[
 {
  "tid": 1,
  "code": "SC2K2",
  "name": "Summer 2002 Character Contest",
  "year": 2002,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "The first contest — unpredictable, messy, and remembered for its atmosphere.",
  "summary": "The first Character Battle had no established strength model, so poor seeding and unknown entrants made the bracket unusually hard to read. Link ultimately won over Mario, but the page remembers the uncertainty around the whole field more than the straightforward final.\n\nScorpion became the contest's main bracket buster by eliminating Pac-Man. Sonic against Samus produced the first truly explosive finish and immediate cheating accusations, while Mario against Crono ended in another late comeback and started a rivalry that continued in later contests.\n\nBoard 8 remembers the season for an atmosphere that later contests could not reproduce: people mostly rooted for favorites because there were no x-stats telling them what should happen. The retrospective also admits that the early rounds contained a great deal of fodder and bad seeding, so its reputation rests heavily on the late-contest run of memorable matches.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 992,
    "title": "(1)Pac-Man vs (5)Scorpion 2002",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Pac-Man_vs_(5)Scorpion_2002"
   },
   {
    "poll": 994,
    "title": "(1)Sonic the Hedgehog vs (5)Samus Aran 2002",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Sonic_the_Hedgehog_vs_(5)Samus_Aran_2002"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1000,
    "title": "(1)Mario vs (5)Crono 2002",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs_(5)Crono_2002"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 2,
  "code": "SC2K3",
  "name": "Summer 2003 Character Contest",
  "year": 2003,
  "champion": "Cloud Strife",
  "tagline": "A stronger bracket ends Link's repeat and ushers in the x-stats era.",
  "summary": "The second Character Battle used a formal nomination process and produced a much stronger, better-seeded field. Cloud emerged as champion over Sephiroth after the contest stopped looking like the easy Link repeat many expected.\n\nThe overview flags Kefka against Pac-Man, Mario against Crono, and Link against Cloud among the season's defining matches. It gives relatively little match-by-match reconstruction, but the bracket and retrospective make clear that Square's late run overturned the assumption that the previous year's hierarchy would simply repeat.\n\nBoard 8 remembers this as the last contest of the old prediction culture. Creativename's Oracle success and the rise of extrapolated standings pushed the board toward statistical forecasting, while the contest also marked the end of the classic site layout and slower poll-update rhythm.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 1323,
    "title": "(5)Pac-Man vs (12)Kefka 2003",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(5)Pac-Man_vs_(12)Kefka_2003"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1357,
    "title": "(1)Mario vs (4)Crono 2003",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs_(4)Crono_2003"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1365,
    "title": "(1)Link vs (1)Cloud Strife 2003",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Link_vs_(1)Cloud_Strife_2003"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 3,
  "code": "SpC2K4",
  "name": "Spring 2004 Game Contest",
  "year": 2004,
  "champion": "Final Fantasy VII",
  "tagline": "The first games contest, carried by one great division and several landmark matches.",
  "summary": "The first games tournament divided the bracket by hardware era. Final Fantasy VII won over Chrono Trigger, but the page's strongest praise goes to the depth and unpredictability of the later-era division and to Chrono Trigger's run through the older games side.\n\nChrono Trigger against A Link to the Past is treated as one of the best matches the site ever had. StarCraft's upset of Halo began the run that dominated the modern division's story, while the heavily anticipated Final Fantasy VII against Ocarina of Time matchup is remembered as a disappointment rather than the classic people expected.\n\nBoard 8 often ranks the contest among the site's best, largely because the modern division was so strong and the bracket produced several genuine surprises. The retrospective also pushes back on the nostalgia around it: much of the rest of the tournament was predictable, SFF-heavy, or built around matchups that failed to live up to their billing.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 1625,
    "title": "(1)Halo: Combat Evolved vs (16)Starcraft 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Halo:_Combat_Evolved_vs_(16)Starcraft_2004"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1658,
    "title": "(1)Chrono Trigger vs (6)The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Chrono_Trigger_vs_(6)The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_to_the_Past_2004"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1659,
    "title": "(1)Final Fantasy VII vs (2)The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Final_Fantasy_VII_vs_(2)The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time_2004"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 4,
  "code": "SC2K4",
  "name": "Summer 2004 Character Contest",
  "year": 2004,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "A company-shaped bracket turns Same Fanbase Factor into predictable routine.",
  "summary": "The third Character Battle grouped entrants into named divisions that effectively became company-heavy brackets. Link won over Cloud, but the page says the structure created repeated Same Fanbase Factor matches and made the tournament far too predictable.\n\nTails beating Viewtiful Joe was one of the few first-round surprises, and Frog's run through Master Chief is singled out as one of the only stretches worth following. Even the Link against Cloud championship is remembered more as a meeting of the two strongest characters than as a source of real suspense.\n\nBoard 8's retrospective is overwhelmingly negative. Near-perfect brackets, repeated fanbase suppression, and a lack of late drama led to calls for better bracket construction and for some way to stop Link and Cloud from making the rest of the field feel irrelevant.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 1744,
    "title": "(5)Viewtiful Joe vs (12)Miles \"Tails\" Prower 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(5)Viewtiful_Joe_vs_(12)Miles_%22Tails%22_Prower_2004"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1756,
    "title": "(6)Frog vs (3)Master Chief 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(6)Frog_vs_(3)Master_Chief_2004"
   },
   {
    "poll": 1780,
    "title": "(1)Link vs (1)Cloud Strife 2004",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Link_vs_(1)Cloud_Strife_2004"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 5,
  "code": "SpC2K5",
  "name": "Spring 2005 Character Contest",
  "year": 2005,
  "champion": "Sephiroth",
  "tagline": "A villains-only bracket with one overwhelming favorite and very little suspense.",
  "summary": "The villains contest was short, top-heavy, and predictable. Sephiroth won over Ganondorf, with Bowser and Ganondorf portrayed as the only entrants remotely close to the champion and most of the rest of the field treated as fodder.\n\nRobotnik against Sin was the closest match the page can point to, and even that is described as not truly close. Bowser against Sephiroth and the Sephiroth against Ganondorf final supplied the strongest names, but neither created the uncertainty the bracket needed.\n\nBoard 8 generally remembers the contest as one of the weakest. CATS and Master Hand provided some embarrassing comic value, while the practical benefit was that Sephiroth could be moved out of the main bracket for the following Character Battle and make that tournament more interesting.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 2003,
    "title": "(3)Dr. Robotnik vs (6)Sin 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Dr._Robotnik_vs_(6)Sin_2005"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2017,
    "title": "(1)Bowser vs (1)Sephiroth 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Bowser_vs_(1)Sephiroth_2005"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2019,
    "title": "(1)Sephiroth vs (1)Ganondorf 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Sephiroth_vs_(1)Ganondorf_2005"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 6,
  "code": "SC2K5",
  "name": "Summer 2005 Character Contest",
  "year": 2005,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "A carefully engineered bracket restores the Character Battle after two weak contests.",
  "summary": "The main bracket was built around the now-familiar x-stats and separated Link, Cloud, and Sephiroth into a Tournament of Champions. Mario won the regular bracket over Crono, while Link took the separate champions event, giving the ordinary field room to produce a less predetermined tournament.\n\nKnuckles beating Magus became one of the season's signature upsets. Solid Snake pushed Bowser hard enough to threaten the Noble Nine order, and Mario against Crono completed the main bracket after a run full of stronger matchups than the previous two contests had offered.\n\nBoard 8 remembers the bracket construction itself as a major success: the strongest legends were moved aside, weaker seed lines were trimmed, and community jokes still found room in the field. The only recurring complaint is that several close-looking matches separated before the finish, so the contest never produced a true photo finish.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 2088,
    "title": "(3)Magus vs (6)Knuckles the Echidna 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Magus_vs_(6)Knuckles_the_Echidna_2005"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2123,
    "title": "(1)Solid Snake vs (3)Bowser 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Solid_Snake_vs_(3)Bowser_2005"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2128,
    "title": "(1)Mario vs (2)Crono 2005",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs_(2)Crono_2005"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 7,
  "code": "BSE2K6",
  "name": "Summer 2006 Best Series Ever Contest",
  "year": 2006,
  "champion": "The Legend of Zelda",
  "tagline": "An underrated series contest ends with Zelda upsetting the expected Final Fantasy favorite.",
  "summary": "The series contest used a compact bracket and was widely expected to end with Final Fantasy on top. Instead, The Legend of Zelda won the championship, and the page argues that the field was stronger and more interesting than its reputation suggests.\n\nCastlevania against Kingdom Hearts produced the kind of large vote swings Board 8 remembered, while Warcraft beating Grand Theft Auto supplied a clean upset. The Zelda against Final Fantasy final became the contest's defining match, with Final Fantasy's night strength unable to prevent Zelda from taking the title.\n\nThe retrospective calls the contest underrated rather than elite. It suffered from being too small and from questionable bracket placement, but its better opponents, several genuine upsets, and a competitive final separate it sharply from the villains contest.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 2434,
    "title": "(4)Grand Theft Auto vs (5)Warcraft 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(4)Grand_Theft_Auto_vs_(5)Warcraft_2006"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2444,
    "title": "(3)Castlevania vs (2)Kingdom Hearts 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Castlevania_vs_(2)Kingdom_Hearts_2006"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2455,
    "title": "(1)The Legend of Zelda vs (1)Final Fantasy 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)The_Legend_of_Zelda_vs_(1)Final_Fantasy_2006"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 8,
  "code": "CB2K6",
  "name": "Character Battle 2006",
  "year": 2006,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "A weak female half is rescued by a strong male bracket and Battle Royale.",
  "summary": "The Character Battle split the field into male and female halves, with Samus winning the regular bracket and Link later winning the Battle Royale. The page considers the female side badly overfilled with weak entrants, while the male side supplied most of the tournament's real depth.\n\nSamus against Tifa became the female half's main source of chaos, while Sonic against Crono was one of the strongest matches on the male side. The multi-character Battle Royale then added a final burst of unpredictability, including Mario dropping out early and Snake outlasting Sephiroth.\n\nBoard 8 remembers the season as good but uneven. The male half, several clean upsets, and the Battle Royale worked; the mass of weak female matches kept the overall tournament from joining the very best Character Battles.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 2555,
    "title": "(1)Samus Aran vs (1)Tifa Lockheart 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Samus_Aran_vs_(1)Tifa_Lockheart_2006"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2558,
    "title": "(1)Sonic the Hedgehog vs (1)Crono 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Sonic_the_Hedgehog_vs_(1)Crono_2006"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2562,
    "title": "Cloud Strife vs Link vs Mario vs Samus Aran vs Sephiroth vs Solid Snake 2006",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Cloud_Strife_vs_Link_vs_Mario_vs_Samus_Aran_vs_Sephiroth_vs_Solid_Snake_2006"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 9,
  "code": "CB VI",
  "name": "Character Battle VI - 2007",
  "year": 2007,
  "champion": "L-Block",
  "tagline": "Four-way matches rewrite old strength assumptions and produce the L-Block championship.",
  "summary": "The first four-way Character Battle required the top two finishers to advance, changing how old one-on-one strength translated into the bracket. L-Block became the champion over Link and turned what began as a format experiment into the contest's defining story.\n\nVincent's advancement over Crono showed how the format could break the old hierarchy. L-Block later began winning outright against established characters before taking the final over Link, Cloud, and Snake.\n\nBoard 8 remembers L-Block first, but the overview argues that the format produced many other useful surprises: Pokémon and Halo looked much stronger, while lower-tier Nintendo and Sonic characters looked more dependent on shared support than expected. The tradeoff was that no single four-way poll had the concentrated intensity of the best one-on-one classics.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 2914,
    "title": "Link vs Vincent Valentine vs Crono vs Zero 2007",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Link_vs_Vincent_Valentine_vs_Crono_vs_Zero_2007"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2922,
    "title": "Solid Snake vs L-Block vs Sonic the Hedgehog vs Squall Leonhart 2007",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Solid_Snake_vs_L-Block_vs_Sonic_the_Hedgehog_vs_Squall_Leonhart_2007"
   },
   {
    "poll": 2925,
    "title": "Link vs Cloud Strife vs L-Block vs Solid Snake 2007",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Link_vs_Cloud_Strife_vs_L-Block_vs_Solid_Snake_2007"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 10,
  "code": "CB VII",
  "name": "Character Battle VII - 2008",
  "year": 2008,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "A second four-way contest deepens format fatigue despite another Link victory.",
  "summary": "The following Character Battle kept the four-way format, with Link winning and Solid Snake finishing second. The retrospective is dominated by the argument that the format produced strange results while draining much of the suspense and emotional focus from the tournament.\n\nThe page's notable-match list points to Crono, Pikachu, L-Block, and Alucard sharing one important poll, then to Snake facing Cloud, Kirby, and Sephiroth late in the bracket. The final brought Link, Snake, Cloud, and Crono together, but even that is framed through frustration with the format rather than celebration of the matchup.\n\nBoard 8's legacy judgment is harsh: four-ways had become a gimmick rather than a useful change of pace. Ulti says the format was bad enough that the retrospective itself was delayed for years, and the contest sits near the bottom of his rankings despite its strong field.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 3295,
    "title": "Crono vs L-Block vs Pikachu vs Alucard 2008",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Crono_vs_L-Block_vs_Pikachu_vs_Alucard_2008"
   },
   {
    "poll": 3305,
    "title": "Cloud Strife vs Solid Snake vs Sephiroth vs Kirby 2008",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Cloud_Strife_vs_Solid_Snake_vs_Sephiroth_vs_Kirby_2008"
   },
   {
    "poll": 3306,
    "title": "Link vs Crono vs Solid Snake vs Cloud Strife 2008",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Link_vs_Crono_vs_Solid_Snake_vs_Cloud_Strife_2008"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 11,
  "code": "BGE 2K9",
  "name": "Best. Game. Ever. Contest 2009",
  "year": 2009,
  "champion": "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time",
  "tagline": "A highly anticipated games contest whose overview mostly documents setup, not aftermath.",
  "summary": "The second Best Game Ever tournament returned to games after a long gap and used a four-way bracket split by release eras. Ocarina of Time ultimately finished ahead of Final Fantasy VII, but the overview body is much more interested in how the field was built than in retelling the champion's run.\n\nThe page spends substantial space on nomination rules, review-score influence, Board 8 petitions, and the community's chance to replace games in the bracket. Its notable-match list identifies the late four-way final and the later Ocarina of Time against Final Fantasy VII rematch, but the prose provides almost no retrospective analysis of those matches.\n\nAs a result, this overview is best read as a record of contest construction and anticipation rather than a full postmortem. It still functions as a contest recap page, but it leaves most of the match legacy to the individual writeups and statistics pages.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 3508,
    "title": "Final Fantasy VII vs The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past vs The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time vs Final Fantasy X 2009",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII_vs_The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_to_the_Past_vs_The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time_vs_Final_Fantasy_X_2009"
   },
   {
    "poll": 3509,
    "title": "Final Fantasy VII vs The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 2009",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_VII_vs_The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time_2009"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 12,
  "code": "CB VIII",
  "name": "Character Battle VIII - 2010",
  "year": 2010,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "One-on-one contests return with Missingno, upsets, and a familiar Link championship.",
  "summary": "The Character Battle returned to one-on-one matches after the four-way era, and Link again finished as champion over Cloud. The page remembers the bracket for unpredictability and for several characters making runs that old strength models did not anticipate.\n\nMissingno beating Crono became the clearest symbol of that uncertainty, and Sephiroth later had to end the joke character's run. Solid Snake beating Sephiroth supplied another major late-bracket shift among the traditional elite.\n\nBoard 8 rates the contest highly even without a photo finish. The central legacy is simply that one-on-one matches were back: old statistics still mattered, but the format again allowed individual upsets, unexpected runs, and matchups that felt easier to care about than the four-way contests.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 3789,
    "title": "(4)Crono vs (13)Missingno 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(4)Crono_vs_(13)Missingno_2010"
   },
   {
    "poll": 3840,
    "title": "(1)Sephiroth vs (13)Missingno 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Sephiroth_vs_(13)Missingno_2010"
   },
   {
    "poll": 3853,
    "title": "(1)Solid Snake vs (1)Sephiroth 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Solid_Snake_vs_(1)Sephiroth_2010"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 13,
  "code": "GOTD",
  "name": "Game of the Decade Contest 2010",
  "year": 2010,
  "champion": "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask",
  "tagline": "A decade-only games bracket delivers sustained unpredictability and a Majora's Mask championship.",
  "summary": "The first Game of the Decade contest limited the field to games from its decade and used a clean one-on-one bracket. Majora's Mask won over Super Smash Bros. Brawl after a tournament the page describes as unusually difficult to predict from beginning to end.\n\nDeus Ex beating Rock Band 2 set the tone immediately. Brawl later beat Melee in the direct Smash comparison, and Majora's Mask finished its run by beating Brawl in the championship.\n\nBoard 8's retrospective ranks this at or near the top of all GameFAQs contests. The bracket was packed with games people considered worthy of the theme, old information often failed to predict new results, and surprise runs such as Shadow of the Colossus made the contest feel fresh without relying on a gimmick format.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 4070,
    "title": "(8)Rock Band 2 vs (9)Deus Ex 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(8)Rock_Band_2_vs_(9)Deus_Ex_2010"
   },
   {
    "poll": 4183,
    "title": "(1)Super Smash Bros. Melee vs (2)Super Smash Bros. Brawl 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Super_Smash_Bros._Melee_vs_(2)Super_Smash_Bros._Brawl_2010"
   },
   {
    "poll": 4195,
    "title": "(2)Super Smash Bros. Brawl vs (1)The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 2010",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(2)Super_Smash_Bros._Brawl_vs_(1)The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Majora%27s_Mask_2010"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 14,
  "code": "Rivalry",
  "name": "Rivalry Rumble Contest 2011",
  "year": 2011,
  "champion": "Link vs. Ganondorf",
  "tagline": "A rivalry-pair gimmick produces Board 8's clearest example of a failed contest concept.",
  "summary": "Rivalry Rumble paired gaming rivals as pseudo-teams, with Link and Ganondorf winning over Mario and Bowser. The overview argues that the concept, the restriction on repeated characters, and the actual bracket all worked against the kind of matchups people wanted.\n\nThe notable list includes Pokémon's Red and Blue against Ryu and Ken, the later Red and Blue matchup with Cloud and Sephiroth, and the Link and Ganondorf final against Mario and Bowser. Even so, the author says the contest produced essentially no sustained excitement and gives very little positive match analysis.\n\nBoard 8 remembers it as the worst contest up to that point. The battle-bracket scoring system, the absence of Mario against Sonic, low interest, and poor rivalry selection all became examples of how adding a theme can make a normal bracket worse rather than better.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 4560,
    "title": "(1)Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Pokemon Trainer Blue vs (3)Ryu vs. Ken 2011",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Pokemon_Trainer_Red_vs._Pokemon_Trainer_Blue_vs_(3)Ryu_vs._Ken_2011"
   },
   {
    "poll": 4572,
    "title": "(1)Mario vs. Bowser vs (1)Link vs. Ganondorf 2011",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs._Bowser_vs_(1)Link_vs._Ganondorf_2011"
   },
   {
    "poll": 4573,
    "title": "(1)Pokemon Trainer Red vs. Pokemon Trainer Blue vs (1)Cloud Strife vs. Sephiroth 2011",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Pokemon_Trainer_Red_vs._Pokemon_Trainer_Blue_vs_(1)Cloud_Strife_vs._Sephiroth_2011"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 15,
  "code": "CB IX",
  "name": "Character Battle IX - 2013",
  "year": 2013,
  "champion": "Draven",
  "tagline": "A huge three-way bracket becomes the Draven rally contest and changes rally policy.",
  "summary": "The Character Battle returned after a long break with three-entrant matches in which only the winner advanced. Draven won the championship over Solid Snake, but the page stresses that the tournament was already unusually chaotic before outside League of Legends support took over the story.\n\nVivi beating Mario and Ganondorf was one of the clearest natural shocks. The Link, Commander Shepard, and Draven match became the main controversy, combining a massive Reddit rally with a site outage and accusations of cheating; Draven later beat Snake and Samus in the final.\n\nBoard 8 remembers the contest as both fun and excessive. The three-way idea created novel results but the field and schedule were far too large, while Draven's run forced SBAllen to explain the site's distinction between legitimate rallying, vote stuffing, and technical failures and to promise clearer outage rules for future contests.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 5246,
    "title": "(1)Mario vs (6)Vivi vs (9)Ganondorf 2013",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs_(6)Vivi_vs_(9)Ganondorf_2013"
   },
   {
    "poll": 5253,
    "title": "(1)Link vs (2)Commander Shepard vs (3)Draven 2013",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Link_vs_(2)Commander_Shepard_vs_(3)Draven_2013"
   },
   {
    "poll": 5266,
    "title": "(3)Draven vs (1)Solid Snake vs (1)Samus Aran 2013",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Draven_vs_(1)Solid_Snake_vs_(1)Samus_Aran_2013"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 16,
  "code": "BGE 2K15",
  "name": "Best Game Ever 2015",
  "year": 2015,
  "champion": "Undertale",
  "tagline": "Undertale's rally run turns a strong one-on-one games bracket into a new contest model.",
  "summary": "The games tournament finally used the large one-on-one bracket Board 8 had wanted, without era divisions and with several full-day matches running in parallel. Undertale came from outside the expected elite to win over Ocarina of Time, while the format itself proved more workable than many had feared.\n\nMelee's rally-backed upset of Chrono Trigger changed the apparent title picture, and the later Undertale against Melee semifinal became the defining rally war. Undertale then completed the run against Ocarina of Time in the championship.\n\nThe administrator's post-contest data argued that the Undertale surge came from real outside voters rather than systematic vote stuffing. Ulti consequently remembers this as his favorite contest and praises both rallying and the multi-match, full-day format, while criticizing the decision to change the scheduling structure partway through the bracket.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 6163,
    "title": "(1)Chrono Trigger vs (3)Super Smash Bros. Melee 2015",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Chrono_Trigger_vs_(3)Super_Smash_Bros._Melee_2015"
   },
   {
    "poll": 6175,
    "title": "(3)Super Smash Bros. Melee vs (6)Undertale 2015",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Super_Smash_Bros._Melee_vs_(6)Undertale_2015"
   },
   {
    "poll": 6177,
    "title": "(6)Undertale vs (1)The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 2015",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(6)Undertale_vs_(1)The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time_2015"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 17,
  "code": "Best Year",
  "name": "Best Year in Gaming Contest 2017",
  "year": 2017,
  "champion": "1998",
  "tagline": "An anti-rally year contest suffers from low interest, blowouts, and picture problems.",
  "summary": "The Best Year in Gaming experiment was designed in part to reduce outside rallying, and 1998 eventually won over 2001. The overview says the concept never generated the normal nomination or bracket excitement and that participation was weak from the beginning.\n\nThe page does not offer a detailed match-by-match retrospective. Instead it emphasizes record blowouts, bizarre match-picture choices that could affect outcomes, and the late surprise of 2001 getting past 1997 before losing to 1998 in the final.\n\nBoard 8's verdict is unusually uniform: the contest is remembered as the site's worst. The one positive thread was the personal retrospective discussion about what different gaming years meant to individual users; as an actual tournament, the page argues that the year concept should not return.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 6718,
    "title": "2001 vs 1997",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/2001_vs_1997"
   },
   {
    "poll": 6720,
    "title": "2001 vs 1998",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/2001_vs_1998"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 18,
  "code": "CB X",
  "name": "Character Battle X - 2018",
  "year": 2018,
  "champion": "Link",
  "tagline": "A traditional bracket returns, then Zelda's breakout reshapes the Legends Stage.",
  "summary": "Character Battle X restored a traditional one-on-one main bracket, then sent the division winners into a double-elimination Legends Stage with the established elite. Link won over Cloud, while Zelda's Breath of the Wild-era rise carried her past several members of the Noble Nine and into third place.\n\nAmaterasu's first-round destruction of defending champion Draven closed the book on the previous rally-driven title. Pikachu later beat Mega Man in a landmark break of the old Noble Nine order, and Zelda's win over Mario confirmed that her run was not just a favorable main-bracket draw.\n\nThe retrospective is conflicted because the matches were often good while the audience was small. Anti-rally measures, forced voting, weak turnout, and the long double-elimination stage made the contest feel overextended, leading to the recurring plea to let outside attention and rallies return rather than designing the event around suppressing them.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 7296,
    "title": "(5)Amaterasu vs (12)Draven 2018",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(5)Amaterasu_vs_(12)Draven_2018"
   },
   {
    "poll": 7359,
    "title": "(8)Mega Man vs (7)Pikachu (Legends Bracket) 2018",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(8)Mega_Man_vs_(7)Pikachu_(Legends_Bracket)_2018"
   },
   {
    "poll": 7379,
    "title": "(4)Zelda vs (7)Mario (Legends Bracket) 2018",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(4)Zelda_vs_(7)Mario_(Legends_Bracket)_2018"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 },
 {
  "tid": 19,
  "code": "GOTD 2",
  "name": "Game of the Decade 2 Contest 2020",
  "year": 2020,
  "champion": "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild",
  "tagline": "Breath of the Wild dominates a chalky decade bracket during the lockdown spring.",
  "summary": "The second Game of the Decade contest covered the newer decade and ran as a broad one-on-one games bracket. Breath of the Wild was the clear top game and eventually beat The Witcher 3, while the rest of the field was diverse but much more predictable than the first decade contest.\n\nOctopath Traveler's upset of former champion Undertale was an early break from the chalk. Resident Evil 2 later survived Bloodborne in the tournament's defining rally controversy, and Breath of the Wild finished by beating a heavily rallied Witcher 3 in the championship.\n\nBoard 8 remembers the contest as enjoyable but limited by low turnout, too many simultaneous matches, anti-rally measures, and a disruptive mid-contest break. Ctes also stresses that its timing during the lockdown made following the bracket unusually welcome, even if the contest itself never matched the uncertainty of the earlier Game of the Decade.",
  "notable_matches": [
   {
    "poll": 7935,
    "title": "(3)Undertale vs (14)Octopath Traveler 2020",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Undertale_vs_(14)Octopath_Traveler_2020"
   },
   {
    "poll": 8014,
    "title": "(3)Resident Evil 2 vs (2)Bloodborne 2020",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(3)Resident_Evil_2_vs_(2)Bloodborne_2020"
   },
   {
    "poll": 8041,
    "title": "(1)The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vs (1)The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 2020",
    "url": "https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild_vs_(1)The_Witcher_3:_Wild_Hunt_2020"
   }
  ],
  "off_topic": false
 }
]