Shoutout to
MMII and all my other fans that so desperately needed the return of my predictions so here they are...
Defiant Durians (5) vs. DaReal Drizzlers (5)
SS:
TonyFlygon vs. Lunala - I was very very close to predicting for Lunala here because I think she has been nothing short of exceptional during this tour but I think Tony's prep is the best out of all the SS players, he has great ideas and he can translate them perfectly into winning teams so I expect him to roll up with something that Lunala just doesn't have an answer for and ultimately take this one.
Big highlight match though~
SS: Cam vs.
Luna's Banned now - Despite Cam's 3-1 record (3-0 if you only count games he didn't come up against yours truly and the demon no recovery MCoat fairyceus), I actually have a feeling that LBN will silence all the "haters" and win when it matters most. He's not bad and for god knows what reason I have a weird feeling he takes this one
SS: Skysolo vs.
TJ - As much as I love Solo, he has yet to really show up to this tour in terms of SS, his games in this tour have been slightly underwhelming to someone who believes in him so much, and last week's win didn't exactly inspire confidence, considering he only ended up winning off of a last turn choke. On the other hand, TJ has been absolutely lights out when it comes to SS play and I think he'll just keep it going this week and send Solo back to his Durian brothers empty handed
USM: GO lucario vs.
Gondra - Haven't really understood what the hype around GoL is about, hasn't really impressed much at all in SM and is now at a below average 3-4 record. Meanwhile, Gondra has been taking UPL USM by storm and stacked up impressive performances week in and week out. Garay + byron USM prep is not something you can ignore but I think Gondra is just the better player and should not have much troubles with the ladder hero
ORAS:
obii vs. Thiago Nunes - As much as I believe in Thiago Nunes, obii did hand me my only loss and has probably the best ORAS support in the whole tour in Garay Oak + Gunner Rohan, so I'll lean towards him on this one even though Thiago has all the tools to pull off the mini upset
BW:
watashi vs. Evuelf - Ah yes, the battle of the 2019 BWandits

Neither have had a particularly great UPL so far but I think Evuelf's confidence is a bit wounded at the moment and he hasn't seemed like himself when he has played (might be the lack of BW support on the Drizzlers or maybe he just doesn't hate Staxi enough). I truly hope he bounces back and I'm absolutely rooting for him here but I think watashi takes it at first glance
DPP:
Chill Shadow vs. SoulWind - Soulwind is absolutely capable of winning this and should theoretically do so but he's just been lazy and hasn't switched up his DPP teams at all for the past like 4-5 weeks. Chill Shadow is blessed by the Pokemon gods and always finds a way to get lucky + I think he'll have a positive matchup here due to SW's tendencies so he's the easy pick here. Hopefully Soulwind proves me wrong and switches it up, in which case I could absolutely see him winning this
ADV: Triangles vs.
Heysup - Triangles hasn't been impressive at all and I'm a massive fan of Heysup's ADV: he blends creativity in teambuilding with excellent execution and roughly 2700 weekly test games (I have to play about 600 of those). As long as he doesn't go too far with his heat he shouldn't have problems winning this one, making the Englishman fall just short like they did in other recent tournaments
GSC: d0nut vs.
M Dragon - Even though d0nut has had a great UPL (5-2 overall and 5-0 vs every team other than the Bandits) and M Dragon hasn't really lived up to the pricetag, the former is coming off a bad loss while the latter won last week when it mattered most to clinch finals for his team and I think he does it again. M Dragon is on the rise while the pixie dust is starting to wear off of d0nut and the spaniard will take full advantage and do his part in potentially winning his 5th straight UPL title
BO3:
Garay oak vs. Fardin - Not much to say here honestly, Fardin is very good but I will never predict against Garay Oak in Bo3: most complete Ubers player participating in the tour and he should take this one as long as he prepares properly and isn't massively weak to stall
Tiebreak:
ADV (Drizzlers pick 1st): Chill Shadow vs Heysup
Bo3 (Durians pick 2nd): Garay Oak vs SoulWind
SS: TonyFlygon
vs TJ - decides UPL since Tony always schedules to play last so it'll be 1-1 by that point, and I have no idea who wins this
I hope all of you enjoy this final week and may the best team win!