User blog comment:B214/Shin DxD 1 discussion/@comment-39.51.215.62-20180720122533/@comment-2601:8C:601:5692:608B:AA21:FE8B:D385-20180720154326

Finally!! Someone else who remembers this fact. Well, unless someone else took up his crusade, it's been only one person who has convinced himself that Ise will lose. Honestly, he's told us why Ise could lose and what he might do instead, but as to why he should lose: it's due to his gut and his belief that Rias needs more prominent victories. It's not as if she's in the finals tournament after beating out numerous other teams or anything (sure nobody significant was named, but that was probably just laziness on the author's part because he didn't feel like hearing fans press for him to write the story). I mean, I do understand and agree that Rias has been sidelined a little too much considering that she's the legal wife. But story wise, there is little value in having her win, except to allow her to fight Diehauser as she desired. But that could be done by having the losing teams fight in matches. Meanwhile, reasons as to why Ise should win:

1. He is the MC, and having him lose in the 1st round without facing his rival at the start of a "new" series is dumb (at least not without prospects of a comeback or another tourney)

2. His winning can serve to show his growth as an independent King

3. His winning against his master gives further legitimacy to his marriage to her, and will surely put an end to any but the most persistent naysayers that may have appeared after the announcement

4. The goals of earning the place of Maou Candidate and returning Tiamat's lost treasure to her

5. The tournament bracket is c,early set up with Ise's win in mind: he'd next face off against the Grim Reaper/New Devils team (after they get an upset victory over the RG Champ), followed by Indra, then finally the fated battle against his rival Vali.