So many smart contract platforms have emerged over time, ramping up the competition for ETH. Some have claimed to be the "Ethereum Killer" (like EOS), only to fail altogether. While none have been compared to ETH in terms of decentralization and reliability, there are some projects which aim to base their development on an academic level. One of those projects is Cardano. With a focus on PoS and decentralization, it could become ETH's biggest contender in the future. Other projects like EOS and TRON may have already adopted PoS, but they're inherently centralized. Which is why, I strongly believe that Cardano could topple ETH in the not-so-distant future.
What are your thoughts? Will Cardano become Ethereum's biggest contender? If not, which smart contract platform do you think it will? Your input will be greatly appreciated.

I don't think Cardano would contend with Ethereum because both of them have different blockchains and different purposes of creation. Ethereum has been in the crypto space before Cardano so it has gained more adoption than Cardano,so there was no way it will topple Ethereum