Ten years ago, Harry “Nukeddog” Jenkins won EPIC.LAN 19. Among his opponents in the Grand Final was one Owen “smooya” Butterfield, who would join Epsilon eSports the next year on his way to becoming a bona fide AWP star. The next fixture between the pair would be a very different one – a UKIC Season 6 quarter-final. On the one side, you had smooya and Thomas “Thomas” Utting, players who have both tasted success in Tier-1. On the other, a mix team that made light of their advanced age; Nukeddog himself was five years retired, after leaving CeX in mid-2020. After a close overtime, however, it was the unfancied, unsalaried mix team that emerged victorious in one of UK CS’ all-time biggest upsets.
Nukeddog was never meant to play on the team. The squad, playing under Belfast Storm, added two players at the start of the season, Seth “Xetherato” Jackson and Shane “Shane” McGlinchey, after Luke “Nem” Mear retired and the team parted ways with Tristan “Stop_it” Ellis. But internal issues meant further changes. New addition Seth “Xetherato” Jackson stayed, Nem returned to the lineup as Shane and Lucian “devi” Manolache went their separate ways. The final piece of the puzzle was Joe “dexie” Drummond calling upon his friend and long-time teammate, Nukeddog, to fill out the squad for a season of ESEA and UKIC. Now, having taken down two of the top seeds in BOXED and Glitchtech, they sit one game away from the final
The newly shaped team would part ways with Belfast Storm and play under the banner 28AvgAge, a self-explanatory homage to their advanced years.
Nukeddog with CeX lifting the Dreamcup Valencia 2019 trophy – Credit: Kirill Photos + Dreamhack Spain
After CeX lost in the ESL Premiership Spring 2020 grand final to Endpoint, Nukeddog retired, and the core of CeX broke apart. CeX closed down their esports division shortly after, becoming the title sponsors of Endpoint CeX instead. Coincidentally enough, one of Endpoint’s players at the time was Robin “robiin” Sjogren; robiin was also the in-game leader for BOXED.
“Certain people wanted to focus on life / other teams from memory. At the same time, I met my current partner and decided to choose life over CS. Also becoming one of the owners in the business I work in naturally took priority.”
How did it all start? Nukeddog tells UKCSGO he started playing CS when Global Offensive launched: “I got into CS as my Dad played 1.6 – I’ve always enjoyed competitive FPS games”. Joining the pro scene came down to a case of right place, right time: “I played an ESEA pug back in the day and met a player called Phil. We raced for the most kills in our team and 2 weeks after that he asked me if I wanted to trial for a UK team [Impulse].” From there he joined Bulldog Esports, and ultimately CeX.
Nukeddog didn’t leave CS for good after retiring – he’s been mixing since the end of the CeX roster, but competition wasn’t something on his mind: “I have had no interest in competing as a team since due to my other life priorities.” Instead, he played with dexie, Kevin “vKempen” Van Kempen and Nathan “Tobin” Tobin (among others) in the former Endpoint Academy ESEA slot, before joining 28AvgAge. He also popped up at EPIC.LAN 37 and 38, both alongside dexie.
The offer to play on 28AvgAge came out of the blue, but Nukeddog knew what was coming: Joe messaged me around the time Belfast Storm went their own ways with the words “Come TS, I have a proposition to discuss with you… I’ve played with Joe a long time, and Luke (Nem) here and there before. Xeth and Fin knew of me, and with the vouching from Joe and Luke, I was welcomed” Though they didn’t make play-offs, they finished with an 8-6 record in Main – not bad for a partially retired mix – along with the UKIC finals.
Stop_it, Impact, Murky, Nukeddog and dexie at EPIC.LAN 38
And Nukeddog says they’re not done there. Asked about goals for the UKIC season at the beginning vs now, he says it hasn’t changed: “Your only goal should be to win, and that’s what we aim to do. Hence, we’ve made it to the finals, upsetting – literally it seems – some teams in the process.” Standing in their way is a newly signed NXT roster that has won 3 UKIC and 3 EPIC.LAN titles in a row – but given the teams the 28AvgAge squad have taken down so far, is one final upset too far-fetched?
The Belfast Storm core – dexie, Nem and Finui – arguably came the closest to taking down arTisT and co since that dominant streak began in the season 4 grand finals, forcing three overtimes on the decider map of Inferno. Now they get the chance to try again.
So a final word to their rifler, about to enter his first domestic final for five years. The hair may not quite resemble a 2000s emo band any more, but Nukeddog will walk out at Red Bull Gaming Sphere every bit as strong as he was. And he’s clear he has no regrets: “I’ve loved each team/mix I’ve been in. I’ve met some of my closest friends playing the game we all love and hate. I was very lucky during the time I competed in UK esports to be a part of CeX. I will always express my gratitude to all my previous teammates and Oli (Revilo) for looking after us all during our time together.”
“I would never trade those memories for another chance.”
Nukeddog at the ESL Premiership Winter Finals 2018 – Credit: ESL
