FRLG 2021 Any% Tourney - Round 1 Wild Guesses

FRLG Tournament Predictions: Round 1

Looking like a really awesome tournament. Figured I would make some predictions for each round, and a brief explanation on my choices. To be fair, I'll probably get a lot of these wrong since FRLG is such a shit haha.

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Bye: Shiru666

Recently bested Gunner for WR and staying sharp running E4R2, condolences to the poor souls who have to face him in Round 2.

Race 1: Irondre_ (11th) vs Danyal249 (20th) vs Blaketurnertron (T32nd)
	Iron 1st, Danyal 2nd, Blake 3rd

Iron should take this on paper, he's got quite a lot of race experience, though his race luck hasn't been great recently. I think Blake has been getting some practice in before the race, so he could take a shot at 2nd.

Race 2: MachWing (6th) vs CeegsRN (21st) vs LoveSickHero (T32nd)
	Mach 1st, Ceegs 2nd, LoveSick 3rd

Again, going with the rankings on this one. MachWing comes in with a lot of experience. Ceegs has a pretty decent PB so they should be able to hold off LoveSick (who is running Charmander).

Race 3: Juanlyways (8th) vs Qpalz (24th) vs ItsShmo (31st)
	Juanly 1st, Qpalz 2nd, Shmo 3rd

Juanly takes this one easily, he just got a low 2:03 PB which would rank him 6th. Quite a gap between the 2nd and 3rd ranked racers here as well.

Race 4: Thunder_147 (9th) vs Leaf27 (DNS) vs Zenaga (DNS)
	Thunder 1st

Thunder wins unless he somehow goes over the 2:30:00 cap???

Race 5: Pokeguy (3rd) vs Kidrocker96 (18th) vs TecTecTecTec (T32nd)
	Pokeguy 1st, Kidrocker 2nd, Tec 3rd

Again based on seed. Pokeguy hasn't played this much recently (nor will likely prep much?? could be wrong haha) but he's still a formidable opponent for KR. If KR doesn't get crapped on by Sammy or catches, he should be able to get a decent result.

Race 6: Randalleatscheese (7th) vs AmeobaUK (19th) vs XxshuzoxX (T32nd)
	Randall 1st, Amoeba 2nd, Shuzo 3rd

This could be a fun race since Amoeba will be running Charmander and Randall might as well. Randall wins since he'll be more practiced (Amoeba is grinding Emmy so a bit of that carries over, but the rustiness will be a factor).

Race 7: Kurddt (12th) vs PicklePlop (16th) vs Ryziken (DNS)
	Pickle 1st, Kurddt 2nd

Ryziken won't be in this unfortunately, but will be an epic head to head between the remaining two. Both are very good racers and Gen 3 runners, with only 30 seconds separating the two in PB times. First race here I'm picking the Pot 2 runner, Pickle just pulls this out, could go either way (E4 may decide) but Pickle has a bit more race experience.

Race 8: KukkerTM (4th) vs PinkishPrincess (15th) vs Kadir61Plays (26th)
	Pinkish 1st, Kukker 2nd, Kadir 3rd

Another really interesting matchup. Kukker and Pinkish are both fantastic FRLG runners, and with four minutes separating them, could go either way. I'm calling an upset again in this one, Pinkish has been getting quite a lot of race practice reps in, and Kukker likes to live dangerously at times. Kadir being the highest ranked Pot 3 runner (and a recent PB good enough to be in Pot 2) has a shot to put up a time good enough to advance on time.

Race 9: Ananan (5th) vs Roushmore (17th) vs Fsu_Psycho (T32nd)
	Ananan 1st, Roush 2nd, Psycho 3rd

Going with the rankings again here. Ananan is a solid, practiced FRLG runner, that should be enough over Roushmore who might have a few cobwebs to shake off, having not played Any% in a while. Psycho is fairly experienced (with Char/Bulba) so despite not having a PB, might be a contender to eke out a time good enough to advance.

Race 10: JP_Xinnam (2nd) vs Guillemcuatel (25th) vs Asmodemus (29th)
	JP 1st, Guillemecuatel 2nd, Asmodemus 3rd

JP shouldn't have a problem winning this one. The other two racers are actually pretty close, but I don't know too much about either of them, so I'll go with the rankings here.

Race 11: Headbob (13th) vs OddenBjornsen (23rd) vs Kapital (28th)
	Headbob 1st, Kapital 2nd, Odden 3rd

Headbob hasn't played much recently as far as I'm aware, but is always a threat. He'll take this one easily. Calling an upset for Kapital here, I think if he plays safely he can pull it out (Odden tends to play risky in races, sorry dude! <3).

Race 12: Snorms (10th) vs SheltieSci (22nd) vs Viroda (30th)
	Snorms 1st, Sheltie 2nd, Viroda 3rd

This one could be very interesting as Snorms hasn't played much recently afaik while Sheltie has been grinding PB attempts quite a bit, but Snorms' lengthy Pokémon speedrunning experience wins out here. Viroda is another possible dark horse to advance on time, he's not super experienced with FRLG but is a seasoned Red runner/racer.

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Advancing to Round 2 (in no particular order):
Shiru666
Irondre_
MachWing
Juanlyways
Thunder_147
Pokeguy
Randalleatscheese
PicklePlop
PinkishPrincess
Ananan
JP_Xinnam
Headbob
Snorms
Qpalz
Kidrocker
Kurddt
Kukker
SheltieSci
KadirPlays
CeegsRN
Danyal
Blake
Amoeba
Viroda
Guillemcuatel
Kapital
Roushmore

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Best of luck to all racers, should be a fun and epic tournament! :)