The tournament was also the debut for many new rosters, including Virtus.Pro, Liquid, and AVULUS.
Post-TI season is always a breath of fresh air for multiple teams. Some players retire, others change teams after years playing together, and in very rare cases, they change roles. After their Top 6 placement at The International 2025, HEROIC decided to make some bold changes too, and it's paying off: they became the FISSURE Universe Episode 7 champions with a 3-1 score against MOUZ.
What's more impressive about this achievement is the team's run. To get to the grand finals, HEROIC had to beat Aurora Gaming, Team Liquid, and finally MOUZ. Despite being labeled as a Tier 2 tournament due to the prize money, these teams are filled with TI Champions and very successful players.
Game 1: MOUZ proved why they beat Liquid by 2-0
To summarize, this game: it was a nightmare for Adrián "Wisper" Dobles. His Puck was easily controlled by Yeik "MidOne" Nai Zheng's Monkey King, which made the mid-lane unplayable. MOUZ quickly read the map, and snowballed with their high mobility picks, like Clockwerk and Snapfire.
HEROIC's specialty is the draft flexibility. However, in this game, the Pudge wasn't the surprise they needed. None of their picks were able to make space for "Yuma" Langlet's Ursa, and in just over thirty minutes, the GG was called.
Game 2: It's an off-lane pick, but in the mid-lane
Enigma is one of those signature heroes that Wisper usually never gets to play. And, since it's an easily countered hero, you don't expect it to be picked during the first phase. However, these rules don't apply for HEROIC, and it costed MOUZ the second game of the FISSURE Universe Episode 7 Grand Final.
But it's not only about Enigma, HEROIC baited the pick until the very end, going for Queen of Pain carry instead of mid. The decision to go for Night Stalker was also on point, easily cancelling Puck's mobility and Pudge's control. The game didn't end as fast as it could, but it was a complete domination from the South Americans.
Game 3: A comeback to remember
MOUZ went into the third game with a clear idea: steal the Pudge again, but add sustain and crowd control. At first, Chen's Hand of God and Dawnbreaker's Solar Guardian worked like a charm. MOUZ heroes were unkillable, and HEROIC quickly fell 11K net worth behind on the third game of the FISSURE Universe Episode 7 Grand Final.
However, at the 36-minute mark, MOUZ got caught with the guard down. A beautiful play by Tusk and Axe dragged Remco "Crystallis" Arets into the high ground, and forced the team to take an awkward fight. Elvis "Scofield" Peña created this scenario twice, and led HEROIC to a second victory.
Game 4: Nobody knows who's playing what
HEROIC claimed their second international victory without any more mental games. This time, they send the Queen of Pain to the mid lane, and played with Cedric "Davai Lama" Deckmyn's Night Stalker one more time.
While the five players had an amazing performance, leading the game by 14K net worth and 28-7 kill score by thirty-two minutes, it was Wisper who got all the attention. His QoP performance was one of the best of the tournament, and it's quickly becoming his new favorite hero for this new role. Even Sébastien "Ceb" Debs made a video about his particular QoP style, comparing him to the two-time TI winner prodigy, Topias "Topson" Taavitsainen.
What changes did HEROIC make to achieve the FISSURE Universe Episode 7 championship?
After almost two years playing with João "4nalog" Santos as their mid laner, the team parted ways with him. Also, in a very controversial move, Wisper moved from the off lane to middle. This is his first professional role change since he started playing competitively in 2017.
Igor "kaffs" Estevão, the team's Head Coach, said this decision generated harsh comments against him. The community in South America is tight and very vocal, filling HEROIC's social media with hateful comments, especially after the reincorporation of Davai Lama to the team; a player infamous for his conflict with the team's former hard carry, David "Parker" Nicho Flores. Back then, the young carry publicly criticized his own teammate, and asked for him to be kicked.
After these comments, the organization kicked Parker, creating polarizing positions from the community towards Davai Lama. The Spanish-speaking fans used to believe this was going to be the team's debacle. Which HEROIC managed to prove wrong, not only finishing Top 6 at TI 2025, but also crowning champions at the FISSURE Universe Episode 7.
HEROIC's next tournament will be the BLAST Slam IV in Singapore, starting in Oct. 14. While winning the FISSURE Universe Episode 7 may be great for the team, this tournament is their true test. Teams like Tundra, Falcons, PARIVISION and Spirit will be playing. Thus, it's going to be the first Tier 1 tournament post-TI.
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