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Samus erased what had looked like a decisive late Sonic lead and won after an extraordinary closing surge. The match triggered a massive backlash, outside vote recruitment on both sides, cheating suspicions, and lasting changes to how contest results were followed.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Samus and Sonic supporters spammed for votes across the internet, chat rooms, buddy lists, and gaming chats. It also says many users suspected cheating behind Samus's extraordinary late comeback despite CJayC stating that no cheating was detected.

Cloud controlled much of the match before Mario mounted a comeback aided by unusually favorable circumstances and outside attention. The close finish, enormous board reaction, rallying, and unresolved cheating allegations made the match the writeup's choice for the greatest contest match ever.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup credits Mario's comeback partly to a Planet GameCube link and widespread vote solicitation, explicitly treating those efforts as rallying. It also describes alleged proxy voting and supposed vote-stuffing admissions, while emphasizing that the cheating claims were never proven.

Mario and Crono produced an enormous rematch in which Crono appeared to have the win secured before Mario erased a late lead and survived a controversially extended poll. Rallying, cheating allegations, and the disputed timing made it one of Board 8's most controversial matches.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes supporters on both sides frantically rallying for votes during the late collapse of Crono's lead. It also records extensive cheating accusations around Mario's comeback, while noting that CJayC said his check found no cheating in the decisive extra period.

Cloud shocked the contest by beating the seemingly invincible Link after taking control almost immediately and resisting the expected Zelda day-vote comeback. Heavy rallying, cheating allegations, and a disputed picture imbalance became part of the explanation for one of the contest's defining upsets.

Rally · Cheat · Pic: The writeup says both sides engaged in heavy rallying and records widespread cheating accusations, while treating those accusations as roughly symmetric blame rather than proven fraud. It also says Link's Wind Waker image versus Cloud's Kingdom Hearts image may have cost Link a small but meaningful amount of support.

StarCraft overturned Halo in one of the contest's defining first-round battles after both fanbases drew outside support into the poll. The writeup treats the result as proof that Halo was badly overseeded, StarCraft badly underseeded, and the StarCraft fanbase capable of changing the entire division.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes mass Battle.net spamming, Xbox Live and Bungie involvement, and outside forces being brought in from across the internet to vote for both sides, with StarCraft ultimately benefiting most.

Starcraft shocked The Wind Waker with another late comeback, extending its improbable run and ending Zelda's unbeaten start. The writeup credits Battle.net rallying for making the difference and treats the result as Starcraft's arrival as a legitimate contest force.

Rally: The writeup attributes Starcraft's decisive late comeback to organized Battle.net promotion and heavy Saturday-night traffic. It explicitly rejects cheating as the explanation for this particular match.

Melee ended Starcraft's Cinderella run in a chaotic divisional final dominated by outside promotion, flame wars, and a detected cheating surge. The writeup remembers the match as both a strong Melee win and a damaging controversy around Starcraft's run.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Starcraft was promoted through Battle.net and multiple Starcraft sites, while a separate sudden proxy-vote surge was identified as cheating. The controversy cast doubt over the legitimacy of parts of Starcraft's run even though Melee still won.

Frog survived Master Chief in an all-time classic filled with huge momentum swings and a frantic finish. The writeup celebrates the drama while also arguing that outside Halo promotion and rampant multi-voting make the true result impossible to separate cleanly from the controversy.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Halo sites linked to the poll during Master Chief's comeback, creating an outside rally. It also explicitly describes blatant multi-voting on both sides, especially in the final hour.

Diablo turned a heavily debated matchup with Ridley into a clear win and emerged as a serious divisional threat. An outside Diablo-site rally arrived later, but the writeup argues that the match had already been decided on its own merits.

Rally: The writeup says diabloii.net linked directly to the poll during the match, adding outside support for Diablo. It also stresses that Diablo had already taken firm control before the rally appeared.

Robotnik held off Sin in a close matchup dominated by Board 8 arguments around one loud Sin supporter. The writeup says Sin mounted a respectable recovery despite a disastrous picture, while an attempted outside rally failed to overturn the result.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says Sin was badly hurt by one of the contest's worst match pictures, which reduced him to an unrecognizable dorsal fin. It also says a vocal Sin supporter tried to rally votes from outside websites during the match.

Sonic won an otherwise routine match that mainly served as a measuring stick for his coming clash with Mega Man. Diablo's performance improved after a Diabloii.net link appeared, reinforcing the writeup's view that outside-site support mattered to him.

Rally: The writeup says Diablo improved noticeably after Diabloii.net finally posted a link to the poll, costing Sonic about a percentage point and confirming that outside-site support was part of Diablo's strength.

Warcraft upset GTA in a close match dominated by outside-site campaigning, especially from the World of Warcraft community. The aftermath also confirmed vote stuffing, mostly for GTA, but the writeup stresses that Warcraft still won fairly without those fraudulent votes deciding the result.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says both sides rallied heavily, with World of Warcraft forum traffic giving Warcraft the decisive outside push. It also quotes CJayC confirming egregious vote stuffing, overwhelmingly for GTA, while stating that the fraudulent votes were insufficient to change Warcraft's legitimate win.

Peach and Jill traded control through radically different voting periods before a frantic final push left Jill just short. The writeup calls it a classic and records both heavy rallying and attempted vote-stuffing around the finish.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup quotes CJayC describing heavy rallying on both sides and attempted vote-stuffing for both Jill and Peach. It says the blocked fraudulent votes did not alter the official result, while acknowledging lingering uncertainty over whether every improper vote was caught.

Snake survived Sephiroth after a dramatic late comeback attempt and another last-minute Metal Gear response. The result became the capstone of Snake's extraordinary run, while Sephiroth was remembered as the Battle Royale's major disappointment.

SFF · Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Cloud heavily SFFed Sephiroth, helping leave him vulnerable to Snake. It also describes intense late rallying and records cheating allegations around the finish, while noting that CJayC said no cheating was found.

Frog built a large early cushion, lost it to Axel's powerful daytime comeback, and then recovered in the final stretch. The writeup treats the late Board 8 rally as decisive in Frog reclaiming the advancing spot.

Rally: The writeup describes Board 8 and other supporters openly rallying for Frog during the final stretch, with the late surge overturning Axel's comeback and restoring Frog to second place.

Link overwhelmed the entire field, while joke entrant Bidoof rode outside support past Miles Edgeworth for second. The writeup treats Bidoof's success as an important early step toward the larger joke-character runs that followed.

Rally: The writeup explicitly credits a 4chan rally with giving Bidoof enough support to beat Miles Edgeworth for the second advancing position.

Ganondorf won first easily, while Vergil and Thrall fought a much closer battle for the second advancing spot. A WoW rally helped Thrall make a serious overnight push, but Vergil pulled away decisively once daytime voting arrived.

Rally: The writeup describes a World of Warcraft forum thread rallying votes for Thrall and says the push helped him nearly catch Vergil before the daytime vote ended the threat.

Alucard erased Liquid Snake's large daytime lead and briefly moved ahead at the very end, only for Liquid to snatch first on the final update. Because both characters advanced anyway, the writeup says the historic photo finish carried less consequence than a one-on-one result would have.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes a last-minute Metal Gear rally after Alucard completed his comeback and records complaints that cheating or vote-stuffing may have influenced the razor-thin finish.

Link and Vincent ultimately advanced comfortably, but Bidoof briefly turned the match into chaos by challenging Vincent early and even beating Link in the opening vote. The writeup remembers the surge as one of the contest's most surreal joke-character moments.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup attributes Bidoof's extraordinary early surge to suspected offsite rallying, especially from 4chan, and also records suspicions of vote stuffing.

L-Block led from the opening minutes and held off a long Snake comeback to take first. The writeup identifies this as the match where the joke entrant became a genuine Internet-backed force capable of defeating Noble Nine characters.

Rally: The writeup describes L-Block's growing Internet support as an active rally and says a late counter-push helped stop Snake's comeback.

L-Block's Internet momentum exploded as outside sites discovered the run, and Snake was left fighting Master Chief for the other final spot. The writeup treats this as the moment the joke had grown beyond Board 8 into a broad online bandwagon.

Rally: The writeup says outside attention from Kotaku, 4chan, Vote for the Worst and other sites expanded L-Block's support, including a visible surge after a Kotaku link.

L-Block completed its improbable run by beating Link in a final dominated by an enormous Internet bandwagon. The writeup remembers the result as the ultimate joke-character triumph and the defining match of the contest.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes the final as driven by massive rallying and broad Internet support for L-Block, which overwhelmed Link's attempted comeback.

Dante was never threatened, but the fight behind him became a three-way scramble in which Hogger surged past Ramza and Laharl. The result became an early signature moment for Ramza's reputation as a contest choker.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Hogger drew an Internet rally during the day, turning a deficit into a lead and ultimately denying Ramza the advancing spot.

Sonic won comfortably, but Sandbag's comeback against Magus supplied the real drama. The upset confirmed both Magus's long-running reputation for disappointing and the continuing power of joke entrants.

Rally: The writeup says Sandbag's comeback went beyond a normal daytime trend and identifies a rally as the reason the joke entrant surged past Magus.

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.

Snake controlled the match, while Mega Man and Weighted Companion Cube fought for the other advancing spot. The Cube's late surge completed another inanimate-object upset and ended Mega Man's run.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Weighted Companion Cube rallied during its fight with Mega Man, producing the decisive swing that carried the Cube into the next round.

The writeup treats Crono versus Vincent as the emotional centerpiece of the contest, built on years of Crono near-misses and frustration. Crono's late comeback finally reversed their previous result and completed the redemption story.

Rally: The writeup says Board 8 rallied intensely for Crono late in the match, turning the final fight with Vincent into a successful comeback for the advancing spot.

Link completed his revenge tour and reclaimed the championship, but Snake supplied the final surprise by finishing ahead of Cloud. The writeup treats Snake's run as the culmination of years of gradual growth and one of the contest's defining stories.

Rally: The writeup describes Solid Snake as the contest's biggest rallied bandwagon, saying his accumulated support carried him to a shocking second-place finish in the championship.

Super Mario World and Final Fantasy advanced without real drama, while Battletoads became notable mainly for a highly visible 4chan push. Prince of Persia produced one of the contest's weakest performances.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes a pre-planned 4chan rally for Battletoads. It says the push inflated Battletoads' total but never came close to threatening the advancing games.

Master Chief beat Spy but spent the entire match looking much weaker than expected and never produced his trademark afternoon surge. The writeup calls the showing an embarrassment despite the comfortable win.

Rally: The writeup says 4chan mounted a massive rally for Spy, helping drag Master Chief down throughout an already disappointing performance.

Roxas remained in control, but Heavy's 4chan support produced the only real movement in an otherwise straightforward match. The morning vote restored most of Roxas's lost ground.

Rally: The writeup says 4chan mounted a large rally for Heavy, pulling Roxas down substantially for part of the night without ever making the match competitive.

The writeup calls this the contest's defining match: Missingno built a bandwagon-backed lead, Crono mounted multiple comebacks, and the glitch character repeatedly fought them off. The upset ended the Noble Nine's unbeaten 1v1 streak against outsiders and became the centerpiece of the contest.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup repeatedly says Missingno was sustained by organized bandwagon rallying. It also records attempted cheating from both fanbases, while explicitly concluding that those attempts did not invalidate Missingno's win.

Charizard turned a heavily anticipated upset attempt into a convincing breakthrough over Kratos. The result launched a serious deep-run scenario for Charizard and confirmed that his first-round strength had been meaningful.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says both Charizard and Kratos were heavily rallied, though Charizard's support proved much more effective.

Yoshi resisted the Missingno bandwagon far better than expected and held the lead for hours, but Missingno eventually broke through during the Pokémon afternoon vote. The writeup insists the win reflected legitimate strength more than a joke rally.

Rally: The writeup says rallying aided Missingno's decisive sequence of afternoon gains against Yoshi, while also stressing that rallying was not the main reason Missingno won.

Missingno built the expected early lead through bandwagon support, but Sephiroth erased it decisively once the night vote arrived. The writeup treats the loss as the end of Missingno's remarkable run and as fuel for even more anti-Sephiroth sentiment.

Rally: The writeup says Missingno's rallying was organized in advance and powered a substantial early lead, though the push was nowhere near enough to survive Sephiroth's overnight strength.

A heavily debated matchup swung sharply after the afternoon vote and outside support arrived for Pokémon. The writeup celebrates the result as another humiliation for Grand Theft Auto and as a major bracket upset.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says 4chan rallied Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald during the close match, contributing to the swing against Grand Theft Auto IV.

A close Mario lead gradually disappeared once the fighting-game community began rallying for Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The writeup remembers the result as one of the contest's largest public rally successes and a major bracket killer.

Rally: The writeup says Shoryuken.com organized an effective rally for Marvel vs. Capcom 2, producing the decisive late swing against New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Shadow of the Colossus survived an all-day war of attrition against Metal Gear Solid 2 and won by the narrowest margin in the contest. The writeup treats the upset as the launch of the contest's Cinderella run and one of its best matches.

Pic · Rally: The writeup calls Shadow of the Colossus's image the biggest picture disadvantage of the contest and says it would have won more easily under fairer pictures. It also explicitly describes a late Shadow of the Colossus counter-rally after MGS2 retook the lead.

Final Fantasy X controlled much of the first half, Majora's Mask mounted a huge daytime comeback, and FFX nearly answered again late. The writeup calls it the best match of the contest and a throwback to the site's classic close-match era.

Rally: The writeup says Majora's Mask was rallied more heavily and that its fans pushed harder during the decisive stages of the close semifinal.

The strangest first-round pairing briefly became a 4chan target, but the rally faded once it was clear the upset was not happening. Sora and Riku recovered comfortably, closing a first round the writeup considered deeply disappointing.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says 4chan rallied the Wolfenstein side hard enough to drag Sora and Riku down temporarily. It also says the Wolfenstein team had a picture advantage because the Sora/Riku image looked poor.

Tharja built a large early lead, Tiny Tina slowly erased it, and the two reached a true late deadlock before outside support swung the match back to Tharja. The writeup considers it a rare first-round match that would have benefited from a longer poll.

Rally: The writeup says 4chan noticed Tiny Tina's comeback and rallied Tharja, pushing Tharja back ahead and preserving the win.

Jak and Chie controlled the match until League rallying arrived, after which Draven erased a huge deficit and surged into first. The writeup identifies this as the beginning of the rally-driven Draven run that would define the contest.

Rally: The writeup says League of Legends subreddit rallies transformed Draven from a distant last-place character into the winner within a few hours.

Elizabeth won and Poison took second in an otherwise settled match, while Thrall disappointed again. The only meaningful disturbance was a short-lived 4chan push for Poison.

Rally: The writeup says Poison received an early 4chan rally that produced one large cut before the push faded and stopped affecting the match.

Tidus erased a large early deficit, took the lead, and nearly completed one of the contest's biggest upsets before Missingno recovered in the final stretch. The cheating revelation immediately spoiled what had looked like a heroic Tidus near-win.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup reports a small Reddit rush for Missingno in the final hour. It also quotes SBAllen saying anti-bot measures caught vote stuffing at roughly a two-to-one ratio favoring Tidus.

Mega Man weathered Magikarp's pre-planned push and then dominated, while Geno was crushed into last. The result became the first major test of Mega Man against the contest's Pokémon rally threat.

Rally: The writeup says Magikarp entered the match with a pre-planned rally and briefly stayed even with Mega Man before the favorite pulled away.

Kratos won easily, but Recette unexpectedly beat Travis for second in the Expert Challenge ordering after outside support boosted the niche indie character. Travis's comeback attempt never fully recovered the early deficit.

Rally: The writeup says Recette received a small organized push from the game's developer, with possible additional support from 4chan.

Draven transformed from a low natural share into an overwhelming rally-powered winner over Mega Man X and Ryu. The performance convinced much of Board 8 that he had become a credible threat to win the entire contest.

Rally: The writeup says massive League of Legends rallying turned Draven into an overwhelming force and drove historically enormous vote totals.

Auron controlled stretches of the match, but 4chan's support repeatedly pulled L-Block back and eventually carried the former champion to another upset. The result revived speculation that L-Block could become an anti-Draven rally vehicle.

Rally: The writeup says 4chan rallied L-Block, repeatedly erasing Auron's small leads before eventually pushing the former champion clear.

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.

Draven built a huge rally-driven lead, Link mounted two enormous comeback pushes, and a lengthy site slowdown became the center of a bitter controversy before Draven survived. The writeup treats the match as one of the most consequential and divisive events in GameFAQs contest history.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes enormous organized rallies for both Draven and Link throughout the match. It also alleges obvious late vote stuffing from Link's side, while quoting SBAllen's analysis that found no evidence of massive systematic stuffing overall.

Mewtwo crushed Sonic in a result made even more shocking by Sonic's failure to mount his usual daytime comeback. The win turned Mewtwo into the preferred anti-Draven hope for the remainder of the contest.

Rally: The writeup says rally spillover from the Link-Draven battle materially boosted Mewtwo, with Zen arguing that Sonic probably wins without that outside support.

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.

Mewtwo looked ready to win while the League rally was offline, but Draven surged back the moment outside support returned. The match became one of the clearest demonstrations of how completely rally access controlled Draven's run.

Rally: The writeup says Draven's Reddit rally was briefly removed, allowing Mewtwo to build a large lead, then returned and erased that lead almost immediately.

Snake closed most of Draven's lead with celebrity-backed support before a much larger Reddit surge ended the comeback and delivered Draven the championship. The writeup treats the final as the culmination of the contest's rally controversy.

Rally: The writeup says rallies determined the championship: David Hayter helped Snake mount a comeback, then a large Reddit push for Draven overwhelmed him and decided the result.

Fallout 3 was cruising on the release day of Fallout 4 until Undertale rally spillover suddenly made Life is Strange much stronger. The winner remained safe, but the late bleed exposed how vulnerable Fallout could be to outside traffic.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's simultaneous outside rally spilled into this poll and directly shifted votes toward Life is Strange, sharply reducing Fallout 3's percentage without threatening the result.

Undertale transformed a routine loss into the largest comeback in contest history once outside support arrived late in the day. The win launched the rally-driven run that would eventually decide the entire tournament.

Rally: The writeup says a massive outside rally erased Mass Effect 3's enormous late lead and carried Undertale to a record-setting comeback.

Final Fantasy VIII beat Vice City as expected, while the simultaneous Undertale rally nudged the result further toward Square. The writeup treats Vice City's respectable loss as one of the few less embarrassing GTA performances.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover also affected this simultaneous poll, modestly boosting Final Fantasy VIII against Vice City.

Super Mario World began with an enormous rout, but Animal Crossing suddenly gained ground once Undertale's outside rally flooded the simultaneous polls. The result stayed a blowout, yet the spillover showed how dramatically shared traffic could distort percentages.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover strongly boosted Animal Crossing late in the match, producing unusual cuts against Super Mario World.

Phoenix Wright briefly led behind Board 8 support and Undertale spillover, but Skyrim recovered and eventually won comfortably. Even with the distorted opening, the writeup considered Skyrim's performance too weak for a serious title contender.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover favored Phoenix Wright from the opening minutes and helped create an early lead before Skyrim recovered.

Melee was already winning comfortably when its fanbase began a successful rally that inflated the final result. The writeup later treats this as an early trial run for the far larger Melee rallying still to come.

Rally: The writeup says Melee fans organized a noticeable rally despite already leading comfortably, boosting Melee substantially over its natural level against Pokémon GSC.

Pokémon RBY was already beating Mario 3 before outside traffic arrived, but Undertale spillover transformed the result into a rout. The writeup treats the natural matchup as a legitimate Pokémon win and the final margin as heavily distorted.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's outside rally spilled into this simultaneous poll and heavily boosted Pokémon RBY, turning an already likely Pokémon win into a much larger blowout.

Sonic 2 was already winning decisively before the simultaneous rally traffic arrived, then gained a few more points from spillover. The writeup treats the underlying result as a genuine old-games victory rather than a rally-created upset.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover modestly favored Sonic 2 over Uncharted 2, making an already comfortable Sonic win somewhat larger.

Fallout 3 looked safe for most of the match before Undertale's rally transformed the poll into a historic comeback and then a decisive win. The result launched the rally momentum that would dominate the rest of the contest.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's massive outside rally erased Fallout 3's huge lead in only a few hours and continued accelerating after taking first.

Super Mario World was already controlling Final Fantasy VIII before rally spillover made the margin substantially larger. The result fueled enormous anticipation for Mario World's coming encounter with Undertale.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's simultaneous rally traffic heavily favored Super Mario World, inflating an already comfortable win over Final Fantasy VIII.

Shadow of the Colossus won comfortably and revived memories of its earlier Metal Gear upset run. Red Dead Redemption's respectable showing was helped slightly by rally spillover, but the next-round Shadow-versus-Metal-Gear debate remained intact.

Rally: The writeup says Red Dead Redemption received a small boost from the simultaneous StarCraft and Mass Effect 2 rallies, slightly improving its showing without threatening Shadow of the Colossus.

Metal Gear Solid 3 built an early lead, then spent most of the match unable to extend it as BioShock's rally support surged. MGS3 survived, but the unusually close finish became another major warning about Metal Gear's strength.

Rally: The writeup says BioShock was boosted by both direct rallying and spillover from the StarCraft-Mass Effect rally war, allowing it to run even with Metal Gear Solid 3 for much of the day.

StarCraft seemed to have revived its old rally magic before Mass Effect 2 answered with an even stronger counter-push. The repeated swings made this one of the round's best matches and ended with Mass Effect 2 winning the rally war.

Rally: The writeup describes a sustained rally war: StarCraft first erased Mass Effect 2's lead, then Mass Effect 2 counter-rallied and eventually pulled away after its subreddit allowed rally threads.

Pokémon RBY was already routing Sonic 2 before Undertale rally spillover pushed the result even higher. The underlying blowout made Pokémon look like a true title contender even after separating out the outside traffic.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's simultaneous rally traffic spilled into the Pokémon poll and further boosted Pokémon RBY beyond an already dominant natural performance.

Super Mario World built the expected early advantage, but Undertale's rally started earlier than in prior rounds and eventually overwhelmed it. The match also produced a major cheating scare that the writeup says was unsupported.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's expanding social-media rallies steadily erased Super Mario World's lead and eventually carried Undertale comfortably ahead. Cheating accusations are explicitly rejected by the administrator.

Metroid Prime built a large early lead, then Skyrim used its stronger morning and daytime trends to erase it and win. The writeup treats Prime's familiar trend collapse as the decisive factor after an opening aided partly by rally spillover.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover helped Metroid Prime's unusually strong opening and boosted turnout, although Prime's normal early strength also contributed.

Twilight Princess looked unusually competitive at the start, but Mario 64 recovered and settled into a comfortable win. The writeup attributes much of Zelda's early strength to rally spillover and the lopsided match pictures.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says Twilight Princess benefited early from Undertale rally spillover and from a major picture imbalance: Mario 64 received a poor image while Twilight Princess received an especially strong Link image.

Chrono Trigger looked ready to crush Melee until Smash fans mobilized across Reddit, social media and community sites. The rally flipped the match and stopped each comeback, ending Chrono Trigger's apparent path toward the championship.

Rally: The writeup says a rapidly spreading Smash community rally erased Chrono Trigger's large early lead and repeatedly countered every later Chrono comeback attempt.

Final Fantasy VI's early board-vote resistance quickly disappeared as Final Fantasy VII took control. Spillover from the Melee rally widened an already likely FFVII win and erased hopes based on an earlier non-contest poll.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Melee rally favored Final Fantasy VII over Final Fantasy VI and amplified FFVII's existing lead, helping turn the match into a larger rout.

Pokémon RBY appeared to have finally stopped Undertale after building a massive lead while matching its early rallying. A sudden late social-media flood then overwhelmed Pokémon and turned the match into one of Undertale's defining comebacks.

Rally: The writeup describes a full rally war: Pokémon built a huge lead with its own outside support, then an enormous late Undertale Twitter surge erased the deficit and reversed the match.

Super Mario 64 beat Skyrim comfortably while the neighboring rally war boosted Mario's support. The match remained stable despite the outside traffic and ended Skyrim's respectable run.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Pokémon-Undertale rally traffic favored Super Mario 64 and inflated its showing against Skyrim, even though it did not change the winner.

Majora's Mask rode spillover and presentation advantages to a large early lead, but A Link to the Past slowly erased it and won with the morning vote. The match became a clear demonstration of how quickly rally spillover could fade.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says rally spillover from the previous Undertale-Pokémon match strongly favored Majora's Mask early. It also says Majora had a clear picture advantage over A Link to the Past.

Final Fantasy VII briefly led, but Melee's outside support quickly took control and turned the quarterfinal into a comfortable upset. The result reversed their old hierarchy and ended Final Fantasy's main title hopes.

Rally: The writeup says Melee's community rally engine took over after Final Fantasy VII's brief early lead and then drove the rest of the match decisively toward Melee.

Mario 64 repeatedly fought Undertale back into a close match, but every meaningful threat triggered another surge of outside Undertale support. Undertale eventually pulled clear and continued toward the semifinal.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's rally erased Mario 64's early lead within hours and repeatedly answered Mario whenever he briefly retook control. Simultaneous Melee rallying may also have helped Mario somewhat.

Melee and Undertale mobilized massive outside communities and produced one of the highest-profile matches in site history. Undertale finally won the rally war after repeated swings, while a caught botting attempt added another layer of controversy.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes an enormous two-sided rally war between Undertale and Melee. It also quotes the administrator saying an attempted automated vote-stuffing operation for Melee was caught and its fraudulent votes ignored.

Undertale's rally had reached full internet scale by the championship, and Ocarina never mounted a serious challenge. The writeup frames the blowout as the crowning of a new contest paradigm and the completion of Undertale's historic run.

Rally: The writeup says broad internet attention and Undertale's massive outside support overwhelmed Ocarina of Time from the opening moments, turning the final into a one-sided coronation.

Knuckles crushed a matchup many experts had favored Zidane to win and extended his remarkable history of first-round success. Rally spillover from the neighboring Monika poll is treated as an extra tailwind, not the sole reason for the upset.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Monika rally brought in outside voters who disproportionately favored Knuckles, with one analysis explicitly saying Square was hurt by the spillover.

Monika drew the outside support many bracketmakers feared, but Wario remained safely in control throughout. The writeup treats the failed upset as evidence that small fandom rallies were much less dangerous under the contest's anti-rally setup.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Monika received a real Reddit and community rally, visible in the higher turnout and several stalls or small cuts, but that the push was far too weak to threaten Wario.

Ocelot survived Dedede in a wire-to-wire thriller where neither side ever established a secure advantage. The writeup remembers the match as a record-level close contest and notes that even a small outside push mattered.

Rally: The writeup says a small Reddit rally helped Revolver Ocelot avoid an upset during an extremely close match with King Dedede.

KOS-MOS upset Ellie despite an outside appeal for The Last of Us fans to vote. The writeup treats the result as another case where GameFAQs' old-JRPG preferences overwhelmed the popularity of a major recent Western game.

Rally: The writeup quotes an Ellie supporter posting to The Last of Us community and explicitly asking people to visit GameFAQs and vote for her during the match.

Red built a large lead, watched Sora erase much of it, then survived with help from a late Pokémon subreddit push. The writeup treats the match as both a legitimate close contest and a direct example of a small rally deciding the outcome.

Rally: The writeup says Pokémon Trainer Red was rallied through posts to the Pokémon subreddit during Sora's comeback, and explicitly states that the outside traffic made the difference.

Mega Man X and Tifa traded leads throughout one of the contest's best matches before outside support became decisive late. Tifa's final rally push erased X's last advantage and carried her through the divisional thriller.

Rally: The writeup describes organized pushes for both Mega Man X and Tifa, including subreddit and outside-site rallies. It explicitly says Tifa's broader rally sources supplied the final push that decided the match.

Zelda beat Mario after leading essentially the entire match and pulled away late to deepen her extraordinary 2018 run. The writeup treats the win as a genuine strength result even though some outside rallying also occurred.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Zelda received porn-site rallies during the match, while also stating that she was strong enough to beat Mario without them.

Mario survived Samus by the narrowest margin after hours of lead changes and an extraordinary final stretch. The writeup treats it as the best match of the contest and a reopening of their supposedly settled rivalry.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes active late match vote pushes, including Samus rallies, porn-site rallies, workplace solicitation and the author's own last-minute requests for Mario votes. It also reports contemporaneous accusations that Mario supporters were vote stuffing, though no fraud is established.

Horizon Zero Dawn upset Borderlands 2 and never looked back after seizing control early. The Bloodborne rally in the neighboring match added a small extra boost to an already convincing Horizon win.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Bloodborne rally boosted Horizon Zero Dawn further after it had already taken control of Borderlands 2.

Resident Evil 2 beat DOOM in a debated matchup and confirmed that DOOM's first-round destruction of INSIDE had overstated its strength. Rally spillover helped DOOM somewhat but never threatened the result.

Rally: The writeup says DOOM was performing worse before the simultaneous Bloodborne rallies arrived and boosted it against Resident Evil 2.

Bloodborne beat Fire Emblem: Awakening and then pulled away sharply once its subreddit rally gained traction. The match established Bloodborne as both naturally strong and capable of meaningful outside mobilization.

Rally: The writeup says Bloodborne fans organized subreddit rally threads that materially increased its margin over Fire Emblem: Awakening, turning a closer natural win into a much larger one.

Marvel's Spider-Man beat Minecraft and validated the experts who had trusted its natural strength over casual recognition and rally fear. Simultaneous rally traffic helped Minecraft somewhat but did not change the outcome.

Rally: The writeup says rallying in the simultaneous Octopath Traveler versus Shovel Knight match shifted support toward Minecraft and reduced Spider-Man's percentage during this poll.

Octopath Traveler and Shovel Knight traded momentum for nearly the entire day before outside support became decisive late. After Octopath's pinned subreddit rally gained control, an official Shovel Knight developer push reversed the match and stole the finish.

Rally: The writeup describes sustained two-sided subreddit rallying and says Yacht Club Games' late official Twitter push decisively swung the finish toward Shovel Knight.

Persona 4 Golden led from the start but repeatedly needed outside support to repel Red Dead Redemption's pushes. The final score was close even though Red Dead never actually took the lead.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 4 Golden received repeated Reddit and Board 8 rally support, plus some rally spillover, and argues that the outside help likely made the difference in its narrow win.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 still won comfortably despite rally spillover helping Stardew Valley. The writeup treats both games as respectable while acknowledging that Galaxy 2's next Witcher matchup looked grim.

Rally: The writeup says rally traffic from the simultaneous match disproportionately boosted Stardew Valley and reduced Super Mario Galaxy 2's final margin.

Fallout: New Vegas beat Dark Souls III in a debated matchup where both sides attracted outside support. The stronger New Vegas rally helped preserve a result that still broadly matched pre-match expectations.

Rally: The writeup says both Dark Souls III and Fallout: New Vegas received organized rally support, with the New Vegas subreddit push ultimately proving much stronger.

NieR: Automata won comfortably while Divinity rallied hard enough to distort the final margin and later extrapolated standings. The push was visible but never made the match competitive.

Rally: The writeup says Divinity: Original Sin II mounted a significant Reddit rally after the opening and reduced the size of NieR: Automata's natural blowout, though it never threatened the winner.

Dragon Quest XI survived a spirited Monster Hunter rally and confirmed that its surprising contest strength was genuine. Monster Hunter still exited with more respect than expected.

Rally: The writeup says Monster Hunter: World mounted a meaningful rally that repeatedly cut into Dragon Quest XI's lead and reduced the final margin without seriously threatening the result.

Mass Effect 2 beat Horizon Zero Dawn despite rally spillover boosting Horizon. The underlying result kept Mass Effect favored for the division while also validating Horizon as stronger than expected.

Rally: The writeup says spillover from the simultaneous Bloodborne rally significantly favored Horizon Zero Dawn and lowered Mass Effect 2's final percentage.

Resident Evil 2 survived Bloodborne in the contest's defining close match after a major rally was curtailed midway through the poll. The writeup treats the moderation decision as the central reason Bloodborne failed to complete the upset.

Rally: The writeup says Bloodborne received a major subreddit rally that nearly swung the match, and that the moderators' decision to disallow rally threads midway through the poll was the decisive factor in Resident Evil 2 surviving.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver survived an initially close NieR: Automata challenge and pulled away once the early rally pressure faded. The result closed Round Three with Pokémon still looking surprisingly legitimate.

Rally: The writeup says NieR: Automata supporters had active rally efforts during the match, including the jokingly described hentai rallies, though those pushes never became large enough to overturn Pokémon.

Xenoblade Chronicles survived Persona 4 Golden in the last truly great close match of the contest. Persona's rallies repeatedly cut the lead, and without the registered-user weighting Persona would have narrowly won.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 4 Golden received repeated and increasingly intense rally support throughout the match, culminating in a late push that nearly overturned Xenoblade's lead.

Persona 5 crushed Portal 2 after the opening minutes and won the division comfortably. A continuing Persona rally thread added a small boost but was not necessary to the result.

Rally: The writeup says the Persona subreddit maintained a rally thread and later redirected it toward Persona 5, giving Persona a small current-match boost even though the effect was not large.

The Witcher 3 beat Persona 5 after an entertaining opening and confirmed that even a major Persona push was not enough to threaten it. The result sent Witcher into the semifinal looking almost untouchable.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 5 rallied heavily from the opening and received roughly hundreds of outside votes, though The Witcher 3 repeatedly absorbed the pushes and pulled away.

Breath of the Wild completed its dominant championship run, but Witcher 3's rally made the final substantially more respectable than the opening suggested. The writeup treats Witcher as the contest's breakout star even in defeat.

Rally: The writeup says Witcher 3 fans rallied heavily throughout the final and materially cut Breath of the Wild's natural margin, even though the rally never put the winner in danger.