Tournament RU Invitational - Round 1 (300$ Prize)

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Welcome to the RU Invitational! 32 of the best RU Players in the history of the tier have been invited to play in this tournament, and similar to many other invitationals that happened previously there will be a cash price, starting with a 300$ base! Donations are open, ofc. Format is a simple bo3 double elimination tournament, with the bo3 consisting in SS, SM and ORAS. First tier played in the bo3 must be SS. The classic tournament rules apply here, and games have to be played on smogtours unless specific circumstances.

Round 1:

Nat  vs  Pohjis
TDK  vs  Santu
Bouff  vs  shiloh
Pepeduce  vs  GoldCat
col49  vs  Eternal Spirit
Ajna  vs  Alpha Rabbit
eifo  vs  Bebo
lax  vs  Garay oak
robjr  vs  Punny
EviGaro  vs  Finchinator
odr  vs  TheFranklin
sensei axew  vs  Lunala
lighthouses  vs  Omfuga
Star  vs  atomicllamas
Feliburn  vs  Charmflash
Mac3  vs  Kushalos

Deadline for first round is February 6 11:59PM -5. For easier scheduling, y'all encouraged to join the RU Discord, where games will also be discussed. Good luck to everyone but sensei axew
 
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GoldCat

BOSSARU CUP WINNER
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Recently promoted RU Tier Leader Lunala abused her powers and privileges to force my hand to write predictions with the threat of disqualifying me from this very tour by Round 2 if I didn't comply. So, let's get started with some unqualified predictions!

TDK (SS)  vs  Santu (ORAS, SM)
Santu won the last RU Classic, so I'm giving him the edge in the old gens. TDK did however have the second-best record (6-2) in this bo3 format last RUPL, so really any tier is a tossup with ORAS slightly tilted towards Santu, as he did make finals of ORAS cup and only lost to act.

Bouff  vs  shiloh
I'm not really sure how either particularly stacks up to each other in a given tier, but I do know for sure that shiloh went 5-2 in a stacked bo3 pool in RUPL VIII.

col49  vs  Eternal Spirit
I'm not going to pretend I've anything to add.

Ajna (ORAS, SM)  vs  Alpha Rabbit (SS)
Ajna is one of the best ORAS players and I'm not aware of rabbit playing it much. I think he'll comfortably take SM too, but I don't doubt rabbit can win it. Alpha Rabbit has been more active in SS, which can give him the edge over Ajna to start off with a g1 win.

eifo (SS, ORAS) vs  Bebo (SM)
Bebo in SS... yeah, eifo is winning g1. SM is another story for Bebo and eifo didn't have his best tour last time he played SM going 1-3. I think eifo will take ORAS and with that the win, as I don't think Bebo plays it at all unlike eifo.

lax (SS, SM)  vs  Garay oak (ORAS)
I think both bolded tiers are pretty clear-cut for each player. Personally, I've only seen lax play SM so I'll have to give it to him. I don't have much to say other than both are strong players and it's not a match to miss.

robjr  vs  Punny (ORAS, SS)
robjr did end up with the worst record in bo3 last RUPL (2-5), while Punny was on the opposite side with an 8-2 record with robjr as one of his wins. But, robjr has had a lot of good runs in SS and if he manages to clutch g1, he could carry the momentum to a win. Historically though, he isn't favored.

EviGaro (ORAS)  vs  Finchinator (SM)
I don't have much to say, Evi HO never fails in ORAS and SM is a tier in which Finch isn't cursed and I don't think his 43-22 record in RU team tours comes from BW. For SS, I'm just not sure of what to go off on.

odr (SM)  vs  TheFranklin (SS)
A personal highlight of mine, as I think it'll be a close one and could swing either way. Both are strong players in SS and SM with odr favored in SM and arce in the former. odr has more recent tour experience with SM, but Franklin did win a ssnl when it was current gen. SS is even closer, but my gut tells me Franklin will win out and he's had amazing records in every team tour and in SCL this gen and won the latest ssnl. I have no clue how either square up in ORAS, so it'll come down to whoever pilots and plays drawn-out games the best. I'll have to bold someone, so I'll let my bias show and pick TheFranklin here.

sensei axew (SS)  vs  Lunala (ORAS, SM)
sensei won circuit playoffs and as of now, Luna doesn't seem too keen on SS. For ORAS, I'll go with the ORAS cup winner. I think Luna will take SM, as it's her strongest tier and sensei's last showing in SM wasn't any spectacular going 2-2, though he has rapidly improved as a player since then.

lighthouses  vs  Omfuga
I don't really have anything to go off when it comes to Omfuga in RU and diogo is experienced with each gen and the format as he played it in RUPL VIII, so I'll leave it at that

Star (SS, ORAS)  vs  atomicllamas
Star has been super consistent with SS, so I don't it'll end here, and he also finished with a 6-1 record in ORAS last RUPL. Obviously, llamas is well-versed in ORAS too, so there are no guarantees (never is with mons). For SM, I'm not sure how well either play but Star can seemingly pick up any tier and play it at a high level, so I don't think he'll struggle there.

Feliburn (SM, SS)  vs  Charmflash (ORAS)
I have never seen Charmflash play ORAS nor do I know whenever the last time, if ever, he played it but I do know for a fact that I have never bear witness to Feliburn winning a single game of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire RarelyUsed. Although, I've heard Feli has so called "blacklisted" teams. Hopefully, whatever those are, are enough to break the losing streak. Doubtful. Luckily, I think Feli will clutch the win in SM and SS despite his retire main status but one never knows what Charmflash will bring, then again Bright Powder is banned (not in SM...).

Mac3 (SS, SM)  vs  Kushalos (ORAS)
While Mac3 isn't super active anymore, as he's no longer harassing me with constant challenges on ps (please come back, I miss you so much), but he's still building and playing, and I haven't seen much of Kushalos in SS. I don't think the short-lived ORAS main will stand much of a chance against Kushalos in ORAS though. Mac3 was a ladder fiend during SM as well and I played him in the last SM cup, so I know he must have a backlog of jank which can give him the upper hand.

These are all great matchups and I can't wait to watch each one and the rest of the tour (and play for 2 rounds).
 
Nat  vs  Pohjis

TDK (SS, SM)  vs  Santu (ORAS) - completely forgot santu won the last ru classic until goldcat mentioned it in his post :O . anyhow, despite that, i rate tdk's sm higher than his. im a big fan of his teams, creative sets and he plays them at a high level. he also had a solid rupl last year and is a bit more in tune with ss at the moment, so this one is favored for him. santu is one of the best oras players here though. he won't bring anything too crazy, but he won't need to.

Bouff  vs  shiloh - this series will probably show why arifeen should go in over me. in all seriousness looking forward to this one :p

Pepeduce (ORAS)  vs  GoldCat (SS, SM) - pepeduce really showed his stuff in 2020's ss. but im not sure if he's played recently if at all, and while that might not matter a whole lot because ss ru isn't a hard tier to refresh yourself in rn imo, goldcat has been one of my favorite builders throughout the whole gen. he's not afraid to explore intricate stuff and that's something to respect. as far as i know he's been trying a bit to learn the oldgens? not really sure. i'm also not sure if pepeduce was an oras ladder fiend or if i'm just having a fever dream, but those factors are why i gave each of them the edge in oras and sm.

col49 (SS, SM, ORAS) vs  Eternal Spirit - honestly my favorite series of the whole round if it happens. i've rated 49 really really highly since he debuted a loooong time ago and if he decides to show up, literally and figuratively, he's very dangerous. of course that depends on if it happens. gama has had official tour experience in ru as well, though, and despite not favoring him in any tier he could very well sweep 2-0 because well..he's the magician. his building is just as dangerous as 49's albeit for different reasons. i always, ALWAYS meme him about his bw ru teams when the chance arises. like he uses wartortle and tentacool ffs. bw's not in here though, and these tiers are much less swingy than that.

Ajna (SM, ORAS)  vs  Alpha Rabbit (SS) - not even sure if i want to give rabbit ss here just because ajna is probably the best ru player ever, but he's been playing less than rabbit and afaik isn't super big on ss so i'll give rabbit the slight edge on that. sm is pretty close too though, rabbit knows his stuff there and has a pretty solid mind in the builder. ajna will probably use known teams in both oras and sm tbh but he just rarely ever misplays in them and knows how to handle the sequences.

eifo (SS, SM, ORAS)  vs  Bebo - i don't think i usually give eifo much credit, but he's been playing more than bebo and is knowledgable in the oldgens afaik (i def know he is in bw), unlike freaking bebo who is too busy in the world of nfts to keep up with mons. he's also a really really really tilt-prone player, and that hurts him a lot, especially in that stupid ass tiebreak game.

lax (SS)  vs  Garay oak (SM, ORAS) - bit unsure of sm but garay is probably the oras player im the most confident in. lax has had solid ss success as seen in scl obviously, but i really don't remember a whole lot on his experience in the other gens, and i know garay has at least played a little bit of sm? so i'll just hand it to him. but in terms of skill level they're prob even.

robjr  vs  Punny (SS, SM, ORAS) - not really a fan of not favoring rob at all here cause he's really great, but punny's record has spoken for itself since 2020. i don't think this will be a wash though, rob can hold his own in pretty much every tier you can imagine, so he will absolutely be able to put up a fight.

EviGaro (SS, SM, ORAS) vs  Finchinator - evi is 100% gonna use that omastar team. everyone on earth knows it but she just really loves it. she's also just played all these tiers a substantial amount more than finch. things could go a little haywire if lady luck decides to look down on her, and i don't always agree with her metagame takes, but i think the gap is fairly wide. despite finch being 100% able to hold his own, i don't think he has enough tenure, and he could totally get wrecked by some unorthodox set or balls out team. he might have some sm results that i can't recall though.

odr (SM, ORAS)  vs  TheFranklin (SS) - franklin is really fucking good at ss and i like him a lot, but odr is just a beast at sm. i'm not really sure of either of their experience in oras, but i think it could fit odr a bit more. still more or less of a crapshoot though, and odr is very obviously no slouch in ss either, with the ribbon and all. guts just saying franklin takes it in that gen.

sensei axew (SS)  vs  Lunala (SM, ORAS) - like the last series, pretty unsure on oras here but i'm just going to assume that luna has played it a bit more. sensei has had a super nuts run in lower tiers as a whole in 2021, which really surprises me cause im ngl i'm still not really used to him winning. in some games he also seems to be blessed by the gods, but you can't really deny a fuckin bo5 ribbon right? that being said luna is amazing at sm lately, clutching her team snake draft with a tiebreak win in the tier and going 5-1. she also just has more of a history there.

lighthouses (ORAS)  vs  Omfuga (SS, SM) - well...my heart can't really say no to predicting against omfuga right now LOL. diogo has had more experience in all of these gens except maybe oras? but i'll bet on omfuga cause the other gens just fit him more and also because i used omfuga's sm nu team vs diogo in spl. despite not playing extensively he can pick up any tier without a whole lot of trouble, as evidenced by him making a team in like 5 minutes for bw zu and it subsequently being used at least like 40 times by other people in the tour. definitely expecting to see some random choice mon here that diogo switches a usual answer into and it just getting evaporated. i'm giving diogo oras because if i remember right omfuga hates it so...

Star (SS, SM) vs  atomicllamas (ORAS) - star made it to the ribbon finals last year, and despite llamas playing ss more probably, i think star's just better there. llamas however is probably the most long standing member of ru throughout everyone in the tournament, stretching all the way back to 2013-14. for that reason i'll give him oras - his teams are usually less bulky than most other people, but he has a good mind for the tier obviously. sm i'm not too sure on, but in a neutral mu i'll place bets on star here.

Feliburn (SS, SM, ORAS) vs  Charmflash - feli "Retired" burn has had more official experience in both ss and sm which is why i'm predicting him there and has definitely played more oras than charm. however, oras is the only clear one here imo. charm is one of the main people to bring teams that you can classify as "disgusting", and that sorta thing can very well propel him to some situations where he'll come out on top. however, feli has put up good performances over the years, and if he's feeling motivated he should take it here.

Mac3 (SS)  vs  Kushalos (SM, ORAS) - i know mac3 has some experience in all of these tiers, but kush is a better player by and large to me. he can def prey on kush's build with some techs but i don't think it'll pan out in oras. idr kush really extensively playing sm either in fairness, but like star, in something like this i'll predict the player i rate more highly.


these probably stink tbh but they were fun to write. a lot of unsure gens here but trying to place myself away from bolding the "vs". hf everyone
 
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