I wont lie I feel like I got destroyed in predictions last week. A lot of people who I felt were projected to win off past results fumbled. There were a lot of misplays and some luck sprinkled in to make it a weird week, but I don't think 1 week is enough to make me stop believing in some players yet. Anyway predictions:
Hau'oli Haxers v Twinleaf Mutant Ninja Squirtles
SS: GasaiYunoSan vs Grandmas Cookin - Feels like GMA hasn't really gotten a chance to play their games. Some early misplays and a tiny bit of bad luck has made the games pretty one sided and uneventful. Gasai, however, just came off a win over Qwello who I rate very high. I know its not the best idea to go off few results but I need GMA to prove me wrong before I can believe in them.
SS: Paraplegic vs MajorBowman - The SCL teammates battling it out. I think both are good players but Para has looked slightly better over time. If they both come in good form it will be close though!
SM: Yoda2798 vs miltankmilk - Both 0-2 and wanting to get their first win. Yoda#### has had really rough match ups though with SMB(even though it was a timeout..) and stax, two of the GOATs of DOU. I think Milk is a pretty good player but there is some rust there and I rate Yoda higher too, especially in SM.
XY: JRL vs Memoric - Memo just came off a win but XY feels like JRL's tier. I think they have the potential to go undefeated if they keep playing good. This is probably the biggest hurdle though, as Memo is also very good at XY. Highlight match for sure!
BW: Checkmater vs Biosci - Checkmater is definitely working hard but William is just really good at BW DOU. There isn't much else to this prediction, I rate Will higher.
DUU: Mishimono vs Actuarily - Actuarily has let me down a bit sadly, going 0-2 in a format I thought they were more known for. I would usually predict the bounce back but Mishi is also very good at DUU and ended up winning last week. Actuarily is a good player and definitely can take this, but I feel its wrong not to go with mishi.
Santalune Storms v Milwaukee Ducks
SS: Enzonana. vs MADARAAAA - To be honest I just think there is some buff with wanting to prove yourself. Enzo is coming in against a very solid Madara though, so its not going to be easy. I'm going to go with the person with less information on them and hope I'm right LOL.
SS: Shadowmonstr7 vs Ann nonima - I know I've heard of Ann nonima, and with SMB support they should have a good chance of winning this, but I just have faith in sm7. Good player with good showings in DPL, hard to predict against them this game.
SM: Croven vs SMB - I predicted against Croven and he goes and wins.. rude. I don't like predicting against my fellow rfn bro but SMB is one of the GOATs for a reason. If SMB can take it over Umbry then stopping him will be very hard. Prove me wrong Croven..
XY: qsns vs KyleCole - qsns might be 0-2 but this is the perfect chance to bounce back. Kyle is a pretty good player but I feel a lot of it comes down to team building for him. I feel XY is a little harder to fish in than other formats and unless the match up is dire, I think qsns can bounce back this week.
BW: Human vs DaWoblefet - Same thing as last week, Enosh is good but I don't like how he looks at BW at all. DaWob is top 3 in the tier at least and in general a top DOUer. Going with the wob.
DUU: Yellow Paint vs RelicanthPrimal - 2-0 with SMB support and seems to have a good understanding of the tier? YP is good at DOU and definitely knows DUU too, but I think the amount of support on <><'s side is too strong to overcome right this second. Should be a good game though!
Browbeat Lands v Slateport City Sp_ndas
SS: YoBuddy vs Toxigen - Both 2-0 but Toxigen has been a lot more convincing with well played games all around. YoBuddy has been good this DPL and with his good building I could see an edge in preview making this harder for Toxigen. This is another good highlight game for this tournament.
SS: Qwello Lee vs Z Strats - Both find themselves 1-1, but Qwello's team choices have felt a bit more iffy than Z Strats. That on top of what I said during SCL, where in Bo1 Z Strats is a scary player to fight. I'm going to have to go with him here.
SM: Bless (Sunrose) vs umbry - A loss to SMB last week is not going to stop me from bolding Umbry. She is still looking good in her games and I feel she is one of the strongest SM DOU players all together. Newly named Sunrose is someone I actually haven't seen much play from recently, so its really hard to expect an upset here.
XY: stax vs Amaranth - Goat.. Stax finds himself back in XY with a 2-0 record in two different tiers now. Amaranth is also 2-0 and stuck in XY this whole time, however the wins have been aided with a little RNG. Not to say Amaranth isn't a solid player, its just stax has looked much stronger in his 2 games, and in general is one of the GOATs. Good game though, another fun one to catch this week.
BW: Nido-Rus vs Frania - I have never actually seen Nido's BW DOU, and even though I am not the biggest fan of Frania's team choices he definitely knows how to play BW very well. I feel the experience and overall amount of time Frania has to test and play compared to Nido will make this game tip in his favor.
DUU: Lord Death Man vs emma - Emma definitely can win this game. She should have a good amount of data on LDM and that is where she shines. This is DUU though which I don't know just how much experience she has here, and with LDM being known for his DUU I feel safe going with him here.