After 8 weeks of drama, we are finally in finals (Obviously not me RIP). One team in with ease while the other had to pipe up at the end of the group stages to qualify. I will try to predict the individual wins of these lineups based on their form in this tour and their overall tour experience in Play-Offs scenarios.
Defiant Durians vs.
Void Villains
SS:
Luthier (50%)
vs.
baconeatinassassin (50%)
On one side we have en experienced tour player and a AG main capable of playing SS Ubers on the other. Bacon also has the best username in this UPL. Luthier is coming in with a 5-0 whereas bacon contributed to clutching the spot for his team in the Semi-Finals. Based on form and momentum alone, this might be the closest pairing. Anyone can take this so looking forward to it!
SS:
TJ (65%) vs.
Punny (35%)
TJ and Punny are both coming into Finals with a loss in Semi-Finals. While TJ had his fair share of highly rated SS players, Punny definitely had to face tougher opponents throughout this UPL run. However, it is important to consider the overall SS record of both teams and based on that, the Durians have the best SS record thus far and I wanna give TJ the edge here.
SS:
jonfilch (35%) vs.
Fc (65%)
jonfilch only lost to Hoenn but FC is coming in hot after melting Icemaster last week. I think he is playing his best tour ever right now so Mr ILoveCatGirls will have to do something special to create an upset here. I look forward to this game!
USM:
Garay oak (60%) vs.
Rhmsitb (40%)
The myth, the legend, the chosen one, and many other titles I have given to my friend Garay Oak proved time and time again why he is is number one in Power Rankings. Rhmsitb also coming in with the best SM Ubers record, proving how inaccurate Power Rankings can be and also how far hard work and preparations can take you in this tour. I intiially thought Rhmsitb got pretty luck but having seen his games, there's like only 2 games where luck felt remotely favorable for him. As much as I think Rhmsitb has form to take this dub, Playoffs Garay Oak does not take any prisoners. With Garay having already beaten Rhmsitb once, I think Garay has the advantage here as long as he doesn't bring Scarf Hydreigon!
ORAS:
FatFighter2 (60%) vs.
Royal1604 (40%)
FatFighter2 may have surprised us all by signing up for ORAS but approaching near the end of this tour, it is clear as daylight how good this Primal Waifu loving gentleman is. After Week 1, I thought he was going to just pilot teams but I was wrong. His choice of teams are quite diverse and he also loves goth waifu
. This along with his top tier gamer skill allowed him to flourish in a new tier. Royal1604 is subbed in Week 7 and since then has gone 2-0 in ORAS. I do think Fat is a much tougher opponent than his previous opponents so it will be up to keys' prep to make any difference here.
BW:
Monai (45%) vs.
Evuelf (55%)
Another pairing where we got two players from different ends of the Power Ranking. I believe this was Monai's first UPL but having seen him before delivering dubs in BW OU, I couldn't underestimate how good he could potentially be. Durians were very smart with this pick in their draft, as I can only assume they were aware of his ability. He managed to storm into the scene with an amazing 4-0. However, he has since then calmed down a little after facing Blim but you are also looking at the only guy who took a game off Thor. Unlike Monai, Evuelf was a clear favorite in this BW pool and if it isn't obvious by now why that's the case then I dont know what to tell ya! I am glad for his team's sake that he started off well because he has been known to dip if he loses early on in any team tour (Don't @ me it's just statistics man). Both players have a great shot at winning here, Monai showed great preparations and skill that you expect from any good BW Ubers player so you can't really consider him a novice in my opinion. Huge toss up here but I'll go with Evu here based on experience. Monai lost to him once but I don't seem him ever being demoralized from that!
DPP:
lax (50%)
vs.
eden (50%)
I've realized I've spent too much time and effort writing this so I'll try to cut it short. Both eden and lax have had a lackluster start to this tour and have been doin their best to recover. Eden can win when it matters and so can lax. lax's wins have been hella funny so it is down to eden to avoid getting trolled like that. Doing this a 50-50 cause honestly anybody can win it. You are in finals so your record means absolutely nothing now, go out there and do your best lads!
ADV:
fourmi (55%) vs.
mitana (45%)
I have watched both these players throughout this UPL live. Mitana has the edge in terms of prep but I think fourmi's game sense is better here. I would usually bold mitana but fourmi beat me last week and I am not dumbo in denial so I must bold him here. While mitana has great preparations in the builder, fourmi also seems to have good support from his team which may make up for any lack of prep work he alone may experience. I definitely think we have the Top 2 ADV players in the finals so make sure to log in on PS! to watch this game!
GSC:
TonyFlygon (60%) vs.
Torchic (40%)
TonyFlygon was undefeated throughout the group stages in SS but was suddenly slotted into GSC in the Semi-Finals. Being from their opponent's team, that definitely caught me off-guard but in hindsight it makes absolute sense since he is probably the next best player to play GSC after Lax, who had been swapped to DPP. Tony knows his shit no matter what tier he plays because he would only agree to playing if he knew he's going to win. Torchic on the other hand, has been subbing in occasionally to play GSC. He was undefeated until last week when he used Quagsire. Sorry bro but Quagsire is only good in the OU below and anime. I'm afraid your choice of teams last week inclined to bold Antonio here.
BO3:
Star (55%) vs.
Ayaka (45%)
Star and Ayaka both have been struggling in this tour; Star is 4-4 while Ayaka is 3-4. As I've mentioned earlier, none of this actually matters. Especially when you got two highly decorated players fully capable of playing at 100% in Play-Offs situations (Just look at
this dude). I think Star has far better support from his team. This is backed up by the Durian's group of SS, SM, and ORAS players who are fully capable of providing top tier support. However, once they start their game, it will be up the players to show their resilience in battle.
A wise old friend of mine once said "Don't lose"
