GameFAQsContests.com

The first four-way contest match immediately showed how different the new format could be. Yoshi took first comfortably, while Knuckles survived Rikku after major voting swings and Vaan's shared fanbase hurt Rikku in the fight for second.

LFF: The writeup explicitly identifies Vaan as the contest's first clear LFF case, saying his shared Square support drained enough from Rikku to cost her an advancing spot.

Mega Man took the expected first place, but the real story was KOS-MOS advancing while Diablo and Arthas split overlapping support. The writeup treats the result as the match that taught Board 8 how LFF worked in four-way polls.

LFF: The writeup says Diablo and Arthas weakened each other by sharing the same Blizzard fanbase, allowing KOS-MOS to advance despite neither Blizzard entrant being individually helpless.

Ryu took first in a result that surprised many bracket players but made sense once Bowser's two fellow Nintendo entrants were considered. Bowser still advanced, but the writeup treats his weak showing as a serious warning for later rounds.

LFF: The writeup says Bowser was weakened by sharing Nintendo support with both Mewtwo and Toad, allowing outside entrant Ryu to take first place comfortably.

Kratos took first in a result that surprised many casual brackets but looked straightforward to the writeup. Donkey Kong still advanced, though sharing Nintendo support with Marth made an already difficult matchup much worse for him.

LFF: The writeup says Donkey Kong and Marth drained each other's Nintendo support, making outsider Kratos's first-place finish effectively inevitable.

Samus dominated while Scorpion comfortably secured the other advancing spot. Midna's earlier weakness and the Nintendo vote drain from Samus left her with little realistic path forward.

LFF: The writeup says Samus drained Nintendo support from Midna, worsening Midna's position against the outside contenders.

Leon won comfortably while Pikachu capitalized on the divided Square field to advance again. The writeup presents Tidus and Vivi as holding each other back and turning Pikachu's favorable draw into another survival.

LFF: The writeup says Vivi and Tidus split Square support badly enough that neither could catch Pikachu, allowing the outside Pokémon entrant to take the second advancing spot.

Kratos took first, but the important result was L-Block advancing again while Kirby was weakened by Donkey Kong. The writeup marks this as the point when L-Block stopped looking like a harmless joke and became a serious contest threat.

LFF: The writeup explicitly says Donkey Kong drained Nintendo support from Kirby, costing Kirby the advancing spot and allowing L-Block to move on.

Squall took control immediately, while Sora decisively reversed his old loss to Aeris. Aeris nearly fell behind Lara as well, making the writeup treat the result as a sharp confirmation of her decline.

LFF: The writeup argues that Squall's presence hurt fellow Square entrant Aeris far more than Sora, helping Sora reverse their old matchup and advance comfortably.

Samus and Mega Man produced a dramatic early duel before Samus eventually established control, while Yoshi and Scorpion fell away. The result strengthened the case that Samus had moved clearly ahead of Mega Man despite the unfavorable Nintendo overlap.

LFF: The writeup says Yoshi's Nintendo support hurt Samus more than Mega Man, making their early first-place battle much tighter than it otherwise would have been.

Cloud overwhelmed the field and further fueled speculation that he could challenge Link. Ryu advanced ahead of Auron, with the writeup treating Cloud's effect on Auron as central to the result.

LFF: The writeup says Cloud's shared Final Fantasy support held Auron down, allowing outside entrant Ryu to benefit and claim the other advancing position.

Pikachu produced one of the contest's biggest shocks by taking first over a field of Capcom characters. The writeup treats the result as a major turning point in Pokémon's growing contest reputation.

LFF: The writeup says the three Capcom entrants divided overlapping support, creating the opening that allowed outside entrant Pikachu to beat them all.

Sonic held off Squall for first, but Squall remained unexpectedly competitive despite sharing support with Sora. The writeup treats Sonic's narrow-looking advantage as another sign that four-way matches exposed his weaknesses.

LFF: The writeup says Sora drained enough Square support from Squall that Squall probably would have beaten Sonic without Sora in the poll.

Link and Sephiroth advanced as expected, but Mario held up better against Link than many anticipated. The writeup treats Link's diminished dominance as the first meaningful encouragement for people hoping Cloud could beat him later.

LFF: The writeup says Mario clearly weakened fellow Nintendo entrant Link, narrowing Link's advantage over Sephiroth and briefly making Link look vulnerable.

Master Chief took first while Dante survived for the other advancing spot. Luigi led early but could not overcome the continued presence of Pikachu, whose run ended while also dragging a major Nintendo character out with it.

LFF: The writeup says Pikachu continued to siphon Nintendo support from Luigi, helping Dante take the second advancing position and eliminating Luigi.

Pikachu took control while Arthas converted a favorable draw into a surprising advancement. The result also punctured another piece of the pre-contest Brawl hype surrounding Ike.

LFF: The writeup says Pikachu's overlapping Nintendo and Smash support put Ike in a bad LFF situation, helping Arthas take the other advancing spot.

Big Boss delivered a result the writeup remembers as almost unimaginable at the time, beating a heavily favored Kirby outright. The upset immediately turned Big Boss into one of the contest's biggest talking points.

LFF: The writeup says Jinjo and Lucas hurt Kirby by splitting Nintendo support, though it also stresses that this alone cannot explain the scale of Big Boss's upset.

Duke and Altair emerged from a chaotic matchup that punished Marth and further damaged the pre-contest Brawl narrative. Duke's unlikely run continued while Lucario confirmed his disappointing debut.

LFF: The writeup says Lucario's presence badly hurt fellow Nintendo entrant Marth, helping outside contenders Duke and Altair take the advancing positions.

Liquid took advantage of a badly divided field to win, while Luigi survived for the other advancing spot and Bowser fell out. The writeup uses the result as another example of four-way fanbase splitting producing strange outcomes.

LFF: The writeup says the Nintendo-oriented support was split among Luigi, Bowser and Phoenix, allowing Liquid Snake to benefit as the outside option.

Pikachu and Alucard advanced after an unexpectedly fierce battle for first that swung repeatedly across the day. The writeup treats the duel as another good match diminished by the top-two-advance format.

LFF: The writeup says Captain Falcon's overlapping Nintendo support held Pikachu down, helping turn Pikachu's fight with Alucard into a much closer race than their standalone strength suggested.

Squall and Sora advanced together yet again, while Yoshi collapsed far more badly than expected. The result reinforced the strange independence of the Squall-Sora pairing and exposed Yoshi's vulnerability in the field.

LFF: The writeup says Fox's presence hurt fellow Nintendo entrant Yoshi, while Sora remained largely independent of Squall and benefited from the contrast.

Kirby advanced, but the real battle was Master Chief's comeback against Big Boss. Chief's late surge turned a long, competitive fight into another memorable rally-driven reversal.

Rally · LFF: The writeup says Master Chief's fans rallied hard enough to erase Big Boss's lead and secure advancement. It also says Raiden's near-total Metal Gear overlap drained support from Big Boss.

Samus and Vincent advanced as expected, but Ganondorf collapsed so badly that Gordon Freeman escaped last place. The writeup treats the fanbase interaction as the defining feature of an otherwise predictable divisional final.

SFF · LFF: The writeup describes Ganondorf as heavily suppressed by Samus through their shared Nintendo support. It also says Ganondorf's presence drained Samus enough to tighten her comparison with outside contender Vincent.

Link took the expected first position, while Crono finally reached a true contest final by reversing his old rivalry with Mario. The writeup frames it as the payoff to Crono's long redemption arc.

LFF: The writeup says Link and Samus drained Nintendo support from Mario, allowing outside entrant Crono to beat Mario comfortably for the other final berth.

Snake converted the divided field into a surprise first-place finish, while Cloud recovered enough to secure the other final berth. Sephiroth's collapse and Kirby's early pressure made the semifinal far stranger than expected.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Kirby SFFed Sephiroth badly, leaving Sephiroth unusually weak. It also says Sephiroth leeched enough Final Fantasy support from Cloud to keep Cloud from catching outside contender Snake.

Pokémon RBY overwhelmed Majora's Mask in a matchup many expected to be close, immediately elevating Pokémon into the contest's top tier. The two other N64 games were largely squeezed out of relevance.

LFF: The writeup attributes Banjo-Kazooie and Perfect Dark's weak showings partly to heavy N64 and Nintendo overlap in a field led by Majora's Mask and Pokémon.

Kingdom Hearts took first comfortably, but Vice City overturned the expected Nintendo advantage and beat Metroid Prime for second. The writeup treats Paper Mario's presence as the key reason Prime could not capitalize.

LFF: The writeup says Paper Mario leeched enough Nintendo support from Metroid Prime to cost Prime the second advancing spot against Vice City.

Call of Duty 4 decisively beat Super Mario Galaxy in a result that immediately damaged Galaxy's pre-contest reputation. Even allowing for Pokémon overlap, the writeup sees Galaxy's performance as a major warning before facing Brawl.

LFF: The writeup treats Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's overlapping Nintendo support as a major factor in Super Mario Galaxy's unexpectedly weak performance.

Fallout 3 and Halo 3 advanced in a nearly perfect staircase, making the final first-round match one of the contest's least eventful. The shared Xbox and genre-heavy field produced very little movement.

LFF: The writeup attributes some of Mass Effect's weak showing to overlap with fellow Western RPG Fallout 3 in an unusually homogeneous field.

Super Mario World transformed its shaky first-round image into a dominant second-round performance. Final Fantasy IV clearly beat the original Final Fantasy, while Mega Man 3 continued the series' disappointing contest.

LFF: The writeup describes substantial overlap between the two Final Fantasy entries in the field, with the split weakening the original Final Fantasy while Final Fantasy IV still secured second.

Metal Gear Solid won, but Pokémon RBY remained impressive despite sharing the poll with Gold and Silver and Majora's Mask. The result made MGS look vulnerable for the next round while rehabilitating Majora's Mask somewhat.

LFF: The writeup says Pokémon Gold and Silver leeched heavily from Pokémon RBY and cost the older generation first place against Metal Gear Solid.

StarCraft briefly revived memories of 2004 by taking an early second-place lead, but Final Fantasy VIII erased it quickly once the overnight vote arrived. Ocarina of Time dominated throughout.

LFF: The writeup says Final Fantasy IX leeched support from Final Fantasy VIII early, briefly allowing StarCraft to threaten the second advancing position.

Twilight Princess won, but Resident Evil 4 and Kingdom Hearts II again produced a close fight for the other advancing spot. RE4 survived a late collapse, while Twilight Princess itself looked less dominant than a finalist was expected to look.

LFF: The writeup says Twilight Princess absorbed enough of Kingdom Hearts II's usual day-vote support to help Resident Evil 4 survive another close rematch.

Mario still beat Zelda without being seriously threatened, but the margin collapsed compared with their prior matchup. The writeup treats the shift as evidence that Mario split more badly with the surrounding field and as setup for later surprises.

LFF: The writeup says Mega Man 2 and Tetris hurt Mario's support more than Zelda's, helping narrow the Mario-Zelda gap sharply from their previous meeting.

Mario 3 survived a sustained challenge from Mario World, but the writeup treats the narrow escape as evidence that World's relative strength had risen sharply. It also frames the result as part of a broader generational shift on GameFAQs.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Mario 3 clearly SFFed Sonic. It also says the other older games leeched Mario World more heavily, making World's near-win over Mario 3 especially striking.

Final Fantasy VII dominated, while Chrono Trigger built a real lead on Mario 64 before collapsing again with the afternoon vote. Mario 64's late recovery ended another promising Chrono Trigger upset attempt.

LFF: The writeup says GoldenEye clearly leeched Mario 64, giving Chrono Trigger a much better chance to steal the second advancing position.

Ocarina of Time won comfortably, while Pokémon RBY finally broke through against Metal Gear Solid and advanced. The result elevated Pokémon into the site's highest tier and exposed a recurring overlap between Metal Gear and Final Fantasy.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Ocarina of Time imposed Nintendo SFF on Pokémon RBY, though Pokémon resisted it unusually well. It also says Final Fantasy VIII leeched Metal Gear Solid and helped Pokémon take second.

Melee and Final Fantasy X advanced through a largely featureless staircase match. Kingdom Hearts briefly fought Diablo II for position but never threatened the top two once the PS2 split took hold.

LFF: The writeup says Kingdom Hearts was held down by its PS2 overlap with Final Fantasy X, preventing it from mounting a serious challenge for second.

Super Mario World took first, while Zelda erased a huge deficit and nearly stole second from Mario 3 in the final minutes. A suspicious late swing for Mario 3 turned an already dramatic finish into a lasting Board 8 controversy.

SFF · LFF · Cheat: The writeup describes heavy Mario-on-Mario SFF and a three-Mario split that greatly helped Zelda. It also alleges that a suspicious late swing in Mario 3's favor may have involved cheating, though the official result ultimately stood.

Final Fantasy VII and A Link to the Past advanced from a semifinal the writeup considered nearly predetermined. FF7's dominant showing became the main talking point heading into the championship.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Nintendo SFF inflated Final Fantasy VII's advantage, while the split between the two Mario games helped Link to the Past secure the other final berth.

Kirby won, but Terra's performance was the surprise as she benefited from Peach draining Nintendo support from Kirby. The writeup treats Terra's Dissidia-era strength as increasingly legitimate.

LFF · Pic: The writeup says Peach LFFed Kirby, helping Terra look unusually strong against him. It also explicitly calls Kirby's simple spherical design a major picture advantage.

Mr. Game & Watch upset Lee Everett despite sharing part of his natural novelty audience with Meat Boy. The writeup treats the result as another example of recent Western-game popularity failing to translate into character-contest votes.

LFF: The writeup says Meat Boy's similar oddball appeal stole support from Game & Watch, and argues that Game & Watch would have beaten Lee much more decisively without him.

Nathan Drake survived a long, slow fight with Pac-Man, while Steve's presence is blamed for helping keep Pac-Man from completing the upset. The result stayed close enough to preserve Pac-Man's reputation as a dangerous wildcard.

LFF: The writeup says Steve stole votes from Pac-Man through similar broad casual appeal and argues that Pac-Man likely wins the matchup without Steve in the poll.

Ezio beat Tails and Bomberman after a short early challenge, with the writeup blaming some of Tails's weakness on the similar third entrant. The result also undercut attempts to revive Tails through old extrapolated statistics.

LFF: The writeup says Tails and Bomberman had overlapping appeal and that their shared support helped Ezio pull away after Tails briefly led.

Big Boss and Luigi stayed tied for hours before Metal Gear's stronger late trend finally separated them. Ness's presence is treated as the key fanbase drain that prevented Luigi from taking fuller advantage of Big Boss's weak daytime vote.

LFF: The writeup says Ness leeched Luigi's Nintendo support and made the difference in a match where Luigi and Big Boss were otherwise close in strength.

Kefka completed another bracket-wrecking upset by beating both Altair and Lara, while the two Western icons fought to the final minutes for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Altair barely survived Lara's late comeback.

LFF: The writeup says Altair and Lara likely drained each other through overlapping Western-franchise appeal, helping Kefka dominate while their second-place fight stayed unusually close.

Cloud won comfortably while Frog overcame an early Lugia lead and took second in the Expert Challenge ordering despite sharing some Square support with Cloud. Lugia's collapse weakened the broader PokéFEAR narrative.

LFF: The writeup says Cloud was stealing support from Frog, making Frog's recovery past Lugia more impressive.

Tifa won comfortably while Dragonborn again looked far weaker than Skyrim's game-level popularity had suggested. Yuna's respectable third-place showing despite the Square overlap made Dragonborn's collapse look even worse.

LFF: The writeup treats Tifa and Yuna's shared Final Fantasy support as a real vote split, noting that Yuna stayed surprisingly close to Dragonborn even while Tifa was in the poll.

Vivi produced one of the contest's defining upsets by holding off repeated Mario comeback attempts and finally eliminating him. Nintendo vote splitting and a modest outside push helped create the opening, but the writeup still celebrates Vivi's composure against Mario's legendary clutch.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Ganondorf leeched Nintendo support from Mario and that 4chan also rallied Vivi during the close fight.

Zelda repeatedly looked on the verge of beating Charizard, but Pokémon's morning strength and late outside support dragged Charizard through a final-update escape. The writeup treats the win as a major warning that Charizard had been overrated.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Donkey Kong's presence created heavy Nintendo vote splitting that badly hurt Charizard. It also says late rallies were necessary for Charizard to erase Zelda's lead and survive.

Squirtle beat Cloud outright in one of the contest's coolest Noble Nine upsets, surviving Cloud's overnight recovery and pulling away again late. The writeup emphasizes that Cloud's broader Final Fantasy VII decline made the impossible-looking result suddenly believable.

LFF: The writeup says Leon's overlapping PlayStation-oriented support hurt Cloud and played an important role in opening the door for Squirtle's upset.

Pikachu built a large lead, survived Sora's late comeback, and won despite sharing the poll with Pokémon Trainer Blue. The result sent another Pokémon character into the contest's final stretch and underscored how little strength Sora had left.

LFF: The writeup explicitly says Pikachu resisted Blue's LFF and that the second Pokémon entrant was the main reason Sora could keep the match competitive.

Mega Man survived both Zero's overlap and Charizard's late lead, then completed a furious final push to take the match. The writeup remembers the finish as the long-awaited close-match breakthrough for a character with years of contest heartbreak.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Zero clearly drained Mega Man through their heavy overlap. It also describes a massive late Mega Man fan rally that overturned Charizard's lead in the final minutes.

Snake advanced to the final while the two Pokémon entrants split their shared fanbase and fought over second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Pikachu ultimately beat Squirtle after the morning vote.

LFF: The writeup says Squirtle and Pikachu cannibalized each other's Pokémon support, destroying their chances of challenging Snake for first.