Aurora became A-tier tournament champions for the first time in the tag's history

The first tournament of 2026, FISSURE Universe: Episode 8, has concluded. In the grand final Aurora defeated Team Spirit 3-2, earning $125,000. This trophy became the first major title for the organization. It is also noteworthy that the team’s carry, Nightfall, last won a tournament 1,877 days ago, that is, almost 6 years ago.

The match day began with Team Spirit having little trouble dealing with Team Yandex in the lower-bracket final. The first game ended in 24 minutes, the Dragons demonstrated a skill diff and allowed Team Yandex to secure only a couple of kills. On the second map Team Spirit picked heroes that are unusual for them, so although the game was won, it dragged on: Collapse played Batrider with auras, while Yatoro chose Windranger instead of a hard carry. By the way, it is interesting that since the start of this tournament the drafting crown has been in Yatoro’s hands, even though it was usually Pantomem who drafted for Team Spirit. 

The grand final treated us to all five maps. On one side there was Aurora, who went through the upper bracket from the very first stage without losing a single series, and on the other Team Spirit, who are on the decline but still a fairly stable and well-coordinated team. All five players of Aurora showed an incredible performance. Nightfall played all five grand-final maps on different heroes; his Windranger in particular stood out at the tournament, with Egor having an 83% win rate on this hero:

lorenof, who stood in for Mikoto at the tournament, also demonstrated good preparation and a wide hero pool. He became the best player of the tournament in terms of kills with a KDA of 9.78. Ws particularly distinguished himself on his signature Timbersaw and on the tournament’s new-hero debut, Largo. Largely thanks to him, the frog-bard made it into the top 3 most-picked and top 5 most-banned heroes at FISSURE Universe: Episode 8, as he was the first who really learned how to utilize the new hero in competitive play.

As for Mira, many highlighted his effectiveness on Dark Willow in the first map, after which Team Spirit started either picking or banning this hero themselves. And finally, Kaori, who joined the team not long ago, also proved that he knows how to press his buttons perfectly. The last map of the series was indicative: on Phoenix he finished the game with a 4/1/21 scoreline, participating in 83% of the kills.

Thus, Team Spirit lost to Aurora and, for the third time in a row since Pantomem joined the team, finished 2nd at a tournament. The team is clearly struggling to close out grand finals, constantly ending up a map or two away from the championship.

FISSURE Universe: Episode 8 took place online from January 29 to February 1. Eight lineups fought for a prize pool of $250,000.