If at the start of UKIC Season 6 Division 1, you told me that Belfast Storm would implode 17 days after making roster changes, then bring back two retired players, beat Owen “smooya” Butterfield and subsequently make the finals, I would have called you crazy. Somehow, not one word of this is a lie.
As mentioned, the core of 28AvgAge started off the season representing Belfast Storm, the same organisation since July of 2024. Heading into UKIC Season 6 Division 1, the team swapped out Luke “Nem” Mear after he announced his retirement and Tristan “Stop_it” Ellis with Seth “Xetherato” Jackson and Shane “Shane” McGlinchey.
Unfortunately, this only lasted 17 days after internal issues saw the squad combust, with Lucian “devi” Manolache and Shane going their separate ways alongside coach Freddie “GrimyRannarr” Pritchard [the author of this piece]. Newcomer Xetherato remained on the roster, Nem came back from retirement, and the final piece of the puzzle was veteran Harry “Nukeddog” Jenkins. Belfast Storm and the players decided to part ways as the team continued to play under the banner 28AvgAge – a self-explanatory homage to their advanced years – but in a supposedly more relaxed manner.
Therefore, coming into UKIC Season 6 Division 1, there weren’t many expectations on the core that had previously qualified for the finals, as simply put, they were just playing on vibes. UKCSGO did put 28AvgAge as a dark horse ahead of this season in our preview, even if this squad might not be spring chickens, they have an enormous amount of experience.
28AvgAge didn’t have a fruitful start to their season, as after five games, they were sitting at the lower end of the table with a 1-4 record. Most notably, they lost to Half Natty, which, despite having a strong squad on paper, picked up their only win against 28AvgAge.
The remainder of the season was where 28AvgAge made their push to playoffs as they won three games in their last four, the big result being a 13-5 result against NXT, formerly PERPLEXITY.
This saw 28AvgAge just barely scrape through to the playoffs as the lowest-seeded team. Unfortunately, it felt like they would meet their maker in the quarter finals as they would be playing against BOXEDGG, who where considered the main favourite to win the whole tournamnet.
BOXEDGG had a star-studded roster featuring Major quarter finalists Owen “smooya” Butterfield and Thomas “Thomas” Utting alongside Marco “MMS” Salomone and James “bevve” Slinn. The roster was then rounded out by a familiar name to UK CS, Robin “robiin” Sjögren. BOXEDGG had qualified from the open qualifier and looked like the most promising team to dethrone NXT.
In what is one of the biggest UK CS upsets in recent history, 28AvgAge not only beat BOXEDGG but did it in a comfortable 2-0 fashion. An unbelievable result and a great birthday present for Nukeddog.
Expectations had been completely surpassed, and now this core was only one step away from making their second UKIC Finals. The hurdle was Glitchtech, which had gone through their own troubles this season. Glitchtech’s main roster didn’t ordinarily have three UK players, as Ehren ‘Abyss‘ Osborne flies the UK flag solo. Therefore, Glitchtech had to enlist the help of Fizan ‘Fizzy‘ Anjum and Zaid ‘Vonex‘ Almayali to make sure they meet the requirements.
Nem is back from his short retirement and ready for revenge
Already playing with stand-ins is hard enough, but the main Glitchtech roster also went through turmoil as players went their separate ways mid-season. Regardless, Glitchtech ruffled some feathers during the regular season as they placed above BOXEDGG and qualified straight through to the semi finals.
Even though they started well this season, Glitchtech were no match for 28AvgAge as they met the same fate as BOXEDGG and fell to the wayside 2-0.
For a team that was only mixing, had multiple players who were retired, and were literally drinking wine during the playoff games, 28AvgAge left everyone shocked.
This core, as touched on before, has made a UKIC Division 1 finals in Season 4. Playing under the banner of Belfast Storm, they ran Verdant to the very limit and unfortunately lost the third map in a triple overtime. Even though they couldn’t get over the finishing line last December, they will be looking for revenge as 28AvgAge will be battling against the same core.
Representing NXT, this core has been the undeniable best team in the UK for over 12 months, and haven’t lost a LAN final since 2023. It is going to be a tall task for 28AvgAge, but they have already shown they flourish as an underdog, and will have the opportunity to not only show that on the big stage but take revenge.
The grand finals will take place at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere in London at 3 pm BST on Tuesday, 17th.
Your grand-finallists 2: #28AvgAge
These underdogs have made LAN Finals on Wine & Vibes 😎 Can they go one step further and stop @GONXTGG claiming their 10th domestic title?
🔹 @Finuii
🔹 @NemCSGO
🔹 @dexieCS
🔹 @Nukeddog
🔹 @the_Xeth pic.twitter.com/qpaoyGtg2F— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) June 16, 2025
