CS2 FISSURE Playground #1 preview – CS2 season resumes in Belgrade

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FISSURE Playground #1 is scheduled to kick off on July 15 as the first Tier-1 Counter-Strike 2 event after the summer break, welcoming 16 teams who will vie for the lion’s share of the US$450,000 prize pool.

FISSURE Playground #1 marks the start of a new CS2 season, ending the short summer break, which started after the conclusion of BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

Hosted at the Sava Center in Belgrade, Serbia, it is the first event of the new FISSURE Playground series, which will feature 13 standalone events, scheduled from July 2025 to October 2028.

The 16 participating teams – all of whom received direct invites based on their Valve Regional Standings (VRS) as of May – have been seeded into four double-elimination groups of four, where all games are best-of-three series.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination bracket playoffs, where the quarterfinals and semifinals will be played as a Bo3, whereas the grand final will be a Bo5.

While the list of FISSURE Playground #1 teams does not include some of the world’s highest-ranked teams, such as Team Vitality, Team Spirit, The MongolZ, FaZe Clan, Team Falcons, and MOUZ, many of the top-20 rated teams on VRS accepted invites.

That includes two Brazilian juggernauts, FURIA and paiN Gaming, who are priced as the leading candidates to claim the FISSURE Playground #1 trophy on the best betting sites.

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FISSURE Playground #1 Favourites

FURIA travel to Serbia as the team to beat, priced at +200 on the outright betting markets.

As the No.9 team on the global rankings and VRS, FURIA have recently concluded a promising run at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025.

There, the Brazilians secured their second-best S-Tier tournament placement by reaching the quarterfinals, proving that their move to an international roster with Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis and Danil “molodoy” Golubenko was the right call.

FURIA’s regional rivals paiN Gaming (+350) are on the second line of betting to hoist the FISSURE Playground #1 and add to their Cinderella Run at the BLAST.tv Austin Major, where they reached the final four.

While the two teams are expected to win their groups – A and B, respectively – the winner of Group C is not as clear.

Featuring Astralis and Virtus.pro, who are both +500 underdogs on the FISSURE Playground #1 outright markets, Group C is anything but decided, promising a fierce battle for the No.1 seed.

Both squads have recently made roster news. While Astralis permanently added in-game leader Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, Virtus.pro announced the addition of Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy as a replacement for Timur “FL4MUS” Maryev.

Like Group C, Group D promises a close battle for the top spot, with four tournament dark horses: HEROIC (+700), Complexity (+700), BIG (+1000), and BetBoom Team (+1700), who recently added a new sniper, Artem “ArtFr0st” Kharitonov, on a loan.

While FURIA and paiN Gaming lead the outright markets, six of the 16 teams are priced at single digits, suggesting that the race for the FISSURE Playground #1 crown will be anything but straightforward for any of the attending squads.

FISSURE Playground #1 Outright Odds

• FURIA – +200
• paiN Gaming – +350
• Astralis – +500
• Virtus.pro – +500
• HEROIC – +700
• Complexity – +700
• BIG – +1000
• 3DMAX – +1000
• GamerLegion – +1200
• MIBR – +1200
• BetBoom Team – +1700
• SAW – +2000
• TYLOO – +3000
• Lynn Vision – +3000
• Wildcard – +5000
• Rare Atom – +10000

FISSURE Playground #1 Groups

• Group A: FURIA, GamerLegion, SAW & Wildcard
• Group B: 3DMAX, paiN Gaming, Rare Atom & Lynn Vision Gaming
• Group C: Virtus.pro, Astralis, MIBR & TYLOO
• Group D: Complexity, HEROIC, BIG & BetBoom Team

FISSURE Playground #1 Betting Picks

FURIA and paiN Gaming headline the FISSURE Playground #1 betting market after their strong showings at BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025; however, their pre-summer break form will not necessarily translate to the Serbian tournament.

Although the addition of YEKINDAR and molodoy made FURIA far more potent in bigger events, they have been anything but consistent, making them a less appealing pick at the offered numbers.

Outside the favourites, Virtus.pro are one of the more exciting teams to follow. They have yet to break the top six in big events this season; however, much of it has been due to poor synergy, which the arrival of Perfecto, who reunites with Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Kaisar “ICY” Faiznurov, is likely going to fix.

Perfecto has not appeared in the top-tier CS2 scene since Intel Extreme Masters Chengdu 2024 with Cloud9, so it is fair to question how he will do in Belgrade. However, VP’s ceiling has always been very high, and if the roster can gel quickly, the Russian squad can spring a surprise.

Prediction: Virtus.pro to win – +500 at BetOnline