diff --git a/PROJECT.md b/PROJECT.md
index 6c13e5d..cd064cc 100644
--- a/PROJECT.md
+++ b/PROJECT.md
@@ -491,6 +491,19 @@ 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 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
+18-rung ladder (his own 2026-08-15 ask), where four bands rolling out of a deep hat was a
+ceremony; a league cup shuffles 2-3 faces the setup's league panel already shows face-up. Deleted:
+the #bracket stage (DOM, CSS, buildBracket, its timers and routing). What survives: the shuffle
+itself lives INSIDE the run (cupDraw, without replacement, the final settled — startMatch's `draw`
+parameter stays for the suite's validation test, renamed accordingly), each round still announces
+itself on the walk-on modal, and the cup's big setup button now says **ENTER THE DRAW** — all the
+ritual the moment needs. The rules modal's copy went league-neutral ("UP YOUR LEAGUE'S DEAD
+HIERARCHY — THE FINAL IS SET"; a 3-rung league plays three rounds, not four). The screen's
+mechanics live in git history (like the lob) if the ceremony is ever asked back.
+
 ## Session log: THE LEAGUES — the plaque moves mid-court, and the 94vw scrollbar (2026-08-29, same day, STAGING ONLY)
 
 Live review with Oliver on the pane, three finds:
diff --git a/index.html b/index.html
index 257a61a..c52b6ef 100644
--- a/index.html
+++ b/index.html
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   /* ONE overlay, four panels, swapped by #intro[data-stage]. Keeping the backdrop and the card frame
      alive across every screen is the point — a screen that unmounts the whole overlay flashes the
      court through between menus. */
-  #splash, #setup, #stats, #ranks, #newbest, #secret, #bosses, #stmode, #stsub, #bracket, #vs, #train, #player, #promo, #card { display: none; }
+  #splash, #setup, #stats, #ranks, #newbest, #secret, #bosses, #stmode, #stsub, #vs, #train, #player, #promo, #card { display: none; }
   #intro[data-stage="splash"] #splash { display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex: 1; }
   /* flex COLUMN, not block: it is what lets the footer's margin-top:auto reach the bottom of a
      screen whose content does not fill it */
@@ -188,7 +188,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   #intro[data-stage="ranks"]  #ranks,
   #intro[data-stage="secret"] #secret,
   #intro[data-stage="bosses"] #bosses,
-  #intro[data-stage="bracket"] #bracket,
   #intro[data-stage="train"] #train,
   #intro[data-stage="vs"]     #vs,
   #intro[data-stage="player"] #player,
@@ -411,35 +410,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
   /* the training picker is 18 rungs deep — the tile carries the HEAD (the same z_*head crop the
      draw and the walk-on wear), which reads at a third of the boss portrait's height */
   #trainList img { height: 44px; width: auto; display: block; image-rendering: pixelated; }
-  /* THE DRAW. Four rungs read top-down as a ladder, because that is what the mode is — the bracket
-     shape a real draw is printed in needs width a phone has not got, and half of it would be blank
-     anyway (you only ever play one side of it). The rows spin their portrait and their name while
-     the draw is being made, and .set is what a landed one wears: the placeholder look is on the
-     ROW, so a slot that has stopped is obvious at a glance and START stays out of reach until the
-     last of them lands. The final wears .set from the first frame — it was never in doubt. */
-  #cupRows { display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: 8px; }
-  .cupRow { display: grid; grid-template-columns: 54px 1fr auto; grid-template-rows: auto auto;
-            align-items: center; column-gap: 10px; row-gap: 2px;
-            padding: 7px 10px; background: var(--panel); border: 2px solid var(--line);
-            /* the connector: every round but the first hangs off the one above it */
-            position: relative; }
-  .cupRow + .cupRow::before { content: ''; position: absolute; left: 35px; top: -10px; width: 2px;
-                              height: 10px; background: var(--line); }
-  .cupRow img { grid-column: 1; grid-row: 1 / span 2; width: 54px; height: 54px;
-                object-fit: contain; object-position: center; image-rendering: pixelated;
-                /* mid-spin the faces flicker past unreadable; dimming them says "still rolling"
-                   without a second element to keep in sync */
-                opacity: 0.5; filter: grayscale(0.7); }
-  .cupRow u { grid-column: 2; grid-row: 1; font: 400 8px Silkscreen, monospace; color: var(--dim);
-              letter-spacing: 1.5px; text-decoration: none; text-align: left; }
-  .cupRow b { grid-column: 2; grid-row: 2; font: 400 11px Silkscreen, monospace; color: var(--dim);
-              letter-spacing: 0.5px; line-height: 1.35; text-align: left; }
-  .cupRow i { grid-column: 3; grid-row: 1 / span 2; font: 400 8px Silkscreen, monospace;
-              font-style: normal; color: var(--dim); letter-spacing: 1px; white-space: nowrap; }
-  .cupRow.set img { opacity: 1; filter: none; }
-  .cupRow.set b { color: var(--cream); }
-  .cupRow.fin { border-color: var(--red); }
-  .cupRow.fin.set b { color: var(--acid); }
   /* START is genuinely unreachable until the draw has landed — the wait IS the ceremony */
   .btn[disabled] { opacity: 0.32; cursor: default; }
   /* a row, not a stacked tile: three 3:2 tiles stacked fill a phone twice over, and the art still
@@ -774,19 +744,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
         <button class="btn sec" id="cdEdit">EDIT PLAYER<i>NAME · TOUR · COLOURS</i></button>
       </div>
     </div>
-    <!-- THE DRAW (cup mode only). SERVE UP lands here instead of on a court: the four rounds roll
-         through their own band of the ladder and stop, and what you watched land is what walks on
-         (main.js hands the settled rungs to startMatch). The rows are built in main.js from
-         config.CUP_ROUNDS, so a round added there needs no markup. -->
-    <div id="bracket">
-      <div class="hdr"><button class="chev" id="brBack">&lt;</button><h2>THE DRAW</h2></div>
-      <h3>FOUR ROUNDS<span id="brState">DRAWING…</span></h3>
-      <div id="cupRows"></div>
-      <div class="foot">
-        <p id="brSum"></p>
-        <button class="btn big" id="cupGo" disabled>ENTER THE DRAW</button>
-      </div>
-    </div>
     <!-- THE TRAINING COURT's opponent picker: the whole ladder face-up, tap a body to drill it.
          Built in main.js from config's roster (matchFoe/LADDER), so a new rung needs no markup. -->
     <div id="train">
@@ -897,6 +854,6 @@ if (location.hostname !== 'splatter-tennis.wuwi.one' && !window.Capacitor?.isNat
     </div>
   </div>
 </div>
-<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=328"></script>
+<script type="module" src="src/main.js?v=329"></script>
 </body>
 </html>
diff --git a/src/beats.js b/src/beats.js
index a3b4538..e3a464a 100644
--- a/src/beats.js
+++ b/src/beats.js
@@ -354,9 +354,9 @@ 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 the bracket screen's settled rungs, one per cup round (main.buildBracket). It is
-// optional and null means "roll each round as it comes", which is what the mode did before the
-// screen existed and is still what the #cup back door gets.
+// `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
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
   } else if (cup && !G.seen.cup) {
     G.seen.cup = true;
     showModal({ title: 'THE TOURNAMENT', color: UI.hot,
-      body: ['FOUR ROUNDS UP THE DEAD HIERARCHY',
+      body: ["UP YOUR LEAGUE'S DEAD HIERARCHY — THE FINAL IS SET",
              'ITS POINTS DRAW BLOOD — ' + TUNE.matchPlayerHp + ' AND YOU ARE EATEN'] });
   } else if (!cup && !train && !G.seen.match) {
     G.seen.match = true;
@@ -414,9 +414,8 @@ export function startMatch(cup = false, draw = null, train = 0) {
 
 // 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 DRAW MADE ON SCREEN IS THE DRAW THAT IS PLAYED. When the bracket screen settled the rungs they
-// arrive here as cup.draw and this simply reads them off — rolling again would mean the faces the
-// player watched land had nothing to do with what walks on, which is worse than showing nothing.
+// 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.
 function cupDraw() {
diff --git a/src/main.js b/src/main.js
index 73486be..6c63859 100644
--- a/src/main.js
+++ b/src/main.js
@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ function buildLeaguePanel() {
 // on the card now — the setup should show the league and who of it you have already beaten).
 function syncSetup() {
   const cupMode = pickedMode === 'cup', climbMode = pickedMode === 'zombie';
+  document.getElementById('cStart').textContent = cupMode ? 'ENTER THE DRAW' : 'SERVE UP';
   document.getElementById('who').style.display = cupMode || climbMode ? 'none' : 'flex';
   document.getElementById('lgPanel').style.display = cupMode || climbMode ? 'block' : 'none';
   document.getElementById('s01').textContent =
@@ -466,82 +467,17 @@ for (const c of COURTS) {
 // to the league's own court rather than serving up a court the player has not earned
 if (!courtUnlocked(picked)) picked = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg).court;
 
-// ---- THE DRAW (Oliver, 2026-08-15: "when starting the tournament there should be a view of the
-// tournament hierarchy but only the finale is settled — the game against the champion... random
-// browsing through the roster in the individual spots which begins fast, gets slower and then
-// settles on a random character, so that every tournament is new").
-//
-// THE SCREEN IS THE DRAW, NOT A TEASER. `cupPicks` is what walks on: startMatch takes it and
-// cupDraw reads it instead of rolling its own, so the face you watched land in ROUND ONE is the
-// body across the net. A screen that showed a different draw from the one being played would be
-// worse than no screen — it would teach the player that the ceremony is a lie.
-//
-// The roll is one recursive setTimeout per row whose gap grows with p^2 — fast, then visibly
-// slowing, then stopped. No rAF: the menu deliberately parks the game loop (see menuUp), and three
-// staggered timers are the whole animation.
-const cupRows = document.getElementById('cupRows'), cupGo = document.getElementById('cupGo');
-let cupPicks = null, cupSpins = [];
+// THE DRAW SCREEN IS GONE (2026-08-29, Oliver: "das ist doch jetzt eigentlich obsolet"). It was
+// built for the 18-rung ladder, where four bands rolling out of a deep hat was a ceremony worth a
+// screen; a league cup shuffles 2-3 faces the setup's league panel already shows face-up. The
+// shuffle itself survives INSIDE the run (cupDraw rolls without replacement, the final settled)
+// and each round still announces itself on the walk-on modal — only the screen is deleted. The
+// cup's big button says ENTER THE DRAW (syncSetup), which is all the ritual the moment needs.
+// The screen's mechanics live in git history (like the lob) if the ceremony is ever asked back.
 // the portrait: every family's own head crop (assets/_heads.py), the club pro's included — the
-// same file the in-play walk-on card uses, so the draw and the court show the same face
+// same file the in-play walk-on card uses, so the picker and the court show the same face
 const foeArt = f => `assets/z_${f.fam}head.png?v=${SPRV}`;
 
-function buildBracket() {
-  for (const t of cupSpins) clearTimeout(t);
-  cupSpins = [];
-  const R = cupRoundsFor(profile.prof.lg);
-  // WITHOUT REPLACEMENT, like cupDraw: a league band is 3-4 rungs, so the non-final rounds are a
-  // shuffle of the sub-band — every tournament a new order, no body dealt twice, the final settled
-  cupPicks = [];
-  const used = new Set();
-  for (const r of R) {
-    const pool = r.band.filter(x => !used.has(x));
-    const pick = (pool.length ? pool : r.band)[Math.floor(Math.random() * (pool.length ? pool : r.band).length)];
-    used.add(pick); cupPicks.push(pick);
-  }
-  // the header counts the league's own rounds (a 3-rung league plays three)
-  document.querySelector('#bracket h3').firstChild.nodeValue =
-    R.length === 4 ? 'FOUR ROUNDS' : 'THREE ROUNDS';
-  cupRows.innerHTML = '';
-  cupGo.disabled = true;
-  document.getElementById('brState').textContent = 'DRAWING…';
-  const lg = leagueOf(profile.prof.lg);
-  document.getElementById('brSum').innerHTML =
-    `<span>ONLY THE FINAL WAS EVER SETTLED</span><span>${lg.name} · ${
-      (COURTS.find(c => c.id === lg.court) || COURTS[0]).name}</span>`;
-  R.forEach((r, i) => {
-    const fixed = r.band.length === 1;      // the final: one rung, nothing to roll
-    const row = document.createElement('div');
-    row.className = 'cupRow' + (fixed ? ' fin set' : '');
-    row.innerHTML = `<u>${r.name}</u><img alt=""><b></b><i>${
-      r.need === 1 ? 'ONE GAME' : r.need + ' GAMES'}</i>`;
-    cupRows.appendChild(row);
-    const img = row.querySelector('img'), nm = row.querySelector('b');
-    const show = n => { const f = matchFoe(n); img.src = foeArt(f); nm.textContent = f.name; };
-    if (fixed) return show(cupPicks[i]);
-    const t0 = performance.now(), len = 1500 + i * 550;   // 1.5 / 2.05 / 2.6 s — they land in order
-    (function roll() {
-      const p = Math.min(1, (performance.now() - t0) / len);
-      if (p >= 1) {
-        show(cupPicks[i]);
-        row.classList.add('set');
-        if (cupRows.querySelectorAll('.set').length === R.length) {
-          cupGo.disabled = false;
-          document.getElementById('brState').textContent = 'THE DRAW IS MADE';
-        }
-        return;
-      }
-      show(r.band[Math.floor(Math.random() * r.band.length)]);
-      cupSpins.push(setTimeout(roll, 45 + 330 * p * p));
-    })();
-  });
-}
-document.getElementById('brBack').addEventListener('click', () => {
-  for (const t of cupSpins) clearTimeout(t);   // a screen you walked out of must stop spinning
-  cupSpins = [];
-  go('setup');
-});
-document.getElementById('cupGo').addEventListener('click', () => start('cup'));
-
 // ---- THE TRAINING PICKER (Oliver, 2026-08-28: "ein Trainingsbereich — Auswahl des Gegners, ein
 // Spiel, tap to replay, bis man keine Lust mehr hat"). The whole ladder face-up, one tile per rung,
 // wearing the same z_*head crop the draw and the walk-on wear. Tap = start — the wizard's own
@@ -747,9 +683,9 @@ function start(modeId = pickedMode) {
   G.diff = G.classic ? (DIFFS.find(d => d.id === pickedDiff) || DIFFS[1]) : null;
   if (modeId === 'gore') startGore();   // no tennis prologue: the mode you picked is the mode you get
   if (modeId === 'zombie') { intoSplatter(); startMatch(); }
-  // ...and the cup carries the draw the bracket screen just made. Null (the #cup back door) still
-  // means "roll it yourself", which is what the mode did before the screen existed.
-  if (modeId === 'cup') { intoSplatter(); startMatch(true, cupPicks); }
+  // the cup rolls its own draw per round (cupDraw, without replacement) — the bracket screen
+  // that used to settle it on-screen is gone (2026-08-29, see the foeArt note above).
+  if (modeId === 'cup') { intoSplatter(); startMatch(true); }   // cupDraw shuffles per round
   // training: the picked rung rides the match machinery with the ladder parked (beats.startMatch)
   if (modeId === 'train') { intoSplatter(); startMatch(false, null, trainRung); }
 }
@@ -840,7 +776,6 @@ nbName.addEventListener('keydown', e => { if (e.key === 'Enter') document.getEle
 // SERVE UP starts the run — except in the cup, where the draw has to be made first. That screen
 // carries its own start button, so this stays the one place a run begins from the setup screen.
 document.getElementById('cStart').addEventListener('click', () => {
-  if (pickedMode === 'cup') { buildBracket(); go('bracket'); return; }
   if (pickedMode === 'train') { go('train'); return; }   // the picker starts it — tap advances
   start();
 });
diff --git a/test.js b/test.js
index 6afc046..8a1422c 100644
--- a/test.js
+++ b/test.js
@@ -1233,7 +1233,7 @@ 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 bracket settled on screen is the bracket that is played', () => {
+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