GameFAQsContests.com

Mario demolished Samus in the contest's most heavily debated quarterfinal and invalidated the old statistical case for a Samus win. The writeup later apologizes for its original hostility, but still treats the result as a decisive SFF showcase of Mario's 2005 strength.

SFF: The writeup repeatedly describes Mario's victory as an enormous SFF beating that overwhelmed Samus despite pre-match statistical expectations favoring her.

Crono won without serious danger, but Vincent performed far better than comparable projections suggested and then held an unusually stable share for most of the match. The writeup treats the overperformance as a puzzle involving either reverse SFF or an Advent Children boost.

SFF: The writeup presents reverse SFF between newer and older Square fandom as one plausible reason Vincent performed unusually well against Crono, while also considering Advent Children as an alternative explanation.

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.

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 dominated, while A Link to the Past survived a late Mario 64 comeback by a narrow margin. The writeup also sees the result as another sign that newer voters were gradually reshaping the site's preferences.

SFF: The writeup says Final Fantasy VII SFFed Final Fantasy VI heavily, reducing FF6 to a minor factor while the real race developed between Link to the Past and Mario 64.

Ocarina of Time dominated the Nintendo-heavy field, while Final Fantasy X used the favorable bracket setup to advance. Melee fell to last and Pokémon could not overcome Ocarina's presence.

SFF: The writeup says Ocarina of Time heavily SFFed both Melee and Pokémon RBY, with Pokémon resisting the Nintendo suppression better than Melee.

Metal Gear Solid 4 built a large overnight lead, then barely survived a massive Brawl afternoon comeback. The two advanced together from an unusually balanced field, while Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 were eliminated.

SFF: The writeup says Brawl SFFed Twilight Princess enough to knock Zelda out of the advancing positions.

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.

Twilight Princess briefly led before Brawl took over and won comfortably. The result made Brawl look increasingly difficult to stop and strengthened the belief that it was the contest favorite.

SFF: The writeup says Brawl versus Twilight Princess can be considered SFF because of their shared Nintendo/Wii audience, with Brawl suppressing Zelda's support.

1998 produced another enormous late-round blowout and made 2003 look completely outclassed. The writeup treats the result as the year-contest equivalent of a dominant same-fanbase Zelda matchup.

SFF: The writeup explicitly likens 1998's rout of 2003 to a Zelda SFF beating, with Ocarina of Time effectively suppressing a Wind Waker-centered year.

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.