Smogon Premier League X - Semi-Finals

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Triangles

Big Stew
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World Defender
SM OU: BLUNDER SANTANA vs Charmflash - This is the single most interesting matchup in this SPL so far.

The immensely talented Charmflash has recieved an insane amount of unjust attacks from people jealous of his success, and it's safe to say that the majority of people on this site don't want him to win this game. He would like nothing more than to beat the 8-1 guy who is the face of both the obnoxious arrogant Tyrants franchise, and the general 'jerk' opinion process and mentality. Not just beat him too, steamroll him into the ground. There is nothing more dangerous than an scorned player on the warpath, this is his coming out game, it's his time to shut everyone up and let his play speak for itself. A legendary story awaits.
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
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OU Leader
Shameless self-plug time: My YouTube channel has 70+ SPL X related uploads that can be found here. It has been a lot of fun narrating and discussing games! I plan to keep it up for the remainder of SPL and future tours depending upon when I am free. Now, onto predictions!

SM OU: Mana (40) vs (60) Kickasser - Whenever I watch Kickasser, I walk away from the game saying "damn this guy is GOOD" and he is. While he is not going to be using the most creative squads or changing the metagame around him like other highly regarded players will, he still makes flashy plays and uses pretty intriguing teams, even if some are more hit-or-miss. Mana is by no means bad. He went positive for pretty cheap, which is huge in itself. However, I feel like everything he does well as a player Kickasser simply does better. This is a hard match-up for Mana and unless he has some fire up his sleeve, then I think he will struggle mightily with a stronger opponent here. Very interested to see what both come up with regardless.
SM OU: BLUNDER SANTANA (60) vs (40) Charmflash - Having been trained in the art of Ditto warfare last week during his win vs Insult, Blunder is now engaged in a battle with the purple blob's main advocate, Charmflash. Fortunately for the Wolfpack, Austria's pride has proven to be more than a 3k shot in the dark this SPL, putting up a superb 7-2 record that included a dominant 7-0 start. This does mean, however, that his last 2 games have been losses, which could be concerning considering that newer players are more subject to ups-and-downs than seasoned veterans like Blunder. With this said, I think Charmflash has a legitimate shot here. He uses strong, yet surprising, teams that could catch Blunder off guard. He also is not afraid to make more aggressive maneuvers once he gets a feel for the game around him, which plays into his favor seeing as Blunder dominates more passive players he can remain a step ahead of. Despite all of this, I still think it's hard to not bold Blunder's name here given his recent success. His lone loss came in a toss-up match-up vs one of the best on the site in a different generation. Blunder has come back as strong as ever and I feel like he is the best SM player left in the tournament, so I think he will edge out the Charming Flasher in a thriller.
SM UU: Christo vs Sjneider
SM RU: aim vs Welli0u
SM NU: ict (49) vs (51) Eternally - I think that rozes winning during week 9 might propel Eternally into a better form seeing as he does not want to be worse than that garbage. Jokes aside, I feel like this is close. ict was the better player during the regular season, but Eternally strikes me as a bit more competent at NU itself and also more experienced in the tier historically. I tend to struggle to predict these type of games, but I think I will favor Eternally as I know he is really motivated to turn his season around. Could go either way though, so I'm hoping for a close game!
SM DOU: emforbes vs Human
ORAS OU: Poek vs Santu
BW OU: We Three Kings (45) vs (55) TDK - I think TDK is the stronger player overall, so I'm going with him. Both are solid in BW and are probably among the stronger in the field, which W3K has shown all season long. I think TDK will rise to the occasion and prove his worth here though. Really good game, definitely looking forward to it.
DPP OU: GaryTheGengar vs DeepBlueC
ADV OU: Gilbert arenas vs UD
GSC OU: sulcata vs Fear
RBY OU: Heroic Troller vs The Idiot Ninja - My prediction is this tier won't be in SPL come 2021.

SM OU: Hiye (55) vs (45) Cdumas - Both have had underwhelming showings, but Hiye has won a handful while Cdumas has pretty much thrown away his shot at salvaging a decent record. While he can still salvage a decent playoff showing and team result, I think he may be a bit checked out...or at least not fully himself, idk. Hiye beat him in SSD and now has even more unpredictable team support. Couple this with his timely ability to go fully-aggro mode against people he gets an early lead on and I think this game is likely to end with Hiye suffocating Cdumas with some type of bulky-O. Cdumas needs to show that he can play at the level he did in prior tours to keep-up here. If he can, then he may very well be favored. Until then, I favor Hiye for sure.
SM OU: Empo (45) vs (55) FMG - Bit of an upset, but FMG is quietly putting up quite the performance this year and I think he's the less mistake-prone of the two. Empo has a higher ceiling and can beat anyone on any given day for sure, but my gut tells me FMG will keep up his winning ways and recent play seems to agree with that, too, so why not!
SM UU: Pearl vs robjr - big highlight for me
SM RU: passion vs Aeroblacktyl
SM NU: lax (51) vs (49) Realistic Waters - Not a ton to say besides the fact that what either guy brings is a complete mystery and will likely go a long way towards deciding the outcome, so it is kind of a crapshoot. I don't see lax losing consecutive games to many people in NU, so will give him a very slight edge I guess.
SM DOU: Croven vs miltankmilk
ORAS OU: imsosorrylol vs craing ;_;
BW OU: Rewer (45) vs (55) Lopunny Kicks - This game is almost guaranteed to have some headassery, unfortunately. With that said, Lopunny Kicks is a master at pulling games out of his ass, hence his pretty strong overall record thus far. While he's not going to make it pretty, I expect Lopunny Kicks to take it on sheer gameplay skill advantage. He also has some, albeit minimal, experience in the tier and experience in pressure situations having made POs in WCOP and SSD before. Regardless, both are likely being fed teams or supported heavily, so just going off of play I favor Lopunny Kicks, even if he's less experienced in the tier itself. Anything can happen here though, tbh.
DPP OU: Jimmy Turtwig vs Ojama
ADV OU: qsns vs dekzeh - :psywoke: @ qsns ADV debut during most important week
GSC OU: Lavos vs Century Express
RBY OU: FriendOfMrGolem120 vs MetalGro$$ - See: other RBY game prediction

ps: one last shameless self-plug to peep my bw fire here
 
First of all, shoutouts to myself for predicting the whole PO-picture before the season, whilst being the noob I am. I now know that while I may suck at playing the game, I am sure as tits one hell of a spectator and lucky af. Mikaav , we are the kings of prediction, do not let you tell otherwise.
I now feel entitled to post my predictions, which are probably very different to the ones I submitted, because I randomly clicked it on the sheet while taking my good morning shit on Monday.

Dragonspiral Tyrants (7) vs Wi-fi Wolfpack (5)

SM OU: Mana [45] vs Kickasser [55]
Although Kickasser is coming of some tough losses at the end of regular season, I loved his performance this SPL, very solid games and team choices. I would give him this slight edge over Mana. Nevertheless one of the closer matchups this round.
SM OU: BLUNDER SANTANA [60] vs Charmflash [40]
Ok, technically Charmflash had the most USUM OU wins this SPL, but he had three more games than his opponent. Blunder dunked on everybody in USUM, while even in ORAS only losing to ABGoat. You cannot predict against him these days. Most games were not even close. He seems to constantly have his opponents under full control. As long as he stays loving the game he is so good at, blunder is nearly unbeatable.
Side-note: No, Charmflash, Ditto does not seem to be the wave for beating him.
SM UU: Christo [65] vs Sjneider [35]
The washed up “Fortnite main” bargain proved his critics wrong. With Accelgor, Hogg, and Joey as the best supporting cast of any UU player, Christo showed his dominance. It would come as a complete surprise, if Sjneider steps his game up that much and beats him. As long as matchup is somewhat in Christo’s favor, this should be a sure win for the Tyrants. He is just the better player.
SM RU: aim [49] vs Welli0u [51]
As much as I am amazed by Joey’s ability to always adapt to almost every tier, I think Welli0u will pull out another Tangela and beat aim. Regarding skill, I would definitely go with Joey here, but I could imagine he will lose to matchup in this one. There are some mons Joey’s teams cannot deal with and I believe the Tony will exploit this. He knows aim too well to not do. Nevertheless a coin flip tbh.
SM NU: ict [60] vs Eternally [40]
This may be a close one, but I just think ict is the better player here. Also, if Eternally again chooses a team mono-beaten by Golbat, this should go even more in ict’s favor. I somehow get the feeling Eternally might try to stall this one.
SM DOU: emforbes [49] vs Human [51]
Hell, I do not know shit about this tier. Human won the first game, so I go with him. The records do not differ significantly, so no idea what to predict here.
ORAS OU: Poek [55] vs Santu [45]
I cannot say to much about Santu unfortunately, but I know Poek is too good in ORAS to not go with him. Bold prediction: Santu only brought sand and stall this far, so Poek better comes prepared for some some whack ass gimmicky cheese.
BW OU: We Three Kings [51] vs TDK [49]
This is probably the second-best game in this series after the Blunder-Charmflash showdown. We Three Kings is so consistent however that I predict him to win against a surprisingly struggling TDK. I am convinced we will see Reuniclus taking lives this game. Must watch.
DPP OU: GaryTheGengar [49] vs DeepBlueC [51]
Hell, this tier is so hard to predict. Aside from Jimmy Turtwig ascending to new dimensions, everything can happen here. I will predict DeepBlueC to get his revenge here. I liked his play so far this SPL, but Gary might also take this one. Very close call.
ADV OU: Gilbert arenas [65] vs UD [35]
6-3 vs 2-7. This tier was hella good this SPL. I never liked ADV that much, but due to players like Gilbert Arenas I now learned to enjoy it. This should be a win for the Tyrants, if UD does not somehow pull a BKC out of his sleeve. Nevertheless, there was a reason for UD’s pricetag. He is an amazing ADVer and could surprise us all.
GSC OU: sulcata [45] vs Fear [55]
Tbh I do not understand anything about GSC. I think it works like this: You play 200 turns, rest all the time with Zapdos and win by blowing up your Snorlax at the right time before roasting Mr. E. So it seems Fear blew up his Snorlax at the right time 6 out of 7 times, so I go with him.
RBY OU: Heroic Troller vs The Idiot Ninja
Happened. Don’t know shit about this tier.

Alpha Ruiners (6) vs Indie Scooters (6)

SM OU: Hiye [55] vs Cdumas [45]
We all know that Cdumas is a good player, but he is 1-5 with his only win coming against a 2-7 player. This prediction is purely based on record, because I think he would otherwise be the better player. It just does not work for Cdumas this SPL. Records aside, it will be a close and fun one to watch.
SM OU: Empo [51] vs FMG [49]
This one could also go either way. It will be a fun one to watch. It feels like both very much stuck to standard teams, so whoever goes with something else than Bulu Tran Pex M-Lati might have the better chance due to matchup.
SM UU: Pearl [45] vs robjr [55]
This whole series is so hard to predict. We also have a matchup highlight here. Both players are as good as its gets for UU and it will be crucial for robjr to not act passively in the first few turns, but I think he can repeat the win, so I predict the slight underdog to do this.
SM RU: passion [49] vs Aeroblacktyl [51]
Excited for the gimmicky bs mop will bring. I would not even be surprised to see him come through with six set-up sweepers holding Bright Powder. Could nevertheless also go either way and matchup will be crucial.
SM NU: lax [40] vs Realistic Waters [60]
Two very strong NUers. This will probably be the best lower tier game this round, but you cannot predict against Mr 7-2. As ict said: Realistic Waters is “still the goat” in NU. I have to catch this live.
SM DOU: Croven [60] vs miltankmilk [40]
Croven has had a solid SPL going 5-2, milktankmilk is 4-5. That is how far I can analyze this tier.
ORAS OU: imsosorrylol [35] vs craing ;_; [65]
No doubt ben gay will win, if he shows up. That’s pretty much all I have to say.
BW OU: Rewer [45] vs Lopunny Kicks [55]
Understandable that they wouldn’t play their 35k player against Rewer, but while he is only 1-5 Lopunny Kicks finds himself out of SMOU for the first time this SPL. I think it is a bold move that could go both ways and I do not know LK skill in BW.
DPP OU: Jimmy Turtwig [60] vs Ojama [40]
Jimmy Turtwig somehow managed to get six wins in the coin flip tier, so I’ll have to give it to him. 35k Ojama will be a tough opponent though. Nobody could doubt that for a player like him, it is possible to win against whomever wherever (*Shakira playing in the background). The tough one for Jimmy is not being able to scout any matches of his opponent in this tier this SPL. Bold move by the Scooters. We’ll see how it ends up.
ADV OU: qsns [40] vs dekzeh [60]
Yeah, what? The DOU sub starts his first ADV game in playoffs? I do not think, any sane mind would predict him to win, but why not take that shot against struggling dekzeh. We’ll see.

edit:
ADV OU: Hyogafodex [45] vs dekzeh [55]
Still the ADV mainer is favored here. But at least Hyogafodex is a singles player, but I do not know the outcome here. Still anybody's game.
GSC OU: Lavos [65] vs Century Express [35]
I don’t know shit about GSC, but I know Lavos is one of the best, if not the best player on this site. He will come through, no doubt in my mind.
RBY OU: FriendOfMrGolem120 [51] vs MetalGro$$ [49]
Flipped a coin here. Congratulations, FriendOfMrGolem120, the 50 cents were on your side.

Tiebreak:
Ojama and Lavos will win their games. Whoever manages to take the SM OU wins the series. Hell, I don’t even know who would play this! Will they go with Lavos there and mix it up. Idk shit…
 
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Lycans

Bebe's my bae
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
I know i'm really late but would be a disrespect from my side dont say thanks to my team for the hard work this season, despite the fact we couldn't get into Play off i had fun and that kinda matters.

Indigo Plateau : and would be even more disrecpectfull if i dont say thanks to the guy who was putting all his efford to give the best of him every week, building 1000 teams and giving all those cool ideas. for all those future managers if u dont try to draft this guy u're definitely doing something wrong.

Hopefully see you again next season SPL.
 
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