Empo (60) VS. (40) imsosorrylol - One of the more interesting series because the pairing has two players that are, more or less, enigmas. Empo is known for using some really unconventional, off-the-wall stuff while also being a polarizing figure in terms of his character. On the other hand, imsosorrylol has distanced himself from the tournament circlejerk due to some arguably immature behavior and spamming of cheese playstyles, mainly Trick Room. Ultimately, I think Empo is the better player and could be one of the dark horses in this field seeing how dangerous he can be when his teams are actually solid, but if he does not prepare well, sorry can easily overwhelm him with his teams.
Sabella (65) VS. (35) HQuaze - Sabella has been flirting with some interesting variations of Chansey balances that has led him into the playoff field and he seems to have a newlyfound motivation to build and play the SM OU metagame. While I have never seen him as a top player, he has solidified a spot in the tournament community. On the other hand, HQuaze is a relative unknown outside of the ladder scene as far as I know and, to be quite honest, he seemed like a competent player there, but he never struck me as anything too special. I think the advantage in experience will ultimately give Sabella a noteworthy edge when you top it off with his recent strides in SM.
Alexander. (55) VS. (45) reyscarface - I think this series will be close as both are solid, polished players who know what they're doing in this tier. Unlike either of the above series, we basically know what we're getting here. This series will come down to preparation moreso than play as I do not think either will truly misplay too much and we all know how rey is when it comes to teams -- expect a steady diet of stall. Alex will have to prepare well for stall and Rey will either need to pull a win or two out of his ass with stall, which he is good at doing, or branch out. Given what I saw in WCOP and Alex's history in OLT, I am going to give him and his trusty SubPunch Prinzwole the edge, but that does not mean you can count rey out considering he went 10-0 in SPL and all.
CaronSmith (35) VS. (65) Bushtush - I am not familiar whatsoever with CaronSmith despite him being some ladder meme lord according to the word on the street. Bushtush is a player I personally think has a lot of potential, but has not fully shown it late. I think a lot will come down to how well Caron adjusts and if Bushtush actually uses good teams, unlike some of his choices during laddering itself. I think I have to go with Bushtush just because I know him better, he strikes me as someone capable, and he knows the tier inside-and-out.
Liones (30) VS. (70) Kickasser - Kickasser is really good at this game when he puts his best out there while Liones strikes me as consistently mediocre. I think that there might be flares of creativity here, but it might be the type of creativity that is best staying on the ladder as opposed to making a big splash in the tournament scene. With this said, I think Kickasser will win this one handily although I am not confident he will be consistent in this field in the longterm.
xtra$hine VS. Updated Kanto - I think this one is a bit too ungodly for a mere mortal like myself to weigh in on, sorry lads.
Ojama (40) VS. (60) ABR - With Ojama having some sort of grasp on the SM OU metagame, the crafty Frenchmen stands a chance against the flashy new-gen standout, in ABR. With that said, I think ABR is the favorite in this field and he will not want to lose r1 considering how many other big tours he is in and the road to the trophy being much clearer from the winner's bracket. I expect these games to be some of the best this round, but due to ABR's superior knowledge of the tier and ability to build teams at a higher level, I have to favor him. ABR will likely bring out some fresh builds that he has put a lot of thought into that integrate ideas catered to handle Ojama and general metagame trends right now quite well whereas I am personally unsure where Ojama is at although I do know he cheesed through part of the ladder during earlier cycles and I would not put it past him to try that on ABR.
Shoka (40) VS. (60) Tricking - Shoka has became infamous for his laddering with Zapdos stall and hiddenroom every single time -- truly an ungodly strategy. With this said, he is a fine player. I do not think he has a full grasp on SM though. And I think that Tricking either has good team connections or the ability to make solid teams seeing as he did fairly well in WCOP and SPL in SM OU. If this was BW it'd be a different story, but giving the edge to the more modern and up-to-date player of the two in a cool series.
Fardin (40) VS. (60) Googly - Googly is going to give this Fardin guy a headache with the team previews of the games, let alone some of the sets and strategies he pulls out in the games themselves. Like the style Googly has, even if it isn't consistently effective at a high level. Favoring him mainly for that personal reason, but also think he is probably better than Fardin, who I simply do not know all too well.
Hiye (30) VS. (70) Leftiez - Leftiez is a fierce player in individual tours and I do not see him struggling in the early stages as long as he gets lesser-known opponents. Hiye is not someone who really stands out to me, too, but he has at least made aggressive plays in some of his higher ladder games - it's just that he also does not have the same grasp on long-term gameplanning that many in this tournament do, so definitely favoring Leftiez here.
Ciele (70) VS. (30) stfu its a cartoon - not-so-bold prediction: the amount of Chansey teams in this series will surpass the amount of non-Chansey teams used.
Vertex (40) VS. (60) SoulWind - Oh my god it would be hilarious of Soulwind lost to this dude, but I think the teams he gets will be Vertex-proofed and I do not think Vertex can use any form of standard, consistent teams and I am not convinced he is anywhere near SW in terms of playing ability, so this will prolly go to SW.
Cdumas (50) VS. (50) blunder - This is a fire ass series -- my favorite alongside the ABR vs Ojama pairing. I think that Blunder is the better player, but Cdumas has been on the new wave of top OU players, so I'm going to say it is about even. I don't have much to say on either, but I expect this set to go three and I do not expect to see much nonsense in terms of the teams used (thankfully).
Zokuru VS. Floppy _ However, I do expect to see the nonsense in this series -- don't really have much to say about this series, but I expect it to be kinda drawn-out and aids, especially given how Zokuru is.
c0mp (35) VS. (65) Blackoblivion - c0mp still plays? Didn't really know how much he was into gen seven stuff tbh, but he's usually alright. I think BO is on a roll of sorts though and I favor him here.
meeper123 (65) VS. (35) Zuchtrest - change your name back idiot
---
rooting for ABR, blunder, meeps, and ciele to go far :D
Sabella (65) VS. (35) HQuaze - Sabella has been flirting with some interesting variations of Chansey balances that has led him into the playoff field and he seems to have a newlyfound motivation to build and play the SM OU metagame. While I have never seen him as a top player, he has solidified a spot in the tournament community. On the other hand, HQuaze is a relative unknown outside of the ladder scene as far as I know and, to be quite honest, he seemed like a competent player there, but he never struck me as anything too special. I think the advantage in experience will ultimately give Sabella a noteworthy edge when you top it off with his recent strides in SM.
Alexander. (55) VS. (45) reyscarface - I think this series will be close as both are solid, polished players who know what they're doing in this tier. Unlike either of the above series, we basically know what we're getting here. This series will come down to preparation moreso than play as I do not think either will truly misplay too much and we all know how rey is when it comes to teams -- expect a steady diet of stall. Alex will have to prepare well for stall and Rey will either need to pull a win or two out of his ass with stall, which he is good at doing, or branch out. Given what I saw in WCOP and Alex's history in OLT, I am going to give him and his trusty SubPunch Prinzwole the edge, but that does not mean you can count rey out considering he went 10-0 in SPL and all.
CaronSmith (35) VS. (65) Bushtush - I am not familiar whatsoever with CaronSmith despite him being some ladder meme lord according to the word on the street. Bushtush is a player I personally think has a lot of potential, but has not fully shown it late. I think a lot will come down to how well Caron adjusts and if Bushtush actually uses good teams, unlike some of his choices during laddering itself. I think I have to go with Bushtush just because I know him better, he strikes me as someone capable, and he knows the tier inside-and-out.
Liones (30) VS. (70) Kickasser - Kickasser is really good at this game when he puts his best out there while Liones strikes me as consistently mediocre. I think that there might be flares of creativity here, but it might be the type of creativity that is best staying on the ladder as opposed to making a big splash in the tournament scene. With this said, I think Kickasser will win this one handily although I am not confident he will be consistent in this field in the longterm.
xtra$hine VS. Updated Kanto - I think this one is a bit too ungodly for a mere mortal like myself to weigh in on, sorry lads.
Ojama (40) VS. (60) ABR - With Ojama having some sort of grasp on the SM OU metagame, the crafty Frenchmen stands a chance against the flashy new-gen standout, in ABR. With that said, I think ABR is the favorite in this field and he will not want to lose r1 considering how many other big tours he is in and the road to the trophy being much clearer from the winner's bracket. I expect these games to be some of the best this round, but due to ABR's superior knowledge of the tier and ability to build teams at a higher level, I have to favor him. ABR will likely bring out some fresh builds that he has put a lot of thought into that integrate ideas catered to handle Ojama and general metagame trends right now quite well whereas I am personally unsure where Ojama is at although I do know he cheesed through part of the ladder during earlier cycles and I would not put it past him to try that on ABR.
Shoka (40) VS. (60) Tricking - Shoka has became infamous for his laddering with Zapdos stall and hiddenroom every single time -- truly an ungodly strategy. With this said, he is a fine player. I do not think he has a full grasp on SM though. And I think that Tricking either has good team connections or the ability to make solid teams seeing as he did fairly well in WCOP and SPL in SM OU. If this was BW it'd be a different story, but giving the edge to the more modern and up-to-date player of the two in a cool series.
Fardin (40) VS. (60) Googly - Googly is going to give this Fardin guy a headache with the team previews of the games, let alone some of the sets and strategies he pulls out in the games themselves. Like the style Googly has, even if it isn't consistently effective at a high level. Favoring him mainly for that personal reason, but also think he is probably better than Fardin, who I simply do not know all too well.
Hiye (30) VS. (70) Leftiez - Leftiez is a fierce player in individual tours and I do not see him struggling in the early stages as long as he gets lesser-known opponents. Hiye is not someone who really stands out to me, too, but he has at least made aggressive plays in some of his higher ladder games - it's just that he also does not have the same grasp on long-term gameplanning that many in this tournament do, so definitely favoring Leftiez here.
Ciele (70) VS. (30) stfu its a cartoon - not-so-bold prediction: the amount of Chansey teams in this series will surpass the amount of non-Chansey teams used.
Vertex (40) VS. (60) SoulWind - Oh my god it would be hilarious of Soulwind lost to this dude, but I think the teams he gets will be Vertex-proofed and I do not think Vertex can use any form of standard, consistent teams and I am not convinced he is anywhere near SW in terms of playing ability, so this will prolly go to SW.
Cdumas (50) VS. (50) blunder - This is a fire ass series -- my favorite alongside the ABR vs Ojama pairing. I think that Blunder is the better player, but Cdumas has been on the new wave of top OU players, so I'm going to say it is about even. I don't have much to say on either, but I expect this set to go three and I do not expect to see much nonsense in terms of the teams used (thankfully).
Zokuru VS. Floppy _ However, I do expect to see the nonsense in this series -- don't really have much to say about this series, but I expect it to be kinda drawn-out and aids, especially given how Zokuru is.
c0mp (35) VS. (65) Blackoblivion - c0mp still plays? Didn't really know how much he was into gen seven stuff tbh, but he's usually alright. I think BO is on a roll of sorts though and I favor him here.
meeper123 (65) VS. (35) Zuchtrest - change your name back idiot
---
rooting for ABR, blunder, meeps, and ciele to go far :D
