It's been a long time coming, but here we are at last. THE RETURN OF THE UNBIASED PREDICTIONS
This edition will truly be unbiased since I am predicting my own team's games. Let the fun begin. I suppose I will start with the relegation series.
UK (2) vs. Asia (0)
SM: 1 True Lycan vs Analytic | Analytic has never really been that good of a player. The Baron was probably a bit overhyped by various parties, but he should be good enough to win this one.
SM: The Hallows vs Altina | Not gonna lie, I have no idea who Altina is LOL At least The Hallows was in SPL and I recognize his name.
GSC: baddummy vs Kingler12345 | Wow LMAO what a game. Both of these players seem to be pretty inconsistent. I don't really have that strong of a take here, but I think Kingler's probably a bit more experienced in GSC.
okay thank God we are done with that dumbass meme series LOL onto the real games.
Spain (1) vs. US South (2)
SM: Axel vs FMG | FMG is proving himself to really be a franchise player. His game against Ultraballz was extraordinary and helped show that his 5-0 SPL performance was no fluke. I think at this point he is a 14-15k player with even more upside. On the other side of the matchup is Axel10, who was a beast at his peak a few seasons ago. He had a solid Round 1 showing, and could definitely take this game. However, I think FMG is a better bet right now. I'm honestly really surprised Spain didn't put Trosko in both tiebreaks, since I would favor him against pretty much everyone that is participating in these series. I don't really see the merit of their strategy, but perhaps it will pay off.
ADV: M Dragon vs TDK | A lot of people seem to be high on TDK's ADV abilities. He is obviously a solid player whose talent speaks for itself. However, I will need to see him demonstrate his ADV skills on the big team tournament stage before I'm ready to bold his name against one of the best ADVers of all time. M Dragon may not be in the best of form, but he gets the benefit of the doubt in this one.
GSC: SoulWind vs d0nut | I've always felt d0nut was a bit underrated. His price in SPL was insanely low, especially considering people were picking up Century Express and CasedVictory for laughable sums. He had a brilliant SPL showing, and in a weak GSC pool, has established himself as a pretty solid player. On the other hand, SoulWind needs no introduction. He's an amazing player with a track record of consistency across the years. However, this is GSC OU. There's really no evidence that would lead me to believe that SoulWind is a better GSC player than d0nut. So for now, d0nut can have the edge.
Spain (2) vs US West (1)
SM: Trosko vs lax | lax is a beast. There's no denying that. In a short amount of time, he went from US West afterthought to lower tier mainer to jack-of-all-trades SPL hero. I'm pretty high on my friend as a player, and he would be bolded against a great deal of the players in the tour. Not here, though. Trosko is ridiculously good, and is in monster form. As I alluded to in my previous prediction, I would favor GODSKO against everyone in these tiebreaks in SM OU. I always was decently high on him, but the level he has demonstrated since the start of SPL is otherworldly.
ORAS: Poek vs ben gay | ben is a force to be reckoned with. He always manages to get the right matchups, and has probably even improved as a player over the years. He even tackled his nerves when his team needed him in SPL. However, I would favor Poek against almost anyone in ORAS. I think he'should a fantastic player and should be able to outplay ben gay enough if the matchup isn't too one-sided for ben.
GSC: M Dragon vs Lavos | It will take a lot for me to predict against one of the best GSCers of all time, but Lavos is just that good. He's cemented himself as the best GSCer on the site and as one of Smogon's best overall players as well. Against an out-of-form MDragon, he should justifiably have a solid edge.
US South (0) vs. US West (3)
SM: FMG vs lax | I already spoke about both these players earlier. I think both are newcomers that are establishing themselves as true monsters in Smogon's future. This is a very tight one, but I have to give the edge to Lax. I think he's slightly more proven and that will give him the smallest of edges.
ADV: TDK vs undisputed | Kevin S is one oof the best ADVers on the site. He's been slamming people in this tier for years. TDK has potential, but has yet to really demonstrate it in this metagame. Solid edge for the veteran.
RBY: d0nut vs Lavos | We picked this tier because it's a literal coin flip and we had no edges elsewhere. Still, Lavos is one of the best players on Smogon and a fellow Classic Champion, so he gets the advantage here.
Well, based on this, we would have to play another tiebreak lol...not my fault Spain didn't put Trosko in twice vros.