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.
If UKIC wants to be compliant with Valve’s tournament operating rules, then they must incorporate open qualifiers into the highest division of UKIC. The first half of these open qualifiers has already gotten underway, with four teams already confirmed to be competing in the reformatted UKIC Season 7 Masters.
There are still two more qualifiers and four spots up for grabs, occurring on the ninth and tenth of July.
Qualifier one
Kicking off on the second of July, the first open qualifier would undoubtedly be the most stacked. 31 of the best UK teams participated, including but not limited to NXT, 8Sins, and a powerhouse of a mix team, Questionmark, containing the likes of Thomas “Thomas” Utting, Max “MiGHTYMAX” Heath, and Kia “Surreal” Man.
The two titans of the last year charged ahead to the semi-finals, where they would both ultimately be successful. 8Sins and NXT were the first to qualify for the top division of UK Counter-Strike. 8Sins took down Questionmark in an extremely lengthy series, whilst NXT beat Company 8, a roster comprised of players such as Ehren “Ehgren” Osborne and Fizan “Fizzy” Anjum.
The two best teams in the UK qualifying straight away will come as a relief for the rest of the hopefuls, as they naturally won’t be making an appearance in the rest of the qualifiers.
This Qualifier also brought about the viral clip Logiks killing three of his teammates with a Mac-10 whilst his team, The Dominion, were one round away from forcing overtime against 8Sins in Round 3 of the qualifier.
Qualifier two
Taking place the following day, qualifier two saw another two teams make their way through the single elimination gauntlet and qualify for UKIC Season 7 Masters. This second qualifier had many returning faces from the previous one, such as Company 8, The Dominion, and Questionmark.
This qualifier would also contain a team throwing their hat into the ring for the first time after not competing in the previous qualifier, RecognisedTalent. This team would see the qualifier through comfortably, beating Company 8 in the semi-finals, all while using a stand-in. Company 8 has now stumbled at the final hurdle, two qualifiers in a row, losing both of their best-of-threes 1-2.
The other team to make it through was the star-studded Questionmark, who took down OKSUCC 2-0 in the best-of-three semi-final to make their way to UKIC season 7 masters.
Only 4 spots remain for UKIC Masters Season 7 🏆
Sign-ups are open for the final two qualifiers next week ⬇️
— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) July 3, 2025
So far, the teams that have qualified for the UKIC Season 7 Masters are:
NXT
8Sins
Questionmark
RecognisedTalent
TBD (Qualifier 3)
TBD (Qualifier 3)
TBD (Qualifier 4)
TBD (Qualifier 4)
