16. Santu vs 8. Dominatio - Closer than it may seem because Dominato has been putting in work recently, but Santu is great. He shows that he can adapt from one tier to another. I think Santu is the favorite overall alongside SoulWind and I believe he will take this in 3-4 so long as he puts in the work in prepping for the few tiers he is less familiar with.
2. Roseybear vs 7. PinkDragonTamer - Hardest series to predict. I view both as good, but not super proven. Roseybear has beaten a lot of great players over different tournaments, but PDT is on fire and perhaps the trendy pick. I think that PDT beating Lopunny Kicks was one of the most impressive things to me recently and that is enough for me to side with him. This one is close to 50/50 though and I think whoever manages to take LC could end up favored overall.
4. UltraBallz vs 5. SoulWind - SoulWind is the favorite here. Be it through connections or his own hard work, he seems to bring solid teams. In terms of gameplay, he is the best in the field and may be able to bring home his second individual because of that. Excited to see what UltraBallz comes up with to try to get SoulWind's way, but I think he is in over his head if SoulWind puts his best foot forward. Santu-SoulWind will be a treat next round.
3. Confide vs 6. Moutemoute - Confide is a really strong player. I think he has a tendency to bring "ratchet" teams that may have holes, but he plays very aggressively and I think we are past the point of underrating him now that he is in the final 8. Moutemoute is the more conventional player and it seems like his foundation in tiers like UU and NU are great. I feel like his series vs Snaga could have went either way, but he was able to pull through and that is impressive. I favor Confide here, but this one should go 4-5 games and may come down to team choices.
