There have been few moments in esports that have taken my breath away. Raisy’s win at the Italian Esports Open 2018 was definitely one of those moments. Raisy had an incredible tournament, running the gambit of competitive Quake and proving his #1 Ladder Ranking once and for all. Here’s his journey.

It all started with his first match against Cypher.

Game 3: Raisy vs Cypher
Champion Draft
Raisy: Map 1: BJ, Keel, Death Knight Map 2: BJ, Nyx, Ranger
Cypher: Map 1: Ranger, BJ, Death Knight Map 2: BJ, Strogg, Ranger
Bans
Raisy: Galena
Cypher: Clutch
Maps
Raisy: Vale of Pnath
Cypher: Corrupted Keep
Tiebreaker: Molten Falls

Raisy Clutches out Round 1 3-1 with Keel and BJ. He also dominates Round 2 with some stellar LG kills 3-1, and closes out the first map with a 3-0 sweep in Round 3.

Map 2 was a hard start for Raisy, with Cypher taking Round 1, but Raisy answered with a Round 2 W, as well as a 3-0 Round 3. Round 4 was insane for Raisy, but Cypher clutched up and got his first round win. Round 5 was revenge for that clutch, with Raisy sweeping 3-0, and moving into the winners bracket! He faces Cooller next.

Raisy kept up his dominance against Quake legend Cooller.

Game 5: Raisy vs Cooller
Champion Draft
Raisy: Map 1: BJ, Galena, Clutch Map 2: BJ, Clutch, Galena
Cooller: Map 1: Ranger, BJ, Galena Map 2: Ranger, BJ, Galena
Bans
Raisy: Death Knight
Cooller: Keel
Maps
Raisy: Corrupted Keep
Cooller: Ruins of Sarnath
Tiebreaker: Blood Run

Map 1, Corrupted Keep. Raisy shows UP, with super defensive Galena and aggressive Clutch play, winning Round 1 3-1. Cooller responds with a 3-1 round win. But, Raisy wins out 3-0 in Round 3. Round 4 is super close, but Cooller wins 3-2. However, Raisy wins Round 5 and the map 3-0.

Map 2. Ruins of Sarnath. Round 1 goes to Raisy 3-2. Raisy pulled off a HUGE win, winning the map 3-1, and the series 2-0. He moves into the Group A Finals!

Raisy’s final match was a rematch against Cypher, and he started with a map advantage. Things started to go south, with Cypher winning Corrupted Keep and Blood Covenant, but Raisy pulled ahead, winning Vale of Pnath and Blood Run, winning Blood Run with a last second chase! He moved on to the Playoffs!

When Day 2 came, Raisy faced off against k1llsen.

Game 6: Raisy vs k1llsen
Champion Draft
Raisy: Map 1: Nyx, BJ, Ranger Map 2: BJ, Galena, Keel Map 3: Ranger, BJ, Galena
k1llsen: Map 1: Nyx, BJ, Ranger Map 2: BJ, Galena, Ranger Map 3: Ranger, BJ, Galena
Bans
Raisy: Visor
k1llsen: Clutch

Maps
Raisy: Vale of Pnath
k1llsen: Blood Covenant
Tiebreaker: Corrupted Keep

Map 1 of Finals Day, on Blood Covenant. Raisy shows dominance in Round 1, sweeping k1llsen 3-0. However, k1llsen shows up in Round 2, tying it up 1-1. Round 3 was long, with no kills going into Sudden Death, but Raisy secured the kill with his duel-wield LG skills, leading 2-1. k1llsen answered back, winning Round 4 3-1, and forcing Round 5. Round 5 went into Sudden Death again, bit k1llsen closes it out, winning the round and the map 1-0.
Map 2 is on Raisy’s pick, Vale of Pnath. Round 1 went to k1llsen, but Raisy shut him out 3-0 in Round 2. k1llsen got ahead 1-2 with a Round 3 win.

Raisy came back, tying the map 2-2 and forcing Round 5. But, Raisy had the last laugh, 3-0ing k1llsen and forcing the tiebreaker map.

Map 3, Corrupted Keep. k1llsen takes Round 1 3-1, as well as Round 2 3-0. However, Raisy comes out swinging 3-0 on Round 3. But sadly, k1llsen comes out in Round 4 3-1, guaranteeing Top 3.

Raisy went into the Losers Bracket, facing Clawz in the first Losers round, a repeat of the ESWC 2018 Finals. Raisy bested the fellow Myztro member 2-0, winning Awoken 3-0 and Corrupted Keep 3-2. He faced k1llsen again in the Losers Finals. It started out looking like k1llsen would best Raisy again, winning Blood Covenant 3-2, but Raisy sought revenge. He got just that, winning Corrupted Keep 3-2 and Vale of Pnath 3-1, to face Rapha in the Grand Finals.

Here’s where things got magical. Raisy vs Rapha was set to be an interesting series, and an interesting series it was.

Game 10: Raisy vs Rapha GRAND FINALS (BO3 1)
Champion Draft
Raisy: Map 1: BJ, Keel, Galena Map 2: Galena, BJ, Keel Map 3: BJ, Galena, Keel
Rapha: Map 1: BJ, Keel, Galena Map 2: Galena, BJ, Death Knight Map 3: BJ, Visor, Galena
Bans
Raisy: Ranger
Rapha: Clutch

Maps
Raisy: Corrupted Keep
Rapha: Vale of Pnath
Tiebreaker: Ruins of Sarnath

Grand Finals Time. Let’s go.

Map 1 is Vale of Pnath. Rapha gets 2 kills in the first 30 seconds, but Raisy answers back with 2 frags of his own. Rapha won the round 3-2. Rapha pulls out Round 2 from Raisy 3-0. But, Raisy SWEPT Round 3 3-0. Raisy held on, but Rapha won Round 4 and the series 3-2.

Map 2, Corrupted Keep. Raisy BUSTS out Round 1, beating Rapha 3-2. Rapha came back in Round 2, 3-1. Raisy got to Map Point in Round 3, 3-1. Raisy closes out “Raisy’s Keep” 3-1, and ties up the match score 1-1.

Map 3, Ruins of Sarnath. Rapha sweeps Round 1, 3-0. Raisy sweeps Round 2 3-0, with a SICK rail kill on Rapha. Raisy sweeps AGAIN in Round 3, 3-0, and hits Map Point. And that, he did. In classic Raisy fashion, he sweeps and wins the series, resetting the bracket!

Game 11: Raisy vs Rapha GRAND FINALS (BO3 2)
Champion Draft
Raisy: Map 1: BJ, Galena, Keel Map 2: Galena, BJ, Keel
Rapha: Map 1: BJ, Galena, Visor Map 2: Galena, BJ, Keel
Bans
Raisy: Ranger
Rapha: Clutch

Maps
Raisy: Ruins of Sarnath
Rapha: Vale of Pnath
Tiebreaker:

This is it. Whoever wins here, wins the tournament.

Map 1. Ruins of Sarnath. Raisy looks dominant in Round 1, sweeping Rapha 3-0. Raisy pushes Map Point, 2-1 in Round 2. Rapha gets on the board with a 3-0 Round 3 scoreline. Raisy WIPES Rapha 3-0 in Round 4, and gets to Match Point!

Map 2. Vale of Pnath. This is it. Rapha flexes on Raisy, sweeping Round 1 3-0. But Raisy sweeps Rapha in Round 2 3-0, tying the map up 1-1. Rapha again sweeps Raisy in Round 3 3-0. a THRILLING Round 4 saw a Sudden Death and Raisy winning 3-2. Round 5 was the MOST TENSE game I’ve ever seen. The match went 2-2 Sudden Death, but he clutched the last kill, defeating Rapha and winning the Italian Esports Open 2018!!

And, that was it. Raisy won. He lifted the trophy, with one fist in the air, silently telling everyone in the Quake community that he had done it. He had defeated Rapha. He was the new king.

After the tournament, Raisy took to Twitter to thank his fans, his family, Myztro, ZOWIE, GamersApparel, Twitch, and his girlfriend Rawa for the support after his win.

We congratulate Raisy in his awesome and historic win at the Italian Esports Open. We’ll see him and Clawz back in action for Dreamhack Winter in Jönköping, Sweden, from November 30th- December 2nd, 2018.