GameFAQsContests.com

Dragon Quest XI crushed the Board 8-backed Trails in the Sky SC and finally gave Dragon Quest a genuinely strong contest performance. The writeup views the blowout as partly amplified by extreme fanbase overlap.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says the matchup reeks of SFF, arguing that Dragon Quest XI and Trails in the Sky SC appeal to an unusually overlapping JRPG audience.

Super Mario Odyssey produced an enormous rout that immediately made people reconsider whether Smash Ultimate was the obvious divisional favorite. Mortal Kombat's collapse was so severe that the writeup treats it as one of the strangest results of the round.

SFF: The writeup says Mortal Kombat 11 was buried under layers of SFF against Super Mario Odyssey, making its already poor showing even harder to interpret naturally.

Xenoblade Chronicles crushed Splatoon 2 and instantly became a serious divisional contender. Even allowing for heavy Nintendo overlap, the writeup treats the performance as one of the round's biggest statements.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Xenoblade Chronicles versus Splatoon 2 an SFF beatdown and says Splatoon was especially vulnerable to being suppressed by a stronger Nintendo favorite.

The Witcher 3 obliterated Assassin's Creed Odyssey and immediately looked transformed from its 2015 form. The writeup treats the result as a championship-level statement even if some of the margin came from overlap.

SFF: Ctes explicitly says The Witcher 3 held the SFF hammer over Assassin's Creed Odyssey because of their overlapping open-world appeal and that the effect hit hard.

NieR: Automata crushed Bayonetta 2 and looked excellent entering the next round. The writeup later treats heavy overlap between the two action-game fanbases as the best explanation for how lopsided the result became.

SFF: Ctes says the most likely explanation is that NieR: Automata SFFed Bayonetta 2 because of their overlapping Platinum-style action audience, and explicitly says he believes the SFF explanation most.

Smash Ultimate crushed A Link Between Worlds in a badly drawn same-audience matchup. The writeup treats the loss as unusually harsh for a Zelda game but heavily distorted by Nintendo overlap.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Smash Ultimate versus A Link Between Worlds a standard SFF match and says the Zelda game was likely suppressed heavily by the stronger Nintendo title.

The Witcher 3 obliterated Mass Effect 3 and looked increasingly untouchable in the lower half of the bracket. The writeup treats the scale of the rout as partly fanbase suppression and partly genuine elite strength.

SFF: The writeup says The Witcher 3 suppressed Mass Effect 3 through what became known as Western SFF, with their overlapping Western RPG audience making the blowout even larger.

God of War demolished Nioh and continued to look strong enough for a deep run. The writeup sees some fanbase overlap in the rout but still considers God of War's underlying performance impressive.

SFF: The writeup says Nioh was probably suppressed to some extent by God of War because both games appealed to overlapping PlayStation action audiences.

Sonic Mania unexpectedly routed Super Meat Boy in what had been treated as a close matchup. The writeup attributes part of the blowout to overlapping platformer support.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Sonic Mania versus Super Meat Boy an SFF match, arguing that the two platformers share enough audience for Sonic to suppress the indie game.

Xenoblade Chronicles crushed Fire Emblem: Three Houses and completed the collapse of the pre-contest division favorite. The writeup sees some same-audience suppression but puts more emphasis on anti-voting and Xenoblade's genuine rise.

SFF: The writeup says Three Houses was probably SFFed to some extent by Xenoblade Chronicles, although anti-Fire-Emblem voting and general overestimation are treated as larger factors.

Smash Ultimate beat Super Mario Odyssey despite Odyssey looking stronger in every prior round. The writeup treats the result as a hierarchy-driven same-fanbase matchup, with reverse SFF offered as the main explanation for the reversal.

SFF: Ulti explicitly argues that Smash Ultimate reverse-SFFed Super Mario Odyssey, while the broader writeup also treats Nintendo hierarchy and same-fanbase effects as central to why Smash won more comfortably than expected.

The Witcher 3 crushed God of War far more severely than expected and looked completely secure on its path to the final. The writeup attributes part of the rout to overlapping Western audiences while still crediting Witcher's genuine strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says some form of SFF occurred between The Witcher 3 and God of War because of their overlapping Western open-world audience, while warning that the effect was probably overestimated.

Breath of the Wild demolished Smash Ultimate in a semifinal and continued its run of overwhelming late-round victories. Even accounting for heavy Nintendo SFF, the writeup treats the performance as extraordinary.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Breath of the Wild versus Smash Ultimate a bad case of SFF, with Zelda's place atop the Nintendo hierarchy suppressing Smash.