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Bowser crushed Sigma and deepened the sense that the villains contest was producing strength patterns unlike prior character contests. The writeup treats Sigma as one of the event's biggest disappointments and Bowser as increasingly formidable.

Revolver Ocelot beat Dr. Wily more comfortably than the pre-match debate suggested, turning another hyped matchup into a dud. The writeup focuses less on Ocelot's strength than on Wily joining the growing list of disappointing Mega Man entrants.

Sephiroth buried Vergil in a match whose result the writeup considered completely predetermined. Vergil had fulfilled his bracket role by beating Ghaleon, and this round offered no sign that Sephiroth would later encounter trouble.

Liquid Snake defeated Lavos, but Lavos pushed him hard enough to undermine the lofty strength implied by the previous year's extrapolated standings. The writeup uses the match as a case study in how transitive statistical adjustments can produce misleading rankings.

Kefka demolished Wesker and erased the upset hype that had surrounded the matchup before the contest. The writeup calls it one of Kefka's best performances and says his unusually favorable picture may have contributed.

Pic: The writeup says Kefka received an exceptionally strong picture and suggests it was partly responsible for his unusually dominant performance against Wesker.

Bison and Diablo traded momentum through one of the contest's few genuinely competitive matches before Diablo finally broke away. The writeup emphasizes Bison's determined comeback attempt and Diablo's even stronger response once the afternoon vote arrived.

Ganondorf crushed Ansem as expected, though the writeup thought the favorite should have looked even stronger after Ansem's struggle with CATS. Much of the discussion blames Ganondorf's pig-form picture for the comparatively disappointing showing.

Pic: The writeup says Ganondorf's pig-like Ganon picture was widely blamed for an underperformance against Ansem, hurting the favorite despite the easy win.

Robotnik ended Master Hand's surprise run without much trouble, but the writeup focuses on how much ground Robotnik surrendered later in the poll. That late fade made his coming match with Ganondorf look hopeless.