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Darragh Harbinson reports on the Counter-Strike UK & Ireland Circuit (UKIC) League Season 4 Division 1 finals between Verdant and Belfast Storm, before sharing his opinion on the UKIC and the state of UK CS. (Photo credit: Verdant/Endpoint/Ali ‘Shrikel’ Wright)
Verdant continue domestic dominance following tight UKIC contest in Sheffield
Verdant defeated Belfast Storm in a pulsating three-map contest to claim the UKIC League Season 4 Division 1 trophy this evening.
With Storm Darragh raging outside (and reporter Darragh writing inside – Dom), Verdant kept their composure in rough winds to silence Belfast Storm, who came within inches of claiming their first domestic trophy.
In a scintillating contest, Verdant and Belfast Storm traded their map-picks of Nuke and Dust2 before Verdant finally managed to take the series in a third Inferno overtime at Endpoint’s Praccrooms facilities in Sheffield.
Verdant’s domestic dominance looked under threat as they conceded map point at a stage, but their experience and depth protocols paid dividends as they closed the map out 22-20.
The win sees Verdant win back-to-back UKIC Division 1 titles, having defeated Dreams To Legends at Birmingham’s LogiPlay facility in September. The roster also claimed victories at Epic 42, Epic 43 and Insomnia 72. The victory is yet another confirmation of their supremacy in the UK scene.
Verdant achieved the feat without their star AWPer Remi ‘diviiii’ Alexandre. The UK org have been no strangers to playing with stand-ins in the second half of the year, having fielded various competitions with James ‘bevve’ Slinn, William ‘dobbo’ Dobson and (most commonly) leaf.
However, diviiii’s absence in such a vital match raises the question of his future in the roster. In effect, diviiii’s absence was not too bitterly felt as leaf provided a strong performance in the final, having struggled to assert himself in previous Verdant showings. Despite the success, it is unclear whether this Verdant line-up will become permanent, with the team continuing to experiment with various role swaps in an attempt to return to their best.
As for Belfast Storm, they were only competing in their second UKIC League season as an organisation, having re-entered the scene in July. It was a heartbreaking defeat but they can be proud of their progress having been knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Season 3 playoffs.
Their run to the final this time was a major achievement for the organisation, who used the final as a chance to have a local watch-along in the well-known Belfast bar, The Botanic Inn.
Having only signed Lucian ‘devi’ Manolache and Karl-Hendrik ‘tsutskam’ Palu in October, the roster looked more confident with each stage of the competition.
While it wasn’t the fairytale ending Belfast Storm wanted, they can look back at how hard they pushed Verdant as a positive sign for the future.
Is the UKIC League successfully filling the hole left by ESL UK’s withdrawal?
With the final representing the completion of UKIC League’s first calendar year, Darragh Harbinson looks at how well the UKIC League is making up for the loss of ESL UK Premiership last year, in this opinion column.
With the cessation of ESL’s National Championship programme at the end of 2023, the UK lost a vital pathway to the European, professional level. ESL Premiership victories led to spots in qualifiers, which could then lead to Tier-1 events such as IEM Cologne and Katowice Play-ins and the ESL Pro League.
Initial talks were held for a replacement set of national leagues which would integrate with the CCT circuit, but plans fell through.
In the absence of other opportunities, a proposal was made to UKIC owners and operators: UK stalwarts Endpoint. UK tournament admin, Finn ‘Mischief’ Farrer, wished to create national and collegiate leagues which would fill the gap left by ESL Premiership, while allowing teams to progress through a pyramid structure.
Matching Endpoint’s goal to expand and support the UK scene, the plan was approved and branded UKIC League with the first season, ‘Season 0’, starting in the Winter of 2023.
‘The UKIC is achieving the goals we set out for it’
With its first full calendar year completed, is UKIC League successfully filling the gap that ESL Premiership left? UKIC League manager, TJ ‘FFACT’ Caffrey, believes that the league is matching its ambitions.
FFACT said: “Overall, I think it is achieving the goals we set out for it to achieve. I think in the first season, Season 0, we kicked off with about 80 teams.
“This season was our best yet with 93 teams from the get-go. So our goal is just to provide opportunities for teams and players to play and have fun and then also for the top teams to be competitive, especially with the lack of ESL National Championships nowadays.”
TJ ‘FFACT’ Caffrey, UKIC
With 240 total teams across the five seasons, five LAN finals, and £18,750 in prizes awarded so far, UKIC League is continuing to grow and intends to expand its senior and collegiate formats again next year.
The platform is therefore creating a stable platform for competition at all levels, allowing a basis for investing in teams and their growth through competition.
UKIC League benefits from having four seasons in a year compared to ESL Premiership’s two, allowing for more officials for teams as well as progression up the pyramid. The result is that British and Irish teams play each other much more frequently, creating rivalries and storylines which can then be promoted on social media to further fan engagement.
The competition also allows top teams and players to showcase themselves by qualifying for the HLTV-featured semi-finals and grand finals.
UKIC League also provides a key avenue for UK broadcast talent to grow and improve, with live LAN finals in both studio environments and in front of a live audience.
British casters, Harry ‘index’ Bayliss and Tim ‘TIMMO’ Musters, have become the voices of UKIC, casting the last three UKIC LAN finals – including the Season 3 final which was played in front of a crowd at Birmingham’s LogiPLAY facility.
TIMMO spoke to Esports News UK about the opportunity UKIC represents for talent: “It means a lot to be able to cast in front of a crowd so early on in my casting career… Getting reps in, in front of crowds, is so important to get that experience, as at the end of the day the goal is to one day cast in arenas.
“Casting in front of Epic.LAN and UKIC crowds is so important to develop my commentary in the pressure moments, and is something we in the UK are so fortunate to have – something many scenes don’t.”
TIMMO, UKIC caster
Has 2024 been a year to forget for UK Counter-Strike?
Despite the UKIC’s successes, the question remains: Can the UKIC League replace ESL Premiership’s opportunities and create pathways to the professional level?
While it cannot create the direct pathways to Tier-1 or even CCT events, the goal of the upper league remains to create valuable tournament experience that will help prospective teams and players. Yet 2024 has largely been a year to forget for UK Counter-Strike, in my opinion.
In a tumultuous year, the last six months especially have represented a step back for the top teams. Of the 10 organisations who competed in UKIC Season 1 Division 1, only three have a senior roster in the UK scene – Verdant, The Last Resort, and Dreams To Legends.
Some have been lost to issues with the organisation, such as Season 0 champions K10, while many have been lost due to extremely volatile rosters disbanding or leaving organisations that did not re-invest in other rosters.
Whereas approximately half of the Season 1 Division 1 teams had a ‘salary’ of some form, only two teams in Season 4 Division 1 are purportedly paid to play (some more context around the esports winter here – Dom).
There are also fewer British-led rosters competing in European competition than in 2023, despite Division 1’s Royals taking their first steps into such competitions.
Silver linings for UK CS
Overall, the scene is in a weaker state than last year, reflected by Verdant’s relative dominance in the UK & Irish scene despite a dramatic rankings decline in the latter half of the year. However, the extent to which that is a result of the loss of ESL Premiership, and the inability of UKIC to replace everything it represented, is highly debatable.
Interviewed by index at Epic.LAN, Verdant’s IGL, Tom ‘arTisT’ Clarke believes the slump is simply part of the natural cycle of Counter-Strike:
“I think at the minute we’re in between everyone, everyone needs a bit more time. All the old guys need to go, and the new guys need to come. We’re just at this in between stage. We were at this stage a few years ago and then we came along. It just happens over time. Maybe in a few more months or up to a year we’ll see a completely different scene [that’s] way more competitive.”
arTisT, Verdant
The good news is that there is no shortage of organisations interested in entering the UK Counter-Strike scene and looking to take advantage of UKIC’s potential.
The latter half of 2024 alone has seen Belfast Storm, 8Sins, Radiance, Annex, Robins Esports, and others enter or re-enter the UK CS scene. Another ray of hope came from Epic.LAN 43, which saw a record-breaking amount of teams attend, proving there is still lots of love for local competitive Counter-Strike.
The question for UK Counter-Strike is whether UKIC League and grassroots support can be converted into more competitive teams.
New esports talent give hope for the future of UK CS2
In their closure of national leagues, ESL cited the rise of international rosters as a reason to put less emphasis on local regions. While that reasoning is a highly questionable excuse for dropping grassroots funding, it does reflect a changing scene where players are taking the next step by moving to international projects.
Maybe then, the correct yardstick for UKIC will not be to measure where British and Irish teams sit in the rankings, but where individual talents end up.
By that metric, recent ESL Premiership alumni include talents such as Sebastian ‘volt’ Maloș, Jack ‘Gizmy’ von Spreckelsen or Cai ‘CYPHER’ Watson. Season 0 winner Jamie ‘Tree’ Callan may be the first of the new batch; the young rifling talent signed with GamerLegion Academy in May of 2024. FFACT believes he will be the first of many.
“I do think we have a fair amount of up-and-coming talent,” FFACT said. “One person that was mentioned a lot during those Epic.LAN interviews is M1n1mal from Viperio Academy. He started off playing UKIC from the hubs and then in Division 2 when the league launched and has qualified to Division 1 this season.
“M1n1mal from Viperio Academy is just one out of a good few that are coming up in the scene, but it’s just going to take time for those players to develop fully and to grow as players – and also individuals.”
FFACT, UKIC
The scene at its highest level can be described as ‘down but not out’. The grassroots love for Counter-Strike is still very much in place, exemplified by a passionate playerbase that is increasingly engaging with local competitions, like Epic.LAN or UKIC League.
The hope is that any prospective talent will find themselves funnelled into the UKIC system, allowing for their talent to be showcased and developed.
UK Counter-Strike was certainly dealt a bitter blow upon the withdrawal of ESL’s support last year. But, while the UKIC League can never replace ESL’s qualification system, it is creating a new competitive foundation from which to build.
With Endpoint’s support, UKIC league can act as a stable and consistent platform for players, rosters and organisations to develop their experience, teamwork and brands, allowing them to push themselves to grow and improve.
It is now up to the rosters and the individuals within them to exploit the opportunities that UKIC League represents, even if that potential doesn’t lead to Pro League anymore. The odds of success in UK Counter-Strike may have thinned but with UKIC League in place there is a basis for growth.
