This will be an enjoyable tour to spectate (at least for me). My almost-informed predictions and opinions on the matchups:
1. Always! vs. 16. Ithi (???-???)
I have a feeling many people will be looking forward to Ithi's run this tour, and I think it'll be a nice opportunity to advertise what the prospective players can bring to to the table for team tours next year.
2. feen vs. 15. MrAldo (55-45)
feen is, regardless of the tier he's playing, just kinda good at Pokemon. Out of any individual player in this year's circuit I think he's cooked me the most. Not too hard to do, but I consequently feel obligated to rate him highly. MrAldo is pretty sharp himself; had a chance to team with him a few times and he's got good insight when it comes to knowing what to bring in any given match. That's a pretty valuable skill to have, so I think this will be close. Since MrAldo is a Stay Night Weavile, I will be rooting for him in this matchup.
3. kingofking vs. 14. Avendesora (65-35)
Conspiracy theory time.
I believe the users kingofking, Paprikaflow, and NoName6293 are the same person. The details match up perfectly. All 3 registered on Smogon in 2022. All 3 are killing it in the ORAS circuit right now. All 3 are RufflesPro's "soldiers". What could this mean??? If it turns out these 3 are, in fact, not the same person, then I suspect that RufflesPro is pumping these guys out of a factory for total ORAS domination.
I felt the need to get that off of my chest. Anyways kingofking has been crushing it in all sorts of ORAS tournaments this year. As an extremely good ORASer, I imagine he'd be among the favorites to take it all. Avendesora is certainly capable (I'm assuming getting an activity loss in the SSNL round where you have to post replays is some feat of tactical genius), and can build pretty nifty teams as seen in the teambuilding competition thread. Whether that capability and building creativity is enough to win the Bo3 remains to be seen.
4. Nor vs. 13. HSK7 (40-60)
Compared to others I'm not overly familiar with either player, but I think this game's a little in HSK7's favor. From what I've seen Nor can bag big wins, but he can also be a little inconsistent and sometimes make mistakes that make games very difficult to play out. HSK7 is the type of player to bring the same team 3 weeks in a row and go 2-1, which is the kind of dedication (and consistency) that inspires confidence and thus, the prediction.
5. Splash vs. 12. lighthouses (65-35)
I haven't seen lighthouses in a while, but he's pretty good. Can he shrug off the rust to beat Splash? Not sure. Splash is usually pretty goated at Pokemon whenever I see him play, and does it all with minimal effort; while I sweat against him with 7 damage calculators open, Splash turns on an NBA game and pwns my team. I imagine lighthouses will be hoping that Splash suffers from some type of Valorant-induced brain damage for an easier time.
6. Metallica126 vs. 11. avarice (50-50)
I think this'll be close. Metallica126 is an excellent player with wins ranging from this year's entire ORAS Cup, to WCOP, to RCOP, etc. Little to add other than I'm sorry I forgot to get back to you on a team that one time, I'm just going to assume you won that game anyways. avarice had some very WP games this WCOP in semi/finals where the pressure's on, so in a tour like this it's probably child's play for him. Looking forward to this series.
7. NoName6293 vs. 10. Lostmemories (60-40)
I probably rate NoName6293 the highest out of everybody selected. This guy is crazy good, not much else to say. While Lostmemories does not inspire the same kind of "there goes my run" feeling when you see your name vs. his in a thread, I personally believe he's good enough to bodybag anybody here on a good day. Since Lostmemories is a Stay Night Weavile, I will be rooting for him in this matchup.
8. devin vs. 9. Paprikaflow (50-50)
Another very close one in my opinion; Paprikaflow has been doing great all year with no real signs of stopping. I got a chance to see devin's creativity in building and playing some ORASPLs ago, and I'm hoping we get to see that again this series; watching Seasons and him single-handedly cured my metagame malaise.
