The World Cup of Pokémon 2018 - Semifinals

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MANNAT

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Rooting for Canada to win the whole thing, seeing those guys get a trophy would be really nice seeing as several of my good friends are on the roster. Otherwise, I'd also like to see some of my friends on Northeast win it all because they've been working hard all year in various tournaments and I'd like to see many of them win the blue trophy, namely those that weren't on US East last year.

4. Canada (5) vs 8. US West (5)
SM OU: Hayburner v ima - Both players are approximately equal in terms of playing ability and good friends of mine, so this is a pretty hard predict. I'll give Hayburner a slight edge in the prep/teambuilding field because he brought a very nice team in his debut and is generally more solid as a builder from what I've seen so far. This matchup can definitely go either way and I want to catch this one live because both are very exciting players.

SM OU: suapah v blarghlfarghl - Both players are very solid here, but I think that blargh's teambuilding variance combined with his thought process as a player is gonna allow him to snipe a solid matchup and maintain a lead throughout the game. Suapah is a formidable player in his own right and has access to great teams, so I think it's very possible that he wins this in both aspects and proves me wrong.

SM OU: FLCL v z0mOG - While z0mog is more accustomed to the SM metagame than FLCL is, FLCL is generally a better player and has a good grasp of how to play aggressively but still follow an established gameplan while trying to take hold in the game. To me, z0mog's playstyle seems a bit more sporadic, but that also means that this matchup can easily swing either way.

SM OU: soulgazer v yjh971203 - Honestly, I'm not too familiar with how good soulgazer is in SM, but he's an experienced veteran player that likely has access to many solid teams and yjh has cooled off considerably since round 1 and made generally odd choices teambuilding-wise, so I think that picking soulgazer just makes sense here.

ORAS OU: blunder v psychicmewtwo - Blunder is the pretty obvious choice here, he's been super hot lately, coming off of a trophy and currently on a streak of 3 consecutive wins in wcop while pm2 has made some questionable teambuilding choices. I expect blunder to bring some standard Keldeo Metagross type team and just outplay heavily regardless of matchup.

BW OU: Tokyo Tom v lax - I would normally pick Tokyo Tom here, but Lax has looked amazing in classic and has strung together quite a few BW wins lately. Assuming that Tokyo Tom doesn't bring some wacko taco shit and throw lax off balance enough to pull out a win, I think that lax will be able to take this just based off of how he's played as of late.

DPP OU: crayon pop v Philip7086 - The outcome of this match is gonna depend on whether or not rui actually shows up for the game, so I can't make a clear prediction. If rui shows up and brings something strong, I think he has the edge here due to phil not really being in top form right now; however, I'm not sure where rui is motivation wise and whether or not he'll even be there to play so I gotta take Phil to win this game and send this series to tiebreak.

ADV OU: Jirachee v Valentine - I don't think that Valentine's lost an ADV game all tour, and I pretty much expect him to continue his hot streak. If Jirachee channels some of the playing he had late in SPL, then he'll be able to send Valentine packing, but this game really could go either way with both of these guys being solid players in their own right.

GSC OU: Texas Cloverleaf v Lavos - Lavos is just the way better player period. Texas Cloverleaf definitely isn't a bad player, but Lavos is one of the best GSC players on the site and it's frankly hard to take anyone against him, especially someone else that isn't considered a "top tier gsc player".

RBY OU: Genesis7 v Meru - Honestly predicting RBY is stupid as fuck and I either player can take this very easily, but I think Genesis just has the better RBY skills in general out of these two. Meru could easily take this with a stray blizzard freeze or two or just outplay Genesis at some point, but this series is bound to be standard RBY either way

Overall I think these two teams are pretty evenly matched and there's a couple of key games that will likely decide this series, but Canada has a slightly more solid lineup overall and I have more confidence in the veterans that play in their tiebreaker lineup.
3. Italy (3) vs 7. US Northeast (7)
SM OU: Lopunny Kicks v robjr - I know that a lot of people are riding high on Lopunny Kicks after his performance last round, but he's still a largely instinctual and inconsistent player that can have horrible losses on the opposite end of the spectrum of last week. On the other hand, I believe that rob's aggressive, yet intelligent style of play makes him a good matchup for Lopunny Kicks and that in conjunction with his increased experience, having played in SPL and Snake, will allow him to pull through.

SM OU: Empo v bro fist - Empo's a formidable player in his own right, but bro fist is one of the most clutch players of all time, especially in wcop and I think that it's frankly hard to imagine him dropping a single game in these playoffs. However, John is also known for getting highly unlucky on a regular basis, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if he ended up getting lucked here.

SM OU: Tricking v ABR - For the record, I don't think this matchup is as one sided as one would think initially think considering the magnitude of ABRs skill level and accomplishments, seeing that Tricking has an amazing builder behind him in will of fire and a strong ability to play consistently, but it's very hard to see ABR losing important games in these playoffs with the amazing teambuilding minds on this team in conjunction with his tendency to be very clutch in tours.

SM OU: Snou v Hiye - I think most people here can agree that Hiye is considered the better player on paper, but Snou has a tendency to make wack teambuilding choices and I believe he'll be able to catch Hiye off guard and steal a win from him that would otherwise be difficult to foresee.

ORAS OU: Santu v obii - Obii did lose last round, but he honestly didn't play bad at all that round and is a very good builder, so I think that he'll be able to pull through against Santu this time around. Santu is obviously not a horrible player by any means, but obii is just very solid with insane support and metagame knowledge, so I think he'll be able to safely pull through in this one.

BW OU: Asuya v Finchinator - Asuya has exceeded my expectations this tournament, but I think the BW tandem of Finch + BKC is too much to overcome in terms of the preparatory aspect of things, and Finch has enough experience under his belt and multi-generational playing ability that I think he'll be able to take down Asuya here barring an absolutely abhorrent matchup, which as I said earlier, is unlikely to happen.

DPP OU: Honor v august - August has been on an absolute tear so far this wcop, not having dropped a single game all tour, so I believe his high form right now in conjunction with his long-term experience and generally great DPP knowledge will allow him to edge out the highly respectable Honor in this matchup.

ADV OU: smilzo v zf - Frankly, I haven't been paying too much attention to zf as of late, but smilzo took down the red hot linearcurve last round and zf just lost to Ojama in a game where I never really saw him winning. zf isn't a bad player by any means, but smilzo seems to be the better player right now, so I'll take him winning this matchup.

GSC OU: Bomber. v BKC - BKC is another insanely clutch player on this roster, and arguably the best player of all time, so I think it's very hard to pick against him against anyone, regardless of what tier he's in. Bomber's a solid player, having a red hot start to classic this year, but it's just impossible to pick against BKC here.

RBY OU: marcoasd v teal6 - teal's a cool RBY player and my guy, but marcoasd is a veteran with too many RBY tour wins to count and has looked very sharp in this wcop. However, this is the tier where anything can happen and teal's a great player, so don't count him out.

Italy's had a strong season and looked good throughout this tournament, but they're simply outmatched by Northeast and it's hard to see anyone realistically taking down this juggernaut without copious amounts of RNG.
 
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Heart Doom

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. Canada (4) vs 8. US West (6)
SM OU: Hayburner v ima
SM OU: suapah v blarghlfarghl
SM OU: FLCL v z0mOG
SM OU: soulgazer v yjh971203
ORAS OU: blunder v psychicmewtwo
BW OU: Tokyo Tom v lax
DPP OU: crayon pop v Philip7086
ADV OU: Jirachee v Valentine
GSC OU: Texas Cloverleaf v Lavos
RBY OU: Genesis7 v Meru



3. Italy (4) vs 7. US Northeast (6)
SM OU: Lopunny Kicks v robjr
SM OU: Empo v bro fist
SM OU: Tricking v ABR
SM OU: Snou v Hiye
ORAS OU: Santu v obii
BW OU: Asuya v Finchinator
DPP OU: Honor v august
ADV OU: smilzo v zf
GSC OU: Bomber. v BKC
RBY OU: marcoasd v teal6
 

Triangles

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DPP OU: crayon pop v Philip7086 - If our guy manages to not get mysteriously caught in traffic or develop a severe case of food poisoning, he's cleaning house. Think he might be motivated to actually play for once tho; after that SPL 8 Week 1 game between these 2, there's a score here to be settled.

ADV OU: Jirachee v Valentine - Val is really fucking good at Pokemon, despite what the cringe post right above mine would indicate. He will bring something well positioned to exploit Rachee's building tendencies and win in a hard-fought duel.

ADV OU: smilzo v zf - ZF is the real deal in RSE, a lethal combination of solid play lines and smart building. If he can avoid being chopped in 2 by smilzo's Italian stallion of a Machamp, he should be hot to trot for this one.
 
Wow, this is the way great champions Northeast win. Coward. A pathetic 400 turns endless game, and with the feature that allows to recreate battles.
Oh, and you ghosted Prankster and got away with it. I got your name.
 
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You know I got caught... anyway, there's no way a game ends on a 6-6 scenario with a feature that allows to recreate.
 
Wow, this is the way great champions Northeast win. Coward. A pathetic 400 turns endless game, and with the feature that allows to recreate battles. Got your ass saved by a Megahorn miss.
Oh, and you ghosted Prankster and got away with it. I got your name.
since i am not playing for US Northeast i feel i can respond to this post without reflecting poorly on them. i have incomplete information on the matter (literally just the replay) and my opinion is only my own

"i gotta go" is something your GSC starter should never say. i don't know how long the game went on, but surely someone should expect the possibility of a GSC game running late and not making unbreakable plans any length of time after it

"i gotta go, do you agree to use different teams" when bomber said it is akin to offering a draw in chess when down a rook with no compensation in the endgame. I can certainly see why BKC wouldn't give any quarter in the spirit of the game after hearing this insulting proposal.

from the perspective of a player on a team tour, you take the win if you can, even if you are confident of your chances of winning. i'm sure i could find examples of similar wins taken by players on your team. as a spectator, i agree that an enforced recreate from the last turn played is probably the coolest outcome in the spirit of the game. in terms of fairness, that's pretty unusual and i think precedent says that tournament players can't just come and go into games as they please. you could also argue that a recreate would unfairly burden BKC with extra scheduling because bomber failed to honor the schedule they agreed on.
 
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Why don't you talk about an X-time champion, on an X-time champ team having nothing more than an "absolutely not" as communication to a guy who had IRL at some point? That's the main thing.
Not even the effort lol.
 
At least an "how long you need to be back in THIS game?"... "oh sorry can't do that".
Not even manners but oh well, maybe I had too high expectations.
Also, Bomber was nowhere near insulting - it's blatant that he didn't know his options (and possibly nor I do) and the answer coming from a guy who knew was rude. That's the bottom line - you're unfriendly, deal with same. I called out one guy.
 
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