Last year it took me ages to write these predictions, also because I didn't know the existence of the "save draft" button. I am a more knowledgeable person now, so this time I am ready to write more quickly some good old nonsense!
(1) soTsoT v (32) JJ09LIE > Imagine being the first seed and think you are in for a more relaxed r1 just to find JJ on your path. Such is life sometimes and soT is in for a hard challenge. I am a bit surprised to see he didn't pick GBA Classic against his opponent, who I rate juuuust a tad higher than him in 8 and 9. soT should have a clear advantage in doubles and DHC (I assume he picks dubs there too), while gen 7 can go either way. I'll go with soT
Prediction: 3-2 soT
(2) Trade v (31) Failbor > Trade is definiely versatile and they should be able to exploit this and the higher seed to gain a decisive advantage vs Failbor, even if the latter can probably match well with almost every format that has been picked. On a side note, Failbor is now at his third consecutive participation in Slam so I hope he gets the respect he deserves and hopefully gets a slot in rbtt for once lol
Prediction: 3-1 Trade
(3) MichaelderBeste2 v (30) Wigglytuff > "Imagine being" but this time is followed by "an Open winner who had to go through a tiebreak and now gets to play Michael as a reward". I'll mention it here so I don't have to do it somewhere else, but given his bracket and the fact he has been playing old gens consistently for his channel, I believe this is the year Michael reaches finals. Wiggly is good and I am sure he'll put up a fight but according to the rule number 1 of rands predictions: you (almost) never bold against Michael
Prediction: 3-1 Michael
(4) sunsets v (29) Slikkles > I need to stay unbiased and use my brain and not my heart, so I favor sunsets in this matchup. The difference makers? More experience and the advantage in GB. The other games should be pretty even and Slikkles has definitely showed this year he is a good and rising player. I hope this series will represent the step he needs to make in order to reach the next level because he needs to learn how to handle a bo5 and the feeling of having the odds against him. "There's a time and place for everything, but not now (hopefully soon though!)"
Prediction: 3-2 sunsets
(5) Amaranth v (28) Drifting > I would have picked doubles if I were Amaranth but I think he still has the upper hand to win this series. I am also curious to see if they are going to play gen 6...again lol
Prediction: 3-2 Amaranth, where he gets badly haxed, gets close to throw something at his wall but wins in the end
(6) snorlax142857 v (27) 35Q71N > People might call me overly pessimistic but it's obvious that I am not favored vs Snorlax and I am also not going to win doubles. Can I win gen 8 and 9? Maybe? Hopefully? Still, he is the clear favorite so I'll be content with winning one game
Prediction: 3-1 Snorlax
(7) teresbahji v (26) MasterJ007 > To quote Churchill, Teres is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". Can Master solve it? Yes...but only partially imo, because Doubles is going to give Teres a big advantage and he is just very solid in the remaining formats overall. However, I am definitely looking forward to watching this series because it should be very balanced
Prediction: 3-2 Teres
(8) JustOut459 v (25) Michielleus > One of the highlights of this round, this year showed everyone that Justin is a hell of a player, being able to adapt to different formats and keeping a high level everywhere. One open final in Doubles, a top 8 in DS...just to get Mich round 1. The key is that Justin needs to focus on his play and not on the person at the other side of the screen. If he does that, he can win. Just like Slikkles, I think he needs to make that one step necessary to play better under pressure (in this case it might be being behind in the score)
Prediction: 3-1 Michielleus
(9) Nuage v (24) satvik123 > Satvik has been in the room for ages and he has learned how to play pretty much everything. This has been a remarkable year for him (playoffs, wcor, promotion to voice) but the problem is that he is against the person who would win "Newcomer of the Year" if that was a prize in the community. Nuage/Miss Galaxy Note has taken rands by storm and they are ready to make Satvik suffer in gen 2 and in his least favorite format in gen 8 (note of disapproval by yours truly). The proficiency in BSSF is going to be enough for the indian player? I don't think so, MGN has the upper hand in my opinion
Prediction: 3-1 MGN
(10) drifttrick v (23) Vitoran > Well, drifttrick is another person who could win the fictitious "Newcomer of the Year" award along with Justin and MGN. He should have probably been drafted for rbtt this year but he will most definitely get a high pick in the upcoming edition anyway. But! I am going to predict he loses this series. Because Vitor is a friend and for now I bolded against all my friends? Maybe...
In reality, it's mainly because there are no formats when one has a clear advantage over the other, except for maybe gen 8 where Vitor is better and DS (gen 4) which is basically Drifttrick's main format. We are definitely in for a good one so let's grab the popcorn!
Prediction: 3-2 Vitor
(11) Casual dot exe v (22) Micaiah > already played but I would have genuinely flipped a coin because it felt like a 50-50
(12) Lady Writer v (21) Chains of Markov > 8, 9 and Classic (I assume it's going to be 2) are in favor of LW, who is not exactly a doubles main but he can play that reasonably well. Hackmons is also fine for the wcor winner since they have experience with incredibly wacky formats like gen 1 cc. To summarize, Chains is the kind of guy who does pretty much everything well but the problem is that his opponent does everything even better
Prediction: 3-1 LW
(13) HaunterBoy28 v (20) jyusaan > This is another interesting series mainly because Jyusaaaaaaaaan is a good player but I still don't know too too much about him. How versatile is he? Is he familiar with the formats Haunter picked? Assuming both players win in their best formats (doubles and BSSF), DS and 7 should be relatively balanced. What about 8? I have never seen jyusaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan play 8, but Haunter has always played it at a pretty good level, so that might be the deciding factor
Prediction: 3-2 Haunter (sorry jyusaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan)
(14) IcyPenguin2 v (19) Panty&Stockings > Icy has the pick advantage and he can play all the formats of the bo5 with good results (except for GB). I think Panty is a better player as of now and my prediction is that they will find a way to handle the games, but it's going to be VERY close
Prediction: 3-2 Panty
(15) Emboar02 v (18) Sylveon used calm mind > already played but I would have favored Sylv because he is just too good
(16) pokeblade101 v (17) John Dozo > I feel like this is the equivalent of me vs Snorlax. Blade can play everything well and has a clear advantage in doubles, John is less flexible and Blade plays all the formats he likes but better. Sorry John :c
Prediction: 3-0 Blade
(1) soTsoT v (32) JJ09LIE > Imagine being the first seed and think you are in for a more relaxed r1 just to find JJ on your path. Such is life sometimes and soT is in for a hard challenge. I am a bit surprised to see he didn't pick GBA Classic against his opponent, who I rate juuuust a tad higher than him in 8 and 9. soT should have a clear advantage in doubles and DHC (I assume he picks dubs there too), while gen 7 can go either way. I'll go with soT
Prediction: 3-2 soT
(2) Trade v (31) Failbor > Trade is definiely versatile and they should be able to exploit this and the higher seed to gain a decisive advantage vs Failbor, even if the latter can probably match well with almost every format that has been picked. On a side note, Failbor is now at his third consecutive participation in Slam so I hope he gets the respect he deserves and hopefully gets a slot in rbtt for once lol
Prediction: 3-1 Trade
(3) MichaelderBeste2 v (30) Wigglytuff > "Imagine being" but this time is followed by "an Open winner who had to go through a tiebreak and now gets to play Michael as a reward". I'll mention it here so I don't have to do it somewhere else, but given his bracket and the fact he has been playing old gens consistently for his channel, I believe this is the year Michael reaches finals. Wiggly is good and I am sure he'll put up a fight but according to the rule number 1 of rands predictions: you (almost) never bold against Michael
Prediction: 3-1 Michael
(4) sunsets v (29) Slikkles > I need to stay unbiased and use my brain and not my heart, so I favor sunsets in this matchup. The difference makers? More experience and the advantage in GB. The other games should be pretty even and Slikkles has definitely showed this year he is a good and rising player. I hope this series will represent the step he needs to make in order to reach the next level because he needs to learn how to handle a bo5 and the feeling of having the odds against him. "There's a time and place for everything, but not now (hopefully soon though!)"
Prediction: 3-2 sunsets
(5) Amaranth v (28) Drifting > I would have picked doubles if I were Amaranth but I think he still has the upper hand to win this series. I am also curious to see if they are going to play gen 6...again lol
Prediction: 3-2 Amaranth, where he gets badly haxed, gets close to throw something at his wall but wins in the end
(6) snorlax142857 v (27) 35Q71N > People might call me overly pessimistic but it's obvious that I am not favored vs Snorlax and I am also not going to win doubles. Can I win gen 8 and 9? Maybe? Hopefully? Still, he is the clear favorite so I'll be content with winning one game
Prediction: 3-1 Snorlax
(7) teresbahji v (26) MasterJ007 > To quote Churchill, Teres is “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma". Can Master solve it? Yes...but only partially imo, because Doubles is going to give Teres a big advantage and he is just very solid in the remaining formats overall. However, I am definitely looking forward to watching this series because it should be very balanced
Prediction: 3-2 Teres
(8) JustOut459 v (25) Michielleus > One of the highlights of this round, this year showed everyone that Justin is a hell of a player, being able to adapt to different formats and keeping a high level everywhere. One open final in Doubles, a top 8 in DS...just to get Mich round 1. The key is that Justin needs to focus on his play and not on the person at the other side of the screen. If he does that, he can win. Just like Slikkles, I think he needs to make that one step necessary to play better under pressure (in this case it might be being behind in the score)
Prediction: 3-1 Michielleus
(9) Nuage v (24) satvik123 > Satvik has been in the room for ages and he has learned how to play pretty much everything. This has been a remarkable year for him (playoffs, wcor, promotion to voice) but the problem is that he is against the person who would win "Newcomer of the Year" if that was a prize in the community. Nuage/Miss Galaxy Note has taken rands by storm and they are ready to make Satvik suffer in gen 2 and in his least favorite format in gen 8 (note of disapproval by yours truly). The proficiency in BSSF is going to be enough for the indian player? I don't think so, MGN has the upper hand in my opinion
Prediction: 3-1 MGN
(10) drifttrick v (23) Vitoran > Well, drifttrick is another person who could win the fictitious "Newcomer of the Year" award along with Justin and MGN. He should have probably been drafted for rbtt this year but he will most definitely get a high pick in the upcoming edition anyway. But! I am going to predict he loses this series. Because Vitor is a friend and for now I bolded against all my friends? Maybe...
In reality, it's mainly because there are no formats when one has a clear advantage over the other, except for maybe gen 8 where Vitor is better and DS (gen 4) which is basically Drifttrick's main format. We are definitely in for a good one so let's grab the popcorn!
Prediction: 3-2 Vitor
(11) Casual dot exe v (22) Micaiah > already played but I would have genuinely flipped a coin because it felt like a 50-50
(12) Lady Writer v (21) Chains of Markov > 8, 9 and Classic (I assume it's going to be 2) are in favor of LW, who is not exactly a doubles main but he can play that reasonably well. Hackmons is also fine for the wcor winner since they have experience with incredibly wacky formats like gen 1 cc. To summarize, Chains is the kind of guy who does pretty much everything well but the problem is that his opponent does everything even better
Prediction: 3-1 LW
(13) HaunterBoy28 v (20) jyusaan > This is another interesting series mainly because Jyusaaaaaaaaan is a good player but I still don't know too too much about him. How versatile is he? Is he familiar with the formats Haunter picked? Assuming both players win in their best formats (doubles and BSSF), DS and 7 should be relatively balanced. What about 8? I have never seen jyusaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan play 8, but Haunter has always played it at a pretty good level, so that might be the deciding factor
Prediction: 3-2 Haunter (sorry jyusaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan)
(14) IcyPenguin2 v (19) Panty&Stockings > Icy has the pick advantage and he can play all the formats of the bo5 with good results (except for GB). I think Panty is a better player as of now and my prediction is that they will find a way to handle the games, but it's going to be VERY close
Prediction: 3-2 Panty
(15) Emboar02 v (18) Sylveon used calm mind > already played but I would have favored Sylv because he is just too good
(16) pokeblade101 v (17) John Dozo > I feel like this is the equivalent of me vs Snorlax. Blade can play everything well and has a clear advantage in doubles, John is less flexible and Blade plays all the formats he likes but better. Sorry John :c
Prediction: 3-0 Blade
and once again, I have to support my favorite 
who put up with my stupid ass DM song requests for like a week