What an unbelievable weekend. When Akali got teased way back in set 2, my partner @ayukuraaa jokingly told me that I'd have to win the Best Of for her when she comes out. We joked about it over the months leading up to Vendetta, but one night she said "You know... it really would mean so much to me if you won the Best Of Akali. You don't even have to actually win it, but I want to see you try your hardest to". I decided at that moment I would win it no matter what. Once Akali's whole package was teased, I was in the lab for hours every day. The early renditions were pretty horrible ngl but I was motivated as hell to solve the deck. Ayu constantly encouraged me to keep testing and practicing more Riftbound over spending quality time together, which was genuinely painful at times, but it ultimately made the difference. I felt confident going into the RQ (as evident by my numerous tweets) but I never thought it would take me this far. I had a 70%+ win rate in my internal testing but there was always that little voice in my head that casted doubt on the deck I built and my own skill. Plenty of people told me my deck was clunky, un-optimal, and played too many weird/bad cards. However, I knew it was working for me, so I stuck with my gut (and I'm so glad I did). Fast forward to when I was setting up for my top 8 match on stage, Ayu came by to wave to me, and I had to quickly message her to leave because I was tearing up and getting emotionally overwhelmed by simply looking at her. Being reminded of her sacrifice and support and seeing it pay off in real time was just too much for me to handle. Anyways, I'm super happy I was able to lock in for the last few matches and take it home. My goal for this event (besides the Best Of) was top 8, but winning it all was a nice cherry on top of course x) I wanted to give a special shout out to: @GhaelWindss and my locals for cooking me every skirmish @Linsanitylol, @KitzuoLoL, @OnlyRengar for testing with me everyday and helping me hone my list and of course Ayu for supporting me every step of the way ❤️