Alliance deserve a lot of credit for making it this far. After an ugly opening loss to PARIVISION, they’ve bounced back with impressive wins over NiP and B8, proving they’re not just a filler team. twist has been in excellent form throughout the event, while bobeksde already looks much more comfortable with his new team.

The problem is that 9z are a different kind of challenge. They recovered well after their shocking opening defeat, comfortably beating SINNERS before taking care of 3DMAX, and their core finally looks much closer to the level that carried them deep into the Cologne Major. When dgt, luchov, and HUASOPEEK are all contributing, they’re one of the strongest teams left in the Swiss stage.

Alliance absolutely have enough confidence to steal a map, but over a best-of-three I still think 9z have more firepower, the deeper map pool, and the higher ceiling. This feels like a series where the favorites justify that status.