Winners and losers of EPIC.LAN 44

EPIC.LAN 44 was another fantastic event for the UK scene, as is always the case. Many teams had their ups and their downs as the best of British Counter-Strike, with some Icelandic CS sprinkled in, fought for the coveted trophy in Kettering. Plenty of teams will walk away disappointed, whilst others will be proud and could walk out on the Sunday with their heads held high. Join us as we take a walk down memory lane and discuss who achieved success and who achieved naught.

The Winners

ALASKA: The champions

Calling ALASKA winners is an understatement. It’s tough to overstate ALASKA’s dominance over the UK scene. Lifting back to back to back EPIC.LAN trophies as a core and back-to-back UKIC champions, amongst many other trophies across 2024. Their domestic brilliance appears to have continued coming into 2025 after lifting the inaugural EPIC.LAN trophy of 2025.

One would be forgiven for thinking that ALASKA might struggle after losing such a talented player in the form of Remi “Diviiii” Alexandre. Luckily, Jamie “Tree60” Callan has stepped up to the plate with ease.

Across the roster, it was a story of different places in careers; Tree60 picked up his first ever EPIC.LAN trophy, likely the first of many, whilst Matas “Extinct” Strumila picked up his 10th. This trophy lift makes Extinct the winningest CS player at EPIC.LAN and trails four titles behind Joshua “RiSky” Hayward, a Starcraft II player, for the most decorated EPIC.LAN player of all time.

The victory in Kettering doesn’t come without a blemish this time, however. Unlike the previous 2 EPICs, ALASKA made a brief appearance in the lower bracket after a nail-biting series against 8Sins in the Upper Bracket Finals. This had them with their backs against the walls for the first time in a long time, but it didn’t matter in the slightest. A quick Sunday 9 am game saw ALASKA drop six rounds across two maps to CTRL ALT DEFEAT meaning the reigning champions arrived back where they belonged: in the Grand Finals.

The Grand Finals were not as quick and easy as ALASAKA had perhaps anticipated coming into the event. 8Sins gave ALASKA a run for their money with a thrilling three-map affair, with map three ending 13-11 in favour of the title favourites. You can read all about the Grand Final here.

The only other thing that may feel like a loss to ALASKA, aside from having to play one extra game, is that they currently lack an organisation to represent. This victory granted ALASKA a big boost in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), which now places them as the highest-ranked team in Europe without an organisation. This domestic success and now the potential for European success could be expanded upon if they were given the support to help them prosper.

8Sins: The redemption arc

Falling at the final hurdle is never a nice experience, and 8Sins going flawless beforehand will make the grand finals loss even more of a bitter pill to swallow. That being said, the fight they put up against ALASKA in the Grand Final and even beating them in the Upper Bracket Final is an accomplishment in and of itself.

A relatively poor run of form heading into EPIC.LAN also potentially tempered expectations within the 8Sins camp. Going 5-6 in ESEA Main and 1-3 in UKIC Div 1 probably wouldn’t inspire confidence in onlookers prior to the event. 8Sins defied the odds and disregarded that in its entirety as they make a flawless Upper Bracket run to the finals. The Upper Bracket Final, where 8Sins beat ALASKA in a three-map barn burner, was the highlight of the run.

8Sins will have come away on Sunday feeling disappointed with what transpired that afternoon because success was within touching distance. 8Sins at one stage were in the lead 11-10 on map 3 before ALASKA grabbed three rounds on the bounce to collect their trophy. Truthfully, 8Sins should hold their head high; the run they accomplished at this LAN is a run many can only dream of, capped off with delivering a fantastic grand final.

8Sins has another positive to take away from EPIC.LAN 44, aside from a boost in confidence and the prize pool they rightfully earned, owing to the changes Valve made on the evening of February 24th: 8Sins now have a VRS rank. Whilst it’s outside of the threshold to be considered for invites for tournaments, making finals at EPIC 44 also gives them wildcard status for tier 1 and tier 2 events, potentially getting them an invite to an international event in the future.

CTRL ALT DEFEAT: Against all the odds

Seeded seventh in the tournament; even a top-six finish for CTRL ALT DEFEAT (CAD) would have been punching above their weight. CAD defied expectations when they not only made t he HLTV stage but also won the lower bracket final against Dusty to push into the top three for the whole event.

Dusty made their way from Iceland and put down many teams expected to go far, such as Viperio Academy and Belfast Storm. Unfortunately, they didn’t have the strength to take down the CAD quintet. Dusty made CAD sweat a bit and managed to pick up their map pick of Nuke, but CAD cleaned house on the decider to earn a Lower Bracket Consolidation Final game against ALASKA.

ALASKA are a bear that’s proving impossible to tame, and for CAD, that was no different as they fell to the eventual victors 13-4 in both maps. This top-three finish was an impressive run in the best of circumstances, but CAD managed to push through even in the worst. With players from the team getting food poisoning and throwing up mid-BO3, they’d absolutely be forgiven for struggling to make a deep run, but against all odds, CAD pushed through to an incredible third-place finish.

Dusty: The international hopefuls

Dusty came into EPIC44 with a lot of pressure. The champions from EPIC.LAN 35 came in hoping to repeat the success they found in 2022. Being the only non-UK team at EPIC.LAN 44, their participation technically made EPIC 44 an international LAN. Reaching the top four defied many expectations. Seeded 11th, they spent the majority of their time at EPIC punching up against other members of the top 16 – and fixing their PCs.

Their group stage run nearly went off without a hitch, only dropping one game before reaching playoffs. Unfortunately, that one game that they did lose wasn’t a match they played. A theme throughout the rest of their weekend was pesky tech issues. An unfortunate series of blue screening PCs prevented Dusty from playing their penultimate group stage match against ALASKA and attempting to retain a clean sheet throughout the group stage.

This singular loss in the groups still granted them an Upper Bracket placement as they faced off against 8Sins. 8Sins demonstrated early on why they were destined to make the Grand Finals and quickly sent Dusty down to the lower bracket in a 2-0 affair. Very similar to what happened at EPIC.LAN 35

Looking to recrate the magic from three years ago, Dusty did their best work. The Icelandics ran the gauntlet on Saturday, playing four best-of-three matches. Disposing of Pigeons, Viperio Academy, and Belfast Storm, Dusty exemplified why they deserved a top four placement with an undeniably difficult lower bracket run.

Unfortunately, falling to CTRL ALT DEFEAT at the final hurdle on Saturday, Dusty took the CAD squad the distance in a nail-biting 2-1 loss ending around 11:30 pm. With over 13 hours of play on the Saturday, Dusty exhibited resolve and resilience like no other team and did Icelandic CS proud with their return to EPIC.LAN after three years.

Individual brilliance: Prime

The runners-up to EPIC.LAN 44, 8Sins demonstrated some of the best individual play of the tournament, especially Michael “Prime” John Fury. The rifler for 8Sins found himself back on stage at the Kettering Conference Centre. According to the stats sheet made by Finn “Mischief” Farrer, Prime posted a 1.309 rating across the entire tournament with a strong 1.26 HLTV rating in the Grand Final against ALASKA.

The Losers

REY Esports: tech problems and a default loss

A series of issues plagued the REY quintet. From choosing to play on 60fps to not delaying the official stream to getting defaulted for being late to the following match due to attempting to fix the aforementioned framerate issues, the 12th seed ended up missing out on playoffs with a 3-4 record in the group play.

Their opening game of the groups was plagued by Harry “Bog” Hopkins’ headset mic not working with the rest of the team communicating for him. REY still managed a positive start, winning 13-9 to debut at EPIC.LAN 44. REY’s winning ways would not last, however, as they proceeded to lose 13-11 to Adept Club, followed by a thrashing 13-3 by The Last Resort.

Things began to look up as they dispatched of BUHM 13-6 on stream. This streamed match was the one where Ollie “0llie” Froud played on 60fps to try and make life easier for production rather than delay the stream with a long tech pause. Unfortunately, their kindness wasn’t rewarded when the team they were due to play next took the default win due to REY’s lateness when attempting to fix the technical problems.

With morale at an all-time low, REY went on to play Joe “godku” Fowkes’ ProqFanClub roster. The close game could have gone either way, but the lack of motivation from REY, knowing they couldn’t make playoffs anymore, prevented them from making the push needed to win the Nuke game.

With their record now 2-4, they beat 99p 13-7 in their last game of the groups to end the day 3-4. With just 9 points, they ended the day with inters on their minds for the Saturday. Topping their inters group, REYhad their eyes set on an inters title; unfortunately, after topping their group, they fell 13-10 to the other top 16 seeded team in inters: VIVID UTD, the eventual winners, in the semifinals.

REY will come away from EPIC.LAN 44 disappointed and feeling hard done by from the tech issues to the default losses. After losing their ESEA Main spot, REY would have wanted to turn around their fortunes on LAN, but unfortunately, they came away from the event disappointed as their misfortune continued. They will now be fully focussed on their UKIC Division 2 campaign, where they have the aim of making it to UKIC Division 1 for next season.

VIVID UTD: Close, but no cigar

VIVID UTD were seeded 16th; technically, part of the cohort that should have been making playoffs, VIVID UTD ended up placing 17th in groups, meaning they missed out on playoffs by a singular placing. Sporting losses to the eventual third-placed team CTRL ALT DEFEAT and Ross Kemp Bald, it was the draw to Recognised Talent that ultimately cost them a playoff appearance.

Starting the day off strong on the Friday of games, they lost a singular round as they handed ‘Snooze’ their first loss. Their next game was the draw; this pivotal match was what ended up separating them between being grouped and playoffs. Any scoreline win over Recognised Talent would have placed them above the eventual 16th-placed team Submissive and Readable due to them having a worse round difference than VIVID UTD already.

The match after the draw saw them lose their first match of the groups too, falling 13-8 to Ross Kemp Bald, who were seeded 23rd. The rest of VIVID UTD’s group stage went relatively smoothly with comfortable wins over 30AVG and Crusaders before the loss to CAD and then ending the day with a 13-6 victory over Jahwick Jackals. This 4-2-1 record placed them as the highest-seeded team in inters.

Another team potentially disappointed with their group stage performance, they took to the inters tournament with a fire lit under them. Despite dropping a match to AMANEKMYSELF in groups, VIVID UTD proceeded to go flawless in inters and were eventually crowned champions with a 13-3 victory over Yappachino, a team that had plucked Lorenzo “LTH” Venanzi from Flowstate.

Ultimately, placing 17th when seeded 16th isn’t a failure in the slightest. There will always be a little bit of variance in seeding, and calling them losers feels harsh. That being said, with them so close to playoffs and missing out by a really small margin will have been a bitter pill to swallow for the Proq lead VIVID UTD. They also share similarities to REY as they lost their ESEA Main spot and would have loved to get a good result at EPIC.LAN to make up for that failure, but this was not attainable.

The Last Resort: Underperformance or an Unlucky Upset?

The Last Resort came into the tournament potentially with finals in their eyes. Seeded in third, they would have for sure been a favourite to make the HLTV stage. This was not meant to be as TLR ended up finishing in the top eight after falling to Belfast Storm and CTRL ALT DEFEAT.

A successful group stage run set TLR up nicely, coming into the playoffs. Losing just the one series to ANTARCTICA at the end of the Friday TLR were set to make the upper bracket run to attempt a high placing. This would not go according to plan as they fell in a barn burner of a series to Belfast Storm. The first map of the first round of playoffs would go to triple overtime in favour of the series favourites TLR. This is where Belfast Storm would do some of their best work, making the reverse sweep a reality and sending TLR down to the lower bracket.

TLR would be offered a bit of grace in their first game on Saturday. They would play and put an end to the Cinderella Ross Kemp Bald run. Disposing of the mix team 2-0, despite RKB’s best efforts on map one where they pushed double digits in rounds won, TLR dispatched of RKB 13-3 on map two to close the series out.

This victory against RKB serves as TLR’s only victory in the playoffs, as they went on to play against CTRL ALT DEFEAT next. TLR would attempt to put up a good fight, but none of the three maps were competitive. Despite winning one of the maps in the 2-1 loss, the series overall was nothing to write home about. The maps they lost were relatively quick: 13-6 and 13-7. The shining light was the 13-4 map two win, but ultimately, it was for naught as they lost the series and thereby got eliminated in the top 8 position.

With a team stacked with experience, and being seeded third, this was a massive blow to TLR. Alongside EPIC.LAN they miss out on UKIC Division 1 playoffs and ESEA Main playoffs even though they stared 8-2. They do keep their UKIC spot but this marks a rather uneventful season for TLR who had higher expectations.

Glitchtech: A glitch in the system or a more deep-rooted technical fault?

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 position, being defeated by Viperio Academy in the Lower Quarter Finals.

The draws for Glitchtech were tough in the group stage, despite the bye that was given due to seeding. A match-up against Dusty in the third round of the groups handed Glitchtech their only loss, but a Draw to Belfast storm to end the group stage sealed Glitchtechs’ fate. The 5-1-1 record was plenty to make playoffs but not enough to have the comfort zone of the upper bracket.

Their lower bracket campaign began with a match against the lowest-seeded team in the playoffs. Fortunately for Glitchtech, the pedigree they have shined against Submissive and Readable as they comfortably cruised past 13-3 and 13-3 for a 2-0 to start playoffs. This victory set Glitchtech up with a match against Viperio Academy to start the Saturday of play.

This is where Glitchtech met their makers, as Viperio Academy sent Glitchtech home with a 2-1 victory. Glitchtech started out on the correct foot as they won in the first map of the series 13-8. However, Viperio Academy dug deep as they came back to reverse sweep the series after a close 13-10 on map two and a comfortable 13-4 to end the series and Glitchtech’s hopes in Kettering.

Glitchtech came into EPIC 44 seeded fourth with high expectations after a solid start to UKIC going 2-0 up after the first week of play, but the early domestic success didn’t translate to a high placing at the Kettering LAN event. Their opening game of UKIC was a 13-3 victory over Viperio Academy, too. 

Since EPIC.LAN 44 Glitchtech announced the team’s departure from the organisation as the project ends. The team also forfeited their UKIC games.

An important announcement from us at Glitchtech. pic.twitter.com/scRTazK7HA

— Glitchtech Esports (@GlitchtechES) March 7, 2025

The real winners: UK CS 

Despite ALASKA’s dominance over the UK Scene EPIC.LAN continues to demonstrate the potential of UK CS. With teams like 8Sins and Belfast Storm improving on their placing from the last LAN and other teams like CTRL ALT DEFEAT making deep runs off the back of strong individuals, the UK scene showed it has the possibility to bounce back.

The positives of the UK scene have felt few and far between in recent times, with Endpoint pulling out and Into the Breach going under EPIC.LAN remains a beacon of hope. With record attendance at EPIC.LAN 43 and a similar turnout at 44, this LAN continues the fantastic attendance from the previous EPIC.LAN is stronger than ever.

With the top four of EPIC being placed on HLTV, EPIC could begin to attract some of the best world Counter-Strike has to offer in search of the all-important VRS points. Already teams like NIP are making the trip to America for Fragadelphia Vegas, so it isn’t out of the question to see high-level European teams potentially make the trip to Kettering for future EPIC.LANs. There has never been more potential for grassroots growth.

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