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Ganondorf comfortably eliminated the contest's top overall seed Dante in a match that barely moved. The writeup treats the loss as proof Dante was badly overseeded rather than evidence of a close divisional race.

Vivi beat Donkey Kong for the third time in nearly identical fashion, continuing one of the contest's strangest recurring rivalries. The writeup concludes that Donkey Kong's apparent revival had been overstated.

Zero comfortably ended Wario's run through a weak part of the bracket and looked exactly like the reliable upper-midcard favorite expected of him. Wario's respectable share still surprised the writeup.

Pikachu beat Yoshi in their long-awaited first direct matchup and looked like the only Pokémon character consistently meeting high expectations. The Detective Pikachu trailer arriving the same day is noted as favorable timing.

Red beat Big Boss but struggled enough to make both Pokémon and Metal Gear strength difficult to interpret. The writeup uses the close result as evidence that Red's multiway reputation had overstated his 1v1 power.

Alucard crushed pre-contest favorite Kefka and turned what had looked like a wide-open division into his breakout run. The writeup attributes Alucard's rise to a mix of Castlevania revival, Netflix exposure and Smash visibility.

2B performed respectably in defeat against Bowser and convinced the writeup she belonged in the midcard. At the same time, the loss confirmed that her top seed was far too generous.

Kirby demolished Phoenix and erased the significance of Phoenix's narrow rules-assisted win over Ike. The blowout made Kirby the popular favorite over Bowser despite older evidence favoring Bowser.

Zelda destroyed Squall in the match that fully established her as the star of the main bracket. The writeup treats the scale of the win as evidence of a genuine Breath of the Wild and Smash-era boost, not a rally.

Aerith beat Fox in a nearly static match and extended the deepest run ever by a 15-seed. The writeup emphasizes the historic seeding achievement more than the competitiveness of the poll.

Bayonetta led for much of the match, but Geralt again used the overnight and morning vote to complete a comeback. The writeup treats the win as another entertaining step in an unusually strong newcomer run.

Auron beat Sub-Zero in another remarkably similar rematch between two characters who had repeatedly met before. The writeup finds the consistency more interesting than the outcome itself.

Luigi demolished Tails in the biggest blowout of the round and ended Tails's surprise run. The writeup treats the result as another example of the Mario side dominating Sonic-family characters under overlapping fanbases.

SFF: Tsunami explicitly calls Luigi versus Tails an SFF matchup and argues that Mario-family strength suppresses the Sonic-side character in this cross-franchise Nintendo-adjacent rivalry.

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.

Sephiroth beat Amaterasu in the familiar pattern of losing early support and steadily climbing, but the writeup considers the final showing weaker than his old form. The result is treated as a subtle warning before stronger opposition.

Ryu comfortably ended KOS-MOS's unlikely run through one of the weakest sections of the bracket. The writeup treats the result as a return to normal after KOS-MOS reached Round Three for the first time.