Before FISSURE Playground 2 kicked off, no one would have predicted that Team Yandex could go all the way. With the Dota 2 tournament coming to an end on November 2, Team Yandex has already given fans an incredible underdog story.

As the first S-Tier LAN event to finish up following the events of The International 2025, FISSURE Playground 2 has delivered some big upsets right from the start. Two favorites, PARIVISION and Aurora Gaming, failed to qualify for the playoffs, which Team Yandex sent Aurora Gaming packing. Team Yandex, however, didn’t just stop at a solid 3-1 score in the group stage.

Against The Odds, Team Yandex Flourishes At FPG2

At the start of FISSURE Playground 2, Team Yandex was ranked 15th globally and 14th among the teams attending the event. Odds of 35.00 Decimal (+3400 America) indicated an implied probability of just 2.85% for Team Yandex to lift the trophy.

Despite having one of the lowest rankings at FISSURE Playground 2 and low confidence from fans, other teams, and bookmakers, Team Yandex has soared to a guaranteed top-four placement. 

In the upper bracket quarterfinal, Team Yandex pulled off a stunning 2-1 reverse-sweep comeback against one of the clear favorites, Tundra Esports (ranked #2). Against all odds, Team Yandex went even further, beating MOUZ (ranked #8), in another stunning 2-1 reverse-sweep comeback.

With these two massive comebacks, Team Yandex has earned a spot in the upper bracket final of FISSURE Playground 2, thereby securing a place in the finals weekend. The cherry on the cake is that Team Yandex is playing with a temporary stand-in, Martin “Saksa” Sazdov, on loan from Tundra Esports.

Team Yandex roster:

The current Team Yandex squad retained two original members and added ex-Gaimin Gladiators players — Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov as the PO1 carry and Arman “Malady” Orazbayev as the PO5 support — on October 22, just one day before FISSURE Playground 2 kicked off. The team isn’t technically complete yet, as they are competing with stand-in Saksa.

• Alimzhan “watson” Islambekov
• Ilya “CHIRA_JUNIOR” Chirtsov
• Evgeniy “Noticed” Ignatenko
• Martin “Saksa” Sazdov
• Arman “Malady” Orazbayev

Considering the incredible underdog run in both the group stage and the playoffs, there’s a good chance that Team Yandex can go all the way.

The top-tier Dota 2 esports action continues at FISSURE Playground 2. You can watch all the thrilling playoff stage matches via the tournament organizer’s Kick and YouTube channels.