The top five moments in UK CS history

BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024 is set to take place in London. The first tier-one CS event to do so since ECS Season 8 Finals way back in 2019.

Not only that, but it will also be the first CS2 event to take place on Great British shores.

So, with that in mind, we thought it would be appropriate in the run-up to the event to take a walk down memory lane and take a look at some of the finest moments in the history of UK Counter-Strike.

Photo: Michal Konkol

Into the Breach at the BLAST.tv Paris Major

To a lot of fans and experts, UK CS was a bit of a meme all throughout the life cycle of CS:GO. So it's fitting they'll finally got something to shout about right at the end.

It was a huge thing when Into the Breach made it to the RMR for the BLAST.tv Paris Major, even bigger when they then beat Virtus.pro at the event,. But the unthinkable happened when they actually qualified for the Major.

Not just that, but at the Major itself they went all the way to the Champions Stage, beating FaZe and the mezii-led fnatic during the Legends Stage.

They would eventually fall to Vitality in the quarter-finals, but CYPHER, Thomas, and volt becoming the first UK core to make it to a Major and playing in front of fans in the Accor Arena is something none of those fans will ever forget.

dephh and smooya become the first UK players to play at a Major

Now let's go a little further down memory lane to the UK's very own CS:GO Major, the FACEIT London Major 2018.

Back then, Thomas was only just getting his start on Endpoint, and no one had yet heard of CYPHER or volt, but that didn't mean the UK wouldn't have anyone to cheer for at the Major.

In 2018, smooya was the brightest hope that the UK had in years.

At that time playing for BIG, he once appeared destined to have a long career at the top. On the more experienced end of the spectrum was dephh, a mainstay of Complexity who had become a key component of a stable NA CS roster.

Together, they became the first UK players to ever play at a CS:GO Major, and together, despite being underdogs, they made it all the way to the playoffs just like ITB would years later.

Sadly, both teams fell in the quarter-finals just like ITB would, but you'll still be able to find UK fans and BIG fans connecting today over chants of "SMOOOOOOOOYAAAAAA"

Birmingham Salvo win CGS World Final 2008

How about we go even further back?

Back to a time when no one had even heard of Global Offensive, back to a time when CS:S and CS 1.6 were both vying to be the top dog of the Counter-Strike world.

At the centre of Source was CGS, the Championship Gaming Series, an endeavour to bring esports away from the internet and closer to traditional media with a traditional sports-based format and TV broadcasting.

CGS gave UK CS the greatest moment in its history, a win for Birmingham Salvo at CGS World Final 2008.

The team, which contained Mangiacapra, pt, wilzOOO, wEZ, and the legendary UK player RattlesnK, defeated San Francisco Optx, a team containing mOE, in the final.

Spare a thought for HenryG, though, his London Mint team was denied a place at the World Final by Fifflaren's Berlin Allianz.

K10 win UKIC League Season 1

When the ESL National Championships were discontinued and ESL Premiership sadly went as part of that, all of that newfound optimism as a result of ITB's achievements at the BLAST.tv Paris Major washed away.

However, out of the darkness, Endpoint shone a light upon their region and birthed the UKIC League, a new hope for grassroots UK teams to stake a claim for themselves as the greatest team in Britain.

The first season contained four teams: Viperio, Verdant, DuckDuckGOOSE, and K10.

It was won by the final one of those teams, K10, a new organisation making a debut with their roster who returned from a loss to Verdant to take home the crown.

Photo: Freddie "GrimyRannarr" Pritchard/UKCSGO

BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024

Okay, okay, now we know this hasn't happened yet, but this event is a great step forward for UK CS.

UK CS is in a better place now than it has been for years, and one of it's current best player, mezii, will be present at the event for Vitality.

The Birmingham-born star has already inspired a generation of players, but how many more will he inspire when he fights for a tier-one trophy in his own country? How many more will he inspire if he wins it?

The UK has always been a hotbed of Counter-Strike, with tier-one events happening there every year.

BLAST Premier Spring Final 2024 could be the start of something very special.