Tundra Esports, MOUZ unblemished to start ESL One Birmingham

Tundra Esports and MOUZ went undefeated in Group A on Sunday as ESL One Birmingham 2026 began play with 16 matches in the United Kingdom.

The $1 million tournament, featuring 16 teams in a Dota 2 competition, will award $750,000 in prize money and $250,000 in club rewards as well as 35,460 EPT points spread among all participants.

The group stage runs from Sunday through Wednesday, with two single round-robin groups of eight teams each. All series consist of two games.

The top two teams from each group advance to the upper bracket of the playoffs. The third- and fourth-place teams are delegated to the lower-bracket playoffs, and the remaining teams are eliminated.

The playoffs are March 26-29 with a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three except for the grand final, which is best-of-five.

Tundra Esports opened with a 2-0 sweep of PARIVISION, winning in 54 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red. Tundra also downed BetBoom Team in 30 minutes on green and 40 minutes on red.

MOUZ swept GamerLegion in 63 minutes on red and 46 minutes on green. MOUZ also swept REKONIX in 34 minutes on green and 29 minutes on red.

Team Yandex recorded a win and a tie on Sunday, while the remainder of Group A had a loss and a tie: BetBoom Team, GamerLegion, PARIVISION, REKONIX and Yakult Brothers.

In Group B, Aurora Gaming and Team Spirit are atop the standings with a win and a tie.

Aurora handled Team Falcons in 50 minutes and 26 minutes, both on green. Team Spirit and Aurora Gaming split their match, with the latter winning in 35 minutes on red and the former wining in 36 minutes on red.

Team Spirit also swept paIN Gaming with victories in 57 minutes on red and 30 minutes on green.

The following teams lost both matches: Nigma Galaxy, OG, Virtus.pro and Xtreme Gaming. Team Falcons and paIN Gaming each lost and tied after the first day.

Each group has eight matches scheduled for Monday.

Prize pool (prize money, club reward)

1. $250,000, $40,000

2. $100,000, $30,000

3. $80,000, $25,000

4. $60,000, $20,000

5-6. $40,000, $15,000

7-8. $27,500, $12,500

8-10. $20,000, $10,000

11-12. $17,500, $10,000

13-14. $15,000, $10,000

15-16. $10,000, $10,000

--Field Level Media