I usually do predictions for these tournaments but I don't enjoy doing them if I don't have time to do research on the games. Long predictions aren't helpful if you don't really know what you're talking about.. I have been busy working on other things so I basically haven't watched any games this dpl.. BUT with the lack of predictions this season I figured why not at least do some! Sorry if they aren't the best, these are more based off results and the few games I have seen from these players! (also not doing my team for obvious reasons)
Anyway here are predictions:
Snowpoint City Cold Crew (3) vs (5) Santalune Storms
SV: Fangame10 vs YoBuddy - Both are solid players who had fairly off seasons from what you'd expect. Fangame started off fairly good with a 2-1 record but is on a 3 loss streak while YoBuddy had a fairly weak start going 1-3 but bounced back a bit winning their last 2 SV games. I'd say they are both fairly even but I've liked the teams out of the Storms a bit more and YoBuddy has looked slightly better, but this is very close!
SV: Chris32156 vs Paraplegic - I think this match is a lot closer than people think. Chris#s may be 4-3 but 2 of these losses are in SS. SV DOU Chris is actually 4-1, only losing to Nido-Rus who had a great run. However, Chris finds himself vs Paraplegic who has looked basically untouchable so far with a 5-1 SV record. The records are close but Paraplegic is definitely given the edge as he has had so much control in his matches. If there is someone that can pull the "upset" though it can definitely be Chris! Another close game!
SV: Feyy vs raf - Feyy is crazy for qualifying on multiple accounts for dlt LOL. They definitely have a LOT of knowledge of SV DOU and it shows with thier solid 4-2 record. With that said, one of their 2 losses is actually raf! With a slow 0-2 start, raf bounced back hard winning 3 matches in a row against all solid players. I'd say raf is looking like one of the better SV DOUers in this pool at this point, but Feyy is just wild I think they are going to find a way. I said this about all three of the games but I think the SV players on both these teams are fairly even and it can go either way. I give Feyy the edge just based off how much experience they seem to have in this tier, but raf won once so they definitely can again.
DUU: AIRedzone vs Actuarily - I am sick of saying this but another very close game.. Both these players finished top 2 in the pool with 5-2 records. Both looked extremely good in their games and build-wise have looked slightly ahead of the meta. They are definitely the leading forces to DUU and this is a match to watch. when they played AIRedzone was able to get the edge and beat Actuarily, but like Feyy I think Actuarily will win the run back. This is play offs, a new level of stress is added and if you have been in this situation before I will usually give you the edge. Actuarily has been here before, will it effect AIRedzone? Or will they win again vs one of the top doubles players around right now.
SS: Ninja vs Shadowmonstr7 - Its a little hard to tell where Ninja is at as they didn't play a portion of the season. With a 2-2 record you can't say they are out of form but some of those games involved a fair bit of luck. Shadowmonstr has looked very strong this season, going 5-2 and tying for best record in SS DOU. I think Shadowmonstr does have a few things holding them back this series though. They reuse teams or styles a lot, they lost 2 of the last three games they played, and one of those was to Ninja. Yes again I am predicting the person who lost last time to win again, but I think Shadowmonstr has just looked stronger and if their team can help in the builder I definitely see them outplaying here.
SM: SMB vs GenOne - GenOne has had a very average season going 3-3, not playing the week they would've been up against SMB. SMB on the other hand has looked strong this season, going 5-2 in a fairly strong pool of players. This is the first game this series I feel you can strongly side with a player. GenOne is definitely good and will bring almost anything as long as they think it will win, but SMB is not the kind of player you can just win against by throwing something new at them. With that said, if GenOne can pull a solid match up, with an edge they are definitely good enough to win this game. Heavily favoring SMB though.
XY: Amaranth vs SingleThunder - Both players have had fairly rough seasons but for different reasons. I think Amaranth is a very strong XY player but was stuck in BW DOU for over half the season. Their XY games have looked much better than their BW games and I think if Amaranth started in XY instead this would've been an entirely different season for them. SingleThunder is someone who has been in XY quite a few times but never has been able to put up the results like these other players. I think SingleThunder is good at starting strong but fails to find the correct win paths and eventually will flop a very demanding position. XY is where Amaranth thrives, and I feel they will capitalize on SingleThunder's weaker mid to late game and ultimately come out on top.
BW: Akaru Kokuyo vs DaWoblefet - I never in my life would have predicted Akaru to go 1-6. They are a very strong player and this is just not like them at all. I want to say I believe in them bouncing back here but they are up against one of, if not, the best BW DOUer to ever do it. DaWob has gone 4-2 which is a good record but for them it is actually considered a "weak" season. Despite the "weak" season from DaWob he is very clearly still in form and even though I do strongly believe Akaru could bounce back, I cant say it'll happen here.
