but somehow, gulchdicts returned.
Goofy Goober Goodras (4) vs
(6) Pokestar Pranksters 
SV: Hiko vs
Bouff - pretty insane matchup to see w1, not sure how much pu knowledge hiko has retained since love tour but it wasn't too long ago and he has a good cast of characters to get him up to speed. bouff is a very tough first draw though, wouldn't be shocked to see this go either way but i'll give a slight edge to bouff since i think they're going to be more in tune with the meta + more motivated from the manager seat
SV: sufys vs
DripLegend - another very good matchup, drip had an alright run in ladder tour playoffs (although arguably a bit scuffed, that set vs MZ was foul) and sufys has been doing alright for himself in pu open lately. sufys definitely has some armchairing to justify here but i doubt he'll go out like a chump, gonna lean drip just based off of recent achievement + he's with his jerk but neither result would be a shocker here.
SV:
etern vs SEA - i don't think i've seen sea load up a game of sv pu ever and etern made finals of winter seasonal, gonna be a tough break-in for the angler. good player with good support though so i will be watching with interest.
SS:
OranBerryBlissey10 vs gum - insane highlight matchup for this tier, these two are neck and neck for the number one slot in my eyes and are both known to cook up some good stuff beyond the typical terrain and gigaslash. congrats guys, you got me hyped to tune in to an ss game! love both of these fellas, gonna give it to obb but man this is gonna be a nice match.
SM: btboy vs
Gondra - gondra's last venture in this tier was 3-4 in pupl ix, and btboy's was... it wasn't, he hasn't played in pupl before. i know he has an affinity for other SM low tiers but i'm also not sure how washed he is, and gondra's been still keeping himself sharp lately.
ORAS: ishtar vs
Eternal Spirit - fun fact, according to the pu sheet, gama's dead even on his w/l ratio! i love ishtar but this will definitely be a difficult first game for her after coming back from the nursing home, although a part of me does wonder who's supplying gama with teams...
BW:
LpZ vs Accel - i will not be predicting against lpz in this tier ever unless i'm given a reason to, accel is the goat but el peezy is literally mr bw pu himself
DPP: Ara vs
frankjosh - frank's good at this tier! not sure how good ara is at it so just gonna be bolding on familarity. i will say that i have a small bit of concern about who on the goobers is cooking here, especially because i know frank will have sauce, but i suppose only time will tell.
ADV:
Parpar vs violet river - parpar went 5-2 and i haven't seen violet play this tier although i know she's good. generally do not trust clickers for adv pu so gonna go with the guy that has established results already.
Bo3: seraphz vs
sensei axew - i vastly trust ryan's tier knowledge for the oldgens here, if he gives a fuck i don't think this will be close at all even if seraphz manages to take sv.
Sinnoh Lakers (5)
vs (5) Haunter x Haunter
SV: Piyu vs
fish anemometer - fish is good, will cook, and has some of the best support he could ever ask for in dugza/mz. piyu's cracked but this will definitely be an uphill fight for him, although it's one i'll be very interested in watching.
SV:
Xiri vs Vulpix03 - not sure how much sv pix has been playing these days but i doubt it's enough to convince me to bold him over a scheduling terrorist with a ribbon. don't lose to terrain buddy!
SV:
Stories vs Kev - idk who kev is but he isn't on the sheet and stories went 4-0 last pupl and also did well in puwc. not really expecting too much out of this game overall.
SS:
Lambovino vs Ming549 - despite claiming he's washed, lambo hasn't dropped a beat since coming back in pubd. ming did win the most recent ss cup, but that was also almost a year ago... will be interesting to see how he shakes off the rust, especially without obb there to feed him teams this time
SM:
Estarossa vs MZ - holy fucking highlight batman, was expecting to see mz in sv but if this is the matchup i get out of it i will NOT be complaining at all. mz is consistently at the top of his game in this tier, while esta had a strong breakout last season and has been on the cutting edge of the builder. i think going maverick is something that will serve you well in this tier, gonna predict the upset but i will be catching this game live.
ORAS: watashi vs
TSR - i'm gonna be so real, this is a great matchup but i really do not care for oras pu. tsr is kinda washed but his last record here was pretty impressive, gonna let him have it
BW:
Cow vs TyCarter - cow my goat i could never predict against you. i have historically gotten burned for dunking on tycarter but i'm gonna ride the high of knocking the canucks out of bw world cup while i still can
DPP: SFG vs
Charmriah - i don't know the first name here and i've never seen the second one play dpp pu. basically a coinflip.
ADV: plznostep vs
Lily - top 2 of pool immediately? damn dude, alright, i'll bite. lily's been slowly waning off of her jesus status in this tier, but i'd be foolish to say that she's not still great and has what a lot of players who venture here lack with some more innovative builder choices. step by comparison is much more slow and steady (i had to beg on my hands and knees to get hustle togetic into consideration), and whether or not they'll outlast largely depends on lily's team choice imo. very very hype game that i will try my best to see live.
Bo3: Larry vs
DugZa - [WRITER'S NOTE: DODGEBALL (2004) ALREADY DID THE DODGE DIVE DIP DUCK & DODGE JOKE. FIND SOMETHING FUNNIER.]
The KINGPINS (6) vs (4) The Dazzling Delphoxes
SV:
Metallica126 vs Suzukaaa - sucks to see an immediate china teamkill, also sucks to see that i can't take the cop-out of "never bet against china". damn you hosts. metallica is a top 5 sv pu player right now though, suzuka is great but i'm gonna be hard pressed to bold against the wheelchair architect.
SV:
big tony 2014 vs dunoks - dunoks is gonna force tony to play at the absolute worst time ever, bolding tony in solidarity.
SV:
LOOR vs 691 - cool rematch from pubd! been watching loor cook behind the scenes for blt and if he puts anywhere near the same amount of dedication into this tour he'll be just fine.
SS: Suzuya vs
Hacker - i'm gonna be so real with you i didn't even know hacker played this tier but i still have a bitter taste in my mouth from spectating bo3 last year
SM:
robjr vs tom holland - it will be a cold day in hell before i bold against robjr
ORAS:
lighthouses vs feen - i trust the kingpins to get better oras teams than whatever's going on on the phoxes even if i think feen is probably the better player here.
BW: avarice vs
Tizio Potente Ao - tizio is gonna load some turbo bullshit, avarice is probably gonna mald over it, the rampardos terrorist will rinse and repeat for several weeks into a positive record.
DPP: Django vs
TJ - both players have been doing extremely well in dpppl, gonna bold tj here on gut feeling but this could definitely go either way.
ADV: Plague vs
Aurist - aurist finally gets to start! they surely won't drop the first game, right? right?? (+usa buff)
Bo3:
zS vs Leni - i trust whatever comes out of the co-ed zs/metallica kitchen with my fucking life dude
m.A.A.d. City Magmortars (4) vs (6) Malignant Chain Snatchers 
