1win Essence Season 1 Overview
Breakdown of teams, playoff favorites, and upset picks for 1win Essence Season 1. Who will dominate—and who could surprise?
Hey Dota 2 fans, BASED Esports is launching 1win Essence Season 1, a fresh $100,000 Tier 2 online tournament firing up on European servers from May 2 to 11. Yeah, it's not a glitzy Tier 1 LAN, but with four of the absolute best teams (our usual suspects) handed direct invites to the playoffs, this thing punches way above its weight. Think of it as a Tier 1 disguised as a Tier 2 online tournament. Or even a Tier 1.5 tournament. Ten other squads battle through a hard two-phase group stage just to sniff the playoffs.
🔥 1win ESSENCE I is coming 🔥
— 1win Essence I (@1win_essence) April 25, 2026
BASED Esports x 1win present an online Dota 2 tournament, streaming exclusively on https://t.co/wPONvL6zrd.
📅 May 2 – 11
⚔️ 8 teams invited to Phase 1
🏆 6 top teams already in Playoffs
💰 $100,000 on the line
📕 Phase 1 & Phase 2 (May 2-6);
📗… pic.twitter.com/IR84TVLZic
Who are the playoffs invites?
Well, we have our usual suspects here, basically the top 4 of the teams' rankings. We already know that Aurora Gaming will perform well at this tournament since they took second place at the PGL Wallachia Season 8, and they are in shape, so to say.
UPDATE: Aurora Gaming withdrew from the tournament.
But what about the other 3 invites? Let's investigate things below.
Tundra Esports
I really want to see how they perform with Pure back on the squad. Because you can't tell me that the top 1 team in the world couldn't even break out of the group stage in Wallachia just because their main carry didn't get the visa. Now, I am pretty sure that they also have some sort of pressure on them because of the poor performance, so I expect them to bounce back.
Team Yandex
Basically, same situation as Tundra. BUT, I don't know yet who will be their offlaner (DM or Noticed). Just think about it: If Noticed is back and they win or take top 3 at the 1Win Essence Season 1, the community will say, "Well, I told you that Noticed is a better fit than DM, blah blah blah." The same way I did in the aftermath of Wallachia.
If they lose and don't even break in the top 5, it means that patch DESTROYED their playstyle. So, I can't wait to see what they will bring to the table. UPDATE: Team Yandex withdrew from the tournament :(
PARIVISION
I kind of have high hopes for them. They are really good and ruthless, and I think that the online format better suits their team since it is way harder to tilt and feel the pressure. I don't want to see any more Lone Druid soft support for 9Class and all the BS that they were trying to pick in Wallachia.
UPDATE: Noticed will stand-in for PARIVISION (looks like the rumors are true).
Looks like the rumors are TRUE. Noticed will play for PARIVISION in the 1win Essence 2026 @1win_essence pic.twitter.com/M6W474eZKo
— Greg Spencer (@Dota2ProTips) May 2, 2026
Who is in the Group Stage?
Here is where it gets interesting. We have some CIS Div. 2, so to say, and then we have some big names there, such as Nigma Galaxy, MOUZ (it's strange that they are in the group stage and not invited), South America Rejects, and Team Nemesis (without 23Savage, Mac, and Q). So, eeeeeverybody thinks that the tournament will basically end with the playoff invites (big dogs) taking the top 4 places. But I have a feeling that we will have some upsets from my brothers in the trenches, so let's take a closer look at what could happen.
Nigma Galaxy
Ladies and Gentlemen, do I need to remind you that right now they can actually get the last slot for DreamLeague Season 29? I understand, of course, that there are basically all the tier 2 teams (except South America Rejects). But still, Nigma didn't lose A SINGLE MAP in the qualifiers so far. This means that they are fresh; they played a LOT of Dota in the last 2 weeks, and this also means that they can knock out any of the big dogs out of the tournament if they play around.
MOUZ
Man, MOUZ is the ONLY team that beats the strongest team in the tournament and then loses to the weakest one. So, if someone makes a slight mistake and lets it snowball early, voila, you're out of the tournament. I want to see how they play with the full squad (meaning with MidOne back in the midlane). UPDATE: SumaiL will stand-in for MOUZ
The King is back! @1win_essence pic.twitter.com/N5PFJ47B9B
— Greg Spencer (@Dota2ProTips) April 30, 2026
South America Rejects
I am so impressed with how they played in PGL Wallachia Season 8 that I strongly believe that they will be at least in the top 6 of the tournament. Fun fact: They are also playing the same qualifiers as Nigma to get in the DreamLeague Season 29. (and they are in the lower bracket) There is no secret that these dudes will bring chaos and some biiig upsets in the tournament. The only thing I am a little bit upset about is that they ended up in a group where everyone plays fast.
So, these things tend to drain you, I mean, energy-wise; you can end up in the playoffs, and you just don't have the same energy to play anymore.
UPDATE: South America Rejects got a new sponsor from SEA (PlayTime)
In the end, the script says the invited teams take it all—but Dota rarely follows the script. Everyone expects the “big dogs” to farm this tournament. I don’t.
I'm predicting at least two big upsets from the group stage. Screenshot this if you want.
Either way, we’re about to get 10 days of best, high-level Dota—and I’m here for all of it.