Orange Islanders (5) vs (5) Uncharted Terrors
SV OU: Wolf (25) vs (75)
xavgb - Wolf is a solid player who is capable of putting up neutral or positive records consistently while using a nice mixture of teams; I really liked him as a pick-up and going even for 6.5k was a net positive for the Islanders I would say. I actually loved the team he used into me despite it running into a dire Unaware Clefable match-up and I think this type of outside the box synergy can go a long way in this metagame. However, this is going to be his toughest match yet and it will be hard for him to get an edge here. xavgb is almost impossible to predict against in SV OU right now; there are a small handful of players in his league. His teams consistently set the metagame -- you often see them spammed a week later, his play is among the best in the field, and his track record speaks for itself -- 6-0 in OU this SCL, 5-0 in WCoP, and 6-3 in SPL. His overall sheet record is 32-13, but a couple of those 13 have come in the playoffs, where he lost to Gtcha in SCL and 100p in SPL last year. Does that hold any weight here or is it just small sample size against two strong opponents? I do not know, but I would be remiss to ignore it outright. Wolf is a capable opponent, too, so anything is possible, but I still think all prevailing logic and recent results show xavgb to be the pick here by a comfortable margin.
SV OU:
Rubyblood (60) vs (40) Meru - Meru is not a conventional OU player per se, but he has been around for a long enough time for the stage and environment to not really bother him too much I think. He has started 2-0 in OU with two pretty lopsided games; I really enjoyed his team choice against TNunes and I think he had some good turns in both of his games that show he knows what he is doing in OU. It looks like the Terrors had a bit of an in-season tryout for the third OU slot and Meru won it (well, Laroxyl also went 2-0, but was needed in LC) with his strong showing in these games, so that's a positive. What I will say is that I think the small sample may make him a bit reliant on teammates like xavgb to master prepatration and that could be a limiting factor. On the flip side, Rubyblood has been playing OU most of the sason (8 of 9 weeks) and has taken a big step up recently. He has earned a great record this season while presenting as a more capable player overall than many previously thought. I do think playoffs are coming at an awkward time for Rubyblood, who lost his last two games and seemed a bit frustrated. I was surprised he used Sun week 8, too, when I feel like Rubyblood's at his best when using balance or bulky-offense, but perhaps it was an attempt to diversify and I respect that if so. Regardless of specifics, his overall form has been among the best in the pool if you take into account the whole regular season as opposed to just the end and a 6-2 record is nothing to scoff at. This was a magnificent value pick for the Islanders for a mere 3k, too, but they definitely are going to need a seventh win (and likely more) against tough opponents like the Terrors. My thing with Rubyblood is that he has some very dominant games and great team choices earlier in the season, but I think there are a few turns he may regret in recent weeks and I am curious to see how he rebounds. Ruby really only has 15 total games in official team tournaments and this is his first time coming into this stage with these expectations, so it will be a big test for him. I think Meru may seem like a big underdog to most when you look at their relative bodies of work this season, but I think it may be a bit closer just because Meru is more experienced overall/in playoff settings and has some pretty awesome support in the other OU slots. I do still favor Ruby as Ruby has just been more impressive over a larger amount of games so far, but this is not necessarily lopsided.
SV OU: Welli0u (49) vs (51)
oldspicemike - I think Welli0u has been struggling a bit to find his best form this generation; he is typically one of the most consistent performers on the site and very good at a couple of Fairygens. For only 13.5k, someone with his 66-48 track record felt like an awesome value (and if he ends up winning in the playoffs, it still can be a good one). 3-5 after being bounced early in OLT playoffs is tough though. I have actually liked most of his team choices and think he ran into a tough stretch mid-season with mind gaming and Nat sandwiching a losing streak, which I cannot fault him for too much honestly. Given this, I think Well is one of the people who is likely to be a "dark horse" of the playoffs if the Islanders win this whole thing. oldspicemike is quietly on a protagonist arc though and this may be too tall of a task for Welli0u or anyone left in the pool to handle though; he has won each of his last five games after a 1-2 start, he was super impressive on the ladder at points, and his teams have all been good in my opinion. I kind of view him as a bit of a "xavgb jr." in a sense as while he has his own tendencies and ideas that show each week, both of them rarely use bad teams or make misplays later in games -- they have been the most impressive OU duo alongside mind gaming and Fogbound Lake because of this. Honestly this was the hardest game for me to predict, but I am siding with the person who has won each of his last five although my gut kind of leans Welli0u just given his overall strength/reputation as a player. Recency bias is a bitch
, but this one is a highlight for me for sure.
SV Ubers:
Exiline vs RichardMillePlain
SV DOU: JRL vs
Nails
SV UU:
pdt vs Accel
SV RU: robjr vs
Feliburn
SV NU:
Danny (60) vs (40) avarice - Records lean slightly in favor of avarice during the regular season, but I think the eye test flips the script a bit. Danny had a larger sample of games, going 4-4. During his 4 losses, I think a couple could have easily flipped if circumstances changed and I also think that Danny got better with the season going on. I really enjoyed his team he used vs Togkey and besides an awkward match vs Michael, Danny had great results down the stretch. He showed a good range going from HO mirror into freezai to using bulkier stuff into Elias, which should make him pretty hard to prepare for as well. Danny faces avarice, who I am a tad less familiar with. They started 3-0 and that was impressive even though some of the games felt a tad on the weird side. I loved the synergy of avarice's team into watashi, opening the game up with Hoopa and being able to establish its presence consistently when expecting a balance/bulky-offense. I also though Victreebel was a nice pick into Axtrix and the Veil team vs freezai would've worked into what many would've expected there. I do think avarice wishes a few plays were different in hindsight and I am not sure how they will respond to losing their last two matches, so I am going to lean Danny. This is a close game though and I am very excited to see the teams both use as this feels like a cool match-up in the making!
SV PU:
DugZa vs sensei axew
SV LC: Hacker vs
Laroxyl
Tiebreak
SV OU: Rubyblood vs
xavgb (major highlight)
SV UU:
pdt vs sensei axew (maybe they stick with Accel, but I think if he loses two straight to pdt, they probably have to pivot to sensei or even Feliburn/oldspicemike if either know UU at all)
SV LC: Hacker vs
Laroxyl (Laro quiet 7-2 has been mad impressive imo)