Dota 2 FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1: Teams, format, prize pool, and where to watch

Image: FISSURE

FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 will be the first Dota 2 LAN tournament of 2025.

After an action-packed couple of weeks full of qualifiers, the 2025 Dota 2 season is about to begin in earnest with the first LAN tournament of the year: FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1.

FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 will be hosted in Belgrade, Serbia from January 24 to February 2, and will feature 16 of the best Dota 2 teams in the world fighting for their cut of a $1 million prize pool. Read on for everything you need to know about FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1:

Teams

Nine of the 16 teams participating in FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 received direct invites to the tournament, while the remaining seven spots were filled through qualifiers for Western Europe, Eastern Europe, China, Southeast Asia, and the Americas. Here's the full list of teams participating in FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1:

BetBoom Team (direct invite)
PARIVISION (direct invite)
Team Falcons (direct invite)
Team Liquid (direct invite)
Team Spirit (direct invite)
Xtreme Gaming (direct invite)
Gaimin Gladiators (direct invite)
Tundra Esports (direct invite)
Aurora Gaming (direct invite)
Shopify Rebellion (direct invite)
HEROIC (direct invite)
AVULUS (Western European qualifier)
Chimera Esports (Eastern European qualifier)
Yakult's Brothers (Chinese qualifier)
Talon Esports (Southeast Asian qualifier)
Wildcard Gaming (Americas qualifier)

Format

FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 is split into two distinct phases: the Group Stage, from January 24 to 27, and the Playoffs, from January 28 to February 2.

The Group Stage will follow a modified Swiss System format, where 16 teams will be fighting across five rounds of matches to earn qualification for the Playoffs. The first eight teams to score three match victories will advance to the Playoffs, while the remaining eight will be eliminated early. All advancement and elimination matches will be a best-of-three series, while the others will be a best-of-one. No two teams can be matched together more than once in the Group Stage.

The Playoffs will follow a double-elimination bracket format, with all matches being a best-of-three except for the grand finals, which will be a full best-of-five series.

Prize pool

FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 will have a prize pool of $1 million, with all teams guaranteed at least $5,000 in winnings while the champions walk away with the grand prize of $400,000. Here's the full prize pool breakdown for FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1:

1st: $400,000
2nd: $170,000
3rd: $100,000
4th: $75,000
5th-6th: $50,000
7th-8th: $35,000
9th-11th: $15,000
12th-14th: $10,000
15th-16th: $5,000

Where to watch

FISSURE PLAYGROUND #1 will be hosted in the Sava Centar in Belgrade, Serbia and broadcasted live online in English through the official FISSURE Dota 2 Twitch and YouTube channels. A secondary Twitch channel will also be active during the Group Stage in order to accommodate the high number of matches in that stage.

There will also be a Russian language stream on Twitch and YouTube.