SM UU:
Manipulative vs PokeTCG gamer1288 - Probably the best start possible to a prediction post. This is actually a very tough match up to predict (I'd say it's impossible, but in the end it boils down to a 50/50, so there's that) in the sense that the variation in the team choices and skill level of both of these guys is ridiculously high. On one side we have a UU mainstay that is good enough to knock down the titans of the tier on a good day but sometimes chooses to handicap himself with excessive clicking and a hatred for Steel-types that is impossible to comprehend. On the other side, we have PokeTCG gamer1288, whose team choices and balls to the wall plays have immense potential to get the people in the tours chat gasping at their computer screens in awe. Depending on his manager's activity throughout the week, we could either see a masterpiece like no one's ever built before or a Finding True Love Dragalge stall cameo in this game. I'm predicting Manipulative to win due to his slightly higher amount of experience and consistency (arguable, but I don't think I've ever seen Manipulative do anything terrible in any his games).
SM UU: A Hero's Destiny vs
Sacri' - As a wise man once said,
"Sacri is the only person to ever look at the list of available Pokemon in the SM UU tier and think to himself: "Wow! This Togekiss thingy seems like such a good and non-niche Pokemon! I wonder why it's not used more often...". Seriously, Sacri' uses that Pokemon like the typical SM UU player uses Gliscor, and it honestly puzzles me. On the other hand, Brazilian wonder and Bushtush's #1 public enemy Wesley will load up his 8th Magneton of the season and pray it works. The realization: said Magneton will be his only answer to the aforementioned Togekiss. The plot twist: As Magneton comes in on Togekiss, something inside Sacri's brain will elevate him to a whole new plane of existence and he will manage to predict this and... double switch?! Wait, he stayed in?!
"Togekiss unleashes its full-force Z-Move! Togekiss used Inferno Overdrive!". This sequence of moves will cause a chain reaction that will begin with dekzeh's
"Is this really a thing in this tier?" in the tours chat and end with the Tigers somehow not making playoffs as the necks use their newfound confidence to triumph over their oposition. The end.
SM UU:
HT vs Christo - Before I elaborately describe my thoughts on this match, here's a fun fact: although many people might remember HT as Hairy Toenail, the truth is that ever since he came across CrashinBoomBang, the evil jerk of CBB drones has baptized him as
Hea
T. That aside, I'm predicting an upset here. My main issue with HT throughout this tournament have been his team choices rather than his playing (which, for reference, has been pretty pragmatic and a lot more aggressive than he was originally known for among UU players), while Christo has just been doing his thing and
haxing my player, who could've been undefeated as of Week 7 bringing solid no-nonsense teams while piloting them well enough (and with enough breaks) to rack up the wins (aside from last week, where dodmen dissected his stall team with something that looked like it could've come straight out of Euphonos' team folder). With that said, both of these players are coming from a loss, but overall there's a much higher demand for HT to get his shit together as the playoff race gets tighter, and that's exactly what I am expecting him to do here.
SM UU:
Lycans vs Bushtush - Aside from last week's fiesta, Lycans has played some of my favorite games of this whole tournament so far. I don't know how to put it together in a way that everyone is able to understand, but there's something about the way he plays that makes me think he's a full step above most of the SPL9 UU playerbase. Plus, his teams aren't terrible and he seems to know how far he can go before his "innovation" turns into "dogshit", smoothly incorporating lesser known techs on what would otherwise be standard/boring teams rather than blindly throwing stuff together and hoping it works. On the other side of the match up, Bushtush is a wild boar and I honestly can't think of a more fitting way of describing him. If he schedules his game for a good day, he could just take everything that comes across his path by storm and dominate in a way that would count as 2 wins for the Ruiners
. Otherwise, Lycans should grab the win for his team.
SM RU: Windsong vs
soulgazer - Clash of titans... predicting SOULGAZER - SAMA to take this one based (mostly) on the fact that he is continuing the legacy of behemoths such as AFRO SMASH (who, for reference, is hella good at games), CALLOFLOCHIE, KA$H MONEY KEV and WEPWN, while Windsong's collection of well-kept fossils (including BW1 RU players, which I happen to be a part of) is no match for the conglomeration of the aforementioned users. Playing wise, both dudes have a very no-nonsense approach, using good stuff and piloting it with very few mistakes, so this should be a very good game if external factors don't get in their way
SM RU:
Nat vs SilentVerse - Although many people think that it's impossible to remain competent at Pokemon while also playing the infamous League of Legends at the same time, this is not entirely true, and SilentVerse has (sort of) managed to prove this. If anything, LoL gives you some insight that you can put to good use in Pokemon, such as long-term planning and knowing when to place the blame on other people for your own shortcomings. At first, people seemed to accuse stage fright as the reason why Natalie was not able to produce results during SSD, but SPL Natalie is a brand new woman who keeps impressing both her opponents and the crowd that watches her games in a very convincing fashion. My prediction is that Natalie will use Golisopod for the third week in a row and SilentVerse will disrespect this Pokemon's existence, thinking to himself
"Why would she use the same niche Pokemon 3 games in a row? That's basically the same as ganking my lane 3 times in a row after I survived the previous 2 times". What takes place afterwards is an exotic combination of league jargon and First Impression kills that will result in a victory for the spectators.
"Why are the tournament directors not ganking my lane?" says SilentVerse, fondly remembering his triumphant victory over no justice no peace.
"Who the hell fed this Golisopod two kills?! kys"
*points at Gingy and ChillShadow*. In the end, the one thought that will remain in SV's mind is how hard he inted his SPL 9 Week 8 match away
SM RU: Feliburn vs
Chill Shadow - In case you're wondering: yeah, I got tired after this one. While both of these guys are clearly underperforming, I still think that there's a ton of potential here. For reference, I'm predicting Chill Shadow to win mostly based on the fact that he's a lucky dog who's graduated in the art of robbing wins from other people. That and he has one of the most creative minds supporting him in col49. On the other hand, Feliburn doesn't really have much of a reason to care considering where his team currently stands, which means that there's a chance we see a brand new man who's more willing to make the "big plays". Either that or a team straight out of the tier below PU which almost manages to upset this self proclaimed "chill" person.
SM NU: Kushalos vs
Rodriblutar - Just thinking that I still have 8 more of these is making my head explode, but let's get to it! Although Rodri's two main claims to fame are his broken English and the fact that he used to play Pokemon from his cellphone, the truth is that there's a lot more you could say about this player. If you read what I said about Bushtush above, I feel like it also applies to this man for the most part, although Rodriblutar seems a little more confident in the teambuilder. On the other hand, the chef (as the fans like to call Kushalos) is, in my opinion, one of Smogon's biggest mysteries, as seen by his decision to place the PU classic higher than the World Cup of Pokemon on his priority list. That aside, he tends to obtain most of his advantages in the teambuilder rather than opting to outplay, which could backfire against somebody who's supported by behemoths like rozes and Earth and has, overall, the balls to make some wild plays whenever the situation requires it.
SM NU: Hootie vs
Pohjis - Actually, fuck that, let's just do this the ol' short way. Both of them have what it takes to win a game of NU but I'm predicting Pohjis to take this one because I need him to be in shape and on good terms with me for the next World Cup of Pokemon (I also think he's a really good player when he's feeling himself)
SM NU:
ict vs cb jose altuve - Similar to Kush vs Rodri. meeps tends to rely on obtaining an advantage through teambuilding while ict is a more sound player overall, which means he should take this one unless he randomly decides to bring some whack fusion between NU and PU featuring the fire sandcastle (that or Monotype. Only Cased and MAYBE Zukushiku can wield that in this tier).
SM NU: elodin vs
lax - elodin is actually not bad at all in NU, especially now that he has decided to set his league adventures aside. However, between the fact that his team is out and how unlikely he is to actually care about his personal record (I mean, he could've farmed the activity win against bluri and instead chose to not schedule at all when it actually mattered) I'm expecting lax to win this one.
BW OU: Posho vs
SoulWind - If I had to pick the match I'm most hyped for this week, it would be this one for sure. On paper, it looks like something that could be the game of the season. However, considering BW's current state, we'll probably witness two people attempting to cheese each other with some weird looking version of sun stall and even then it'll still be a decent game because that actually sounds like a skill-demanding match up. Really tough to predict against Bobo when he has consistently dominated this tier for centuries now in spite of all the evolutions the metagame has suffered, while Posho isn't really performing as well as he would like to.
BW OU:
McMeghan vs Shoka - If McMeghan doesn't let his inner demons take over him yet another week, then this game could be as wild as the breath of the most recent Zelda release. If not, they're playing Sunday and the result won't matter in the slightest (read: it will, but very few people know about this yet). Regardless, I'm expecting Roro to win just because of how good he can be when he is motivated, and with SPL 9 playoffs drawing near I'm actually expecting the motivation to be there.
BW OU:
Arii Stella vs dice - Don't ask me why, but my gut is telling me that we will see an upset. Maybe it is the GOAT's blessing or maybe I'm just tripping, but I honestly think Arii has been playing just fine aside from a couple of blunders, which are probably the result of a lack of experience/the overall pressure of playing in SPL alongside a lack knowledge regarding some less known information regarding the tier anyway (I don't even know what this means, I'm honestly just trying to make this longer and possibly meaningful). dice himself is not a bad player, but if I were him after last week's game I would be tilted enough to throw a couple of freebies at my remaining opponents
BW OU: Go10 vs
ZoroDark - GoatN had a pretty convincing victory against Smogon's most flamboyant user, and ZoroDark, albeit a little more sloppy, is also coming from a particularly hot win. All things considered, the genius behind Zoro's teams will equip him with either the latest Babido fad or a team used by Bloo in the finals of the second BW tour of the second week of Smogon Tour 18 and he will pilot it well enough to bring the win home. Regardless of what happens, I'm not really expecting this to be memorable at all unless we see some hot memes from the side of the Scooters.