It can be hard to keep up with roster moves in the UK scene. Post-season, there’s a tendency for a lot of teams to either disband or make roster changes. This can, sometimes, be overwhelming to keep up with.
Take this season in UKIC Division 1: all 10 teams made a roster change heading into the new year.
Therefore, we have compiled a list of every roster change that has happened so far, and we will continue to update this article with more changes as they happen.
CTRL ALT DEFEAT sign Fizzy and DAVEY
CTRL ALT DEFEAT rounded out their roster with Fizan “Fizzy” Anjum, who will be IGLing for the first time in his career. Fizzy will fill in the gap left after Jack “Sorex” Renton-Cooper was kicked after EPIC.LAN 44.
Fizzy previously represented teams such as The Last Resort and most recently played under ANTARTICA. His most recent project qualified for ESEA Main playoffs and UKIC Season 5 Division 1 playoffs. Regardless of this success, they ended up disbanding.
Heading into the upcoming season of ESEA Intermediate CAD has also picked up coach David “DAVEY” Stafford, who previously played for teams like Splyce at a tier one level. During his tenure with Splyce, he even played at the MLG Columbus Major in 2016.
You can find out more in our article below.
Glitchtech returns with familiar UK CS faces
After announcing their full lineup for ESEA Advanced under the banner ‘LFO’, Ehren “Ehgren” Osborne, Joe “joeski” Holmes and Anthony “BehinDx” Luscombe find a home.
Glitchtech returned to UKCS last season, picking up a UKIC Division 1 team featuring the likes of Marco “MMS” Salomone and Rhys “Rhys” Stumbles.
This roster, however, did not live up to expectations. After a poor showing at EPIC.LAN 44 placing 9th – 12th, the team disbanded and forfeited the rest of their UKIC Division 1 games. This did not deter Glitchtech as they continued to show their commitment to UKCS.
They now return with Ehgren and familiar faces to UK CS BehinDx and joeski in ESEA Advanced. So far, their early campaign has not been successful as they lost both their opening games to GenOne and Ex-Endpoint CeX, however, there are plenty of games to go. Ehgren has also confirmed on X that this roster will be travelling to Kettering for EPIC.LAN 45.
Roster Reveal‼️
Glitchtech are happy to announce our brand new team. Going forward respresenting us in CS2 will be:
Welcome @joeskics, @SnacKZ361, @AbysssCS, @BehinDxcs, @gimxdd.😍 pic.twitter.com/sil1eUdjz0
— Glitchtech Esports (@GlitchtechES) April 7, 2025
Swaggy announces retirement
As Team NOSTALGIA announce they will be going their separate ways, Kyle “Swaggy” Wilson announces he will be taking a step back from competitive play.
Starting his journey in UK CS at a very young age, Swaggy reached the top of the UK scene early on in his career as he won the Grosvenor Esports Season 3 – Finals with Chetz eSports. Not only did he win the whole event, he was even declared the event MVP with an average 1.49 HLTV rating.
Despite posting impressive results in the early stages of his career, he couldn’t continue this trajectory.
Swaggy still did achieve a second placement in ESL Premiership: Spring 2021 and did win international tournaments such as the Bybit World Series of Gaming. But didn’t reach the heights that was once expected.
To end off his career, Swaggy has been playing under Royals EC, Chetz eSports and most recently, Team NOSTALIGA with the same rosters. Internationally, this roster shone winning Galaxy Battle #1, but they couldn’t continue this success nor replicate it regionally.
Team decided to go separate ways, I'm gonna take a step back from competitive play and focus elsewhere in life probably see you in ukic though 🫡 https://t.co/M6wHoVSpo3
— Kyle Wilson (@swaggyavi) April 5, 2025
Tadpole retires
After a short stint returning to play on The Last Resort this year, Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens announces retirement.
Previously playing on Wind and Rain, Into The Breach and UMX, Tadpole has competed at the highest echelons of UK CS. Tadpole most notably won EPIC.WANs, came second in two ESL Premierships and won two UKIC Invitationals.
Since returning this year for the first time in two years, he had a fairly uneventful stint on TLR. Missing out on ESEA Main and UKIC Division 1 playoffs, Tadpole‘s luck did not turn around on LAN as they finished 7th-8th at EPIC.LAN 44.
Tadpole stated in his post on X that:
I’m indefinitely grateful for the multiple opportunities given to me throughout my time playing, ultimately I didn’t become the player I think I could’ve became sadly so I will forever regret that.
Not that any1 really cares cuz I've quit about 8x but this time I have decided to completely quit CS, this time I won't be returning!! Life moves on and so must I!
— Kirk (@TadpoleCS) April 3, 2025
LTH resurrects flowstate alongside M1n1mal and shaney
Lorenzo “LTH” Venanzi revives the flowstate banner as he forms a new squad alongside youngster Liam “M1n1mal” Reynolds. Continuing to IGL like he normally does, LTH will also be changing things up as he picks up the AWP.
This is the first time we see LTH on the server since he was kicked from his previous team the day before UKIC Season 5 Division 1 started. Now, he will be looking to start from the bottom of the ESEA leagues and work his way up with new prospects.
They will also be joined by Shane “shaney” Smith as a coach. This will be the first time shaney is coaching; he previously represented the likes of Endpoint, XENX and nerdRage.
The final piece of the puzzle is dragonstar, who comes from Werty AC Navy. Despite being native to Romania, he lives in the UK, meaning flowstate will be looking to participate in the upcoming UKIC Season 6 qualifiers.
[LF1]We at #flowstate are looking for +1 anchor/lurk rifler
Team so far is@roliyw@eincs2@M1n1maLcs@lortheherowith coach @shanerhyssmith
Contact me in dms or add me on steam below to discuss details
RTs appreciated— LTH (@lorthehero) March 31, 2025
Beflast Storm sign Xetharato and Shane
After Nem retires and Belfast Storm parts ways with Stop_it, they reinforce their ranks with Seth “Xetherato” Jackson and Shane “Shane” McGlinchey.
Belfast Storm didn’t necessarily have a bad season, but they couldn’t reach the heights of UKIC Division 1 finals like last year. Therefore, with these changes, this team hopes to return to their previous form.
You can find out more in our article below.
Belfast Storm Sign Xetherato – No, This Isn’t an April Fools’ Joke
Bigun007 and frazehh return to The Last Resort
After only 15 days since they left the organisation, they return with new names.
After being dropped from The Last Resort, Fraser “frazehh” Sollom and Connor “Bigun007” Suddons announce they will be reviving the Dripmen tag. Alongside the duo would be familiar faces Rhys “Rhys” Stumbles and Isaac “Isaac” Patto alongside Joseph “godkU” Fowkes.
As there was no bad blood between the two parties when Dripmen were open to offers, TLR brought them back into the fold. Bigun007 joins back with TLR, continuing his lengthy stretch with the organisation, dating back all the way to early 2024.
The Last Resort will compete in the next seasons of ESEA Main and UKIC Division 1. If you want to find out more, read our article below.
Ehgren and Joeski link up with Behindx
Ex-ANTARCTICA duo Ehren “Ehgren” Osborne and Joe “joeski” Holmes have quickly landed on their feet with a new project.
As mentioned previously in this article, ANTARCTICA went their separate ways at the end of this season. This was despite making playoffs in both ESEA Main and UKIC Season 5 Division 1.
The duo will be joining up with a familiar face to UK CS, Anthony “BehinDx” Luscombe, who has previously played in teams such as Coalesce and Raptors EC. LFO, currently competing in ESEA Advanced, rebuilt their core as only BehinDx and Mergim “giM” Kuc remain, even though they made playoffs last season.
The ex-ANTARCTICA duo will join alongside Samet “SnacKZ1” Hosel for Season 53 of ESEA Advanced.
Ehgren also hinted in a post on X that this squad will be looking to compete at the next EPIC LAN.
‼️ Advanced Team LFO ‼️@BehinDxcs 🇩🇰@gimxdd 🇩🇪@AbysssCS 🏴@joeskics 🇫🇮@SnacKZ361 🇩🇪
Adv playoffs last season, open to LANs
‼️ RETWEETS APPRECIATED ‼️DM @AbysssCS for more info !
— Tony (@BehinDxcs) March 28, 2025
AdeptClub make two changes ahead of their debut ESEA Main season
AdeptClub made a storied run in ESEA Intermediate this season to qualify for ESEA Main… even though they had to use coach Ryan “ReTr00” Bernard.
Removing both Kai “faite” Knight and akino before the end of the season, ReTr00 had to set up for the three remaining games. In an astonishing turn of events, AdeptClub won their three games whilst using their coach to qualify for ESEA Main.
As they scale up the ESEA divisions, AdeptClub bring in experienced rifler Tristan “Lake” Jones, who was most recently a part of Viperio Academy. This top-flight experience is exactly what a team like AdeptClub needs. Lake will be joined by AWPer Brandon “Litmus” Manfield, who comes in as a fresh face with the ability to take over a server.
Even though AdeptClub did succeed internationally last season, they forfeited their UKIC Division 2 in Season 5. They will look to reclaim their spot through the open qualifiers for Season 6.
WELCOME OUR CS2 ROSTER!🚨
We would like to formally welcome our latest CS2 roster to the family. After a roster change up we see our team pushing & progressing within @ESEA Main league. We look forward to showcasing the ability within this roster!
🩸| @CS2Blaze
🩸… pic.twitter.com/0uqTzLAaOh— AdeptClub (@AdeptClub) March 28, 2025
Nem Retires
Luke “Nem” Mear has been a valued and enthusiastic member of the UK CS scene for a long time. Originally breaking through the scene on Hypnotic Gaming at EPIC.LAN 29 placing 7th-8th alongside Tim “TIMMO” Musters. The rifler then honed his craft, continuing to play with longstanding teammate TIMMO on rosters such as Lucent and Flight Esports. This journey was accompanied by now-IGL of Monte, Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen.
During this period, Nem made a top-three run at EPIC.LAN 35 and was tantalisingly close to making ESEA Advanced through their ESEA Main playoff runs.
Last year, he took a break at the start of the year to go travelling in Asia with Joe “Dexie” Demmon. Upon returning, there was no ambition for either of them to come back to competing. Before long, however, the two were back competing on the server with an old familiar face.
The two of them linked up with former teammate IGL Connor “Finui” Finucane, and they formed the project Halal5, later becoming Belfast Storm. Over the last year, Belfast Storm notably made a storied Grand Finals run in UKIC Season 4 Division 1, only losing to Verdant in triple overtime on the third map.
On March 21st, Nem announced his retirement and departure from Belfast Storm. In the organisation’s X post, Nem says:
“You’ll still see me at UK events, having way too many beers… I am still here, but I want to play the game because I want to and not because I have to. Start turning it into more of a hobby again.”
A legend of the UK scene and an absolute pleasure to have representing Belfast Storm.
A larger than life character and someone that will be missed greatly here.
Thank you @NemCsgo 🙏 pic.twitter.com/zMF9Rwkqic
— Belfast Storm (@Belfaststorm) March 21, 2025
ANTARCTICA disband
After the recent roster turbulence, ANTARCTICA has disbanded, with individuals going their separate ways.
The unorged squad saw complications within their ranks, as they decided to mutually part ways with Joe “joeski” Holmes before the season ended. Interestingly enough, seven days later, ANTARCTICA decided to continue with joeski for the next season.
However, this harmony only lasted for three days. Due to personalities clashing, ANTARCTICA has fully disbanded, with everyone going their separate ways.
You can find out more in the article below.
The Last Resort drops their roster; Dripmen return
The Dripmen tag created by Fraser “frazehh” Sollom has returned.
After a turbulent season seeing The Last Resort produce poor results at both EPIC.LAN 44 and UKIC Season 5 Division 1, the team parted ways with TLR.
At the same time, Joshua “JAUSTERE” Philpott and Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens both retired again, and only frazehh and Bigun007 remain from the previous roster.
The two of them rebuild the roster under the Dripmen tag.
You can find out more in the article below.
Soul’s Heart disband; bevve and dobbo left teamless
At the start of the year, William “dobbo” Dobson and James “bevve” Slinn link up with familiar face Jacob “Rezst” Hemming on Soul’s Heart.
This project led by Rezst had previously garnered great success competing in ESEA Advanced, making playoffs in Season 51. Looking to continue with this upward trajectory, the roster rebuilt its core as they picked up the UK duo and AWPer Martin “Happyy” Hlaváč.
Unfortunately, this season didn’t go to plan as they lost their ESEA Advanced spot, ultimately disbanding.
This leaves dobbo, bevve and UK coach Jack “Wixinho” Wickens LFT.
Left @SoulsHeartOff – Had some personal things pop up and had to sort. Thanks to all teammates & staff at the org, appreciate the support despite the terrible results.
Streams resume soon™️ 👨🍳👀 pic.twitter.com/0AP2hu1C3K
— bevve (@bevvexyz) March 14, 2025
Viperio Academy players to explore options as free agents
Even though Viperio Academy qualified back into ESEA Main, their overall mixed results have led Viperio Academy to disband.
Viperio stated in their post on X:
Decision comes after mixed results, with strong performances in European leagues and offline events, but underperformance in the national leagues.
The British organisation, however, does confirm that they will be looking to rebuild their academy team, saying:
Viperio will rebuild it’s academy team with UK players, and will continue to work with any of the players that are interested in forming part of the rebuild… Viperio remains committed to fostering UK Counter-Strike talent and looks forward to building another competitive roster for the future.
— Viperio (@viperioesports) March 8, 2025
Glitchtech Implode
A rough season regionally and internationally leads the newly founded Glitchtech project to break down.
Heading into EPIC.LAN 44, the hopes were high for Glitchtech. Marco “MMS” Salomone will be the first to tell you he was disappointed in the result Glitchtech achieved at EPIC.LAN 44. As mentioned in the interview with him, MMS and co were aiming for the top 2 at least, the stage was where their eyes were set. Unfortunately, Glitchtech didn’t make the stage, or even HLTV for that matter, as they ended up eliminated in the top 12.
The fallout from EPIC.LAN was Glitchtech, forfeiting the rest of the games in UKIC Season 5 Division 1 as they disbanded.
The organisation, in their statement on X, said:
It wasn’t the season any of us had hoped for, but we move forward with determination. As we look ahead we will be seeking a new roster to build for the future.
An important announcement from us at Glitchtech. pic.twitter.com/scRTazK7HA
— Glitchtech Esports (@GlitchtechES) March 7, 2025
Annex calls it quits
After being demoted from UKIC Division 1 last season, Annex rebuilt, bringing in Karl-Hendrik “tsutskam” Palu. This seemed to help, as they have gained promotion back to UKIC Division 1 for Season 6. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like it was enough.
A long-term project led by Joseph “godkU” Fowkes comes to an end after not achieving the results they would have originally sought out.
it was fun while it lasted but think us at @AnnexEsport will be disbanding/mixing out after ukic finishes.
open to offers but will likely stop team cs unless something interesting pops up.
thank u to my team mates, @LekwaiO and everyone i played with:)
— godkU (@godkUcs) March 2, 2025
Sorex kicked from CAD
In a shocking turn of events, only days after Ctrl Alt Defeat’s third place EPIC.LAN 44 run Jack “Sorex” Renton-Cooper has been kicked from the project.
CAD reached some very high highs this season with the aforementioned EPIC.LAN result, but these performances couldn’t be sustained throughout their season. After a poor performance in UKIC Season 5 Division 1, CAD will be demoted to Division 2 for the next season, as they are on the lookout for a new IGL and coach.
we at @cadeventsuk are looking for both an:
– IGL
– Coachto play in @UKICircuit , @ESEA and @EPICLAN . We are looking to play at least 4 days a week. RT's appreciated.
— Benjamin (@BENJYMINCSGO) February 26, 2025
