2-0
Ox the Fox vs Pierrick - Ox can be a little off with some of his long-term planning, but his teambuilding is great and I think that his short-term game is good enough to get him through here. Pierrick is yet to stand out a ton to me, but his recent success is a great initial impression. It seems he took Empo out in g2/3 with some solid Sand teams, which leads me to believe he's up-to-date with the tier and can play well enough. I would not be surprised if he took this seeing as he was able to defeat Empo. But I am not one to use a single series to define someone's positives or negaties as a player. Both are solid and it will be close, but I am more familiar with Ox and he is a great teambuilder, so I will side with him in a tight one.
Tace vs Tricking - Easily the series of the round. It feels weird predicting for or against a Snake teammate, so I will leave it at that. Looking forward to spectating this one though.
zugubu royale vs Separation - Maybe he was not in SPL or Snake, so people discarded him as a prospect, but Separation is easily one of the hottest SS players right now. He brings fresh teams to the table on a routine basis and has the playing ability to back it up. He belongs in the 2-0 part of the bracket and I predict his run to continue with a win here. zugubu is a solid player, but I think he relies a bit on cheesier strategies and I do not know how possible they will be to carry out against Separation.
haxrme vs Chaitanya - I wanted to be happy for Chait as he beat ABR and John W, but the end of his series against John W just left me deflated and angry. I still think he takes this one as haxrme is even less experienced, but this is more of a wild card series than anything else. I am curious to see what both come up with and those team decisions could go a long way towards determining which one advances and which one falls to the 2-1 bracket next week.
1-1
Giannis Antetokommo-o vs Lopunny Kicks - It's a shame Giannis got paired with Lopunny Kicks. I would have predicted both to advance against most others, but here we are. Giannis is a great, underrated player and I think he will find a way to win the next two, but this one is going to be tough. In fact, it may be the hardest test of his building and preparing abilities yet. Lopunny Kicks is able to use a variety of bulky/balance builds to great deals of success. I imagine we see even more of them from him here, leading to desirable results if Giannis cannot go above and beyond in the builder and battle.
imjustgray vs Misterioussaint - No comment on Misterioussaint, but imjustgray has looked mostly solid and I think he takes it.
Zesty43 vs beatiful - bea is a cool player with some interesting ideas. Keldeo + Slowbro last round was an intriguing take on the Future Sight concept, for example. I do think there are some struggles in longer games when it comes to remaining patient and honestly bea probably should have lost G1 to ABR, but still plenty of positives to take away from his performance. As for Zesty, he is a rogue fireball in this field. He can use anything ranging from normal balances to off-the-wall offense and I am not sure what to exprct. bea has shown me more positives in this specific tier, so I will go with him, but it should be close.
Quartosa vs Empo - Would be very surprised if Empo fell to 1-2 given how well he has played all year. Rough draw for Quartosa, who is looking to break out this tournament.
Luthier vs John W - I would have bolded Luthier had he signed up for Smogon Snake Draft, but he did not sign up for Smogon Snake Draft. However, John W signed up for Smogon Snake Draft and shall be bolded. Also, we should mute Starry on SmogTours for this series. Otherwise there will be a gas shortage nationwide and prices will spike again.
Sacri' vs Juuls - Over/Under 1.5 Tyranitar from Sacri' if it goes a full 3 games, take your pick now.
mncmt vs Sagiri - mncmt is a great player with a ton of strong ideas. Sagiri is yet to leave a strong impression on me, so it will be cool to see how he reacts to playing strong competition, but I will stick with the conventional favorite here.
Stareal vs SoulWind - SoulWind seems better. I do not think there is some huge knowledge gap or team choice gap favoring either player, but SoulWind is far more proven and should rise to the occasion after a less-than-ideal last round, so long as he stays away from the Aurora Veil team lacking a Fire resist.
0-2
ABR vs Storm Zone - On the one hand, ABR does not deserve to 0-3. On the other hand, it would be kind of funny. He's better than Storm Zone, who is still on his way up when it comes to tournaments. I expect it to go three games and have some nonsense mid-series, but I'll side with ABR's brand of calculated innovation over Rock Slide Kyurem. If Marowak lands multiple Focus Punches, then I reserve the right to change this prediction, however.
volcanionisgood vs egalvanc vs loser ends up salty - Pretty easy prediction here. egalvanc is the better player, but I am unsure of his ability to prepare for the metagame extremes VIG can load up, so it can go either way. Both are mad lads though.
Corazan vs Dflo - If Corazan ditches the Slowking boner, then I would not be surprised if he finishes 3-2. Solid player with a rough start. Dflo's teams seem cool on paper, but are mostly incapable of handling common metagame threats, which is a major problem. He needs to scale it back a bit to have a realistic chance, unfortunately.
Eo Ut Mortus vs Grandmaster Thug - This series will take a lot of turns, but Eo is bound to replicate some of his SSD success in this tournament and Grandmaster Thug has not had the most inspiring performance yet.
