After eight long years, FURIA have finally won their first big Counter-Strike tournament as they took down favorites The MongolZ in the grand finals of FISSURE Playground 2 on September 21.
This was the first time that FURIA made it into the grand finals of a big event since the Esports Championship Series (ECS) Season 7 in June 2019. And, as Brazilian fans expected, The MongolZ put up a good fight.
The Mongolians have been on the rise since 2024, and were the favorites to win FISSURE Playground 2, as they beat the almighty Vitality in their road to win the Esports World Cup in August. However, FURIA were the better team in the decisive moments of the best-of-five finals.
KSCERATO finally won a big tournament. Credit: Michal Konkol | © BLAST
Picks and bans:
FURIA started the FISSURE Playground 2 finals on the right foot, as they claimed Mirage by 16-13. The two imports — Danil “molodoy” Golubenko and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis — came true for FURIA once again, as they combined for 51 frags on the map.
FURIA had the chance to lock in a 2-0 advantage on Nuke, but they let the game slip from their hands in the second half. The MongolZ clinched nine rounds on their T-side to narrowly win Inferno by 13-11.
And, FURIA almost dropped the ball on Nuke too, as they’ve allowed The MongolZ to force overtime despite having a 12-3 advantage. The Brazilians, though, didn’t crumble and had a perfect showing in overtime to close it down 16-12.
Despite Overpass being Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo’s signature map, The MongolZ had great reads on FURIA in the first half and won their CT-side by 8-4. The Brazilians had the chance to win the map, but fumbling a crucial round to just pistols broke their economy, and The MongolZ ran away with a 13-9 victory.
On Dust2, FURIA led the charges from the very beginning, but they really shone on their CT-side, winning it by 6-0 to close out the map by 13-5.
Credit: Michal Konkol | © BLAST
After a disappointing start to the 2025 season, FURIA went all-in and gave up on a full-Brazilian lineup. The organization signed molodoy, an unknown AWPer from Kazakhstan, and YEKINDAR, who was on Team Liquid’s bench after a terrible 2024.
Besides switching the comms from Portuguese to English, FalleN gave the AWP to accommodate molodoy and started to main the AK-47/M4A1-S.
The risky moves paid off quickly, as molodoy had a seamless transition from tier-three to tier-one, YEKINDAR recovered his prime form from Virtus.pro days, and FalleN handled the switch to rifler just fine.
FURIA went from a predictable team that was not making playoffs to finishing top eight at the BLAST.tv Austin Major, and now, to become a serious contender for all big events, and even the StarLadder Budapest Major at the end of the year.
Feature image credit: Michal Konkol | © BLAST
21+ and present in VA. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
