GameFAQsContests.com

Link opened the 2003 contest with another enormous blowout and immediately reaffirmed his status as the entrant to beat. The writeup notes that some same-company overlap may have contributed, but not enough to diminish the statement.

SFF: The writeup says Link's overwhelming result may have included a small amount of SFF because AiAi was another Nintendo character, while stressing that the magnitude of the win was impressive regardless.

Link opened the second round by overwhelming Fox and reinforcing his status as the contest favorite. The writeup acknowledges heavy Nintendo SFF but says the performance still looked dominant enough to keep repeat-title expectations intact.

SFF: The writeup explicitly treats Link's rout of fellow Nintendo entrant Fox as an SFF result, while arguing that the size of the win remained impressive despite the overlap.

Link beat Samus in a long-awaited matchup that stayed competitive only briefly before Nintendo SFF took over. The writeup considers the result another sign of Link's dominance while arguing that Samus looked weaker than she really was.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says SFF took hold after Samus kept the opening close and later argues that Link SFFed her heavily enough to distort her apparent contest strength.

Link annihilated Ganondorf so thoroughly that the writeup treats the result as both a historic SFF extreme and a championship statement. Ganondorf's standalone strength effectively vanished against the flagship character of his own series.

SFF: The writeup calls Link's destruction of fellow Zelda character Ganondorf the largest SFF beating yet seen, arguing that Ganondorf's normal strength was almost completely suppressed by Link.

Link destroyed Yoshi in a predictable same-company matchup, but the degree of suppression surprised even people expecting SFF. The writeup treats the result as another intimidating sign of Link's championship strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Link versus Yoshi a straight SFF match and says the fanbase effect was even harsher than most expected, heavily suppressing Yoshi.

Link demolished Mega Man and effectively ended any remaining uncertainty about the contest favorite. The writeup attributes part of the rout to SFF but argues that Link's broader rise in strength was the more important story.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says there was a definite degree of SFF in Link's overwhelming win over Mega Man, though it argues Link's own rise mattered even more.

The first Battle Royale largely followed expectations at the top, while Samus became the first elimination after being squeezed by the other Nintendo heavyweights. Snake finishing ahead of Mario was the main unexpected development and set up the next day's drama.

SFF: The writeup says Link and Mario SFFed Samus heavily enough to drive her into last place and eliminate her.

Mario became the second elimination as Link absorbed the Nintendo support that had been shared with Samus the day before. Snake again outperformed expectations, while Sephiroth's repeated struggles to escape last place foreshadowed the next round.

SFF: The writeup says Link SFFed Mario to death, pushing Mario into last place despite his status as a traditional heavyweight.

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.

Link and Cloud advanced through a semifinal whose top order was never seriously in doubt. Samus nevertheless outperformed Sephiroth, providing the only notable wrinkle in an otherwise predictable heavyweight match.

SFF: The writeup says Link heavily suppressed Samus through their overlapping Nintendo support, even though Samus still performed surprisingly well relative to Sephiroth.

Link dominated, but the match is remembered as the real beginning of ZackFAQs. Zack's convincing advancement transformed him from a promising newcomer into one of the contest's central bandwagon stories.

SFF: The writeup says Link SFFed Wario into irrelevance, leaving the meaningful race to Zack and Zidane.

Link remained untouchable, while Zack made a dramatic but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to steal the other advancing spot from Mario. The loss ended one of the contest's most popular bandwagon runs.

SFF: The writeup says Link SFFed both Mario and Mega Man X, with Mega Man X falling to a distant position after initially challenging Mario.

Link crushed Sonic far more severely than a normal Noble Nine matchup suggested, restoring his aura of invincibility. The writeup views fanbase suppression as an important part of why the gap became so extreme.

SFF: The writeup endorses SFF as a plausible explanation for Link's unusually severe beating of Sonic, noting that Link looked invincible mainly against overlapping characters such as Luigi and Sonic.

The rematch of the original character-contest final produced much the same hierarchy, with Link suppressing Mario and winning comfortably. The writeup notes that even widespread anti-Link sentiment did little to change the matchup.

SFF: The writeup invokes Link's 'King of SFF' reputation to explain why Mario again performed much worse against Link than people hoped.

Link won the three-way opener as expected, while Isaac took second in the Expert Challenge ordering after Tingle faded under Link overlap. The writeup also treats Link's less-than-total domination as another sign he had declined from his peak.

SFF: The writeup says Tingle initially competed well for second before Link's SFF kicked in and pushed him behind Isaac.

Link won comfortably while Raiden secured second after Yoshi faded under heavy Nintendo overlap. The writeup also treats Link's low turnout as another sign that voters were tiring of his dominance.

SFF: The writeup says Yoshi tried to resist Link's SFF but could not stay competitive, allowing Raiden to take second in the Expert Challenge ordering.

Link opened the Legends Bracket by crushing Ganondorf, though the margin was less extreme than their famous older matchup. The writeup treats the result as heavily distorted by Zelda-series overlap rather than a clean measure of Ganondorf's strength.

SFF: The writeup treats Link's domination of Ganondorf as a clear SFF result, noting that Ganondorf is much stronger than the raw margin suggests and that Zelda resists Link's SFF better.

Link overwhelmed Pikachu and continued his untouchable 2018 run. Pikachu's result is still framed positively because he had already broken the Noble Nine and appeared to resist most of Link's usual same-fanbase suppression.

SFF: The writeup says Pikachu likely suffered a small amount of Nintendo SFF under Link, while emphasizing that Pokémon resisted the effect unusually well.

Link erased Zelda's brief opening lead and won the Legends Bracket comfortably. The writeup treats Zelda's relatively strong same-series showing as one more sign that her 2018 boost was real.

SFF: The writeup frames Link as the site's strongest SFF character and treats Zelda's ability to retain substantial support in a direct same-series match as unusually impressive resistance.