ZoroDark
esse quam videri
1. Cam vs. 9. Accelgor: Hard one to call, but I'm going with the upset pick here. Cam's series was the definition of solid. He overcame getting webbed g1 by leaning on trusty Noivern + Haxorus builds in game 2 and 3 and slowly choking GW out with his favorable matchups. I think there's definitely a way for Accelgor to take advantage of Cam's more conservative builds so far, but I'm basing this prediction mainly on their individual motivation levels. Accel needed some really significant luck to squeak past Amane in the first round. Additionally, I know that I would be decompressed as hell after winning UUPL like Accel just has and that's causing me to give a slight edge to the #1 seed.
3. solonor24 vs. 6. Xiri: Another close series that should be very exciting to watch. Both users rolled up with some neat teams in round 1. Solo taught me there's apparently a Pokemon called Frosmoth, while Xiri rolled up to g2 with what was presumably a SubSD Pangoro. With the help of some aggressive plays and one or two lucky breaks, solo won rather handily. Meanwhile, Xiri's series was filled with some weird plays on both sides. This'll come down to the effectiveness of some of solo's aggressive moves, but I believe that Xiri's experience and unpredictability of his own will allow him to take this one.
4. pokeisfun vs. 5. Highways: As opposed to the past where you knew what you could expect from pif, he has become a nightmare to prep for in SS. He's branched out to using and building some very effective bulky offenses, but the risk of running into a really nasty stall that only he can come up with remains. His SS UU metagame knowledge is second-to-none as evidenced by putting a spotlight on mons like Stunfisk-Galar. Highways played a solid but not very remarkable series in round 1 and I don't know too much about him as a player overall.
It's really sad that I have to face off with Sabella as his enthusiasm for this tier during UUPL is a big reason why I started getting involved in this gen. He's also been super helpful throughout all stages of this tour by providing ideas, teams and support so it's a shame one of us has to go out.
3. solonor24 vs. 6. Xiri: Another close series that should be very exciting to watch. Both users rolled up with some neat teams in round 1. Solo taught me there's apparently a Pokemon called Frosmoth, while Xiri rolled up to g2 with what was presumably a SubSD Pangoro. With the help of some aggressive plays and one or two lucky breaks, solo won rather handily. Meanwhile, Xiri's series was filled with some weird plays on both sides. This'll come down to the effectiveness of some of solo's aggressive moves, but I believe that Xiri's experience and unpredictability of his own will allow him to take this one.
4. pokeisfun vs. 5. Highways: As opposed to the past where you knew what you could expect from pif, he has become a nightmare to prep for in SS. He's branched out to using and building some very effective bulky offenses, but the risk of running into a really nasty stall that only he can come up with remains. His SS UU metagame knowledge is second-to-none as evidenced by putting a spotlight on mons like Stunfisk-Galar. Highways played a solid but not very remarkable series in round 1 and I don't know too much about him as a player overall.
It's really sad that I have to face off with Sabella as his enthusiasm for this tier during UUPL is a big reason why I started getting involved in this gen. He's also been super helpful throughout all stages of this tour by providing ideas, teams and support so it's a shame one of us has to go out.