Pampu Primeapes (6) vs (3) Ding Dang Dewgongs
OU: Mister Tim vs
BlazingDark - Tim has been around for a very, very long time and naturally, with that comes an all-around solidness that makes him never an easy win. Unfortunately for him though, BlazingDark's agressive playstyle is very oriented towards beating the more balanced playstyle of Mister Tim so I'm giving him the edge here.
OU:
Ctown6 vs chub - This is gonna be one of multiple games where I want to bold both players lol. Two people I had nothing but pleasant interactions with, and two all around solid players. Ctown comes back to OU after a short stint in Ubers where he played what is definitely one of the most hype sets of this tournament against Kaz. I'm giving a very, very slight edge to Ctown because of the extra experience in OU but I can genuinely see this go both ways.
OU:
Tarvold vs Quarante8 - I think it's no secret for anyone that I am a fan of Tarvold. There's very few people in this community with stronger fundamentals than him. Interestingly, he has also been trying to deviate from his usual builds he was so iconic for, and while you can see it doesn't come as naturally to him, you can definitely still see the "Tarvold way" in his play, and that is honestly a good thing. Interestingly, he has been matched against 48, who has an iconically agressive playstyle that tends to match well into Tarvolds'. It should be a close one but, since Tarvold's fundamentals are very, very good I think he will be able to bring this home against 48.
OU:
BeeOrSomething vs Green on fire - Another hard one. As I'm sure the old guys noticed, I've changed my playstyle a lot since I was most active in 2017-2019. Green on fire reminds me of myself back then a lot, I feel like it's practically a carbon copy of how I used to play, both on a play-by-play level and a gameplanning level. He also has very good fundamentals. Bee has been going through a rough phase in the past few weeks, but one can see the Bee that earned a place at the Rising Stars is still there - a player that is really good at reading the gamestate, and has an innate agression in his play without overdoing it that I am a genuine fan of. And that Bee would have been a big problem for me back then. If he brings it in full, and I honestly think he will this week, I think he is a favourite to bring this one home, based on the playstyle of both players.
OU: Acetylaldehyde vs
Laroxyl - Genuinely hard for me to take a pick here, because these are two players and people I respect a lot. Laroxyl has been RBYing for a long time though, although only now does he seem to be consistently playing it. He was already giving me a lot of problems back in the day, and only got better since then, coming off of a great 3rd place finish in the Invitational coming from play-ins. After coming back from some training in the mountains, I think he should be favoured here, but if Acetyl takes this home too, I wouldn't be extremely surprised, as he is much more solid than I think even himself thinks he is.
Ubers:
Torchic vs corvere - It's hard not to bold Torchic on any lower tier he touches against almost any player.
UU:
Unowndragon vs Volk - Read above. Extremely goated Chinese duo.
NU: Bohrier vs Togkey - I'm going to be honest, I haven't seen enough of these players yet to be able to predict, so I'll pass on this one.
PU: Gastlies vs
stunner047 - I really wanted to bold Gastlies as I think she doesn't deserve the 0-4 record she has now at all, but stunner is probably not the best opponent to try to fix that against. stunner is another player that I rarely see making mistakes. He can be a little bit predictable at times though and Gastlies can definitely capitalise on that, but I've known stunner for a very long time and he is an all around solid player so I have to give him the edge here.
Rands:
tylerfitz8 vs Luchik - Extremely hard to bold anyone in this randbats pool, due to how good and balanced it is, but I'll swing towards tyler's side since, well, he is literally 4-0.
Viridian Victreebels (4) vs
(6) Hipster Hypnos
OU: SaDiSTiCNarwhal vs
Serpi - The highlight of the week. Two players I genuinely like a lot. Narwhal is currently 4-0 and shows no signs of stopping and Serpi is well, Serpi, not much needs to be said really lol. I'm going to give the edge to Serpi because he is extremely methodical and a top tier pilot but I genuinely think this one is closer than it might appear at first sight for some people. The week might very well be decided on this set, there's literally no reason to not be hyped about it!
OU:
Kenix vs Deezcastforms - Kenix is a very good player and should have the edge here.
OU: RaiZen1704 vs
emma - After Serpi vs Narwhal, one of the most hype sets of the week. I'm going to give emma the edge based on her top tier prep skills, but this is a set between two very solid players that I'm really looking forward to.
OU:
oakdeon vs 16bit - oakdeon is more experienced than 16bit so that gives him the edge in this set.
OU:
snaga vs doroco2 - This is an interesting one - snaga is a nonmainer that has been around for a long time and has the overall Pokemon skills, wheareas doroco is another hot prospect from the ladder. I'm giving the edge to snaga here because he has done quite well so far, and experience in tournaments comes a long way, but I'm eager to see what doroco is going to pull off in this set. I always have a soft spot for players who have their roots in the ladder.
Ubers: King Billu vs
CollectorEly - Ely has been solid so far and has more experience (at least that I know of) than King Billu in the tier, so I'll give him the edge.
UU: phoopes vs
Melbelle - Hard for me to not bold phoopes here as I respect him a lot, but Melanie is a player I am a fan of. I think she flies under the radar much more than she should in OU, and she is even better at lower tiers imo, so I'd say she has the edge here.
NU:
Khaetis vs royzin - Khaetis has been cooking, which I can never see as a bad thing, and has amazing Pokemon skills. royzin is a very solid player too though, and I think there are not many people that would make me not bold him, but Khaetis is one of them. I think this is closer skill-wise than some people might think tho.
PU: BeatsBlack vs
Hayburner - Hayburner has been very solid this tournament, with a single loss to Cake where honestly, he wasn't really given any breaks. I have to give him the edge here
Rands: Rage vs
YBW - Once again, two guys I genuinely respect and like a lot, but I think YBW has the edge here skill wise.
Glacial Articunos (0) vs
(10) Washed Wartortles
OU: nicole7735 vs
Sceptross - Nicole is a player I am a big fan of. Amaranth wrote in her bio for Rising Stars that she was one of the most meteoric ascensions he has ever seen. And while I did not see this ascension happen, it doesn't surprise me the slightest. She has an ability to understand the state of a metagame and the place each Pokemon has in it that is matched by almost no one, top players included. Her prep skills are very good too, and we saw these two skills being employed together to perfection with a great win over gastlies last week for the Winner's bracket finals in the Seasonal, where her prep was on point. We also see this in action when she decides to put time on an underexplored meta like PU, where she always feels ahead of everyone else. But, unfortunately for her, she's matched against me, gg.
OU: Isza vs
Albi - Albi has been improving tremendously throughout the tournament, with a very solid win over Acetylaldehyde last week. Isza is a solid player too and can definitely play (I've seen this firsthand in our Invitational set). Should be a really good set and while I think it's definitely gonna be a very close one, Isza is currently also busy with SCL, among other tournaments, so I'll give a slight edge to Albi here.
OU: avarice vs
TibarnWasTaken - This will be an interesting one. Tibarn has really good fundamentals, and avarice has been around for a while now. I think its gonna be a close one, but I'm giving an edge to Tibarn here based on his fundamentals.
OU: shiloh vs
Leru - Leru has been extremely solid during the tournament, with a really good showing vs gastlies. Rozes has a lot of experience in the tier, he's been around for a quite a while now and teamed up with me on the Wolfpack. Should be a really close one, but I give the slight edge to Leru here based on his extremely solid showing so far.
OU: Frrf vs
Skyrio - Frrf is a very solid OUer and someone I respect a lot. Skyrio has been playing extremely well this tournament, with four extremely solid displays
that even caught the eye of fellow frenchie Koala. I think it should be a very close set but I'm giving the edge to Skyrio because of what happened
the last time Frrf played a set against another fellow Frenchie.
Ubers: Mashing vs
Kaz - I don't know much of Mashing in the context of RBY Ubers. So I have to give the edge to Kaz here.
UU: Tree69420 vs
Ice Yazu - Tree has put a solid showing so far, but Yazu is the absolute goat of UU, so I'm giving him the edge here.
NU: Sabelette vs
MrSoup - Two very, very solid players. Sab is coming back to NU whereas Soup has been playing it consistently, so I'll give him a slight edge here.
PU: TehTayTeh vs
NotVeryCake
Rands: Lady Writer vs
nicomirra123 - nico has a playstyle in rands that stands out from the others and is regarded by a very big portion of the rands community as one of the best to ever do it. Lady Writer is an amazing rands player though. It's genuinely hard to pick anyone in rands, this is an extremely, extremely stacked rands pool. Should be a close one, but I think nico has a slight edge here.
Pampu Primeapes (3) vs (7) Ding Dang Dewgongs 
Viridian Victreebels (7) vs (3) Hipster Hypnos 
Glacial Articunos (5) vs (5) Washed Wartortles 
