THE COMPLETE PEOPLE'S CHAMP PREDICTS
i had to watch all replays to actually properly predict these matches so i better be compensated with likes for this, new post combined with the now-deleted part 1 for visiblity
Lands vs Ducks
SS: Crunchman vs
Meminger21 - A battle of two mid-tier players fighting for their first win. Crunchman, 0-2, is finally playing a format that they're known to actually play, their BW excursion always being questionable to begin with considering their team has the (relatively more) capable Bless. Meminger21, meanwhile, is given a chance to get a win on the sheet as their team is already clinched and has the leeway to do this. While it was shown in a different tier, Crunchman's form overall play in recent times seems to be one marred by inaccurate lines and questionable team choice; the latter may be just from their team's lack of a decent BW eye, but the former is definitely something that may follow them to SS. In contrast, Meminger21 played relatively better in their sole SS DOU appearance, the lead choice aside, and gave a respectable showing in what looked like to be quite a lopsided matchup. While Crunchman has a better reputation in SS DOU as a whole, I don't see the experience gap to be quite meaningful, so off of recent form I'm going with Meminger21 here.
SS:
chlo vs Akaru Kokuyo - This one's similar to the above, except this time one has an actual win to their name and has a generally better SS DOU reputation. chlo, 1-1, is coming off great performances, one a statement win against Z Strats and the other a respectable performance against Enzonana depsite getting cheesed and running into what looked like a plainly unwinnable matchup. Akaru, 0-2, looks to be quite on the opposite end; I opened their SS game, saw their team, and decided I saw enough, and me opening their XY game was a similar story though they did have a key miss that ruined their game. Regardless, chlo is running better in this tour and looks to be more in form, their team choice in general looking to be relatively better than Akaru's by far, with this I believe being what gives them an edge in this encounter.
DUU:
Lord Death Man vs RelicanthPrimal - This game is one of the hardest ones to predict, and this prediction of mine is one I will openly acknowledge to be an upset as records-wise considering RelicanthPrimal is currently 4-0. RelicanthPrimal has been rolling really well with matchups, part of it seems like fortune but it must be also acknowledged that this may very well be calculated considering SMB support and they honestly seem to consistently run DUU brokens to effectiveness, seemingly unlike others in the pool. LDM, meanwhile, is at a 3-1 with an asterisk considering the robbery they committed against Yellow Paint, but their teams in general have been (to my relatively untrained eyes) quite fundamentally solid (except for their game against YP lol). I think of this matchup as stylistically favoring LDM if they can adequately prepare and not fall into the trap they fell into last week, as RelicanthPrimal and their prep seems quite reliant on polarizing matchups; while RelicanthPrimal uses brokens a lot, LDM seems to be similarly meta-aware and this neutralizes that advantage quite a bit. I think a solid, fundamental performance from LDM will be what gives RelicanthPrimal their first loss, but I do hold that this matchup to me seems really close!
SM: talkingtree vs
SMB - It's one of the greatest players in DOU history against someone who, while being one of the community's best contributors, is not necessarily renowned for their play. There is not much else to say here.
XY: Voltix vs
KyleCole - KyleCole, now at a 1-1 record after an altercation with myself, has been performing quite respectably and comes across to me as the favorite in this bout. His teams were generally solid and the prep is very obviously apparent, though I was unsure about the picks against me as I didn't feel that Skymin-Talonflame was the play; cthey ould just be hiding techs since the game was inconsequential, though, so who knows. Voltix, meanwhile, has had only one appearance, a loss, and it's with what is probably the worst XY team brought this tournament. I think, in general, KyleCole is more likely to come out on top in-builder and in-game, especially if SMB provides the expected support here.
BW: Bless vs
DaWoblefet - The highly touted BW mainer vs the 3k journeyman sacrifice to their team's lacking oldgens. I think it would be sufficient to say that DaWoblefet is likely to run away with a 5-0 W/L in the regular season after this match, considering their reputation as an overall BW player. Bless, meanwhile, brought the worst BW team I've ever seen in my entire time of playing the tier, and was truly Blessed by running into someone who seemed like they needed a namechange. I don't think those kinds of teams will work on DaWoblefet, but I do hope they try to do so again. After all, I'd prefer to see the Lands lose this week
Haxers vs Storms
SS:
Paraplegic vs Enzonana - This one seems to be an exciting match! On one side, we have DOUTL Paraplegic, a generally fundamentally solid player with a reputation for dishonest sets and teams. On the other side, we have Enzonana, an exciting new face surrounded by hype that seems to be also be the type to run dishonest sets and teams. Thus, depending on just how these players prep, there might be a lot of tomfoolery in store for the spectators. Predictions-wise, I favor Paraplegic here as I think their advantage in experience and generally solid play (if not comitting to tomfoolery) will give them an edge. Looking back at their 2-2 campaign, they honestly have played quite respectably, their two losses coming from a lack of commitment (against MajorBowman) and from what seemed to be a fat lategame choke on an otherwise well-played game (against YoBuddy) that made me physically cringe when I watched the replay. Enzonana's wins, meanwhile, come from what it seems to be a combination of solid play and opponents just bringing flawed teams; while they generally play well, the games seemed to essentially be freebies considering how Enzo had the right mon to punish opponents fishing for matchups, their tech against chlo in particular exacerbating chlo's team's flaws to an easy Enzo win. Overall, I believe that if Paraplegic puts the requisite amount of time to prep and doesn't fall into bad habits, they're generally favored here as they should be less exploitable and should be able to neutralize any tricks Enzo has prepared.
SS:
Zeal vs Shadowmonstr7 - This is probably my prediction that's most high on copium considering I want the Haxers to win LMAO. Shadowmonstr7 has a respectable 2-2 record right now off solid performances (discounting last week's sussy team choice). They haven't really played all too outstanding nor have they done anything too egregious, so honestly there's not much to say about here. Zeal, meanwhile, has only played one game this DPL, a loss against MADARAAAA where they actually played quite well, all things considered, it's just that their team didn't really let them do much of anything in the match-up it seemed. Looking at the Haxers roster, I see why they haven't really started that much, but I do believe they'd rank around the middle of the pack if they did start more. Who knows! Anyway, I do think Zeal has the potential to do damage here, considering Shadowmonstr7's average performance and their SS support's propensity to troll the teambuilder.
DUU:
Mishimono vs Yellow Paint - After being touted as one of the best DUU players coming into the tour, Mishimono currently sits at a disappointing 1-3 record; I'm not exactly in a position to judge though, because I understand completely. Yellow Paint, meanwhile, stands at 2-2, which should probably be a 3-1 record if we were playing a just sport. Alas, such is the nature of our game! Ordinarily, I'd snap predict Mishimono out of reputation as a higher level of a player relative to their current opponent, but they have looked to be quite out of form as of late while their opponent has been generally quite poppin in most platforms I've seen them play in. I'm gonna go with the copium upset pick here, if Mishimono puts in a level amount of effort I do think they're generally favored off of mechanical ability, but Yellow Paint, it must be said, has been really good and this match should be close.
SM: Yoda2798 vs
Croven - The week 1 6-0 aside, Croven has been performing all tour long, pulling out wins against every other adversary to push to a 3-1 record. Yoda2798, meanwhile, has been struggling and is currently 1-3, with last week's performance being incredibly egregious. Not only were there some mechanical teambuilder mistakes, the changes to the team they used showed a misunderstanding to how it worked and they ultimately got gigapunished by a Steel that the team would otherwise have an easier time against. By recent and tour-long standards, Croven gets the nod here.
XY: JRL vs
qsns - These two, I'd say, are quite evenly matched atm skill-wise, and the records do show it. JRL has been performing quite respectably all tour long, with generally solid teams and playing. I think their team last week was a huge miss though, demonstrating a bit of a bad read of the meta as their Full TR team got completely punished, with TR being set for the first time on Turn 13; they still did play fine otherwise, though. qsns, meanwhile, has had a bit of a rocky season on the board, playing into a mirror, a luck fiesta, and a CB Lando-T that made them start off the game with a 2 mon disadvantage; while their first win last week was a bit lucky, I do say that they haven't really played "bad" and their teams in general have looked quite good. Considering XY is a builder's gen and considering the even reputations of our two players, I'm leaning towards qsns showing up with a better prepared team and using that to their advantage this week.
BW:
Checkmater vs Human - Checkmater once again rocked another off-beat team last week, a rain team with Marowak and Skymin that they piloted to success with well-trained Water-types. Their teams have been generally been interesting and funky in a way that I like (mostly). Human, meanwhile, is in a massive losing streak, with their performance last week not really inspiring any hopes of improvement; it just seemed like they were quite lost on the board and didn't really play to their outs (trying to do something crazy with Scizor Swords Dances and hoping for a boosted Scizor + Kingdra win). As it stands, Checkmater is quite favored here.
like my post. if you're oldgens for ducks / haxers and u want help, dm me
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