Lucca, the winner's own story: DonCapucino, Irelia and an 11-0-2 run
Photo: DonCapucino (@FrancescoTirafo).
He won the Showdown Series in Lucca ahead of 614 entrants without losing a single match: 11 wins, 2 draws, no losses. The day after, DonCapucino told the whole run round by round on X, and the story is worth as much as the trophy: an Irelia list picked because it works well on the draw, and a pile of lost dice rolls.
The runTwo days, thirteen rounds
Day one ended 6-0 through half the metagame: Jayce and Aurora, Kennen, Ornn, Vex in a feature match, Diana, Ornn again. Day two brought wins over Kha'Zix and Rengar, then draws against Kennen and Lucian, closing the Swiss second at 8-0-2.
The top cut went clean: Kha'Zix in the quarters (2-1, feature match), Rengar in the semi (2-0), Diana in the final (2-1). Thirteen rounds in total, two draws in the whole event.
- Day 1 — Jayce Aurora 2-1 · Kennen 2-1 · Ornn 2-0 · Vex 2-1 · Diana 2-0 · Ornn 2-1
- Day 2 — Kha'Zix 2-1 · Rengar 2-0 · Kennen draw · Lucian draw
- Top cut — Kha'Zix 2-1 · Rengar 2-0 · Diana 2-1
The callThe dice never turned, the list did
"I won very few dice rolls, but luckily I was playing a list that benefits from going second": that line explains the tournament better than any table. In a format where going first is almost always an edge, bringing a deck that does not mind the draw turns bad luck into a detail. The deck is Irelia, and a full deck profile is on the way from the player himself.
The groupNobody gets there alone
In his message the thank-yous take more room than the trophy: the testing group named one by one, and krowzTCG, the Barcelona meeting where the Irelia story started, guides and knowledge handed over. One of those names is in the standings too: aduig33 finished sixth at the same event, proof that the preparation was shared.
Next stop is already set: Stuttgart.
The point he never took
Also before Lucca, at a Regional, he lived the classic long-tournament nightmare: he forgot the trigger on The Arena's Greatest, the battlefield that hands a point to each player at the start of their first Beginning Phase. He started that game a point down, entirely on himself. In his own words, he wanted to bury himself.
Before Irelia there was Jhin, and a «Te sparo» at the local
The story is from months ago, long before Lucca. He had bought the guide of the best Jhin around, showed up at a store tournament with that deck and shouted «Te sparo» — "I'll shoot you" — on every activation. His finish did not make history, the line did.
He is the same guy who, after winning in front of 614 people, spent half of his message thanking the people who helped him. Fair, friendly, always smiling, and happy to sign a card if you ask: the opposite of the player who wins one game and starts acting big.
Official standings on UVS Games ↗
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