magic Replace FUT at FISSURE Playground 3 After Visa Issues

magic will replace FUT at FISSURE Playground 3 after visa issues forced the Turkish club to withdraw from the $1 million Counter-Strike 2 event in Suzhou, China. FISSURE announced the change on 29 August and said the substitution will require new groups and reorganised matches.

ROSTER UPDATE FOR FISSURE PLAYGROUND 3 CS

Due to visa issues, FUT will not be able to participate in the tournament. Its place will be taken by Magic.

As a result of the roster changes, new groups will be formed and matches will be reorganized. Stay tuned for further updates. pic.twitter.com/v9RimsK1d1

— FISSURE_ENG (@fissure_eng) August 29, 2026

The revised groups and opening matchups had not been announced. The tournament remains scheduled for 8 to 13 September with 16 teams competing in Suzhou.

FUT’s Withdrawal Forces a New Group Draw

FUT had already been included in the original FISSURE Playground 3 group draw and were scheduled to begin their tournament against The MongolZ. That matchup will no longer take place under the original schedule, with FISSURE preparing a fresh group configuration following magic’s addition.

Neither FISSURE nor FUT disclosed which players or staff members were affected by the visa problems. FUT separately acknowledged that visa issues prevented the team from attending the event and wished magic luck after the replacement was announced.

Because the withdrawal happened after the initial draw had already been completed, replacing FUT requires more than simply inserting magic into the same opening fixture. FISSURE has specifically said both the groups and matches will be reorganised.

magic Take the Vacant FISSURE Playground 3 Spot

magic enter the event following a strong run of LAN appearances during 2026. The European side sat 19th in HLTV’s ranking when the replacement was announced and will make its third LAN appearance of the year in Suzhou.

The five-player lineup reported around the announcement consists of Svyatoslav “MaSvAl” Masko, Vitaliy “sFade8” Marushka, Andrey “AW” Anisimov, Abdurakhim “mo0N” Issa and Nikita “tenzy” Kochenyuk. Danila “eksiver” Yurkov also appears in HLTV’s six-name event listing, although that listing did not specify his role.

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magic Have Already Made Two Major LAN Runs in 2026

The replacement is not arriving without recent international experience. magic finished fourth at PGL Astana earlier in the year before reaching the round of 16 at the Esports World Cup.

Their EWC run included victories over 3DMAX and 9z before elimination in the knockout stage. Those results gave magic another opportunity against high-level opposition immediately before the FISSURE invitation opened up.

FUT Eliminated magic From the Esports World Cup

The unusual part of the substitution is how recently the two teams met. FUT and magic faced each other in the Esports World Cup round of 16 less than two weeks before the FISSURE change, with FUT recovering from a map down to win the series 2-1.

magic took Ancient 13-9 to move ahead, but FUT answered with a 13-7 win on Anubis before completing the comeback 13-8 on Mirage. That defeat ended magic’s EWC campaign in the 9th-16th place range.

FUT then continued through the bracket all the way to the grand final, finishing as Esports World Cup runners-up after a 3-1 defeat to Spirit. The visa withdrawal therefore removes one of the event’s most recently successful teams and hands its place to a side FUT themselves eliminated during that run.

FISSURE Playground 3 Begins on 8 September

FISSURE Playground 3 will run from 8 to 13 September in Suzhou, China, with 16 teams competing for a $1 million prize pool. The tournament is scheduled to use two double-elimination groups before six teams advance to the single-elimination playoffs.

The event is set to be held at the SND Cultural & Sports Centre. As of 30 August, FISSURE had not published the revised groups or opening matchups, making the redraw the next tournament update ahead of play beginning on 8 September.