FISSURE Playground 3 CS2: Teams, Format and Schedule

FISSURE Playground 3 CS2 Preview: Teams, Format and Favorites

None of the four BLAST Open Porto semifinalists will compete at the next major CS2 tournament. FISSURE Playground 3 begins in Suzhou, China, on September 8, with the absence of Spirit, MOUZ, Vitality and Falcons leaving the title race wide open.

Sixteen teams will compete across six days. The organizer’s latest announcement lists a total fund of $1.25 million, while $1 million is allocated across player prize money and club shares.

FISSURE Playground 3 Teams

The participants have been divided into two groups of eight:

5star Esports qualified through the Asian qualifier. Another change was confirmed shortly before the event: FUT withdrew due to visa issues and were replaced by magic.

Tournament Format

The group stage will run from September 8 to 10. Both groups use a double-elimination format, with every series played as a best-of-three.

Three teams from each group will advance. The group winners receive direct spots in the semifinals, while the second and third-placed teams enter the quarterfinals.

The playoffs take place from September 11 to 13. The quarterfinals and semifinals are BO3, while the champion will be decided in a BO5 grand final.

This makes winning the group especially valuable. It removes one elimination match from the schedule and provides a much shorter path to the final.

Who Are the Main Favorites?

FURIA enter the event as the clearest favorite. The Brazilians won FISSURE Playground 2 and recently reached the BLAST Open Porto quarterfinals, where they took the opening map against Vitality.

Without Spirit, MOUZ, Vitality or Falcons in Suzhou, FURIA have a realistic opportunity to defend their title.

G2 are another major contender. They also reached the quarterfinals in Porto but lost 0:2 to Falcons. Their opening match against Astralis will provide an immediate test of whether the new lineup can produce a more stable tournament run.

Legacy, FaZe and The MongolZ form the next group of challengers. The Mongolian team will compete with cobrazera replacing Techno, adding uncertainty to their potential level in Suzhou.

BetBoom and PARIVISION should also be considered serious playoff candidates. The double-elimination format gives both teams room to recover from an early defeat, but winning the opening series would place them in a much stronger position to challenge for a direct semifinal spot.

FISSURE Playground 3 Day 1 Schedule

The opening matches on September 8 will be played simultaneously across two streams. All times below are in UTC:

03:00 | Legacy vs magic
03:00 | 9z vs 5star Esports
06:00 | FaZe vs Alliance
06:00 | The MongolZ vs MIBR
09:00 | PARIVISION vs TYLOO
09:00 | BetBoom vs BIG
12:00 | G2 vs Astralis
12:00 | FURIA vs GamerLegion

Every opening match will be played as a BO3.

FISSURE Playground 3 may be missing the strongest teams from BLAST Open Porto, but that creates its main storyline. FURIA can defend their trophy, G2 have an immediate chance to recover, and several lower-ranked teams enter a major event without an almost untouchable favorite standing in their way.

Track team form and compare AI-powered match probabilities throughout FISSURE Playground 3 with Winio.