After an amazing first year in the EU LCS, Team Vitality’s Daniele “Jiizuke” di Mauro is heading to All-Stars 2018.
Happy to announce that I have been invited by Riot to partecipate in All-Star 2018.
See you there ;3 #AllStar2018 😍— Daniele Di Mauro (@JiizukeLoL) November 12, 2018
The All-Star votes would be pretty lopsided for the EU LCS, with Fnatic’s Rasmus “Caps” Winther and Martin “Rekkles” Larsson leading the way. Caps would capture almost 25% of votes, while Rekkles would trail behind with 17.7%. However, Rekkles would decline his invitation, meaning that Mads “Broxah” Brock-Pedersen would take his place. Jiizuke would finish in fourth place, with around 8% of the fan votes.
Even though Jiizuke did not get many of the fan votes, it doesn’t mean that he is any less deserving. In fact, he may the most deserving player next to the Fnatic boys, due to his success this year. The outspoken mid laner would accomplish plenty, and in his first full year in the EU LCS. His team, Team Vitality, has much to build upon for the upcoming season.
A Great 2018 for Jiizuke
This year, Jiizuke would help lead a plethora of rookies to a very good showing in Europe. In the Spring Split, they would finish in fourth place during the regular season, which is impressive considering their inexperience as a team. They would, unfortunately, lose to Splyce in a five-game series, but this would only make them hungrier. The next season, Vitality would explode onto the scene, taking second place in the regular season. They would eventually take the third place game against Misfits, earning them enough championship points to send them to Worlds.
Worlds 2018 would be the first appearance for Vitality at the prestigious tournament. To many European fans’ dismay, they would draw into the supposed Group of Death consisting of Royal Never Give Up, Gen.G, and Cloud9. No one would expect the performance that the Western teams would show that week. Instead of the group being a stomp, Team Vitality and Cloud9 would stun both RNG and Gen.G.
Many people consider Team Vitality’s performance eye-opening, as they would exemplify aggression that would keep the Eastern teams at bay. Too many Western teams would copy Korean playstyles; Team Vitality showed that if you play your own brand of League, you can win too. They would manage to take down Royal Never Give Up and even eliminated Gen.G from playoff contention. Although they would end up losing to North America’s Cloud9, their passion to win will be remembered. Also, Jiizuke would play an incredible day of games on the final day of groups. His play was polarizing for his team, as he would constantly dive into the backline and kill anyone he wanted.
Final Thoughts
All in all, Jiizuke is very deserving of this recognition as a European All-Star. Additionally, he is only 22-years-old and has plenty of potential to grow. He could become one of the best mid laners in the West, given enough time and experience. It will be exciting to watch Jiizuke play at All-Stars, where he can finally show off more of that aggressive, fun playstyle that we know he prefers. One event that I think he will excel at is the 1v1 tournament, as he has a penchant for flashy plays. Look out for Jiizuke come this December!
What are your thoughts on Jiizuke joining All-Stars this year? Let us know what you think in the comments below! If you want more EU LCS coverage, check us out here!
