Hello, all! It is I, your favorite iguana enthusiast, back with more picks! :)
Wi-fi Wolfpack (5) vs (7)
Congregation of the Classiest
SS OU: Star vs
suapah~~Great match! I am going with suapah here, though, because their SPL so far has been pretty decent.
SS OU: rozes vs
blarghlfarghl~~Glad to see Blargh back in the Smogtours Discord now. :) He's been looking in good form overall this SPL, and I think it's not going to be terribly often that he loses in SS OU throughout the overall tournament.
SS OU: The Hallows vs
Insult~~Really hard for me to predict against Insult in SS OU. Just very solid building and playing.
SS DOU: Stratos vs
stax~~Let's go stax! :D
SS LC: HT vs
Serene Grace~~Serene Grace is really good in LC. Probably will not lose a whole lot in this tier this SPL.
SM OU:
Welli0u vs Relous
ORAS OU: Sjneider vs
Persephone
BW OU: Pearl vs
Raiza~~Man, I'm going to repeat this a lot through this post, but there are a lot of great matches this week! Pearl is definitely really good in BW OU, but Raiza has been impressing me throughout this SPL, and I think their success will continue. :)
DPP OU:
BIHI vs Tamahome~~Really solid match! I admire both these players (and will be playing BIHI in the Smog Classic Warm-Up tour! :D ), and I think that they really know the meta exceedingly well. Giving BIHI the slight edge as I think they're a very quality DPP player.
ADV OU:
BKC vs Teclis~~Teclis is awesome, but it's hard to beat a GOAT. And damn does BKC look like a man on a mission to carry his team to an SPL victory this year.
GSC OU:
sulcata vs KratosMana
RBY OU:
SMB vs Amaranth
Dragonspiral Tyrants (9) vs (3) Alpha Ruiners
SS OU: CTC vs
Empo
SS OU:
Christo vs FLCL
SS OU:
TDK vs Twixtry
SS DOU:
marilli vs qsns~~I'm a marilli fan, so I'll roll with them this week. :)
SS LC:
Luthier vs jake~~Luthier lost to Pablo this past week, but that's definitely at least in part due to how dominant Pablo is in LC. I think he'll win this week (even though jake is very quality as well). (Side note: jake, if I accidentally capitalize your name again, I apologize. :P Damn autoerror)
SM OU: blunder vs
Gondra~~OH MAN, talk about what a great match. :D I'm a big Gondra fan, but damn, Blunder is among the very best in SM OU...really tight one here. I'm going with Gondra, but I'm a bit biased, and I think that Blunder probably has the advantage.
ORAS OU:
CrashinBoomBang vs xImRaptor~~Despite a loss this past week, CBB is still one of the very best in ORAS OU, so I shall give him the bold this week.
BW OU:
John W vs Caetano93~~John W has had some mixed results I'd say so far this SPL, but I think he is a good BW player overall, and I believe he'll win this matchup.
DPP OU:
The Grand Babido vs Hyogafodex~~A fun match! I'm going to assume that these two have experience facing each other or at least watching each other's games over some time, so I think this should be interesting to see their prep for one another. Skilled and experienced players both, but I'm going to give The Grand Babido the slight edge.
ADV OU:
Gilbert arenas vs Sadlysius
GSC OU: gorgie vs
FriendOfMrGolem120~~I think FOMG is just getting going this SPL, and perhaps this will be the week when we see him really take off in his beloved GSC OU tier. :)
RBY OU:
Heroic Troller vs Alexander.~~Heroic Troller is just too good in this tier right now. Very solid
Team Raiders (5) vs (7)
Indie Scooters
SS OU: Vulpix03 vs
Jayde
SS OU: Lusa vs
Lopunny Kicks
SS OU: Lycans vs
talah~~A tight one! I like both players' styles. I'm just having a feeling about talah here, despite Lycans' success through SPL so far.
SS DOU:
kaori vs Memoric~~Let's go, kaori! :D Love your positivity in the Smogtours Discord.
SS LC: LilyAC vs
tazz
SM OU:
Trosko vs ZoroDark
ORAS OU: reiku vs
Quaze
BW OU:
dice vs zf~~Both quality players, but I think dice is going to be tough to stop unless it's SOULWIND opposing them.
DPP OU:
ToF vs Honor
ADV OU: pasy_g vs
CyberOdin
GSC OU: Earthworm vs
Fear~~Very excited for this one! :D I am a huge fan of Earthworm, but Fear is just amazingly skilled here. I think that Earthworm is really one of the GOATs, though, so you never know!
RBY OU:
MetalGro$$ vs Bedschibaer~~Another really quality matchup! Beds and MetalGro$$ are both great players, and I think this will be really tight, and unfortunately ultimately come down to which is luckier in regards to RBY crits/hax.
Ever Grande BIGS (8) vs (4) Circus Maximus Tigers
SS OU:
Sabella vs Rexus
SS OU: Sage vs
Tace
SS OU:
aim vs le lleolae
SS DOU: Ezrael vs
MajorBowman
SS LC:
trash vs Osh
SM OU:
ima vs gama~~Toss-up really. Both players are good!
ORAS OU: Jytcampbell vs
Luigi
BW OU:
jacob vs Steve Angello~~Quality, quality matchup from two players who know this tier well and can certainly match their level of playing with their meta knowledge. Giving jacob the slight edge.
DPP OU:
Fakes vs Raichy
ADV OU: GaryTheGengar vs
McMeghan~~Cool to see the GOAT switch tiers at least once this SPL. :) I think this is a good move for the Tigers. McMeghan tried his best vs. Fear (good match overall with some excellent prep for one another--to me, this largely lived up to the hype), but this is an intelligent tier shift for now.
GSC OU:
idiotfrommars vs Zokuru
RBY OU:
Nails vs Kaz~~Nails has been playing well!
Cryonicles (6)
vs (6) Stark Sharks
I just to say to preface these picks to say that I am HUGELY excited to see this overall Cryonicles vs Sharks match. I think many of these matches are matches of the week, and this team competition is well matched overall. Perhaps unexpectedly, then, I'm predicting a tie by the end of the week. Good luck to both teams!
SS OU:
Eo Ut Mortus vs xray~~Eo looked good this past week. :)
SS OU:
Sacri' vs teal6~~Really a toss-up! Both are good players and I think fairly evenly matched. I didn't really know which way to go tbh, but I just have a slight feeling about Sacri. We'll see, though! I think each could easily win this.
SS OU: Leftiez vs
bro fist~~Pretty tough to stop bro fist this SPL in SS OU.
SS DOU: Tman vs
Kiichikos
SS LC:
ggggd vs EviGaro~~Close one! Pablo played well to beat Luthier last week, which I thought was going to be one of the matches of the week, and this week he runs into EviGaro who has had a very impressive SPL so far in LC. I think a close match, but Pablo's experience will probably get him the W.
SM OU:
Updated Kanto vs frisoeva--Go Updated Kanto! :) Great player in SM OU, and I think they should take this one.
ORAS OU:
Garay oak vs Erzengel~~Rolling with Garay here! He had what I thought was a really impressive win over CBB this past week, and I think this will translate into success this week as well!
BW OU: Finchinator vs
SoulWind~~Huge match! And oh man, I think this is going to be really fun to watch. :D I have a lot of respect for both these players. Finchinator just does so much for Smogon and Showdown in general and is a really solid BW player with very solid performances so far. That being said, though, SOULWIND is just magnificent. Where Finchinator is a very solid and experienced BW player, SOULWIND is just transcendent. To watch them play is to watch an expert at work, and it's beautiful. I still am predicting them to go undefeated in BW OU this SPL. But, I think Finchinator definitely does have a chance to thwart them this week.
DPP OU: shawyu 1313 vs
DeepBlueC
ADV OU:
z0mOG vs Blightbringer~~Excited for this one! I've enjoyed watching both these players
GSC OU: Mr.E vs
Conflict~~Mr.E was great to watch this past week with his cool Icy Wind Cloyster tech, but Conflict is just too solid in this tier I believe.
RBY OU: HML am vs
Genesis7~~Really close one! These two are both quality players, and I think we'll be in for a good match here. :)
Also, just realized this is my 100th post! :D So, I thought I'd make this a bit special...
I just wanted to add onto this predicts post that I really feel appreciate of joining this SPL/Smogtours community not too long ago. :) I feel grateful for those who have been supportive and complimentary of me. This all started for me when I watched McMeghan vs ABR not that long ago in a tour finals, and I loved the energy of the community and the quality of the play I saw. I asked Luigi thereafter how to get more involved on the Smogtours server, to which he responded with perhaps an expectedly quizzical answer: "you know that's just for Smogon tournaments, right?". I responded yes, but I added that I just really enjoyed the energy there, so he encouraged me to become active in the Smogtours Discord. I knew some players from this community beforehand, but to meet and get to know a lot of you has been great so far. I look forward to a lot more about this! :) I feel like I've learned a lot so far, which has been amazing to experience.
Just a few brief shout-outs...
-Mannat, you are super cool and have been supportive of me and kind to me a few times, which I immensely appreciate. :) Also, you tapped me to host the Farm League tour, which I hugely appreciate, man!
-Spatula, you are so kind and were among the earliest people I met since coming to the Smogtours Discord, so I appreciate you a lot. <3
-Shake, this may come as a surprise to some people, but I bet it doesn't to you. I love our interactions over the Discord. hehe It's really fun to listen to your immense amount of knowledge about the players and previous tournaments, even if I don't agree with the amount of negativity you incorporate into your predicts/Discord messages. And I shall get you to love the outdoors, fear not!
(Absolutely love your predicts for this week, though.)