GameFAQsContests.com

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.