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Mario survived Samus by the narrowest margin after hours of lead changes and an extraordinary final stretch. The writeup treats it as the best match of the contest and a reopening of their supposedly settled rivalry.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes active late match vote pushes, including Samus rallies, porn-site rallies, workplace solicitation and the author's own last-minute requests for Mario votes. It also reports contemporaneous accusations that Mario supporters were vote stuffing, though no fraud is established.

Samus crushed Solid Snake and reinforced the writeup's long-held view that Snake loses much of his support against Nintendo characters. Historical rallying from their 2013 meeting is discussed, but not treated as part of this match.

Samus crushed Tifa again in a nearly identical rematch of their earlier Legends Bracket meeting. The writeup sees the repeat as unnecessary but definitive proof that Tifa was not on Samus's level.

Mario beat Samus in their long-awaited 1v1 rematch, but the match stayed close enough to validate years of arguments that Samus could compete with him. The writeup treats the result as an unusually satisfying resolution to their old rivalry.

Samus demolished Tifa and erased memories of their much closer 2006 meeting. The writeup treats the rout as proof that Tifa's excellent main-bracket run still had a clear ceiling against truly elite opposition.

Snake closed most of Draven's lead with celebrity-backed support before a much larger Reddit surge ended the comeback and delivered Draven the championship. The writeup treats the final as the culmination of the contest's rally controversy.

Rally: The writeup says rallies determined the championship: David Hayter helped Snake mount a comeback, then a large Reddit push for Draven overwhelmed him and decided the result.

Mega Man briefly led and genuinely threatened Samus, but Samus eventually took control and won the semifinal. Red remained competitive enough to finish a strong contest run despite the Nintendo-heavy field.

SFF: The writeup explicitly attributes the result to Mega Man's heavy Nintendo-adjacent overlap in a match with Samus and Red.

Samus controlled the simplest divisional final, with Tifa quickly taking second in the Expert Challenge ordering and L-Block never recreating its old magic. The writeup treats the match as a rare breather in an otherwise chaotic stretch.

Samus overwhelmed Knuckles and Catherine and remained one of the few Noble Nine characters consistently meeting expectations. Catherine's respectable share is treated as proof that her first-round upset was not pure luck.

Samus dominated as expected, but Sandbag still beat Isaac Clarke for second in the Expert Challenge ordering despite Nintendo overlap. The writeup treats that as another sign of Sandbag's unusually durable joke support.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Sandbag was SFFed by Samus, making Sandbag's second-place Expert Challenge finish more impressive.

Samus repeatedly fought Cloud back to even during the opening hours and came closer to the upset than their older history suggested possible. Cloud finally took control during his strongest overnight period, but the writeup regards Samus's resistance as a major statement.

Samus beat Zelda far more decisively than their previous meeting suggested was normal. The writeup sees a mix of Zelda decline and newly visible Nintendo suppression from Samus, further strengthening Samus's case against Cloud.

SFF: The writeup says Samus appears to have SFFed Zelda, contributing to a much stronger result than their earlier 1v1 history suggested.

Samus crushed Sub-Zero and briefly looked strong enough to challenge even Cloud's level. Although she cooled from that early pace, the writeup still considers the result one of her strongest performances.

Samus overwhelmed Jill early and still finished with a strong enough performance to make a potential upset of Cloud feel plausible. The writeup treats this as the start of an especially impressive Samus run.

Samus overwhelmed Prince of Persia from the opening vote and never gave the match any suspense. The writeup treats the dominant start as the beginning of an especially strong run for Samus.

Link took the expected first position, while Crono finally reached a true contest final by reversing his old rivalry with Mario. The writeup frames it as the payoff to Crono's long redemption arc.

LFF: The writeup says Link and Samus drained Nintendo support from Mario, allowing outside entrant Crono to beat Mario comfortably for the other final berth.

The writeup treats Crono versus Vincent as the emotional centerpiece of the contest, built on years of Crono near-misses and frustration. Crono's late comeback finally reversed their previous result and completed the redemption story.

Rally: The writeup says Board 8 rallied intensely for Crono late in the match, turning the final fight with Vincent into a successful comeback for the advancing spot.

Samus and Vincent advanced as expected, but Ganondorf collapsed so badly that Gordon Freeman escaped last place. The writeup treats the fanbase interaction as the defining feature of an otherwise predictable divisional final.

SFF · LFF: The writeup describes Ganondorf as heavily suppressed by Samus through their shared Nintendo support. It also says Ganondorf's presence drained Samus enough to tighten her comparison with outside contender Vincent.

Samus and Ganondorf advanced through what the writeup openly calls a rest-break match. Frog's old upset magic never appeared, and the result remained straightforward throughout.

Samus and Nightmare advanced through one of the round's least eventful matches. The writeup finds little to learn beyond Samus taking care of business and the weaker entrants remaining firmly in fodder territory.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Snake kept the championship close early, but Samus broke away once the morning vote arrived and finished the contest on top. The writeup still treats Snake as the spiritual star of the tournament, with his extraordinary run continuing into the Battle Royale.

Samus beat Zelda in a steady semifinal that never became as dramatic as the preceding quarterfinals. The writeup nevertheless sees Zelda's unusually strong showing as evidence that shared Nintendo support suppressed Samus to some degree.

SFF: The writeup says Zelda probably reverse-SFFed Samus substantially, though not nearly enough to threaten Samus's victory.

Tifa pushed Samus to the brink and briefly took control before Samus's daytime recovery secured the win. The writeup frames it as Samus's worst performance, with picture theories and rejected fraudulent votes becoming central parts of the controversy.

Cheat · Pic: The writeup treats Samus's Zero Suit picture as a plausible contributor to her severe underperformance, while rejecting it as a complete explanation. It also cites CJayC's report of large numbers of rejected cheating votes favoring Tifa.

Samus finished an entirely predictable run through her division by beating Rikku without danger. The writeup emphasizes how little the match hinted at the severe trouble Samus would encounter immediately afterward.

Samus disposed of Ada in another expected win, but the writeup considers Ada's performance disappointing after Resident Evil's recent momentum. It mentions possible overlap as one explanation but explicitly leaves the cause unresolved.

Samus opened the contest with an easy win over joke entrant Nidoran F, whose nomination had been heavily rallied before the bracket began. The writeup rejects the idea that Samus's less-than-absurd dominance revealed anything meaningful about her strength.

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.

Samus advanced as expected, but the writeup considers her showing against Ganondorf disappointing next to Mario's destruction of Zero. Her weak SFF performance is presented as a serious warning before the coming Mario matchup.

SFF: The writeup says Samus barely managed to SFF Ganondorf, with only enough suppression to offset Ganondorf's recent Zelda-series boost.

Samus demolished Frog and erased the mystique built by Frog's string of close 2004 matches. The writeup treats the rout as another sign that Frog had been badly overrated and as strong evidence that Samus remained a championship threat.

Samus demolished Yuri and strengthened the case that she could win the entire contest. The writeup treats the performance as an impressive answer to people who thought Mario should be favored in their anticipated matchup.

Samus briefly made the semifinal look interesting with an early lead, but Cloud quickly took control and advanced as expected. The writeup treats the rest of the match as little more than preparation for the long-planned Link final.

Samus decisively settled her famous rivalry with Sonic after their controversial classic two years earlier. The writeup credits Samus's run of new games and Sonic's stagnation, while dismissing excuses for the lopsided rematch.

Samus dispatched Sora without drama and quickly erased the renewed optimism around Sonic. The writeup views the match as confirmation that Samus should win the division comfortably, even if Cloud remained beyond her reach.

Samus annihilated Sam Fisher so thoroughly that early voters briefly suspected a broken poll. The writeup treats the blowout as confirmation that Samus was surging and had become the clear favorite to take the Chaos division.

Samus demolished former top seed Lara Croft far more decisively than the writeup expected, turning an obvious win into a major statement about Samus's rising strength. Lara's showing is framed as another step in a steep decline from her early contest status.

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.

Samus beat Squall as expected, but Squall's strong showing confirmed that his earlier Luigi upset was not a fluke. The writeup notes complaints about Samus's sprite picture but does not treat the image as a demonstrated cause of the result.

Samus decisively ended the brief KOS-MOS hype created by her first-round upset of Crash. The writeup saw the win as a partial recovery from Samus's disappointing opener and as evidence that Squall was unlikely to upset her next.

Samus easily beat Isaac, yet the writeup considered the margin disappointing because people expected a much harsher same-company blowout. Isaac's resistance became an enduring puzzle while Samus-over-Link speculation continued anyway.

Samus surprised Sephiroth with a strong opening lead, but Sephiroth recovered quickly and controlled the rest of the match. Even in defeat, the writeup says Samus validated her earlier Sonic win while Sephiroth raised concerns about how he would fare against Link.

Samus erased what had looked like a decisive late Sonic lead and won after an extraordinary closing surge. The match triggered a massive backlash, outside vote recruitment on both sides, cheating suspicions, and lasting changes to how contest results were followed.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Samus and Sonic supporters spammed for votes across the internet, chat rooms, buddy lists, and gaming chats. It also says many users suspected cheating behind Samus's extraordinary late comeback despite CJayC stating that no cheating was detected.

Ryu was a fashionable upset pick before the contest, but Samus controlled their match from the start. The result confirmed that her earlier win over Ken was not misleading and sent her toward an expected meeting with Sonic.

Samus beat Ken in a routine match that mainly served as a measuring stick for an expected meeting with Ryu. The writeup says her performance made her look well prepared for that matchup.