1win and Team Liquid eliminated as Froglings hold on at 1win Essence III
The group stage of 1win Essence III has concluded, with eight teams advancing to the playoffs of the $200,000 Dota 2 tournament. While PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming and LGD Gaming topped their respective groups, the biggest talking points were the early eliminations of defending champions Team Liquid and tournament hosts 1win Team.
1Win Essence III Groups
PARIVISION had the cleanest run through Group A, sweeping both DO KONCA and Yellow Submarine without dropping a single game. DO KONCA secured the second playoff spot after defeating Yellow Submarine 2-1.
Aurora Gaming topped Group B with victories over GamerLegion and CyberHero, while GamerLegion recovered from their opening defeat to eliminate CyberHero and advance.
LGD Gaming emerged victorious in Group C, defeating both Team Liquid and LEGION. Liquid, meanwhile, suffered one of the tournament's biggest disappointments, falling 2-1 to both opponents and exiting without a series victory. LEGION claimed the remaining playoff berth.
Group D produced the most unusual outcome. Froglings stunned Team Spirit with a 2-0 victory before falling 2-0 to 1win. With all three teams finishing 1-1 in series, map records determined the standings. Froglings topped the group at 3-2, Spirit advanced at 2-2, and 1win were eliminated at 2-3 despite winning their final match.
For 1win Team, the result continues a difficult stretch since their seventh-eighth-place finish at The International 2026. Subsequent finishes of seventh-eighth at PGL Wallachia, fifth-sixth at BLAST Slam and ninth-tenth at PARI Universe have done little to reverse their fortunes. Their latest group-stage exit, this time at an event bearing their own organization's name, adds another disappointment to the list.
The team competed with Vladislav "Stariy_bog" Levenets standing in for Bozhidar "bzm" Bogdanov, an important consideration when assessing their performance. Nevertheless, the broader pattern of underwhelming results remains difficult to ignore.
Froglings, meanwhile, are beginning to make an impression. Having progressed through the Play-in stage, their convincing victory over Team Spirit, fresh off their PARI Universe championship, suggests they could be a dangerous opponent in the playoffs.
What comes next at 1Win Essence III?
The eight remaining teams now move into the double-elimination playoffs, running from November 15 to 18. All matches are best-of-three, except for the best-of-five grand final.
PARIVISION and Aurora enter with unbeaten series records, while LGD have also impressed. However, attention will be on Froglings to see whether their upset over Spirit was a one-off or the beginning of a deeper tournament run. Spirit will be looking to recover from that defeat, while the remaining contenders battle for the $100,000 first-place prize.
