Confide vs TheFranklin - I think this is gonna be an interesting matchup, but i'm going for the underdog here. Franklin is definitely more familiar with the metagame, as he's been playing ru tours all year round and has been showing good results. I dont think Confide will be able to match his metagame knowledge, but he will be equipped with a team from Feli and Ajna, which i believe will give him a decent edge. As long as he can pilot the team well i think he should be able to land himself a victory here.
lax vs Punny - Big highlight here between two experienced players. We all know lax is a great player and it wouldnt surprise me one bit to see him take this but Punny's ru dominance is just impossible to ignore. I don't think lax has really been playing ru leading up to the start of this tournament, so I'm interested to see what he comes up with in his short time to prepare for facing off against the undisputed top player in the pool.
atomicllamas vs odr - I guess ill just predict for myself, dont wanna skip it and miss out on points ya know
Nat vs Charmflash - Nat has been on an absolute tear this year. Although the majority of her recent success has been in ou, I have no reason to believe she won't continue her reign in the tier she has called home for many years now. I know she's up to date on the metagame, qualifying for rult playoffs recently and playing many tests on the side. As far as i know, I dont think Charmflash has really been playing the tier much, if at all as of late. It has changed a lot since zarude moved up to uu, and im not sure if Charm is quite up to speed yet on the metagame. I don't think he can match the metagame knowledge nat has, nor the drive she has to win.
CrashinBoomBang vs Dragon Claw - I really don't know much at all about either of these players. As far as i know. neither of them have even touched ru in gen 8, so theyre both going to be starting from square 1. I'm bolding CBB because im a bit more familiar with him as a player and I know he can pull the triggers he needs to decide a game. I'm definitely interested in seeing what kind of teams these guys bring, as I'll be playing against each of them in weeks 2 and 3.