i was told to do predictions so here goes
South Europe (5) vs US Central (1)
SS BO7:
DenisTheMenace vs Nalei - Denis is probably top 3 in SS right now. Nalei is a solid player in her own right, but Denis truly feels on another level right now. Should be a good match though, both very entertaining players to watch.
SS BO5: Bomb21XD
vs smely socks - smely had a nice pools but Bomb beat TSC in Bo7 which honestly feels like the more impressive WC performance between the 2. Either way both are solid and use cool teams (I loved the Raboot FWG Bomb used vs TSC) but I haven't seen Bomb play enough to make a call here. Slightly leaning smely but definitely a close game
SS BO5:
Close vs zioziotrip - Just when you'd think the SS games in this series couldn't get any better... Close is, while sometimes going a bit under the radar, resultswise easily one of the most accomplished 1v1 players. zio is a newer player who broke out this year, but has had decent results since then, and is considered one of the premier metagamers in SS right now. I definitely consider Close the better player between the two, and his 3-0 in pools shows that he can definitely convert his skills to SS, but zioziotrip is far from a slouch and will pose a threat to even Close.
SM BO5: LaBalladeDesCieux
vs UBERLandon21 - Both went undefeated in pools, although Landon had a far smaller sample size. However, 1 game is really all we needed as proof that Landon is Not Crust :tm:, and anyone who has been around for a while knows how good Landon was in his prime. Very exciting series that could easily swing either way.
SM BO5: AltCauseImInsecure vs
Squirtell 1v1 - This guy beat CP2 in tiebreak. next.
ORAS BO5:
XSTATIC COLD vs ryyjyywyy - XSC recently won LT, which in my opinion solidified his claim as the 2nd greatest 1v1 player of all time. ryyjyywyy is coming hot off a positive pools performance and a tiebreak win, but actually looking at those series paints a different picture. I'm not sure when the last time XSC played ORAS was, but he was/is a solid player in it and should take this one due to his far superior fundamentals.
BW BO5:
stableprince569 vs Sanshokuinsumireko - stable is looking like one of the, if not the premier BW players right now. Sansho definitely impressed in pools, and is someone I've been a fan of for a long time. It's hard to predict against the SEU captain though, especially with him being as invested as he is right now.
DPP BO5:
Tom842 vs alive - Tom is a solid jack of all trades type of player. He doesn't have the most DPP knowledge out of the pool, but his fundamentals are solid enough. alive had a great PL3, but hasn't made the same waves since. If he returns to form he'll win this pretty comfortably, but otherwise I'm expecting Tom to take this. LRXC would wash both of them tho
Monopoke BO5:
magicarpe_lvl100 vs D2TheW - 4-0 goat.
Overall a really cool series, super excited for every single one of these games and despite what the score of my prediction says this is a really close series imo. Go europe!
Asia (3) vs
Eastern Europe (5)
SS BO7: philisteen vs
Leru - I (and everyone else) were very positively surprised by philisteen's pools performance. Although his 3-0 record doesn't tell the full story, he definitely showed that he's more than capable of playing this tier at high levels, and his support network is immaculate. Leru is on a whole different plane of being, though. Dropping only 1 out of his 14 pool games to not hax, it is near impossible to justify bolding anyone, really, over Leru right now. Sad to see one of these 2 take a loss after such surprising pool 3-0s
SS BO5: King Leo V vs
Blazikin - Go Melo omg : D #GOASTAL
SS BO5: Baleblaze vs
eblurb - Tied with Wanony is beloved and hyped rookie eblurb, who after an impressive seeded tour run finds himself in the last EEU SS slot. Despite having no prior team tournament experience, the environment is quite good for eblurb to break out here. With neomon and ggopw as his managers and co-SS players, the stars seemingly align for him here.
SM BO5:
Kentari vs 187 Fan - Kentari in his prime was one of the greatest 1v1 players of all time, and his 3-0 pools show that his unwavering resolve is still there. It would take, like, CP2 or ggopw for me to bold against him, and as much as I think Fan is a very solid player, I don't think this is the match for him to turn his negative record around.
SM BO5:
lmni 1v1 vs Persephone - lmni looked real solid in pools, and certainly cares a lot more about this match than Pers will (despite dropping her builder and (trying to) convincing her entire team to do the same). Pers has solid support but I don't think it will be enough, as I would consider lmni a better player and more in touch with the tier.
ORAS BO5: DEG vs
ggopw - Absolute highlight of this round. DEG is easily one of the best ORAS players, but ggopw is the GOAT. Should be a banger.
BW BO5:
Kaif vs SolarflareRo - If both these players were at their best, this would be a highlight rivaling the ORAS match above. However, Solar hasn't been playing much BW as of late, and had a pretty poor pools performance. Kaif's pools didnt look too great either, but I still expect the BWTL to take this one.
DPP BO5: Euphonos vs
Inkreativ - Pools Rematch. Not much to say here, except that the first duel went to G5 so this should be a thrilling rematch.
Monopoke BO5: PartMan vs
pazza - hbd gohar
Not as hype as SEU-C?O but still an exciting series. Not much expected Asia to even make it here, but here they are. Let's see if the underdog story can continue to finals, or if the reigning champs (sorta ig idk) can keep it up. Go europe!
king gohar back 
Asia (3) vs (5) Eastern Europe 
