Higgins switched cues yet again before the 2013 UK Championship, but continued to struggle in his matches, calling his poor form "soul-destroying." He lost 3–6 to Maguire in the last 16. Referring to Higgins's frequent changes of cue, 1986 World Champion and television commentator Joe Johnson alleged that Higgins was "searching for something that is not there" and "looking for someone or something to blame" for his poor form. Higgins retaliated by claiming that players in Johnson's era had struggled to make breaks of 30 or 40 on tables with much larger pockets, and by calling Johnson one of the sport's worst commentators. After the UK Championship, he slipped to number 12 in the world rankings, having failed to progress beyond the last 16 of any tournament since the Wuxi Classic in June.