FISSURE Playground 1 Power Rankings: Competitive CS2 Returns

We have dearly missed you during the player break, Counter-Strike. Competitive CS2 is back from July 15th, with FISSURE Playground 1 set to get underway in Belgrade, Serbia. There’s a chunky $1,000,000 on the line here, so while the biggest CS2 teams like Vitality, Spirit, Falcons, and MOUZ have all elected to skip out, it’s an opportunity for a team on the verge of the elite bracket to secure a huge win and a big boost in the VRS. Our FISSURE Playground 1 Power Rankings are here as we look at the teams favored to claim the first trophy of the new CS2 season.

FURIA momentum makes for unlikely favorites

On paper, going international felt like a moment of madness for FURIA. But there’s a fine line between genius and madness, and FURIA may have walked the tightrope to perfection. The signings of molodoy and YEKINDAR look inspired, and FalleN is looking rejuvenated for the first time in years while playing with a rifle. An excellent run at the BLAST.tv Austin Major saw FURIA reach the Playoffs on the big stage, arguably playing their best CS in years.

With the best CS2 teams choosing to skip FISSURE Playground 1, it’s a great opportunity for FURIA to stake their claim as the “best of the rest.” While their long-term goals might be higher, it’s a much better spot than they’ve inhabited for a while now. Assuming their pre-player break form remains intact, I have FURIA down as my FISSURE Playground 1 favorites.

HEROIC debut after being poached (again)

HEROIC just can’t stop getting poached, can they? That’s the curse of being great at roster building, I suppose. With SunPayus and xfl0ud out, HEROIC have brought in nilo from the bench and young AWPer griks from the org-less team Astrum. It’s not quite a ground-up rebuild, but 2/5 new players is far from ideal.

At FISSURE Playground 1, we’ll get to see this refreshed HEROIC lineup in action for the first time. I’m very high on both nilo and gr1ks, and really think HEROIC have cooked with these CS2 roster changes. Although my FISSURE Playground 1 Power Rankings has HEROIC in 3rd, I certainly wouldn’t be shocked to see a run for the title in Belgrade.

Potential FISSURE Playground 1 underdogs

In normal circumstances, just about all of the teams playing in FISSURE Playground 1 would be considered underdogs. However, with the best teams, the order of things shifts a little. Still, there are underdogs to the underdogs – here are some of my picks to watch out for here.

First is GamerLegion. Their failure to qualify for the BLAST Austin Major was bitterly disappointing, resulting in sl3nd being replaced with French AWPer Kursy. They’re taking a big chance, one that could pay huge dividends if Kursy reaches his obvious potential. It always felt like GamerLegion just needed an extra 10% to really push on last season, so they’ll be a team to follow throughout FISSURE Playground 1.

Then, there’s TYLOO. Jee and his big personality during interviews are undoubtedly great for the scene, but it’s easy to forget that this is a team that has been rapidly improving inside the server, too. Wins against Complexity, FlyQuest, and M80 at the Major showed that Chinese Counter-Strike is on the up, with TYLOO right at the spearhead. An event missing the real heavy hitters is a great opportunity for TYLOO to really farm some VRS points and secure invites for the rest of the year.