Another scintillating group stage in UKIC Division 1 comes to a close with Reason Gaming taking the cake as they finish above ALASKA, the stage is set for playoffs. But before we get there, let us break down all the highs and lows from the group stage.
Reason Gaming goes flawless after debut defeat
Heading into Season 5 of Division 1, we listed Reason Gaming as a dark horse in our preview of the season, they did not disappoint. Forced to play their first four games with Ben “RezzeD” Bignal instead of AWPer James “Flicky” Errington, it was natural to think they would struggle. This was the case in their opening game against Belfast Storm as they were defeated 13-7.
But after this game, a fire was ignited within Reason as even with RezzeD they still managed to find wins off The Last Resort, 8Sins and most impressively, the tournament favourites ALASKA. This upward trajectory continued when Flicky returned to the server propelling Reason Gaming to claim the remaining five wins with the British AWPer averaging a 1.3 rating.
It is only smiles now for cJe
Not only has Reason Gaming shone domestically, they excelled internationally. After an impressive 12-2 regular season in ESEA Main they made a flawless playoffs run to qualify for ESEA Advanced.
This return to form for Charlie “cJe” Everitt and Fred “FincHY” Finch is very impressive. Since their start with Reason Gaming last year, they were struggling regionally and had not been doing impressively internationally, stuck in ESEA Intermediate. But within one season, they are now reaching for the stars in both as no one can seemingly stop them.
Unfortunately, cJe stated on X that “because of the situation happening in Ukraine right now and 2 of our players being unable to leave the country. We could potentially need 2 standins for LAN finals if we make it”.
This would be a massive blow to a team that will fancy themselves champions, as if they make the finals, they won’t be at their strongest.
ALASKA once again do not top the group stage
Similar to last season of UKIC Division 1 ALASKA, the outright favourites, will not be sitting on top of the regular season at the end. This didn’t seem to be of any consequence in Season 4 as even though they started in the Quarter Finals they still bested Royals, TRAXXXMANIA, and Belfast Storm to lift the trophy in Sheffield. Unlike Season 4, ALASKA are at least placed within the top two, meaning they go straight through to the semi-finals with an 8-1 record, only falling behind Reason Gaming on head-to-head.
Even though ALSAKA did slip up in their second game against Reason Gaming, the rest of the season was extremely assertive. Not only did they win the rest of their games but they did it in a dominating fashion. The only team to give them a run for their money was Belfast Storm who took them to overtime.
Tree60 lifting his first EPIC.LAN trophy
Listed as a favourite in our UKIC Division 1 Season 5 preview, this sort of result is expected from ALASKA, but it does look a lot cleaner than last season already.
Not only have they been tearing it up online but ALASKA lifted the EPIC.LAN 44 trophy a couple of weeks ago, meaning that they remain on top of the UK scene. This LAN success mixed with the roster stability, hopefully fixing an issue that plagued them last season, means ALASKA are still the favourites for a third successive title.
Mid table cluster
Similar to the previous season, it is chaos in the middle of the table. With four teams boasting a 5-4 record, Nostalgia, ANTARTICA, 8Sins and Belfast Storm finalise the lists for playoffs.
Nostalgia started the season strong as they took down favourites 8Sins on their debut but then followed it up with a loss to ALASKA and ANTARTICA. It was a scrappy season for the mix team as unfortunately, they lost to TLR and Reason Gaming in overtime, but that still means they finish third.
.@UKICircuit hopefuls, @8SinsEsports lose their debut game!@Royals_EC playing with two standins upset them 13-11 on Anubis. Helps that @waZzCS2's deagle is on fire🔥 pic.twitter.com/Ld07runz4t
— UKCSGO (@ukcsgo) February 5, 2025
Nostalgia (previously Royals EC) are bound to have a difficult time in UKIC as they are using standins. Their main lineup is a European team with only Kyle “Swaggy” Wilson flying the UK flag, so for UKIC enlisted the help of previous teammates Oskar “oskvr” Myszka and Edgaras “entz” Luksas. Nostalgia now hopes that their firepower can bring them over the line.
Even though they made UKIC playoffs, it hasn’t been the easiest ride for them outside the league as the main roster in ESEA Main barely maintained their spot with a 6-8 record.
With poor results in ESEA and playing with a mix in UKIC, it is hard to see Nostalgia go far in playoffs but their individual firepower on its day is unmatched, and that can certainly take them far.
ANTARCTICA playing at EPIC.LAN 44
ANTARTICA had a strong start to the season as they started 5-1 only losing to Glitchtech on the first week. They had to play their first four games with a standin similar to Reason as they didn’t bring the same core from last season over. Therefore, we saw Alex “Byfield” Byfield sub in for Fizan “Fizzy” Anjum, and this seemed to be working well. With big wins over Viperio Academy and Nostalgia Byfield’s time standing in came to an end with the team sitting at 3-1. Even though this form was continued with Fizzy they lost their last three games of the season to 8Sins, Reason Gaming and ALASKA.
This marks a rather disappointing end to the season for a team that started on a red hot form.
This same theme can be traced to ESEA as they also started their season of Main 7-1 up but then ended up finishing 9-5. This did qualify them for playoffs and they did have a very respectable run winning two games in the Lower Bracket. After losing to ProCamp UA this marked the end of their ESEA run and shifts their focus to UKIC.
ANTARTICA have had a messy season replacing their IGL Lorenzo “LTH” Venanzi the day before UKIC start and most recently removing Joe “Joeski” Holmes from the active lineup. Joeski has continued to play with the squad in ESEA playoffs and also will compete in UKIC while they seek a full-time replacement.
The bold decision to change their IGL at the start of the season seemed like it was somehow working with their immediate success under Ehren “Ehgren” Osborne. But with a 5th-6th result at EPIC.LAN 44 and now declining these changes seemed to have a knock-on effect in the long run.
wfn playing on the EPIC.LAN stage for the first time
8Sins were touted as one of the favourites coming into UKIC Season 5 Division 1. However, they struggled to get any momentum at the start of the season. After a troubling start going 1-3 in UKIC and 5-6 in ESEA Main they sought to change their fortunes heading into EPIC.LAN 44.
Making a remarkable run to the Grand Finals, beating ALASKA in the Upper Bracket Finals, 8Sins shocked everyone and showed people what their true potential is. Eventually faltering in the finals to ALASKA in a nail-biting three map series, they still came away from the event with their heads held high.
This form then translated into online success as in their remaining five games of the UKIC season they picked up four wins. In ESEA Main they also collected their final three wins of the season to keep their spot.
Since their rough start, 8Sins stepped up a notch, placing fifth in the group stage of UKIC, they are a real force to be reckoned with as playoffs start.
Belfast Storm roaring at EPIC.LAN 44
Belfast Storm came into 2025 with something to prove. After making it all the way to UKIC Season 4 Division 1 Finals they put on a show against Verdant. Ultimately losing on the third map after three rounds of overtime, it was clear what this roster could achieve.
Some people may perceive this squad as favourites to make the finals again due to their previous performances. But so far they haven’t provided a reason to buy into that. Finishing 5th-6th at EPIC.LAN 44 after a tough loss to Dusty, not making playoffs in ESEA Main and seemingly struggling at the end of UKIC losing four games in a row, they scrape through to the playoffs.
Even though the start of the season started well, Belfast Storm now head into playoffs with a lot of question marks over their heads. Can they repeat the magic once again?
The Last Resort save their spot
Headlined by big names in the UK scene, TLR walk away from Season 5 disappointed with their placements as they miss out on playoffs. The saving grace is that they will not lose their spot and will be able to readjust heading into Season 6.
After a rather uneventful season regionally, TLR breathed a deep sigh of relief after they maintained their UKIC Division 1 spot despite a rocky start. Ahead of EPIC.44 TLR were sitting on a 1-4 record in division 1, relegation form.
Teams such as 8Sins transformed their fortunes with a good EPIC.LAN placing, but unfortunately for TLR they could not replicate this as they bowed out 7th-8th to Ctrl Alt Delete after being seeded third.
The Last Resort at EPIC.LAN 44
Their international performance in ESEA Main was at least something to cheer about as they started the season 8-2. But as the end of the season rolled around, they ended up losing four in a row to miss out on ESEA Main playoffs.
As the sun sets on another season for this squad, there may need to be roster changes if they hope to come back stronger next season.
Relegation zone
In a cutthroat environment, there is no room for mistakes in the group stage. Ctrl Alt Defeat, Viperio Academy and Glitchtech place in the bottom three spots and are relegated to UKIC Division 2.
Sorex fist bumping his teammates
CAD came into UKIC Season 5 Division 1 as a dangerous force after their success in Season 4. Placing at the top of the group stage and making a Semi Final appearance, you could never count out this squad.
Ctrl Alt Defeat, however, only picked up two wins in the entire season and were plagued by forfeit losses.
The first of three came in their debut game against ANTARTICA as they fielded a roster that didn’t have a core from last season. Once they fixed this issue, they did go on to beat The Last Resort, but then had ANOTHER forfeit loss to Reason Gaming. This theme continued throughout the season as they only picked up one other victory against Glitchtech. They even had to forfeit their final game of the season against Belfast Storm.
This comes as a real shock as Ctrl Alt Defeat had a heroic run at EPIC.LAN 44 finishing third and only losing to ALASKA. Making a storied Lower Bracket run after losing their opening Upper Bracket game to ALASKA, they were on top form.
It is very confusing to see a team do so well at LAN, but then struggle immensely online. Alongside that, soon after LAN they announced that they would be removing Jack “Sorex” Renton-Cooper from the team.
CAD will now have to go down to Division 2 for Season 6 with the hopes of returning for vengeance in Season 7. They are still fighting in ESEA Open10 playoffs for either an ESEA Main spot or potentially an Advanced spot for Season 52. They have already secured an Intermediate spot for next season and now have to make the arduous Lower Bracket run after they lost their third game in playoffs.
Rhyss at EPIC.LAN 44
Glitchtech came into this season with some fairly high expectations due to the names on the team, such as Marco “MMS” Salomone. The issue is, they did not live up to those expectations whatsoever and ended up disbanding.
After a good start to the UKIC season with two wins, it all went downhill from there. Not picking up a single victory and ultimately forfeiting their final three games. This fallout is probably caused by many reasons, but one of the glaring issues has to be their unsuccessful EPIC.LAN 44 campaign as they placed 9th-12th despite the help of Luke “EMPEROR” Ingram.
It is unclear what the future of this team will be, and if they will even field a team for UKIC Season 6 Division 2, but ultimately it is a project that has sorely failed.
ncx standing in for Viperio Academy at EPIC.LAN 44
Viperio Academy gained promotion to Division 1 for Season 5 and didn’t have great expectations on their shoulders.
With limited experience across the team, this was a great chance for the team to show what they are made of and try and cause an upset. This was not to be the case as they finished the season dead last with only one victory.
With only picking up one victory against CAD, they falter in their opportunity to combat against the best in the scene. They did have a respectable EPIC.LAN 44 finish mimicking their previous placing of 7th-8th with a big win over Glitchtech. Alongside this, they have reclaimed their ESEA Main spot for next season after an impressive Intermediate run going 11-3 in the regular season.
After their disappointing time in UKIC Division 1, the future of the project looks uncertain. IGL Shane “Shane” McGlinchey and youngster Liam “M1n1maL” Reynolds took to X and announced they will not be continuing with Viperio Academy.
UKIC Season 5 Division 1 playoffs
With the group stage finalised and the playoffs set to commence tonight at 7 pm, Nostaliga will face off against Belfast Storm.
Below you can find the full playoff bracket with the finals set to be on the 12th April in Sheffield at Endpoint’s Pracrooms bootcamp facility.
And the 6 teams competing for division 1 ⚔️
Who will earn their spot on next month's LAN? pic.twitter.com/0B8ZTSyF92
— UK & Ireland Circuit (@UKICircuit) March 11, 2025
Disclaimer: The author of this article is currently coaching Belfast Storm who are competing in UKIC Division 1 Season 5. Moreover, UKCSGO.com shares ownership with Reason Gaming, another team competing in UKIC Division 1 Season 5. This does not impact the opinions and facts stated here.
