MLP Semifinals - There Can Only Be One🍔⚡️🤡💚🏆🤷‍♀️

It’s a delicate balance writing these things. I enjoy sharing my thoughts (because I have a lot of them), but I’m also actively trying to avoid giving anyone any bulletin board material, lol. The Sliders, in particular, already have plenty of that after being chosen by Dallas and winning!

For our semifinal pick our options were the Columbus Sliders or the LA Mad Drops. The New Jersey 5s were not an option as we were not able to pick the next highest seed. Had Dallas won, we would have been left with the truly impossible decision of choosing between the engaged Ben Johns led Drops and the ALW led 5s in NYC (can you imagine the chants?!). I would be absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to play either of those teams in the final but am unsure which I’d rather play.

Columbus winning made the choice easy. They are amazing, but after the spanking that LA put on Brooklyn (albiet a weakened Brooklyn due to Dekel), the choice was clear. Should we fall to Columbus, I still won’t regret the choice. Their Mixed 2 did not play as well in San Diego as the Mad Drops’ Mixed 2 (Hunter & Jade) and they are, on paper, the worse dreambreaker team. Of course, as they demonstrated against the Flash, they are very, very good, but I’d rather our boys have to face Andrei/CJ rather than Ben/Hunter if our season comes down to a few singles points at 16-16 late in a DB.

We will be reacting to mixed lineups and have yet to decide what we will do. There’s pros and cons to going 1v1 and 1v2, and if things don’t work out the way we want in the first match of the series we will definitely be willing to change things up. I can’t give away too much to y’all! For now we are preparing for everything.

The other matchup ought to be one for the ages. I think it’s possible the league was hoping this would be their final, but they still have to be happy it is happening in the first place. Matches in this series will be featured on CBSSports and potentially actual CBS if it goes to a game 3. Our series isn’t getting as much love, but I get it.

The Fives will be reacting in this series, and I will be very curious to see how they decide to stack their mixed. AL and Will did beat Ben and Catherine quite comfortably in MLP Dallas, but playoff pickleball is an entirely different beast, and Catherine looked much more comfortable with Ben in San Diego. Of course, it’s easy to feel comfortable when you are cruising, which they did against Rachel/Dekel.

Both Mixed 1 teams will be heavily favored against the opposing Mixed 2 teams, but nothing is a pure lock and I wouldn’t be shocked at either upset occurring. If Hunter/Jade were to play against Noe/Meghan, I would probably give the slight edge to Hunter/Jade, but I think it would be about 60/40. All depends on how Hunter is driving and how Meghan plays. Noe and Jade are both pretty consistent in their level imo.

My prediction is that the 5s will play for the win and send out AL vs Ben, which is what the people want to see anyways. If they figure 1-1 is the most likely outcome after gender doubles, and if both mixed matchups are about 50/50 (1v1 and 2v2), it’s a 25% chance they lose both and a 75% chance they either win or force a DB. They probably feel AL/Will’s odds against Ben/CP are much better than 50/50, so I think doing this makes the most sense for them. They could think completely differently, and by no means am I right, just my 2 cents, sorry if I got too deep into the nitty gritty there.

Every game is mission critical in an MLP match, but for the Mad Drops the major emphasis has to be on women’s doubles. If they can flip that one they really should win the match. A DB here is a tossup. Have to expect Ben and CP will do better than they did in Dallas, but also tough to expect 9-3 again from Hunter against Will.

A factor that I don’t think can be understated, and isn’t being talked about enough, is the advantage the 5s will have in that this event is occurring in what is effectively their home market. I expect the only way to quiet the crowd will be to win and to win dominantly. How will everyone handle this? How will the 5s players, particularly Meghan react to it? Will Anna Leigh want the title so badly it slips through her fingers again? How will the Mad Drops handle the energy? Can Catherine embrace being the villain? Will Ben be… annoyed? Playing the 5s in Dallas was fun when the crowd refused to chant, but how fun will it be when it’s all you hear? These are all questions that remain to be answered, and should the 5s and Shock advance the same questions will apply to us. Hopefully we get to answer them! Go Shock!!!

To close, I just had to include this bit because I find it too funny not to. Andrei Daescu is back on twitter everyone, and oh man I am glad for his return!