Aurora Gaming rallied for a 2-1 win over GamerLegion in Group B as the 1win Essence III event got underway on Thursday.
In other opening-day action, PARIVISION swept DO KONCA 2-0 in Group A, and Team Spirit downed 1w Team 2-0 in Group D.
The 12-team, $200,000 Dota 2 event is beginning with a round-robin group stage. The top two teams in each of the four groups advance to the double-elimination playoffs. All matches in the tournament are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Nov. 18.
The championship side will receive $100,000, and the runner-up will earn $50,000.
On Thursday, GamerLegion opened with a 30-minute win on Dire before Aurora Gaming bounced back for a 46-minute victory on Dire and a 36-minute win on Radiant.
Slovakia’s Oliver “skiter” Lepko recorded a 28-8-19 kill-death-assist ratio for Aurora Gaming. The United States’ Francis “RCY” Fundemera logged a 26-9-28 K-D-A ratio for GamerLegion.
PARIVISION rolled past DO KONCA in 44 minutes on Dire and 30 minutes on Radiant behind an 18-0-13 K-D-A ratio from Russia’s Alan “Satanic” Gallyamov. Another Russian, Gleb “kiyotaka” Zyryanov, posted a 9-12-8 K-D-A ratio for DO KONCA.
Team Spirit toppled 1w Team in 25 minutes on Radiant and 56 minutes on Dire. Ukraine’s Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk paced Team Spirit with a 23-6-21 K-D-A ratio. The United Kingdom’s Matthew “Ari” Walker wound up at 12-12-27 for 1w Team.
The remaining group-stage schedule:
Friday
–Group A: PARIVISION vs. Yellow Submarine
–Group B: GamerLegion vs. CyberHero
–Group C: LGD Gaming vs. Team Liquid
–Group D: Team Spirit vs. Froglings
Saturday
–Group A: DO KONCA vs. Yellow Submarine
–Group B: Aurora Gaming vs. CyberHero
–Group C: LGD Gaming vs. LEGION
–Group C: Team Liquid vs. LEGION
–Group D: 1w Team vs. Froglings
1win Essence III group standings
Group A
1. PARIVISION 1-0
2. Yellow Submarine 0-0
3. DO KONCA 0-1
Group B
1. Aurora Gaming 1-0
2. CyberHero 0-0
3. GamerLegion 0-1
Group C
T1. LGD Gaming 0-0
T1. Team Liquid 0-0
T1. LEGION 0-0
Group D
1. Team Spirit 1-0
2. Froglings 0-0
3. 1w Team 0-1
1win Essence III prize pool
1. $100,000
2. $50,000
3. $22,500
4. $12,500
5-6. $5,000
7-8. $2,500
9-12. No money
–Field Level Media
