I wasn't impressed with Czisny at Nationals either. She is SO slow and it is agonizing to watch her approach each jump hesitantly. IMO, she was majorly held up in the SP and that was what kept her in 2nd place overall.
Alissa deserved her Nationals win last year, but she just isn't the same skater this year---she seems to have a good year-bad year cycle. Unfortunately, I believe last year was her peak year: she will be 25 in June, so it's going to be a downhill trend for Alissa from here on.
I know what you mean. I sat in the 7th row from the ice and you could literally see the stress in Alissa's face going into her jumps. In fact, you can see all the skaters' approaches and faces so closely that you can tell when the jump is going to fail. She was so tense and lost the freedom in her skating. Of course that dreadful LP music made her seem even slower. But going back to the topic, Alissa placed 2nd and she should go to worlds unless she is injured. Agnes could put some big numbers up with her speed and jumps, but she needs more consistency and better packaging overall.