After four open qualifiers, the top eight teams in UK CS qualify for the UKIC Season 7 Masters.
Due to VRS, the format for the upcoming UKIC Season 7 Masters, formerly called UKIC Division 1, has completely changed. What once was a league system with relegation and promotion from lower tiers has changed to a qualification-based tournament. The number of teams has been reduced to eight from 10, and now contains two GSL groups.
During the first two qualifiers, some moments may live on forever, but also the best teams in the UK made their mark.
The undisputed best team in our scene, NXT, made light work in qualifier 1 as their main rivals, 8Sins, joined them. This was the first outing 8Sins had with Antal “Cher1on” Lubbers after parting ways with John “Prime” Fury. It wasn’t without its hiccups, however, as map one in the three-map series against Questionmark, containing the likes of Thomas “Thomas” Utting, Max “MiGHTYMAX” Heath, and Kia “Surreal” Man, lasted 52 rounds.
Questionmark themselves were able to quickly bounce back as they swiftly secured their spot alongside dark horse Recognised Talent in qualifier 2. The underdogs qualified, beating CORE3, who, at this stage, had lost in both qualifiers at the final hurdle.
At the third time of asking, however, CORE3 were finally able to get over the finish line, as they beat out the likes of CRSNT ROZE, i2k and AimerLegion. As of now, it is unclear who will complete the CORE3 roster for UKIC Season 7 Masters.
The organisation signed the squad Company 8 after they qualified, but announced Ehren “Abyss” Osborne was on the roster, who UKCSGO confirms had left the team.
Alongside CORE3, the newly signed European team, Glitchtech, who had not played in the first two qualifiers, beat the previous UKIC Division 1 finalists on their journey.
Glitchtech recently released their brand new European roster featuring Fred “FincHY” Finch and familiar faces to UK CS Joe “joeski” Holmes and Anthony “BehinDx” Luscombe. The organisation had placed 3rd-4th in UKIC Season 6 Division 1, but didn’t even try to qualify at first for Season 7 Masters.
For the penultimate qualifier, Glitchtech subbed out Oliwier “Brain” Dychus, Martin “marTineZ” Vers for ex-Reason Gaming Charlie “cJe” Everitt and Jack “Sorex” Renton-Cooper. This proved to be the only chance they needed, as FincHY and co swept past the previous UKIC Division 1 finalists Synical and Alex “Byfield” Byfield’s The Dominion.
Synical qualify for UKIC Season 7 Masters just in the nick of time
This meant that the UKIC Season 7 Masters qualifier had the likes of Synical, Buzz Kill, i2k, OKSUCC, Belfast Storm, and AimerLegion all competing for two spots.
By the skin of their teeth, Synical clinched one of the two remaining spots, but it wasn’t easy. Battling through AOBA JOHSAI, a mix containing Elias “Rack” Karttunen and Ehren “Abyss” Osborne, the final contender was Twinky Winkys, a team in ESEA Entry.
It looked like this was going to be the upset of the qualifiers as Synical lost map one 11-13, but the old guard then bounced back, effectively dominating maps two and three.
The final spot was scooped up by the dripmen, who then went on to sign with Buzz Kill after they qualified.
Their big victory came against i2k, and many would have thought they would play Kyle “swaggy” Wilson’s OKSUCC in the qualification game, but they were upset by Sosban Fach. Therefore, in what some would consider an easier game, dripmen won 2-0 and completed the team list.
This meant that the likes of OKSUCC, Belfast Storm, i2k, Sosban Fach with Javier “Ping” Griffiths, and many more didn’t qualify for UKIC Season 7 Masters and will have to test their mettle in UKIC Challengers for Season 7.
If you are looking to compete in either the UKIC Challengers or Rising leagues in Season 7, the signups close on Wednesday at 18:00 BST. You can sign up here.
All 8 teams are locked in for UKIC Masters 🔒
🔹@GONXTGG
🔹@8SinsEsports
🔹@rTOnTop
🔹#Questionmark
🔹@GlitchtechES
🔹#Company8
🔹@ESSynical
🔹@Dripmen_ pic.twitter.com/5Dta076Q8g— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) July 10, 2025
