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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.

Aeris led for hours before Shepard erased the gap and then pulled away decisively, producing one of the contest's most satisfying upsets for Mass Effect fans. Tharja's presence and Final Fantasy VII anti-voting are discussed as background factors rather than formal anomalies.

Draven transformed from a low natural share into an overwhelming rally-powered winner over Mega Man X and Ryu. The performance convinced much of Board 8 that he had become a credible threat to win the entire contest.

Rally: The writeup says massive League of Legends rallying turned Draven into an overwhelming force and drove historically enormous vote totals.

Sonic cruised while Barret only narrowly separated from Dracula for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The weak Barret showing became another warning that Final Fantasy VII's decline had reached well beyond Cloud.

Mewtwo won convincingly while Phoenix unexpectedly pushed Vincent into last place. The notorious Vincent picture became one of the contest's biggest presentation controversies and overwhelmed much of the discussion.

Pic: The writeup says Vincent received an intentionally terrible Dirge of Cerberus picture and directly blames the image for worsening his performance enough that Phoenix could pass him.

Bowser won as expected, but The Boss and Sub-Zero spent most of the match almost perfectly tied for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Sub-Zero unexpectedly won the evening trend and finally pulled away.

Sephiroth won a routine rematch setting while Morrigan again finished ahead of Spyro, echoing their famous 2002 upset. The writeup finds Sephiroth's modest dominance more notable than the actual ordering.

Big Boss and Luigi stayed tied for hours before Metal Gear's stronger late trend finally separated them. Ness's presence is treated as the key fanbase drain that prevented Luigi from taking fuller advantage of Big Boss's weak daytime vote.

LFF: The writeup says Ness leeched Luigi's Nintendo support and made the difference in a match where Luigi and Big Boss were otherwise close in strength.

Kirby won comfortably while Crash nearly completed a morning comeback on Elizabeth for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The writeup celebrates the loss as Crash's best contest showing in years and a major warning about BioShock Infinite's strength.

Snake crushed Alucard and Bayonetta in a match with almost no suspense. The performance later became important because Snake was one of the few Noble Nine members still looking consistently dominant.

GLaDOS won easily, but Epona stole the attention by beating an awful Ike for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The writeup treats the result as a fittingly comic high point for Epona and a confirmation of Ike's collapse.

Kefka completed another bracket-wrecking upset by beating both Altair and Lara, while the two Western icons fought to the final minutes for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Altair barely survived Lara's late comeback.

LFF: The writeup says Altair and Lara likely drained each other through overlapping Western-franchise appeal, helping Kefka dominate while their second-place fight stayed unusually close.

Cloud won comfortably while Frog overcame an early Lugia lead and took second in the Expert Challenge ordering despite sharing some Square support with Cloud. Lugia's collapse weakened the broader PokéFEAR narrative.

LFF: The writeup says Cloud was stealing support from Frog, making Frog's recovery past Lugia more impressive.

Squirtle crushed Dante and made the pre-match Dante support look wildly misplaced, while Zidane never seriously threatened either contender. The writeup frames Dante's defeat as the inevitable result of backlash against the DmC reboot.

Leon beat Gordon and Shadow in a low-turnout match whose trends repeatedly hinted at drama without ever producing a real comeback. The writeup suspects overlap between Leon and Gordon but leaves the explanation uncertain.

Pikachu decisively eliminated Crono after Magus collapsed under same-series overlap. The result became one of the clearest signs that the old Noble Nine hierarchy no longer controlled the bracket.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Magus was SFFed into the ground by Crono, giving Pikachu the opening it needed.

Sora comfortably beat two first-round upset winners in a deliberately uneventful match. The result was interpreted as evidence that he could survive the Pokémon-heavy matchup waiting in Round Three.

Pokémon Trainer Blue dominated Nathan Drake and Mr. Game & Watch, turning earlier PokéFEAR into a concrete strength statement. The writeup treats Blue's performance as proof that he belonged among the contest's serious threats.

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.

Auron controlled stretches of the match, but 4chan's support repeatedly pulled L-Block back and eventually carried the former champion to another upset. The result revived speculation that L-Block could become an anti-Draven rally vehicle.

Rally: The writeup says 4chan rallied L-Block, repeatedly erasing Auron's small leads before eventually pushing the former champion clear.

Tifa won comfortably while Dragonborn again looked far weaker than Skyrim's game-level popularity had suggested. Yuna's respectable third-place showing despite the Square overlap made Dragonborn's collapse look even worse.

LFF: The writeup treats Tifa and Yuna's shared Final Fantasy support as a real vote split, noting that Yuna stayed surprisingly close to Dragonborn even while Tifa was in the poll.

Vivi produced one of the contest's defining upsets by holding off repeated Mario comeback attempts and finally eliminating him. Nintendo vote splitting and a modest outside push helped create the opening, but the writeup still celebrates Vivi's composure against Mario's legendary clutch.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Ganondorf leeched Nintendo support from Mario and that 4chan also rallied Vivi during the close fight.

Squall absorbed Missingno's expected early surge and took control far sooner than the glitch character's supporters hoped. The result ended Missingno's run and left Squall's division shaped by an awkward future matchup with Vivi.

Red dominated while Wrex took advantage of Wario's severe Nintendo overlap to claim second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The result made Wrex's first-round upset look more legitimate.

SFF: The writeup says Red SFFed Wario, allowing Wrex to pass the Nintendo character comfortably for second in the Expert Challenge ordering.

Mega Man delivered another clean top-seed performance, while Jill beat the declining Kratos for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The writeup treats Jill's placement as an upset only by seed rather than by actual strength.

Zero won easily while Rikku gradually pulled away from Weighted Companion Cube for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Strategic Mega Man fans voting away from Zero are discussed, but the outcome was never in doubt.

Zelda repeatedly looked on the verge of beating Charizard, but Pokémon's morning strength and late outside support dragged Charizard through a final-update escape. The writeup treats the win as a major warning that Charizard had been overrated.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Donkey Kong's presence created heavy Nintendo vote splitting that badly hurt Charizard. It also says late rallies were necessary for Charizard to erase Zelda's lead and survive.