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Link took control of the final Battle Royale matchup almost immediately and never gave Cloud a realistic chance to win. The writeup treats the result as another demonstration that Cloud was no longer a true threat to Link.

With Sephiroth gone, the fourth day became a predictable Link-and-Cloud show and finally ended Snake's run. The writeup spends most of its attention celebrating how many elite opponents Snake had already survived before the two remaining giants eliminated him.

Snake survived Sephiroth after a dramatic late comeback attempt and another last-minute Metal Gear response. The result became the capstone of Snake's extraordinary run, while Sephiroth was remembered as the Battle Royale's major disappointment.

SFF · Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Cloud heavily SFFed Sephiroth, helping leave him vulnerable to Snake. It also describes intense late rallying and records cheating allegations around the finish, while noting that CJayC said no cheating was found.

Mario became the second elimination as Link absorbed the Nintendo support that had been shared with Samus the day before. Snake again outperformed expectations, while Sephiroth's repeated struggles to escape last place foreshadowed the next round.

SFF: The writeup says Link SFFed Mario to death, pushing Mario into last place despite his status as a traditional heavyweight.

The first Battle Royale largely followed expectations at the top, while Samus became the first elimination after being squeezed by the other Nintendo heavyweights. Snake finishing ahead of Mario was the main unexpected development and set up the next day's drama.

SFF: The writeup says Link and Mario SFFed Samus heavily enough to drive her into last place and eliminate her.

Snake kept the championship close early, but Samus broke away once the morning vote arrived and finished the contest on top. The writeup still treats Snake as the spiritual star of the tournament, with his extraordinary run continuing into the Battle Royale.

After an erroneous opening poll was restarted, Snake took firm control and never let Sonic seriously threaten the result. Sonic recovered respectability during the day, but the writeup treats the win as the latest proof of Snake's remarkable 2006 surge.

Samus beat Zelda in a steady semifinal that never became as dramatic as the preceding quarterfinals. The writeup nevertheless sees Zelda's unusually strong showing as evidence that shared Nintendo support suppressed Samus to some degree.

SFF: The writeup says Zelda probably reverse-SFFed Samus substantially, though not nearly enough to threaten Samus's victory.

Crono built a strong overnight lead, only for Sonic's daytime strength to erase it and carry Sonic to a major bracket upset. The writeup treats the enormous swing as the overdue punishment for Crono's chronic weakness outside the night vote.

Snake decisively reversed his old history against Mega Man after Mega's earlier warning signs finally became impossible to dismiss. The writeup treats the upset as the moment the Year of the Snake fully arrived and Mega Man's long-term decline became a serious concern.

Zelda beat Yuna as expected, but Yuna held up considerably better than the writeup had anticipated. Zelda's less-than-perfect showing also cooled some of the immediate talk that she might exploit Samus's weakness in the next round.

Tifa pushed Samus to the brink and briefly took control before Samus's daytime recovery secured the win. The writeup frames it as Samus's worst performance, with picture theories and rejected fraudulent votes becoming central parts of the controversy.

Cheat · Pic: The writeup treats Samus's Zero Suit picture as a plausible contributor to her severe underperformance, while rejecting it as a complete explanation. It also cites CJayC's report of large numbers of rejected cheating votes favoring Tifa.

Crono controlled Auron but again lost ground as the day progressed, making the match feel like another warning rather than a meaningful test. The writeup treats it as the quiet end of the divisional rounds before the contest suddenly became historic.

Sonic beat Luigi without difficulty and brought Luigi's surprising earlier run back down to earth. The writeup uses the result mainly to question how much Kirby and especially Zero had really shown in losing to Luigi.

Mega Man beat Sora, but his performance deteriorated badly as the match progressed and the Kingdom Hearts day vote arrived. The writeup treats this as the match that fully exposed Mega Man's decline before his meeting with Snake.

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.

Yuna completed a surprisingly strong divisional run by beating Chun-Li far more convincingly than old upset talk had suggested. The writeup treats the performance as another sign that Yuna's pre-contest reputation had been too low before her coming test against Zelda.

Zelda looked dominant early before Aeris recovered enough to make the final result respectable, though the outcome was never in danger. The writeup mentions favorable circumstances for Aeris but leaves their actual impact unresolved.

Tifa won the division easily, but the writeup's main takeaway is that Peach had done enough during the contest to shed her old fodder reputation. The match itself offered little drama beyond confirming Tifa's comfortable superiority.

Samus finished an entirely predictable run through her division by beating Rikku without danger. The writeup emphasizes how little the match hinted at the severe trouble Samus would encounter immediately afterward.

Auron comfortably ended Sub-Zero's brief upset run in a match the writeup considered predictable. Most of the retrospective discussion uses the result to argue that Sub-Zero had nevertheless proved himself more deserving of contest attention than Scorpion.

Crono handled Bowser without serious trouble, but his steady daytime decline stood out more than the result itself. The writeup treats the match as another warning that Crono's weak day vote would eventually cost him against stronger opposition.

Luigi pulled away after an initially even start, and the writeup says the final closeness overstated how competitive the match really was. It also treats the result as further evidence that Kirby's prior Dream Division strength was misleading.

SFF: The writeup says SFF favored Luigi and made a Kirby comeback effectively impossible once Luigi pulled away.

Sonic beat Vincent in a match whose final closeness overstated the actual danger, since Sonic controlled it from early on. Vincent nevertheless gained more Noble Nine breaker hype, while Sonic's own prospects against the bracket's elite took a hit.

Mega Man beat Ryu, but his steady loss of ground was another warning that his old strength was fading. The writeup says people initially blamed the poor showing partly on his bad picture, only realizing later that the decline was real.

Sora comfortably ended Gordon Freeman's brief taste of success and then pulled farther away with the Kingdom Hearts day vote. The writeup treats the loss as another turning point in the fading GFNW tradition.

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 crushed Squall in a match that had drawn meaningful upset discussion beforehand. The writeup calls it the first clear sign that Snake had made a major leap in strength during this contest.

Chun-Li beat Lara, but a steady daytime collapse made the match much less impressive than the opening suggested. The writeup says the weak finish effectively killed the remaining Chun-Li-over-Yuna upset case.

Yuna demolished Joanna and continued answering claims that she was the weakest top seed. The writeup treats the result as enough to make Yuna the clear favorite to take the division.

Aeris beat KOS-MOS but performed much worse than the writeup believed she needed to before facing Zelda. Although some fans blamed the picture, the author rejects that explanation and treats the result as a straightforward warning of trouble ahead.

Zelda demolished Terra far more convincingly than the old projections suggested. The writeup says the performance transformed Zelda from an obvious division favorite into a serious threat to Samus's title hopes.

Peach and Jill traded control through radically different voting periods before a frantic final push left Jill just short. The writeup calls it a classic and records both heavy rallying and attempted vote-stuffing around the finish.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup quotes CJayC describing heavy rallying on both sides and attempted vote-stuffing for both Jill and Peach. It says the blocked fraudulent votes did not alter the official result, while acknowledging lingering uncertainty over whether every improper vote was caught.

The writeup treats Tifa's easy win as obvious, then spends most of its space arguing about a hypothetical physical fight between Tifa and The Boss rather than the poll itself.

Rikku handled Kairi almost exactly as the writeup expected, while the famous Kingdom Hearts day vote barely changed the match. The only surprise was how many brackets had trusted Kairi to advance.

Samus disposed of Ada in another expected win, but the writeup considers Ada's performance disappointing after Resident Evil's recent momentum. It mentions possible overlap as one explanation but explicitly leaves the cause unresolved.

Sub-Zero upset Master Chief after taking control early and surviving the familiar Halo afternoon push. The writeup treats the loss as another chapter in Halo's recurring early-round failures and a memorable winning debut for Sub-Zero.

Auron beat Alucard comfortably, continuing a long decline from Alucard's early-contest upset reputation. The writeup is left debating whether Alucard had truly weakened or whether earlier statistical distortions had simply hidden his real level.

Bowser beat Leon, but Leon performed much better than the old projections suggested. Combined with Kirby's earlier showing, the result made the writeup question how legitimate their inflated prior-year statistical reputations had been.

Crono comfortably beat Captain Falcon in his debut as a top seed. The only concern in the writeup is Crono's familiar daytime weakness, which allowed Falcon to recover substantially after the early stages.

Luigi demolished a favored Zero in the kind of debated match he had historically failed to win. The writeup treats the result as both a personal breakthrough for Luigi and a serious embarrassment for the statistical consensus.

Kirby beat Prince of Persia but steadily lost ground after a stronger opening. The writeup credits Prince with proving respectable midcard strength while treating Kirby's performance as another bad sign before the next round.

Vincent won a heavily debated match after Ganondorf's early advantage faded with the opening Nintendo surge. The upset exposed problems in the old statistics and immediately triggered a large Vincent-over-Sonic bandwagon.

Sonic steamrolled perennial fodder CATS after the customary brief opening lead. The writeup discusses the familiar CATS picture debate but ultimately says the hybrid image makes the result too ambiguous for useful conclusions.

Mega Man beat Axel, but his strong early showing steadily deteriorated once the morning and daytime votes arrived. The writeup treats the decline as an overlooked warning of the much larger collapse that would become obvious later.

Ryu beat Kratos without serious danger even though casual brackets had strongly favored Kratos. The writeup is more interested in Kratos's powerful daytime recovery, which suggested he could become dangerous in a genuinely winnable future match.

Gordon Freeman ended the long-running GFNW joke by beating Board 8 favorite Phoenix Wright after an early Phoenix lead. The writeup argues that the Phoenix upset hype was mostly fad power rather than a realistic assessment of the matchup.

Sora beat the widely disliked Tingle in a completely stable and predictable match. The writeup finds almost no useful trend information in the result beyond another easy Kingdom Hearts win.

Dante beat Ryu Hayabusa almost exactly as the writeup's prior expectations suggested. The routine result kept Dante looking steadier than Yoshi heading into their debated second-round meeting.

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.

Squall crushed Tidus in what the writeup calls an SFF beating through and through. The result further buried Tidus's old reputation while briefly making a later Squall upset of Snake seem plausible.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls the result an SFF beating, with Squall suppressing fellow Final Fantasy lead Tidus far beyond what their ordinary statistical gap suggested.

Snake overwhelmed Soma in a stronger opening performance than his familiar early-round fodder beatings. The writeup still notes his history of fading later, but treats the result as the first hint that this contest might be different.

Lara looked dominant against Alyx, but the writeup argues that the performance was deceptive because Alyx was obscure and the match drew little interest. It rejects the result as evidence of a true Lara resurgence.

Chun-Li beat Kasumi as expected and was never in danger, though her poor daytime vote gave back some of the early margin. The writeup considers the match largely routine despite pre-match discussion of possible fighting-game overlap.

Joanna beat Cortana without much difficulty after brief early hopes for a closer match. The writeup frames Cortana's failure as another example of Halo-related entrants being overrated by people who confuse game popularity with character strength.

Yuna quietly delivered a dominant opening win over Roll after being dismissed as a weak top seed. The writeup treats the performance as an early sign that Yuna was stronger than the division's reputation suggested.

Aeris beat Marle comfortably, with only a small amount of SFF according to the writeup. More concerning for Aeris was her failure to dominate the daytime vote, which weakened confidence that she could challenge Zelda later.

SFF: The writeup says Aeris and Marle showed some SFF from their overlapping Square and role-playing fanbases, but characterizes the effect as minimal rather than a major suppression.

KOS-MOS beat Amy more easily than the writeup expected, helped by Amy's poor standing even among Sonic fans. Amy's strong daytime recovery was the only notable trend and foreshadowed how important that voting bloc could become later.

Terra beat Kerrigan in a match preceded by enough picture complaints that the official image was changed. The writeup says the altered picture did not rescue Kerrigan and instead treats the result as another example of weak PC-character strength.

Zelda demolished Carmen Sandiego in what the writeup calls one of the contest's most dominant performances. The showing immediately fueled a serious bandwagon that Zelda might threaten Samus later in the bracket.

The writeup is mostly a personal rant about Peach, Daisy, Mario, and Luigi; the match itself is treated as an effortless Peach win that strengthened confidence in her next round.

Jill beat Sheena without being threatened, but her weak daytime performance concerned the writeup. The result is framed as an early warning that Jill could struggle badly if she reached a genuinely close match later.

The Boss beat Celes comfortably after a pre-match debate the writeup considered badly overhyped. Much of the analysis argues that Final Fantasy VI's ensemble cast had repeatedly failed to translate the game's popularity into strong character results.

Tifa produced the first performance the writeup considered truly dominant, while Ivy and the broader Soul Calibur cast looked increasingly weak. The unusually high interest around the match picture is treated more as spectacle than as an explanation for the result.

Kairi and Claire traded control through sharply different voting periods before Kingdom Hearts' daytime strength turned the late match decisively toward Kairi. The writeup also records a vote-stuffing allegation involving a Claire supporter.

Cheat: The writeup says Smurf bragged about vote-stuffing for Claire and was banned during the match, while noting that whether he actually altered any votes remained unknown.

Rikku overwhelmed an obscure Lenneth and reinforced the idea that her prior strong showing was no fluke. The writeup treats the result as a quiet but convincing confirmation of Rikku's midcard strength.

Ada beat a little-known Jade without difficulty, leaving the writeup unsure whether Ada was strong or Jade was simply very weak. The main useful observation was another poor Resident Evil daytime performance.

Samus opened the contest with an easy win over joke entrant Nidoran F, whose nomination had been heavily rallied before the bracket began. The writeup rejects the idea that Samus's less-than-absurd dominance revealed anything meaningful about her strength.