Real treat for Smogon to get these finals coinciding with Classic finals. Also want to say what a special run it was from both Vert, who was my favorite competitor to follow each week, and Alhen, who played the dark horse role exceedingly well.
As for these finals, I think Separation is the slight favorite, but it’ll be awful close. Ewin I will never count out because he displays such great range as a player. Say what you will about his last set being messy, but you have to respect the chance of him using stall or fatter balance, which he has a successful track record with, despite his recent uptick in HO. He used 3/3 offense against Vert and, while it was a fortunate series, Ewin has definitely proven he’s comfortable across the board. I know I struggled to find a focus when preparing for him in SCL, so I can’t imagine that’s an easy task for Separation with three teams to account for within just this week…
Deadline
Sunday, October 265th @ 11:59 PM EST
unless this isn’t a typo
I really like Ewin adapting his approach to his surroundings though. This metagame and these sets of opponents dictate different needs and checklists than others, so I can see him being up to task here.
With this all said, Separarion has quietly become a top dog in SV OU — arguably moreso than Ewin even. He is really proficient at giving confusing looks to the opponent. His building and/or team picks have been great all tournament. His play has been pretty steady, void of any egregious misplays. I think he’s continued to evolve with each passing year, going from good to great to elite. I don’t really see many holes in his game and I do think preparing for him now is harder than ever.
These series honestly come down to making adjustments both in prep and as the series goes on play wise with so many things to factor in that any prediction post pretending to know-it-all is lying to you. I do think Ewin has a slightly more dynamic range of options at his disposal while I do think Separarion has played a little better in this tournament. Do either of these things factor in here? Probably, but who am I to know. I’ll go 55/45 Separation, but either way it’s a tight series and there’s a ton of props both deserve. Excited to spectate.
