Very even tour so far, I think any of these teams could be the winner. Good luck to all!
pls link these games and tag @matches in the RU discord when they happen <3
additionally, pull up to discuss the games, i feel like that always makes the tour more hype & exciting!
last week: 12/23
sorry to the Dadas and Hustlers for only predicting 2/8 of ur series right LOL
Noble Noiverns(4)
vs (4)Dabbing Dadas
SS -
vivalospride vs Jmash - Perhaps an odd prediction to make since Viv isn't really an RUer and Jmash mains the tier. However Viv is a pretty solid player, i think he's generally good at getting passed teams in these tiers he doesnt main -- last nupl i remember he was 3-1 in ss and def couldve been 4-0. random anecdote but enjoy. meanwhile jmash def tries a lot of sleeper mons which I like a lot, but it's always important to support those ideas well; for instance, his dragon spam struggled a ton vs maki's stakataka 2 wks ago, something that a dragon spam should def be prepped for. cheering for jmash to do well, though!
SS - Yaily vs
Lunala - Similar to above, Lunala's a more skilled player, tho unlike viv also one who primarily focuses on ru. (yea shut up abt wcop we know italy carried u). I remember when I was newer I struggled a lot vs her in random stuff like RUgged mountain; she isnt easy to predict and generally uses solid stuff, tho the dads' ss results had been lacking until this week. Again I also love Yaily! But this definitely won't be an easy opportunity for him to get on the board.
SS - Serene Grace vs
umbry - This one's pretty much a tossup, honestly; Serene is 3-1 and umbry is 2-1, serene lost last week but prob has slightly more impressive wins overall (gw, pdt, goldcat) than umbry (ojr, skysolo). im picking umbry based off of her winning last week, the dadas seeming to do better in SS, and sensei taking some time off for verns this week, but as i said it could easily go either way. gl to both!
SS -
atomicllamas vs SoulWind - SW is 1-3, though his 3 losses have come against opponents with records of 4-0, 3-1, and 3-1 respectively; he has had one of the harder SS draws. Llamas has gone 2-1 in ss vs a slightly easier schedule, (no shade or anything!). I just realized that these records arent rly playing into my prediction LOL so ignore that but hope u enjoyed the read. I think Llamas will win, this is a v important week for verns and dadas are more comfortable in 2nd. also idt i've loved SW's teams
SM - ima vs
Luthier - Good for Luth to get out of SS, where he's had a lot of bad luck. I think ima's good in this tier as well but the dadas will have more sm support and Luthier is prob a slightly better player in these lower tier tours
ORAS - Killintime vs
Chaitanya - Chait just wins in oras ru man every single time. Beast.
BW -
Lilburr vs Aeroblacktyl - Aero did finally win last week, gj, lily lost when i predicted her to win, but idk ill predict her again. Man im sorry i rly dont have much to say abt the BW predicts
Bo3 -
Punny vs TDK - Punny's undefeated in bo3 so going with him. TDK's used an awesome Toxtricity + spikes team in SS that we def stole at some pt (ik robjr stole it) (also i think lax was the first to use it?) thas honestly all ik abt him this tour. Srry this commentary isnt better!!
Sleepy Snorlaxes(3) vs
(5)Mighty Mudsdales
SS - gorex vs
Nat - Nats rly good, gorex in ss ru has been p off lately (and I think nat's a tough opponent for anyone). Her wild techs can do a great job at exploiting standard, which seems to be the likely bring from gorex.
SS - Decem vs
TheFranklin - Despite being 1-3 I def think Decem's a good contender to get an upset, he's into R12 winners of UU Masters and won for r11 of ru (losers) vs mac3 today. Clearly hes doing p well in lower tiers rn. However in the team tours TheFranklin has been 9-0 across RUPL / RUWC which is incredibly impressive. His skill ceiling isnt the highest in this tour, in fact i'd say it's about middle of the pack, but he might have the highest floor; he's extremely consistent and rarely misplays. This is really helpful in these sorts of matchups vs an opponent that's also solid. decem can do it but Franklin is def favored due to the consistency mentioned above + the Mudsdales having more SS builders (Decem dont u DARE use my samples in this tour)
SS -
Thiago Nunes vs SOMALIA - not too much to say abt SOMALIA in SS, I think thiago nunes is prob more comfortable here & thus will be better able to make plays. (plus he has alternated wins and losses so this week he's due for a win). Also im just bolding tnunes a lot because i lost to him in this tour and lost in NU for discord pl D:
SS - Askov vs
ProDigeZz - The PRODIGY himself. I think Askov was robbed last week, or at least unfortunate to some extent. However ProDigeZz got on the board with a huge win over previously undefeated Serene Grace; that + Mudsdales' greater building strength makes me give him the bold.
SM - Yay vs
Splash - Pretty even skill-wise, Splash hasn't played this slot in the past 2 weeks and ik he's busy this week, otherwise i'd be tempted to call the upset. Yay is 3-0 with wins over tough opponents like Gondra and Pohjis
ORAS - Star vs Ajna - happened
BW -
Finchinator vs Windsong - Finch has done well in BW this tour, breaking the curse and winning 3 straight after losing week 1. I cant say more rly SRRY im too new but gl to windsong in bw
Bo3 - shiloh vs
Feliburn - Shiloh is 4-0, which is excellent, but I think Feliburn is one of the most likely people to pull off the upset and end the streak. He's very motivated and can build for himself and play well in all of the Bo3 tiers. I think Punny, who defeated Feli in his bo3 debut last week, is slightly stronger than shiloh. (A high bar -- both of these players are quite talented). Another tough opponent this week but I believe in Feli to get on the board in Bo3 this time around.
Xmas Xurkitrees(4)
vs (4)The Bebo's back! Barbaracles
SS -
odr vs GoldCat - ODR pulled off a tough comeback win versus a terrifying Toxtricity last week; after losing both his Bo3 series, he seems to be comfortable in SS, though the fact that the team was that Toxt weak may be an issue if he can't maneuver crazy well every time. He's against a pretty experienced opponent this week in GoldCat, who has to some extent struggled - his only wins came against opponents near the bottom of the SS pool (no shade to anybody, just an observation). ODR is def favored here but may need to step it up in prep / the builder.
SS - ojr vs
Bebo - Going from PDT to Bebo is definitely a tough sequence for ojr; he now has to face someone who's actually good (l2p
PinkDragonTamer). Jokes aside, ojr brought a much more standard team vs pdt and struggled to create pressure; will he return to his style of loading up on out-of-the-box breakers? I definitely hope so. bebo's team looked very threatening and also standard, i actually checked my builder to see if i built that at some pt, lool, rhyperior noivern zarude has been such a solid core past month or 2. Idk if i have many thoughts on bebo's teams but he's a very good player, tough draw for ojr but he could def load something that lets him nab the upset
SS -
bugzinator vs Ark - Favor bugzi if he stays in, if bugzi gets subbed out the xurkitrees' subs are fairly solid too (natan, evigaro). Bugzi was absent last wk sadly :/ ark's team was cool tbf, ID BP metagross is a new one and seems very much up his alley stylistically. Im just more of a believer in bugzi (if he shows) but Ark used some really cool techs, if he wins this week i'll def be a fan
SS - GW vs
tlenit - Very strong performance by tlenit, whose insane Scarf Golurk tech hit perfectly vs Thiago last week (as did Salac Heracross and what I believe was a Banded Zarude?). He's 2-0 this tour on top of some solid wins in RUWC - encouraging stuff! Meanwhile GW, whom I was high on at the start of the tour, has sat out for a few weeks; I have no idea how involved he's been in building this time around, presumably not very?
SM -
Gondra vs Jaajgko
ORAS - Xiri vs
Garay oak - Xiri got to even last week but Garay is a top 3 in this ORAS pool for sure. He took his first loss to Star last week, who was also undefeated - I trust him to win again vs Xiri because of how convincing he's been in the rest of the games this season. Some of the sets/mons he used vs Star (LO Venu, a omastar and archeops archetype) were a lot more wild than his previous teams this season, I'm curious whether he'll keep experimenting or revert to standard this week.
BW -
DnB vs dcae - DnB's the ultimate BW tier tryhard etc., getting him at 3k was for sure a steal by Evi. He's 3-1, losing only to Finch, who just beat dcae last week. I give him good odds to out-build/prep Dcae, who is a very solid player but also one less invested in BW RU.
Bo3 - mncmt vs
TonyFlygon - the Evis haven't won a Bo3 series this tour, though that might have changed this week if Air Slash connected in his SS game. (No guarantee, though). Meanwhile, Tony has also struggled and is starting 1-3. He'll also probably be busy with SPL because his Wolfpack are in the finals. However, i believe all of his series have been quite close? he's also always gonna try for these types of tours, and I trust him more than mncmt, who might not try much for this given that the evis are in last rn
GOOO GLASTRIERS! LETS NOT TIE THIS WEEK...
I play watashi at Sunday 1:30 pm gmt-4, will add our other times to bottom of this post when more ppl schedule. Gl hustlers!
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