FISSURE Universe Ep.4 Group Stage: The Usual Suspects Land in the Playoffs

The modified Swiss group stage at FISSURE Universe Episode 4 just concluded. Although the results are more or less what we already expected from the best teams in the world, there is one squad that snuck into the playoffs that has me excited about what they might achieve here.

Yes, it’s true that this isn’t really a premier Dota 2 LAN tournament, considering that it’s being played online and that the prize pool is exactly half of what other events like FISSURE Playground Belgrade or PGL Wallachia have offered this season. But still, cash is cash and a tournament win is a tournament win.

So anyway, here are the teams that will play for the $500,000 prize pool at FISSURE Universe Episode 4, in the order in which they finished the group stage:

European Domination Continues

So as per usual, all of the squads that made it into the top eight, save one, are from European territories. Team Spirit, PARIVISION, and BetBoom Team are from Eastern Europe, and it should come as no surprise that they’re here given how successful the region has been as of late. Team Spirit most recently won the DreamLeague Season 25 grand finals, while PARIVISION grabbed the ESL One Bangkok trophy. BetBoom has been down on their luck recently in terms of pure results, though, so they’ll be hungry to get themselves back on top here.

No waiting—we're diving straight into the FISSURE Universe Ep. 4 Playoffs! 🔥

So many derbies, so many regional El Clásicos—it's about to go down! 😈 pic.twitter.com/X5MgDQA6cY

— FISSURE_ENG (@fissure_eng) March 26, 2025

Then you’ve got Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, Gaimin Gladiators, and Team Falcons from Western Europe. There isn’t much else to say about WEU’s strength as a region over the last several years of professional Dota 2, so seeing these teams in particular break into the playoffs is absolutely nothing new. Team Liquid is the one club here that most recently won a LAN, having bagged first place at PGL Wallachia Season 3.

The others are a hundred percent capable of dispatching anyone that they come across, with the sole exception of Gaimin Gladiators. Once the most dominant team on the face of the planet, they’ve since fallen on hard times — and don’t look nearly as competitive as they used to be. They’ll have to pull something special out of their hats if they want to beat the likes of Liquid or Tundra.

(Tide)bound for the Grand Finals?

Now, there’s one team that sticks out like a sore thumb here, so let’s address the proverbial elephant in the room: Team Tidebound. As an unsponsored Chinese squad, I didn’t really expect them to make it this far at FISSURE Universe Episode 4.

They do have talent and experience in spades, given that this team has former International champions Zhang “Faith_bian” Ruida (now going by the handle “Bach”) and Zhang “y`” Yiping on their roster. International second placer Cheng “NothingToSay” Jin Xiang is also a member of this squad, which makes it even clearer that they do have the pedigree to compete.

They also placed within the top eight at PGL Wallachia Season 3, which was actually kind of impressive given their relative newness as a squad. If they can find their footing in the playoffs, they just might have a chance to upset the natural order of things. And knowing that China as a region is slowly losing its place in Dota 2 — what with all the usual organizations stepping away from the game altogether — they could really use a big win here.

Team Tidebound doesn’t even have to win the entire tournament. If they can even eke out a podium finish here, their confidence could skyrocket and lead to greater things this season. But of course, they’ll have to focus on FISSURE Universe first and see how far they can get against some of the juggernauts of the scene.

The FISSURE Universe Episode 4 playoffs begin March 27th, starting with Team Tidebound vs. PARIVISION in the upper bracket. Watch it all unfold on FISSURE’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.