MOUZ will compete with a stand-ins at 1W ESSENCE I

Austrian player Tobias Tobi Buchner will temporarily join MOUZ, replacing Alim Aik Bespaev at the upcoming online tournament 1W ESSENCE I. The information appeared in the team’s registration for the tournament, which was announced a few days ago. It has also been disclosed that Zheng MidOne Yeik Nai will once again miss the tournament — he will be replaced by Syed Sumail SumaiL Hassan.

On his X page, MidOne explained why he took a break:

“I know people have been wondering why I'm not playing. The reason it's just that I am mentally tired, and my soul is tired. A reset is needed. It's not the way I would like to do things, but yeah, I had to.”

The reason why Aik won’t be playing for MOUZ is unknown. It is worth noting that Tobi previously played for the club at the end of 2024, but left the roster after two months. His last team was the stack Strongboys, with whom he finished 7-8 at FISSURE Universe: Episode 8.

Unfortunately, his form has been declining recently, with many analysts and commentators often highlighting his individual performance as weak. Compared to other supports, Tobias falls behind regardless of the team he plays for.

At the end of 2025, he was on trial with Nigma Galaxy, but due to the poor results, the organization decided to part ways with him. After that, the team finished 2 at PREMIER SERIES and qualified for DreamLeague Season 29 with an updated roster.

SumaiL left Nigma Galaxy on March 1 and has not competed professionally for several months. His form is also in question. If SumaiL has not been training and has been on hiatus, he may be replaced by another stand-in, as was the case with Jonas SabeRLight- Vollek, who performed poorly for Team Falcons at DreamLeague Season 28.

Recall that Melchior Seleri Hillenkamp previously played as position five for MOUZ, but after his retiring at the end of March, the team has been playing with stand-ins while searching for a new player.

Yellow Submarine will be the team’s first opponent, with the match scheduled for April 3. Teams starting from the group stage will play four series to earn enough points and advance to the second stage, where they will compete for playoff spots.

1W ESSENCE I will take place from 02.05.2026 to 11.05.2026 in an online format. 14 teams will compete for a $100,000 prize pool. Teams finishing outside the top 6 will not receive any prize money.

Earlier, Cyberscore reported that Team Liquid and Team Falcons withdrew from the tournament, and the organizers announced replacements.