diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index cd064cc..a57631f 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -491,6 +491,17 @@ zombie (now an occasional opponent, `TUNE.racketEvery`, not the every-game fixtu
   `RETURNED`, `DOUBLE KILL`) is a footnote to something you already watched happen. Sharing the loud
   FACE with the milestone cards is right; sharing their SIZE made every footnote read as a milestone.
 
+## Session log: THE CUP CLIMBS — the shuffle retires too (2026-08-29, same day, STAGING ONLY)
+
+Oliver, straight after the draw screen went: "warum sollten wir noch mischen? wäre es nicht gut
+von leicht nach schwer zu spielen?" — right again. Without the screen the shuffle was invisible
+novelty, and a bad roll paired the strongest challenger with the one-game round one, INVERTING
+the curve the whole game is tuned around ("starts easy, gets harder" is literally test-pinned).
+`cupRoundsFor` is deterministic now: one band position per round, ascending, the final the top —
+and the setup's league panel is thereby an exact preview of the tournament order. `cupDraw`
+collapsed to a read; `cup.draw`/`cup.played` are gone (startMatch keeps the dead `draw` parameter
+for call-site arity only). The old draw test became the climb-order pin.
+
 ## Session log: THE DRAW SCREEN RETIRES (2026-08-29, same day, STAGING ONLY)
 
 Oliver: "the draw ist doch jetzt eigentlich obsolet, oder?" — yes. The screen was built for the
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index c52b6ef..45fade0 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -854,6 +854,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=329"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=330"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/beats.js b/src/beats.js
index e3a464a..ccfd48b 100644
--- a/src/beats.js
+++ b/src/beats.js
@@ -354,13 +354,12 @@ export function watchdog(dt) {
 // the match mode ends. Regicide is inherited for free: smashing the ball into the body still wounds
 // it, and killing it outright wins the game early (killZombie fires resolveInterlude('P'), which
 // lands in matchGameWon via the empty-court check).
-// `draw` is an optional pre-settled list of rungs, one per cup round — null (the normal case
-// since the bracket screen was deleted, 2026-08-29) means "roll each round as it comes". The
-// parameter stays: the suite uses it to pin the validation below.
 // `train` (2026-08-28) is a RUNG NUMBER and turns the run into the TRAINING COURT: that one
 // opponent, one game at a time, nothing banked. The ladder is parked — d.opp never advances, a
 // felled body walks straight back on, and bleeding out costs a modal instead of the run. All of
 // it rides the ordinary match machinery behind the d.train flag; see matchGameWon / matchPoint.
+// `draw` is DEAD weight kept only for call-site arity — the cup runs easy to hard now
+// (cupRoundsFor is deterministic, 2026-08-29) and nothing reads it.
 export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
   if (G.interlude || G.horde || G.bossFight || G.drill || G.match || G.bench || G.net) return false;
   // THE LEAGUES: the profile's league is the world (band, pace tier, court — see PROJECT.md).
@@ -376,7 +375,7 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
   // on (a rung DRAWN from the round's band — cupDraw sets d.opp, so every ladder dial downstream
   // scales off the drawn rung untouched), how deep the body's pool is (matchOpponent multiplies
   // by the round's `need`), and where a won game goes (cupGameWon). See config.cupRoundsFor.
-  if (cup) { G.match.cup = { round: 0, g: 0, draw: draw || null, rounds: cupRoundsFor(G.league) }; cupDraw(); }
+  if (cup) { G.match.cup = { round: 0, g: 0, rounds: cupRoundsFor(G.league) }; cupDraw(); }
   G.matchFall = null;
   G.hp = G.hpMax = TUNE.matchPlayerHp;  // a real match is longer than four mistakes — the gore
                                         // mode's 4 was "too weak" here, felt not calculated
@@ -412,25 +411,12 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
   return true;
 }
 
-// The round's rung, drawn from its band. d.opp carries it so matchFoe, the ladder speed dials and
-// the felled arithmetic all read the drawn rung with no cup-awareness of their own.
-// A PASSED DRAW IS THE DRAW THAT IS PLAYED (it once arrived from the bracket screen; the suite
-// still passes one) — this reads it off rather than rolling again.
-// Guarded on the band all the same: a saved or hand-passed draw that names a rung this round does
-// not contain falls back to an honest roll rather than dealing the champion in round one.
+// The round's opponent. No draw and no roll any more: the rounds ARE the band, ascending, so
+// this simply reads the round's one position off (cupRoundsFor carries the order). d.opp carries
+// it so matchFoe, the ladder speed dials and the felled arithmetic stay cup-unaware.
 function cupDraw() {
-  const cup = G.match.cup, R = cup.rounds[cup.round];
-  const drawn = cup.draw && cup.draw[cup.round];
-  // WITHOUT REPLACEMENT: a league band is 3-4 rungs and every non-final round carries the whole
-  // sub-band, so the run remembers who has already fallen (cup.played) and never deals a body
-  // twice — a repeat would read as the bracket screen lying. The final's band is one rung and
-  // sails through untouched.
-  cup.played = cup.played || [];
-  const pool = R.band.filter(r => !cup.played.includes(r));
-  cup.rung = R.band.includes(drawn) && !cup.played.includes(drawn) ? drawn
-    : (pool.length ? pool : R.band)[Math.floor(Math.random() * (pool.length ? pool : R.band).length)];
-  cup.played.push(cup.rung);
-  G.match.opp = cup.rung;
+  const cup = G.match.cup;
+  G.match.opp = cup.rung = cup.rounds[cup.round].band[0];
 }
 
 // Every point starts like a real one: the server behind his line (setupPoint's tennis branch) and
diff --git a/src/config.js b/src/config.js
index 49d7f51..a362988 100644
--- a/src/config.js
+++ b/src/config.js
@@ -917,22 +917,22 @@ export const leagueOf = lg => LEAGUES[Math.min(LEAGUES.length, Math.max(1, lg |
 export const leagueOfRung = n => LEAGUES.find(l => n <= l.band[1]) || LEAGUES[LEAGUES.length - 1];
 
 // The tournament, PER LEAGUE. Same shape CUP_ROUNDS always had (name/band/need) — round one is a
-// single game so a run opens fast, and the drawn body's pool still scales with `need`
-// (matchOpponent). The rounds ride ON the cup object (beats.startMatch stamps them), so every
-// consumer reads cup.rounds and the full-ladder constant is gone.
-// A league band is 3-4 rungs, so the draw is WITHOUT REPLACEMENT: every non-final round carries
-// the whole sub-band and the run deals each body at most once (cup.played / buildBracket's used
-// set), the final is always the band's top rung — "only the finale is settled", still. A 4-rung
-// league is four rounds (a shuffle of three challengers), a 3-rung league is three.
+// single game so a run opens fast, and the body's pool still scales with `need` (matchOpponent).
+// The rounds ride ON the cup object (beats.startMatch stamps them).
+// EASY TO HARD, DETERMINISTIC (2026-08-29, Oliver: "warum sollten wir noch mischen?"): each round
+// is exactly one position of the band, ascending, the final the band's top. The shuffle was the
+// deleted draw screen's ceremony — without the screen it only ever risked pairing the strongest
+// challenger with the shortest round, inverting the curve the whole game is tuned around. The
+// setup's league panel is now, incidentally, an exact preview of the tournament order.
 export const cupRoundsFor = lg => {
   const [lo, hi] = leagueOf(lg).band;
-  const open = [];
-  for (let r = lo; r < hi; r++) open.push(r);
-  const names = open.length >= 3 ? ['ROUND ONE', 'QUARTER-FINAL', 'SEMI-FINAL']
-                                 : ['ROUND ONE', 'SEMI-FINAL'];
-  return open.map((_, i) => ({ name: names[i] || 'ROUND ' + (i + 1), band: open.slice(),
-                               need: i ? 2 : 1 }))
-    .concat([{ name: 'THE FINAL', band: [hi], need: 2 }]);
+  const names = hi - lo >= 3 ? ['ROUND ONE', 'QUARTER-FINAL', 'SEMI-FINAL']
+                             : ['ROUND ONE', 'SEMI-FINAL'];
+  const rounds = [];
+  for (let r = lo; r < hi; r++)
+    rounds.push({ name: names[rounds.length] || 'ROUND ' + (rounds.length + 1),
+                  band: [r], need: rounds.length ? 2 : 1 });
+  return rounds.concat([{ name: 'THE FINAL', band: [hi], need: 2 }]);
 };
 
 export const TOURS = [
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 8a1422c..5e7efa7 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -1233,29 +1233,22 @@ test('THE TOURNAMENT: bands draw, bodies deepen, rounds hold their body, the cha
   assert.ok(pr && pr.to === 2, 'the ceremony is parked for the menu to play');
 });
 
-test('THE DRAW: a passed draw is validated per round, honoured, or honestly re-rolled', () => {
-  // The screen would be worse than nothing if it dealt a different tournament from the one it just
-  // showed you settling (main.buildBracket hands its rungs straight to startMatch). The guard is
-  // the other half: a rung that is not in the round's band falls back to an honest roll rather
-  // than dealing THE CHAMPION in round one.
-  const { LADDER } = cfg;
-  const R = cfg.cupRoundsFor(1);           // a fresh profile's cup is league one's
-  const drawn = [3, 1, 2, 4];              // a legal shuffle of the sub-band, the final settled
-  _startMatch(true, drawn); G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0;
-  assert.equal(G.match.opp, drawn[0], 'round one walks on the body the screen landed on');
-  assert.deepEqual(G.match.cup.draw, drawn, 'and the rest of the draw rides with the run');
-  endMatch();
-  // a nonsense draw is refused per round, not trusted
-  _startMatch(true, [LADDER, LADDER, LADDER, LADDER]); G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0;
-  assert.ok(R[0].band.includes(G.match.opp),
-    'a rung round one cannot contain is rolled instead of dealt');
-  endMatch();
-  // ...and no draw at all is the old behaviour, which the #cup back door still uses
+test('THE CUP CLIMBS: rounds run easy to hard, deterministic, the final the top of the band', () => {
+  // the shuffle retired with the draw screen (Oliver: "warum sollten wir noch mischen?") — a bad
+  // roll paired the strongest challenger with the shortest round, inverting the tuned curve
+  for (const l of cfg.LEAGUES) {
+    const R = cfg.cupRoundsFor(l.id);
+    const order = R.map(r => (assert.equal(r.band.length, 1, 'one settled body per round'), r.band[0]));
+    for (let i = 1; i < order.length; i++)
+      assert.ok(order[i] > order[i - 1], `${l.name}: round ${i + 1} is the harder body`);
+    assert.equal(order[0], l.band[0], `${l.name} opens on its easiest`);
+    assert.equal(order[order.length - 1], l.band[1], `${l.name} ends on its final`);
+  }
+  // ...and the run reads that order off exactly
   _startMatch(true); G.modal = null; G.modalQ.length = 0;
-  assert.ok(R[0].band.includes(G.match.opp), 'no draw: the round rolls its own');
+  assert.equal(G.match.opp, 1, 'round one walks on the easiest body');
   endMatch();
 });
-
 test('cup rallies never strand the latch: no-crossing points, the fall, and the mid-round game', () => {
   // Oliver's second lock: in the quarter-final, matchFallWillPlay still divided by 4 while
   // matchPoint divided by 4*need — it promised a fall on a point that crossed nothing, the