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Bowser opened the villains contest by obliterating Pyramid Head, whose nomination the writeup credits largely to a dedicated Board 8 supporter. The result immediately placed Pyramid Head among the weakest entrants the contest had seen.

Sigma beat Andross but performed far worse than the pre-contest hype around Mega Man X suggested. The writeup calls the win pyrrhic and treats it as an early warning that Sigma had little chance against Bowser.

Revolver Ocelot beat Nemesis but looked much weaker than Board 8 expected, throwing his projected path through the division into doubt. The writeup spends much of the match reopening arguments about Nemesis, Wesker, and Dr. Wily rather than celebrating Ocelot's win.

Dr. Wily handled Ultros cleanly and looked stronger than Ocelot had the previous day. The writeup treats the match mostly as a preview that shifted confidence toward Wily in their looming second-round meeting.

Sephiroth annihilated Ramirez in a deliberately lopsided matchup born from a Board 8 request. The writeup treats the result as confirmation that the overwhelming pre-contest favorite showed no sign of vulnerability.

Vergil comfortably beat Ghaleon after a late wave of debate had given the cult RPG villain some support. The writeup argues that Ghaleon's terrible picture only made an already difficult matchup worse.

Pic: The writeup says Ghaleon's exceptionally poor match picture effectively erased whatever upset chance he had, while Vergil received the much more flattering image.

Lavos beat Mother Brain as expected, but the match was considerably more competitive than many anticipated. The writeup uses Mother Brain's resistance mainly to raise expectations for Ridley in the later Ridley-Diablo matchup.

Liquid Snake crushed Officer Tenpenny and initially justified the lofty reputation he had gained from his close 2004 loss to Frog. The writeup notes that nothing in this opener hinted at the weakness Liquid would show later.

Kefka beat Mithos comfortably but steadily lost ground as the day progressed, failing to look convincing for a top seed. The writeup says the result immediately encouraged arguments that Wesker could eliminate him in the next round.

Wesker defeated Luca Blight but performed so poorly that the writeup immediately abandoned the idea of him threatening Kefka. A hyped potential contender became one of the contest's early disappointments in a single match.

M. Bison demolished Albedo and sparked a night of Psycho Crusher jokes and Board 8 fads. The writeup also notes that Bison steadily lost ground later, a warning sign that would matter in his next matchup.

Diablo turned a heavily debated matchup with Ridley into a clear win and emerged as a serious divisional threat. An outside Diablo-site rally arrived later, but the writeup argues that the match had already been decided on its own merits.

Rally: The writeup says diabloii.net linked directly to the poll during the match, adding outside support for Diablo. It also stresses that Diablo had already taken firm control before the rally appeared.

Ganondorf obliterated Giygas in a matchup the writeup considered barely worth holding. The result simply reinforced Ganondorf's status as a pre-contest lock for the final while placing Giygas among the weakest entrants.

Ansem eventually escaped CATS, but CATS led for hours and came far closer to a real win than Board 8 believed possible. The writeup remembers the match almost entirely as CATS proving that joke support could become meaningful against the right opponent.

Pic: The writeup says CATS finally received the recognizable picture fans associated with him rather than his old image, and argues that this likely made a major difference in his unusually strong showing.

Robotnik held off Sin in a close matchup dominated by Board 8 arguments around one loud Sin supporter. The writeup says Sin mounted a respectable recovery despite a disastrous picture, while an attempted outside rally failed to overturn the result.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says Sin was badly hurt by one of the contest's worst match pictures, which reduced him to an unrecognizable dorsal fin. It also says a vocal Sin supporter tried to rally votes from outside websites during the match.

Master Hand stunned Kuja in the round's defining upset after almost everyone dismissed the glove as an automatic loss. The writeup remembers the result as both absurd and unforgettable, turning a supposedly obvious match into the contest's biggest board explosion.