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Link opened the 2003 contest with another enormous blowout and immediately reaffirmed his status as the entrant to beat. The writeup notes that some same-company overlap may have contributed, but not enough to diminish the statement.

SFF: The writeup says Link's overwhelming result may have included a small amount of SFF because AiAi was another Nintendo character, while stressing that the magnitude of the win was impressive regardless.

Fox routed Pikachu in a debated matchup that the writeup retrospectively considers an obvious SFF situation. The victory also ended Fox's poor first-contest seeding story by finally giving him a match win.

SFF: The writeup explicitly describes Fox's decisive win over fellow Nintendo entrant Pikachu as an SFF result and argues that anti-Pokémon voting made Pikachu's position even worse.

Ganondorf survived a surprisingly strong Tidus comeback after Board 8 had largely treated the matchup as a lock. The match became especially important for popularizing dedicated update topics and exposing the gap between hardcore board expectations and the broader bracket field.

Magus won comfortably but failed to match the enormous expectations created by his pre-contest hype. The writeup says supporters blamed his low seed and kept treating him as a potential challenger to Link despite the underwhelming showing.

Squall beat Jill far more comfortably than much of Board 8 expected after his disappointing 2002 showing. The writeup treats the result as clear evidence that his strength had changed substantially between contests.

Luigi opened at an elite-looking level against Ratchet, then steadily declined as the match progressed. The writeup says the result cooled the extreme pre-contest hype around Luigi even though few considered his next match dangerous.

KOS-MOS decisively beat the favored Crash, confirming that his old platforming fame no longer guaranteed contest support. The writeup says the blowout made KOS-MOS look stronger than she really was while symbolizing Crash's decline.

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.

CATS briefly led Cloud at the opening, creating a memorable Board 8 spectacle before Cloud predictably destroyed him. The writeup treats the moment as the birth of the CATS Army and an early milestone in Cloud's long-running difficulty with the board vote.

Auron comfortably beat Tails despite substantial board sentiment that favored the Sonic character. The writeup remembers the match as Auron's strong contest debut and an early indication that Tidus's unpopularity did not extend to him.

Bowser demolished a Ness who had been a popular upset pick, immediately overturning much of the pre-match speculation around the four-pack. The writeup remembers the scale of the blowout as one of the contest's early surprises.

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.

Aeris handled Sora as expected and continued the pattern of outperforming her low seed. The writeup later came to view Sora's poor showing as an SFF result that understated his actual contest strength.

SFF: The writeup retrospectively identifies Aeris versus Sora as an SFF match, arguing that Sora's connection to Aeris through Kingdom Hearts made him look weaker than he would against an unrelated opponent.

Master Chief narrowly avoided an upset against Felix in a match the writeup says exposed intense anti-Xbox and anti-Halo sentiment. The result badly damaged Chief's pre-contest reputation despite the win.

Zero decisively beat a Scorpion who had been heavily favored because of his surprising 2002 run. The writeup treats the result as the end of Scorpion's brief time as a serious contest threat and the start of Zero's strong career.

Sonic beat a badly underseeded Ken without serious trouble, though his slow start created some concern among people hoping he could challenge Cloud. The writeup ultimately viewed the performance as acceptable given Ken's strength.

Mario opened the heavily anticipated South Division by crushing Olimar. The writeup treats the result as a routine SFF blowout that revealed little about how Mario would fare against the division's elite opposition.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario's victory over fellow Nintendo entrant Olimar a mundane SFF beating and says SFF was in full swing during the match.

Shadow demolished a heavily favored Wario in one of the board's largest first-round surprises. The writeup says Wario's poor match picture made supporters nervous beforehand, but treats Shadow's strength and Wario's failure as the main story.

Kefka survived Pac-Man after an infamous match picture badly damaged confidence in the heavily hyped newcomer. Pac-Man mounted a long comeback attempt before Kefka recovered late, while the image became a lasting Board 8 running joke.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka's infamous 'lettuce' match picture hurt him badly, turning what had been treated as a comfortable win into a close, contested match against Pac-Man.

Crono cruised past Tom Nook in a match the writeup treats as little more than a formality before the expected Mario rematch. It then spends substantial time on Nook's more memorable connection to an unrelated Board 8 user contest.

Alucard comfortably beat Bomberman while remaining less trusted than his previous contest results warranted. The writeup treats the victory as another steady step toward the much more debated Alucard-Kirby matchup.

Kirby beat a heavily hyped Ramza, but the writeup considered Ramza's resistance surprisingly strong for a cult newcomer. The result ended the Ramza upset talk while raising doubts about Kirby before facing Alucard.

Max Payne beat Gordon Freeman in a match that looked close on paper but was never seriously in doubt. The writeup remembers it chiefly as the point where the long-running 'Gordon Freeman Never Wins' joke truly took hold.

Sephiroth crushed Raziel exactly as expected and remained one of the division's dominant favorites. The writeup's lasting historical note is that a perfect percentage prediction around this match helped inspire the Oracle Challenge.

Snake routed Raiden in an expected same-series mismatch. The writeup emphasizes that the result was a severe SFF beating, though Raiden retained enough support to avoid the historically extreme percentage some expected.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Raiden was heavily SFFed by fellow Metal Gear character Solid Snake, while noting that Raiden still performed better than many expected.

Knuckles won one of the most evenly debated first-round matches after spending much of the night in a near-stalemate with Yuna. His powerful day vote then turned the close contest into a comfortable finish.

Ryu demolished Duke Nukem far more convincingly than many expected. The writeup treats the performance as an overlooked warning that the supposedly obvious Dante-Ryu result in the next round was far from settled.

Dante answered Ryu's impressive opener with a dominant win over Ryo Hazuki. The result restored confidence in Dante before their second-round meeting, even though the writeup retrospectively says he had been overrated.

Donkey Kong beat Vyse as expected but did not produce the overwhelming showing supporters wanted before a possible match with Tommy Vercetti. The writeup therefore left the once-unthinkable DK upset case alive without strongly endorsing it.

Vercetti beat Kite but performed far below the level expected from a character once hyped to challenge Mega Man and Snake. The writeup says the result exposed his pre-contest reputation and made Donkey Kong a credible threat.

Zelda decisively beat a Lara Croft whose reputation had already fallen sharply from her former top-seed status. The writeup frames the loss as another sign of Lara's rapid decline while Zelda benefited from intense contemporary Zelda enthusiasm.

Mega Man annihilated Mr. Resetti, yet the writeup remembers the performance as a strange disappointment because expectations after 2002 were even more extreme. The match closed a first round full of upsets and inflated newcomer hype.