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Yoshi beat Conker comfortably in his first contest match, but not by enough to satisfy the enormous expectations surrounding him. The writeup says the result largely ended fanciful Yoshi-over-Cloud talk while still leaving most people too confident about his chances against Bowser.

Bowser quickly erased Yoshi's brief opening lead and won a matchup most of the board had expected Yoshi to take. The writeup treats the result as both an upset of prevailing assumptions and a clear SFF performance.

SFF: The writeup says Bowser caught Yoshi and then laid an SFF beatdown on him, overturning expectations built from an earlier favorite-Mario-character poll.

Yoshi routed Ryo Hazuki in a result the writeup sees mainly as further evidence of Ryo's decline into contest fodder. It argues that a character losing this badly to a mid-level Nintendo entrant no longer merits repeated appearances.

Yoshi beat Luigi in a heavily debated Nintendo matchup that ultimately followed the available statistical clues more closely than the hype suggested. The writeup calls the result disappointingly predictable despite the same-fanbase conditions.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Yoshi versus Luigi as an SFF affair between Nintendo characters, though it notes that older extrapolated standings still predicted the matchup unusually well.

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.

Yoshi handled Laharl almost exactly as expected in one of the first round's least eventful matches. The writeup treats it as little more than another easy Nintendo win before Yoshi's projected meeting with Mega Man.

Yoshi crushed Pac-Man in one of the contest's steadiest matches and confirmed that his 2004 strength was real. The writeup also uses the result to revisit the casual bracketmakers who had failed to trust Yoshi's path this far.

Mega Man easily dispatched Yoshi and ended the divisional round. The writeup attributes Yoshi's underperformance partly to SFF and uses that result to swing the coming Sonic-Mega Man debate toward Mega Man.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Mega Man likely SFFed Yoshi because voters associate Mega Man strongly with Nintendo-era games.

Yoshi beat Riku in a seeding upset but steadily lost ground after a blistering start. The writeup treats Riku's resistance as a moral victory and as a warning that Yoshi's coming match with Dante had become much less comfortable.

Yoshi upset Dante after dominating the Nintendo-friendly voting periods and surviving Dante's slow attempts to erase the leads. The writeup treats the result as a vindication of long-running claims that Yoshi's old statistics had understated him.

Snake avoided the sprite-round collapse many expected and handled Yoshi more respectably than his past history suggested. The writeup treats the result as another confirmation that Snake had become much stronger this year.

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 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 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.

Squall overwhelmed a Yoshi who had been expected to remain much closer, continuing Squall's unusually strong multiway form. The writeup treats Yoshi's performance as the real shock.

Squall and Sora advanced together yet again, while Yoshi collapsed far more badly than expected. The result reinforced the strange independence of the Squall-Sora pairing and exposed Yoshi's vulnerability in the field.

LFF: The writeup says Fox's presence hurt fellow Nintendo entrant Yoshi, while Sora remained largely independent of Squall and benefited from the contrast.

Yoshi beat Jak in a matchup the writeup considered an easy prediction and one of the least eventful polls of the round. Jak is grouped with recognizable platform characters who never developed meaningful contest strength.

Yoshi resisted the Missingno bandwagon far better than expected and held the lead for hours, but Missingno eventually broke through during the Pokémon afternoon vote. The writeup insists the win reflected legitimate strength more than a joke rally.

Rally: The writeup says rallying aided Missingno's decisive sequence of afternoon gains against Yoshi, while also stressing that rallying was not the main reason Missingno won.

Yoshi won easily, while Solaire took second in the Expert Challenge ordering over Demi-Fiend. The writeup also laments Yoshi's poor bracket draw because his next match was against Link.

Pic: The writeup says the debate over second place effectively ended once the picture appeared, with Solaire's image making him look more distinctive and appropriate than Demi-Fiend.

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.

Yoshi delivered the expected blowout over Shantae, but the match sparked a disproportionate argument over whether Shantae had any meaningful contest strength. The writeup ultimately treats her as ordinary fodder with a dedicated niche fanbase.

Yoshi crushed Velvet in another unusually lopsided later-round match, though the writeup warns that both of Yoshi's opponents had been extremely weak. The result leaves his true strength unresolved heading into a much harder matchup.

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.