Quarterfinals
Tricking vs Quartosa - Tricking has been one of the most dominant players over the last couple of years. He has a creative style that keeps people guessing, he is not afraid to take big risks when he needs to come back in games, and he does not seem to mind the pressure of playoff situations. Quartosa has shown some promise, but he's inexperienced and he probably should have fell to Punny. I still view him as a great player and I know he will be back here in the future, but right now it's Tricking's time.
Empo vs Separation - My favorite series (and Sacri'-John W is an amazing series, so this says a LOT). Separation is arguably the hottest player in SS OU right now. He dominated qualifiers and has been cruising through these rounds to get to this point. His teams are interesting and he is clearly a capable player despite the lack of official experience. Empo, on the other hand, has been a top player for a bit now, having done well in many officials. He is in the middle of an amazing year and he is one of the best SS players out there. I gotta favor him because of that. I think it's hard to pick against Empo because of all of this, but this should be a close, three game set.
beatiful vs imjustgray - bea has been doing really well lately. STour, Snake, and OLT have shown that he is a capable player in this tier. While bea still lacks the same level of experience as other veterans in this field, he plays the SS metagame plenty and has made it this far. In addition, imjustgray is probably one of the least experienced yet. His run has still been very impressive though; he has taken down very strong players and is starting to make quite the name for himself. I feel like bea might be the one to take him down, however, as bea is on a tear currently. Close series overall, but I'll side with the more known of the two.
Sacri' vs John W - Sacri' is doing very well recently. After a tough WCOP, he came back and won 5 of 7 in SSD while qualifying for OLT and making it this far. It's clear that he thrives in this metagame and is comfortable with the teams he has been picking. John W has also shown some great play recently, dominating WCOP and qualifying with ease. However, there have also been some more recent struggles that lead me to believe he is still not quite as consistent as someone like Sacri'. He also got a bit fortunate against Tace last round, but he still has been playing well more often than not. Overall, this is a close series and either of these two can not only win here, but win the tour outright, and I would not be surprised. I side with Sacri', but I'm expecting a three game thriller.
left side goat