Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to another scintillating season of UKIC Division 1, the apex of UK CS. Ten teams are locked and loaded in an upset-bound round-robin stage as teams fight for the coveted playoff spots!

As usual, there have been a lot of roster changes leading up to this season. You can find all of the information here in our UK CS roster moves tracker.

There is one that hasn’t made a roster change: the previous EPIC.LAN 44 and UKIC Season 5 Finalists, 8Sins. Between Season 5 and Season 6, they are the only team in both seasons combined not to make a roster change between the seasons.

Moreover, a really interesting tit bit is that there is at least one person that was one won a UKIC Division 1 title playing now in Season 6. And there are a lot of names that failed in those Grand Finals.

UKIC Season 6: Division 1 Powered by ZOTAC GAMING is incredibly contested, but whoever dares, wins.

The Favourites

As per usual, it is hard not to put PERPLEXITY – previously ALASKA – as the ultimate favourites to win. Even though this roster has changed, you always have to believe in the Tom “arTisT” Clarke magic.

Heading into Season 6 of UKIC, PERPLEXITY will retain their core from last season with Matas “Extinct” Strumila and Mason “Vacancy” Haines staying together with arTisT. The departure of Jamie “Tree60” Callan and Callum “Girafffe” Jones makes way for William “dobbo” Dobson and a familiar face to UK CS, Jacob “Rezst” Hemming.

Ciaran “biscu” King also left the project and has moved on to QuestionMark. PERPLEXITY are yet to fill his role and are searching for a coach in his absence after joining the core in 2021.

Both the new additions come off the back of a rather disappointing season with Soul’s Heart. Both linked up together in ESEA Advanced, but it didn’t quite go to plan. Soul’s Heart ended up losing their ESEA Advanced spot and subsequently disbanded. They will now look to rewrite their year as they join up with the undisputed best team in UK CS.

Neither of the newcomers is unfamiliar with winning UKIC Finals. Rezst won the inaugural title with K10, and dobbo won the next two seasons with The Neighbours and EXO Clan, respectively. In the two finals that dobbo won, both were actually against Rezst.

PERPLEXITY overhaul their roster with tons of experience with the hope of continuous progression. But this is the first is the end of a core spanning six years as Girafffe departs Extinct and arTisT for the first time since 2019. This marks the end of an era, but perhaps the beginning of a new one.

A new challenger seeks to dethrone PERPLEXITY, as QuestionMark, newly formed, crushed the open qualifier to qualify for UKIC Season 6: Division 1. Spearheaded by Owen “smooya” Butterfield, the accomplished Brit is joined by fellow countryman Marco “MMS” Salomone and James “bevve” Slinn. The roster is rounded out by a familiar name to UK CS, Robin “robiin” Sjögren, and a newcomer, Thomas “Thomas” Utting. This roster will be coached by biscu, who departs from the core of ALASKA for the first time in four years.

UKCSGO understands that this roster originally had Hristiyan “REDSTAR” Pironkov instead of Thomas as their fifth. He played in their opening three games of ESEA but has moved on to a new project. QuestionMark then used Lukas “FreeZe” Hegmannin place of REDSTAR. UKCSGO can confirm now that the dust has settled, Thomas will complete this roster for the upcoming season of UKIC Division 1 and future tournaments.

This is an incredibly stacked roster that will be devastating for any competitor in UKIC Division 1 as they feature two separate Major quarterfinalists with smooya and Thomas. The ceiling is unexplainably high for this project. The question is, will they reach their potential? Currently, they are looking like the strongest team to dethrone PERPLEXITY; nothing but a victory will satisfy this new team.

bevve has already won two UKIC Finals, one alongside Thomas. He will be seeking to add more titles to his tally.

Looking to prove a point

Last season, UKCSGO listed 8Sins as favourites alongside ALASKA, and they stepped up to the plate. Making the Grand Finals in both LANs this year, they proved why they were seen as a favourite.

However, with QuestionMark joining the action and 8Sins being unsuccessful in both Grand Finals attempts, can they do it again?

As previously mentioned, 8Sins have had an unbelievable 2025, securing themselves as the second-best team in UK CS. Making the Grand Finals at EPIC.LAN 44 and UKIC Season 5 Division 1. In two nail-biting Finals, 8Sins unfortunately came away from both unsuccessful.

But there will be one thing benefiting them heading into Season 6: they haven’t made any roster changes and will be looking to build on their successes.

The big question of 8Sins is, are they going to be able to finally best PERPLEXITY, and will they be able to contend with a terrifying QuestionMark?

At the end of last season, TLR went their separate ways with its roster. This change can be linked to the team’s underperformance at both EPIC.LAN and UKIC Season 5 Division 1.

This roster included Fraser “frazehh” Sollom and Connor “Bigun007” Suddons, and despite just parting ways with the organisation, they returned with a fresh new roster.

Rhys “Rhys” Stumbles and Isaac “Isaac” Patto join from Glitchtech, who were relegated from UKIC Division 1. Both have played with Dripmen before – Rhys in 2022 and Isaac in 2023. The fifth spot goes to Joseph “godkU” Fowkes, who has recently plied his trade with Annex Esports as an in-game leader; that roster recently disbanded despite an unbeaten season in UKIC Division 2. This is the first time that godkU will join this band of brothers on the server.

Interestingly, in this new project, long-time IGL godkU will be taking a step back as frazehh maintains captaincy.

This roster is packed with players who have all come off some poor stints with their respective rosters. However, it is undeniable how good these players can be, and subsequently how good this roster can be if it all clicks.

UKCSGO listed this organisation’s previous interaction in the same category as they are now. Last season, they did not prove anything as they failed to make ESEA Main playoffs, and most importantly, UKIC Division 1 playoffs. Alongside this, they suffered a poor performance at EPIC.LAN 44 finishing 7th – 8th.

This new sharp roster infusing parts from three past projects, the stage is set for them to prove they still can battle in the top leagues of UK CS.

Unfortunately, this roster will have to play with either Kirk “Tadpole” Stephens or Joshua “JAUSTERE” Philpott for the first four games before godkU will be able to participate. This is because they have changed the core from their previous season.

Dark horses

Maybe seen as an odd choice to put as dark horses, 28AvgAge could pack a punch this season. As shown in their name, this squad might not be spring chickens, but combined, they have an enormous amount of experience.

28AvgAge consists of the Belfast Storm core that parted ways with the organisation earlier this month, as they wanted to take a step back and play as a mix. The remaining players are Connor “Finui” Finucane, Joe “Dexie” Demmon and Seth “Xetherato” Jackson. They will be reunited with an old face, Luke “Nem” Mear, who had just announced his retirement. This brings back the core of players who made the Finals of UKIC Season 4. Staying on brand, the final piece to the puzzle is a name that hasn’t been heard for a while, Harry “Nukeddog” Jenkins.

Nukeddog has played at the top of UK CS, but it was five years ago. This roster is ultimately quite laid back, but can cause some serious upsets with the names on board. If teams underestimate them, they could be making a deep run in the playoffs.

Half Natty qualifies for UKIC Season 6: Division 1 after dismantling their opposition in Division 2 last season. This marks the first time a university team has made it to the highest level in UK CS.

The main reason for this incredible form is because the Lancaster University squad have Jack “Gizmy” von Spreckelsen and Oliver “leaf” Jackson under their ranks. This massively bolstered their roster and made them unstoppable over the last few seasons in the Collegiate Divisions, and now they will test their mettle against the top teams in UK CS.

There are a few interesting roster changes for this team heading into Season 6, as they have added AWPer Tobias “shyyne” Sæther onto the roster and listed Tree60, the reigning UKIC Champion as their sub.

Therefore, due to this roster being incredibly stacked, you can never count them out, as they could prove to be very difficult to deal with.

Middle of the pack

Glitchtech comes into Season 6 of UKIC, taking over ANTARTICA’s UKIC Division 1 spot. This is an international roster featuring Ehren “Ehgren” Osborne and Joe “joeski” Holmes, who previously played under the ANTARTICA banner. The current Glitchtech roster only has one player eligible to play in UKIC, Ehgren. So even if this is an ESEA Advanced team that is expected to do well internationally, playing in UKIC will be a bit more loose.

Glitchtech will participate, but not with only the core of their main team. In the first four games, they will have to use Fizan “Fizzy” Anjum as they are changing the core of the team. Ehgren and joeski will be the consistent players from the main team playing in UKIC as they will be using Zaid “Vonex” Almayali as their third UK player, and one rotating player from the main team.

After the first four games, they will sub fizzy out for another UK player.

Due to all of these circumstances, even if there are some good players still on the server, it is hard to expect anything from Glitchtech as their focus is going to be on ESEA Advanced rather than UKIC.

After making a semi-final run in the previous season of UKIC Division 1, Team NOSTALGIA dropped their team. Continuing to play under the banner OKSUCC, Kyle “swaggy” Wilson will once again be fielding a team to participate in the top leagues of UK CS.

This squad features the usual names swaggy rings in to play in UK CS, but a newcomer by the name Ayoub “xNave” Arbid could be the unknown edge they need. xNave comes in as a replacement for Jérémy “jeyN” Nguyen. OKSUCC will be using their old coach, Alexander “relax” Löfqvist, as a sub, and UKCSGO understands the team will be a rotating roster depending on who can play.

This is a team that is not going to be putting much time into the game, but individually, is arguably one of the best teams in the league. Therefore, even though they might not replicate their semi-final run from the previous season, this team should certainly be making the playoffs. The lack of practice will hold them back from competing at the top. Individual skill should be able to take them to the playoffs, but that is when they will plateau.

The second team promoted from Division 2 is Panic at the Veto. This roster has had an insane amount of instability since their qualification, thus, the expectation for them this season is to just see if they can stabilise.

After promotion to Division 1, the team was formally known as XRAVEL and departed the organisation as they couldn’t sustain fielding a team anymore.

Firstly, the roster made two roster changes, switching Alex “Frosty” Foster and Spiritfox for Neo “Neo” Hatch and zenta. However, this didn’t last long as Jared left the team and has now linked up with ex-Belfast Storm duo Shane “Shane” McGlinchey and Lucian “devi” Manolache. Despite not IGLing on Belfast Storm, Shane will be going back to his usual role as he takes up the captaincy.

For the first four games of the season, they will be using Frosty and Logiks as they are changing the core from last season. After the first four games, they will then be bringing in Kiyoshi, who will stay as a permanent member of the roster. The troubles haven’t stopped for Panic at the Veto, as they are still on the lookout for an AWPer to complete their project.

Panic at the Veto is currently not competing in ESEA either as, because they completely changed their team after the ESEA Season had started, it was too late to add people to the roster, and they gave up on it. Therefore, this team will be looking to stabilise in this season of UKIC Division 1, build up their team and then become a force to be reckoned with next season.

The third and final team to qualify from Division 2 is VIVID, but a very different roster than what qualified. VIVID are taking over Annex’s spot, with only Rhyza carrying over from last season.

Annex disbanded amidst their UKIC Season 5 Division 2 playoffs run, with players going their separate ways. Most notably, godkU left to join the new TLR project.

Because there is a major changeover, godkU and Alibond will have to play the first four games with VIVID as they need to create a new core for this spot. After the first four games, godkU will then go and play with his team, The Last Resort. Unfortunately, their woes don’t stop there, as they need a minimum of two players from the previous season’s core to play the majority of the games in a season. Therefore, they will need to play with Alibond for an extra game.

After the five games have been played, VIVID will then be able to field their full roster: Proq,  James “Menace” Hughes, Rhyza, Archithon and Urwun.

This new project, comprised of Proq and Architon from the last VIVID team, will have their work cut out for them. It is going to be seriously hard for this team to hold onto their Division 1 spot in Season 6, as they will only be able to play with the full lineup for four games. But, if they can save their spot, then they are in a similar position as Panic at the Veto, where they can try and build for Season 7.

This will also be the first time the core of these players will compete in the top UK CS league. This would already prove to be difficult for an inexperienced team to compete against the best in the region, but their case is accentuated by their roster difficulties. The hope is that they can rely on the firepower and experience of Menace and Rhyza.

This team will also be taking over Annex’s old ESEA Main spot after Proq and Archithon failed to save their ESEA Main spot last season.

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