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The first four-way contest match immediately showed how different the new format could be. Yoshi took first comfortably, while Knuckles survived Rikku after major voting swings and Vaan's shared fanbase hurt Rikku in the fight for second.

LFF: The writeup explicitly identifies Vaan as the contest's first clear LFF case, saying his shared Square support drained enough from Rikku to cost her an advancing spot.

Mega Man took the expected first place, but the real story was KOS-MOS advancing while Diablo and Arthas split overlapping support. The writeup treats the result as the match that taught Board 8 how LFF worked in four-way polls.

LFF: The writeup says Diablo and Arthas weakened each other by sharing the same Blizzard fanbase, allowing KOS-MOS to advance despite neither Blizzard entrant being individually helpless.

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.

Scorpion dominated a match many expected Midna to control, while Midna advanced only because the rest of the field was weak. The writeup treats the result as both a major Midna disappointment and evidence that Scorpion had been underestimated.

Kefka led comfortably through the early hours before collapsing completely to Marcus Fenix during the day. The writeup remembers the match as another classic Kefka choke, with the picture matchup adding to the explanation for the reversal.

Pic: The writeup repeatedly points to Kefka's infamous Lettuce Kefka image and Marcus Fenix's strong recognizable picture as factors that helped make Kefka's collapse look even worse.

Cloud dominated the field as expected, while Ocelot took second over Jill without ever facing serious danger. The writeup finds the result ordinary at the time but notable in retrospect because Jill would reverse the comparison a year later.

Auron took an easy first and Shadow an equally safe second, making the main result largely predetermined. The writeup instead focuses on Shadow looking much weaker than expected and Pyramid Head unexpectedly beating Chris Redfield for third.

Ryu took first in a result that surprised many bracket players but made sense once Bowser's two fellow Nintendo entrants were considered. Bowser still advanced, but the writeup treats his weak showing as a serious warning for later rounds.

LFF: The writeup says Bowser was weakened by sharing Nintendo support with both Mewtwo and Toad, allowing outside entrant Ryu to take first place comfortably.

Sephiroth won as expected, but Meta Knight unexpectedly took a clear second over Peach and CATS. The writeup attributes much of the surprise to Meta Knight's pre-release Brawl visibility and treats Peach as poorly suited to the four-way format.

Fox dominated an all-Nintendo field far more thoroughly than expected, while Wario eventually secured the second advancing position over Captain Falcon. The writeup treats Fox's performance as one of the contest's strongest examples of SFF.

SFF: The writeup explicitly characterizes Fox's dominant performance as Nintendo SFF and says Fox suppressed Captain Falcon more heavily than Wario.

Mario dominated as expected, but his suppression of Pac-Man made Big Boss's second-place finish much easier than many anticipated. The writeup treats Pac-Man's shared old-school appeal with Mario as the key reason the debated advancing spot became one-sided.

SFF: The writeup says Mario was an especially disastrous matchup for Pac-Man because of their overlapping old-school appeal and describes Pac-Man as being SFFed to death.

Magus took first but looked weak enough to damage any hopes of a deep run, while Phoenix Wright turned the fight for second into the real match. Bomberman mounted a long afternoon comeback, only for the heavily favored Board 8 character to hold on at the end.

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.

Vincent quickly turned the anticipated contest with Zelda into a comfortable first-place finish, while Zelda safely advanced with him. The writeup notes that the genuinely close Tails-The Boss fight for third mattered little because neither advancing spot was threatened.

Crono took first without drama, while Raiden built a large enough cushion to survive Sam Fisher's strong daytime comeback for second. The writeup treats the finish as close on paper but never truly in danger, while Raiden's poor showing damaged his future expectations.

Zero took the expected first place while HK-47 beat the favored Lloyd for second in a weak and widely disliked fourpack. The writeup calls it the Jakpack of Suck and argues that Lloyd's inability to win here became emblematic of Tales characters' contest failures.

Luigi took first easily, but Mudkip's stable support made the second advancing spot far less competitive than expected. The writeup explicitly argues that Mudkip's performance looked like genuine strength rather than a temporary rally and foreshadowed later joke-character fears.

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.

Master Chief overwhelmed Yuna in a matchup many expected to be competitive, immediately changing expectations for the entire division. The writeup connects the result strongly to the enormous Halo 3 hype surrounding Chief that year.

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.

Dante took the expected first place, while Amaterasu quickly settled the debated fight for second by pulling away from Little Mac. The writeup treats the result as the first strong indication that Amaterasu was much more legitimate than many voters had assumed.

Ada took first with ease while heavily hyped newcomer Balthier badly disappointed in a weak field. The writeup treats the result as proof that Final Fantasy XII's popularity had not translated into the character strength many expected.

Pikachu beat Tidus far more easily than years of Pokémon contest weakness had led people to expect. The writeup debates several possible explanations for Tidus's underperformance but ultimately treats the match as another major step in Pokémon's rise to legitimate contest strength.

Leon and Vivi took the two advancing spots in almost exactly the straightforward order expected. The writeup repeatedly calls the match boring and finds little meaning beyond setting up Vivi's coming encounter with Pikachu and Tidus.

Kirby took first as expected, but L-Block immediately demolished expectations by beating Laharl for the other advancing spot and even briefly leading Kirby. The writeup remembers those opening minutes as the first astonishing sign of what L-Block would become later in the contest.

Kratos took first in a result that surprised many casual brackets but looked straightforward to the writeup. Donkey Kong still advanced, though sharing Nintendo support with Marth made an already difficult matchup much worse for him.

LFF: The writeup says Donkey Kong and Marth drained each other's Nintendo support, making outsider Kratos's first-place finish effectively inevitable.

Snake took first comfortably and Nightmare secured second without much difficulty, while the hoped-for strength of Vyse's cult fanbase failed to materialize. The writeup treats Vyse as another aging RPG character whose contest relevance had faded badly.

Much of the writeup is an extended aside explaining who Haseo is; its match discussion emphasizes Ryu Hayabusa unexpectedly overpowering the split Kingdom Hearts field and making his later rematch with Riku look settled.

Squall settled a long-running strength debate with Aeris, while Akuma's debut was respectable despite a field crowded with Square characters. The writeup treats Akuma's showing as evidence that better bracket placement could have produced wins.

Sora controlled the match while Wesker briefly made the fight with Lara genuinely competitive. Lara eventually pulled away, but the writeup regards Wesker's showing as surprisingly strong despite a potentially damaging picture.

Pic: The writeup says Wesker's ugly match picture may have hurt him in his close fight with Lara for the second advancing spot.

A supposedly weak fourpack produced one of the round's funniest matches, with Duke unexpectedly taking control while Gordon Freeman disappointed again. Ike also impressed with a strong daytime push even though he never completed the comeback.

Sonic and Sub-Zero advanced comfortably, but Sonic's performance was far weaker than expected for a Noble Nine character. The writeup treats it as another warning that the Sonic cast was declining badly.

Mega Man and Yoshi advanced with little suspense after Knuckles's weak opening-round showing had already killed most of the debate. Knuckles again disappointed and never seriously threatened Yoshi.

Samus dominated while Scorpion comfortably secured the other advancing spot. Midna's earlier weakness and the Nintendo vote drain from Samus left her with little realistic path forward.

LFF: The writeup says Samus drained Nintendo support from Midna, worsening Midna's position against the outside contenders.

Cloud dominated as expected, while the real contest was a three-way fight for the other advancing position. Marcus Fenix used his strong daytime trend to erase Ocelot's advantage and complete the comeback.

Auron looked excellent, but the lasting story was Ryu beating Bowser again even after the Nintendo overlap from their earlier meeting was gone. The writeup finds the result difficult to explain beyond the volatility of the four-way format.

Sephiroth and Fox advanced exactly as expected in a match the writeup considers almost completely predetermined. Sephiroth nevertheless looked especially strong against a field otherwise composed entirely of Nintendo characters.

Mario cruised while Big Boss demolished Magus for the other advancing spot. The writeup treats the newly revealed Naked Snake picture as the defining factor that transformed expectations before the poll even began.

Pic: The writeup calls Big Boss's Naked Snake image one of the clearest picture-factor examples, saying the strong recognizable picture helped turn the matchup against Magus decisively in Big Boss's favor.

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.

Crono and Zero advanced as expected, but Zero stayed close enough to make Crono look vulnerable before his anticipated showdown with Vincent. Raiden also emerged as a major disappointment after failing to separate convincingly from HK-47.

Mudkip turned the opening hours into a genuine scare by leading the Nintendo favorites, but Ganondorf recovered overnight and Luigi's morning vote erased Mudkip's remaining advantage. The writeup treats the match as proof that joke characters could no longer be dismissed.

Master Chief followed his strong opening round with an even more convincing performance against improved competition. The writeup treats him as the clear star of the contest to that point and a heavy favorite to take the division.

Dante ran away with first, while Amaterasu, Ada and Balthier spent much of the match in a tight fight for the other advancing spot. Amaterasu eventually emerged from what the writeup remembers as a genuine upset and one of the round's better races.

Leon won comfortably while Pikachu capitalized on the divided Square field to advance again. The writeup presents Tidus and Vivi as holding each other back and turning Pikachu's favorable draw into another survival.

LFF: The writeup says Vivi and Tidus split Square support badly enough that neither could catch Pikachu, allowing the outside Pokémon entrant to take the second advancing spot.

Kratos took first, but the important result was L-Block advancing again while Kirby was weakened by Donkey Kong. The writeup marks this as the point when L-Block stopped looking like a harmless joke and became a serious contest threat.

LFF: The writeup explicitly says Donkey Kong drained Nintendo support from Kirby, costing Kirby the advancing spot and allowing L-Block to move on.

Snake advanced easily, while Riku reversed his opening-round loss to Ryu Hayabusa and took the other spot. The writeup treats the reversal as another example of how unreliable direct comparisons could become in the four-way format.

Squall took control immediately, while Sora decisively reversed his old loss to Aeris. Aeris nearly fell behind Lara as well, making the writeup treat the result as a sharp confirmation of her decline.

LFF: The writeup argues that Squall's presence hurt fellow Square entrant Aeris far more than Sora, helping Sora reverse their old matchup and advance comfortably.

Sonic crushed Sub-Zero much more convincingly than in their opening-round meeting after his Smash announcement changed the atmosphere around him. The writeup still finds the surrounding results too inconsistent to decide whether Sonic had truly returned to elite form.

Samus and Mega Man produced a dramatic early duel before Samus eventually established control, while Yoshi and Scorpion fell away. The result strengthened the case that Samus had moved clearly ahead of Mega Man despite the unfavorable Nintendo overlap.

LFF: The writeup says Yoshi's Nintendo support hurt Samus more than Mega Man, making their early first-place battle much tighter than it otherwise would have been.

Cloud overwhelmed the field and further fueled speculation that he could challenge Link. Ryu advanced ahead of Auron, with the writeup treating Cloud's effect on Auron as central to the result.

LFF: The writeup says Cloud's shared Final Fantasy support held Auron down, allowing outside entrant Ryu to benefit and claim the other advancing position.

Sephiroth beat Mario comfortably in a result that had become predictable by match day. The more notable secondary story was Fox collapsing in Mario's presence after looking strong against Nintendo opposition earlier.

SFF: The writeup says Mario heavily suppressed fellow Nintendo entrant Fox, leaving Fox far weaker than his prior-round performance suggested.

The anticipated Crono-Vincent showdown delivered a close race for the second advancing position, and Vincent ultimately broke through. The writeup treats the result as the first true breach of the Noble Nine and a major contest milestone.

Master Chief took first, while Luigi defeated Ganondorf in the fight for the other advancing spot. The writeup repeatedly points to Ganondorf's unfavorable first-appearance sprite as the decisive handicap.

Pic: The writeup says Ganondorf's ugly pig sprite hurt him badly against Luigi and likely reversed a matchup Ganondorf had previously won.

Pikachu produced one of the contest's biggest shocks by taking first over a field of Capcom characters. The writeup treats the result as a major turning point in Pokémon's growing contest reputation.

LFF: The writeup says the three Capcom entrants divided overlapping support, creating the opening that allowed outside entrant Pikachu to beat them all.

Snake eventually won, but L-Block dominated the opening and advanced with ease over Kratos and Riku. The writeup marks this as the first match where the joke entrant looked capable of threatening the contest's established elite directly.

Sonic held off Squall for first, but Squall remained unexpectedly competitive despite sharing support with Sora. The writeup treats Sonic's narrow-looking advantage as another sign that four-way matches exposed his weaknesses.

LFF: The writeup says Sora drained enough Square support from Squall that Squall probably would have beaten Sonic without Sora in the poll.

Cloud and Samus advanced through a quarterfinal that played out almost exactly as expected. The lasting story was Mega Man's poor showing, which ended any serious argument that he still belonged alongside Samus.

Link and Sephiroth advanced as expected, but Mario held up better against Link than many anticipated. The writeup treats Link's diminished dominance as the first meaningful encouragement for people hoping Cloud could beat him later.

LFF: The writeup says Mario clearly weakened fellow Nintendo entrant Link, narrowing Link's advantage over Sephiroth and briefly making Link look vulnerable.

Master Chief took first while Dante survived for the other advancing spot. Luigi led early but could not overcome the continued presence of Pikachu, whose run ended while also dragging a major Nintendo character out with it.

LFF: The writeup says Pikachu continued to siphon Nintendo support from Luigi, helping Dante take the second advancing position and eliminating Luigi.

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.

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.

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.