, at 24-19. But as impressive as that win is, it can also be viewed as a fluke.
Legacy are a more consistent and higher-rated team than FaZe Clan, who should present a much tougher challenge to Alliance.
While the Brazilians have suffered some bad losses in the past, their record over the last two months proves they consistently deliver against lower-rated teams.
Legacy -1.5 maps
9z Team and MIBR have met three times since January, and recently in July during XSE Pro League, when 9z won their second head-to-head match.
It, however, was a close affair, ending in 16-13 on Mirage and 13-10 on Nuke.
9z Team have since played nine games and won five, including one in the first round of FISSURE Playground #3 against 5star eSports.
MIBR, on the other side, have managed an 8-4 record over the same stretch, albeit most of those wins came against lower-rated opponents such as Fluxo W7M, ShindeN, BESTIA, and K27.
MIBR have been struggling with their form of late, but they have consistently played close games against 9z Team and are fresh off a strong performance against The MongolZ.
While weaker on paper, MIBR appear underrated at +256 and are a solid bet to take one map on Wednesday.
MIBR +1.5 maps
G2 Esports dropped down to the lower bracket of Group A following a 1-2 loss against Astralis, who outmuscled them with 13-9 on Ancient and 13-5 on Inferno.
G2 showed more fight on Mirage, where they edged out a 19-17 overtime win. However, with all but Guy “NertZ” Iluz averaging a sub-1.00 performance rating, G2 were never going to have a fighting chance against Astralis.
BIG had an even tougher start to the tournament, as they lost to BetBoom Team 8-13 and 9-13.
It marked BIG’s fifth defeat in their last six outings, indicating poor form. However, over that stretch, BIG have also forced G2 to three maps.
That match, however, was more one-sided than the result would suggest, as BIG managed to edge out a win on Ancient with 16-13, but were otherwise toothless on Cache and Inferno, losing the two maps 5-13 and 1-13.
They have shown no improvement since, while G2 have, making a 2-0 sweep for the favourites a real possibility.
G2 Esports -1.5 maps
GamerLegion lost their first game of the tournament against FURIA, despite a strong start.
Playing with their coach Denis “Grashog” Hristov instead of in-game leader Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski, GamerLegion showed a respectable fight.
The weakened GamerLegion won Cache 13-11 and came close to winning Mirage, but despite being 10-8 up, they came up short 10-13 and lost the decider, Dust2, with 3-13.
TYLOO were far less impressive in their opener, as they had to admit defeat to PARIVISION with 11-13 on Inferno and 4-13 on Ancient.
It marked TYLOO’s fifth loss in nine games played and third consecutive against a non-Asian team.
GamerLegion are not at full strength, but they played well even without their in-game leader, making them a decent pick to defeat the struggling TYLOO on Wednesday.
GamerLegion to win
PARIVISION handled TYLOO in the first round of FISSURE Playground #3 Group B, and are now set to face a much tougher challenge in FURIA.
FURIA looked a bit shaky in their first match of the tournament. They nearly lost against the weakened GamerLegion, needing a reverse sweep to come out ahead.
Some of it had to do with fatigue, as FURIA have not had much time to prepare for the Chinese event, and this could continue to haunt them on Wednesday.
PARIVISION and FURIA faced twice before this season, in January and February, with PARIVISION winning the first match 2-0, and the second ending in FURIA’s favour with 2-1.
FURIA have since improved significantly, but PARIVISION have retained their tag as dangerous outsiders with their strong firepower.
Considering FURIA did not look 100% on Tuesday, a smaller position on PARIVISION to keep it close is worth considering.
PARIVISION +1.5 maps
Astralis started the tournament strong, beating G2 Esports 2-1, with 13-9 on Ancient, 17-19 on Mirage, and 13-5 on Inferno.
It was one of many promising results Astralis have produced of late, as they are now 5-3 from the last eight.
Astralis have not been very consistent, though.
Since July, they have beaten G2 Esports and played a close game with MOUZ, but also lost against HOTU and HEROIC, and dropped a map against Ninjas in Pyjamas.
The ceiling is there, but Astralis cannot seem to be trusted to deliver day after day.
BetBoom Team fall in the same category of teams capable of punching up, but they can also lose to anyone.
This creates an interesting situation, a clash between two teams who can slip on any given day.
This, combined with the fact that BB Team are notably better on Mirage at 75% to 33%, Dust2 at 50% to 0%, and Ancient at 80% to 67%, and worse on Inferno at 0% to 60% and Cache at 0% to 75%, suggests this series will extend to the final map.
Over 2.5 maps
Mark Prezelj
Esports Betting Analyst
Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.
