With the UKIC Season 5 Division 1 Final right around the corner, it is easy to forget about the lower leagues of UKIC. This season of Division 2, Half Natty made history by not only being the first collegiate team to qualify for Division 1 but winning the competition.
Half Natty started out in Season 0 of UKIC Varsity with a team comprised of players from Lancaster University. Headlined by Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen, who was on The Prodigies and competing in ESL Challenger League Season 46 at the time, Half Natty finished fourth in the regular season.
In the playoffs, they unfortunately fell short as they lost in the first Upper Bracket to Archers and then the second round of the Lower Bracket to Surrey Stags.
In the next season of UKIC with a similar roster playing in the top UKIC Collegiate Division – Varsity – they finished second in the regular season, only bested by Surrey Stags – the very team that knocked them out of playoffs the previous season.
This time around, though, Half Natty swept through the competition, winning every playoff game 2-0, defeating Podbots in the Grand Finals. This setup from Half Natty can be drawn to the addition of Oliver “leaf” Jackson, who had won multiple UK events under banners like Coalesce.
Congratulations to the season 1 Varsity champions Half Natty Head Tappers 🥳
🏆 @csgoleaff
🏆 @Siruostak
🏆 LiganFs
🏆 Ps1duk
🏆 qtmai
🏆 @OfficialLUGESYour trophy is in the post 📨 pic.twitter.com/l1cP3ThYm3
— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) May 3, 2024
Heading into UKIC Season 2, there was no collegiate part of the league due to a lack of signups, so we didn’t see Half Natty compete in this period.
They came back with a vengeance in UKIC Season 3 as they decided to stay with a similar roster and go play in Open divisions. Qualifying for UKIC Division 3 Half Natty tore up the group stage, only losing one game in the regular season to FullTimeGamers in overtime.
And similar to their previous playoff run, Half Natty decimated everyone in front of them to win UKIC Season 3 Division 3 over Bluejays Royal. Gizmy was named the MVP of the season with an outrageous 1.47 rating across the season.
This victory meant that Half Natty were progressing through the UKIC divisions as they qualified for Season 4 of Division 2.
The Half Natty Hero takes the Division 3 @LogitechGUK MVP prize for season 3 💪
Congratulations @Gizmyyy 👏 pic.twitter.com/g1V4HUS9nm
— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) September 25, 2024
Hoping to continue their streak of winning whatever division they were in, Half Natty understandably set their sights on winning Division 2 and qualifying for Division 1 for Season 5.
This theme seemed like it was going to continue as they placed second in the regular season, only losing to No Pauses on the final day due to a forfeit.
Regardless of their strong regular season, Half Natty stumbled against Flowstate and Viperio Academy in playoffs, just losing out on promotion to Division 1.
Despite not qualifying for Division 1, Gizmy had another monstrous performance, dropping a 1.45 rating across the season, only bested by Fred “FincHY” Finch, who claimed the MVP for Division 2 with a 1.49 rating.
PROMOTION SECURED ✅
Viperio are back in e Division One 💪 pic.twitter.com/PXAjtOpz9K
— Viperio (@viperioesports) November 26, 2024
It is good to note that during all of this, Gizmy had represented Monte at an RMR and multiple top tier events in 2024. He even made playoffs at ESL Pro League Season 19. Alongside this, he had also been succeeding with Monte Gen at the latter end of 2024.
With UKIC Season 5 on the horizon, Half Natty was not only searching for promotion this season, but Gizmy received the call-up to join Monte’s main team once again as the IGL. One might think this would mean Gizmy wouldn’t have enough time for UKIC Division 2, but he kept on playing and they kept on winning.
Still playing alongside leaf, Half Natty finished the regular season in second like the previous season, only being beaten by Annex Esports.
What is different from Season 4 is that Half Natty didn’t roll over during the playoffs, but this time set out on the warpath to not only qualify for UKIC Season 6 Division 1 but win the whole event.
Meeting Recognised Talent in the Semi Finals they did lose map one, but then went on to win the series, ending map three 13-1. Half Natty now secured promotion to Division 1, making history in the process as the first collegiate team to reach the top flight of UKCS.
But not wanting to stop there, with the Annex roster – unbeaten to that point – facing them in the Grand Finals, Gizmy and co wanted revenge for their loss in the regular season. And revenge they got, stomping past Annex Esports 2-0, they secured themselves victory in UKIC Season 5 Division 2, and the £750 top prize.
The pals prevail 🏆 Congratulations @OfficialLUGES – division 2 CHAMPIONS 👏
💙 @Siruostak
💙 @Gizmyyy
💙 @csgoleaff
💙 @invisibleplay3r
💙 psiduk pic.twitter.com/ERZ305RNBy— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) March 25, 2025
For UKIC Season 6 Division 1 Half Natty will join:
ALASKA
Belfast Storm
8Sins
Ex – Team Nostalgia
Ex – Antarctica
The Last Resort
The Dominion (Ex-Xravel)
Ex-Annex
Team from the Open Qualifier
