GameFAQsContests.com

Breath of the Wild completed its dominant championship run, but Witcher 3's rally made the final substantially more respectable than the opening suggested. The writeup treats Witcher as the contest's breakout star even in defeat.

Rally: The writeup says Witcher 3 fans rallied heavily throughout the final and materially cut Breath of the Wild's natural margin, even though the rally never put the winner in danger.

The Witcher 3 beat Skyrim comfortably in the semifinal after spending the entire contest steadily overturning pre-contest expectations. The writeup attributes Witcher's rise to several reinforcing factors, including Netflix exposure, broader respect, Switch availability and Bethesda fatigue, while treating possible SFF as only speculative.

Breath of the Wild demolished Smash Ultimate in a semifinal and continued its run of overwhelming late-round victories. Even accounting for heavy Nintendo SFF, the writeup treats the performance as extraordinary.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Breath of the Wild versus Smash Ultimate a bad case of SFF, with Zelda's place atop the Nintendo hierarchy suppressing Smash.

Skyrim and Dark Souls stayed nearly even for the opening hours before Skyrim's stronger morning vote finally created separation. The writeup treats it as the last genuinely competitive match of the contest and a strong final showing for Dark Souls.

The Witcher 3 beat Persona 5 after an entertaining opening and confirmed that even a major Persona push was not enough to threaten it. The result sent Witcher into the semifinal looking almost untouchable.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 5 rallied heavily from the opening and received roughly hundreds of outside votes, though The Witcher 3 repeatedly absorbed the pushes and pulled away.

Smash Ultimate comfortably ended Xenoblade's surprise run and advanced to the semifinal. Although some observers called the result SFF, the writeup explicitly questions whether meaningful suppression occurred and emphasizes Xenoblade's bandwagon instead.

Breath of the Wild doubled Mass Effect 2 in the quarterfinals and maintained one of the most dominant game-contest runs ever. The writeup treats Dragon Quest XI's prior resistance as newly impressive in hindsight.

Skyrim decisively beat Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver and finally delivered the strong performance its supporters had been waiting for. The result restored confidence that Skyrim was still a legitimate late-round game.

The writeup is dominated by a lengthy discussion of The Last of Us Part II leaks and broader cultural arguments; the match itself is summarized as Dark Souls comfortably beating a badly damaged Last of Us.

Persona 5 crushed Portal 2 after the opening minutes and won the division comfortably. A continuing Persona rally thread added a small boost but was not necessary to the result.

Rally: The writeup says the Persona subreddit maintained a rally thread and later redirected it toward Persona 5, giving Persona a small current-match boost even though the effect was not large.

The Witcher 3 crushed God of War far more severely than expected and looked completely secure on its path to the final. The writeup attributes part of the rout to overlapping Western audiences while still crediting Witcher's genuine strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says some form of SFF occurred between The Witcher 3 and God of War because of their overlapping Western open-world audience, while warning that the effect was probably overestimated.

Xenoblade Chronicles survived Persona 4 Golden in the last truly great close match of the contest. Persona's rallies repeatedly cut the lead, and without the registered-user weighting Persona would have narrowly won.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 4 Golden received repeated and increasingly intense rally support throughout the match, culminating in a late push that nearly overturned Xenoblade's lead.

Smash Ultimate beat Super Mario Odyssey despite Odyssey looking stronger in every prior round. The writeup treats the result as a hierarchy-driven same-fanbase matchup, with reverse SFF offered as the main explanation for the reversal.

SFF: Ulti explicitly argues that Smash Ultimate reverse-SFFed Super Mario Odyssey, while the broader writeup also treats Nintendo hierarchy and same-fanbase effects as central to why Smash won more comfortably than expected.

Mass Effect 2 narrowly beat Resident Evil 2 in one of the most debated Round Four matches. The result validated Mass Effect as the natural division winner while ending Resident Evil 2's bandwagon.

Breath of the Wild comfortably beat Dragon Quest XI but finally fell well short of its earlier overwhelming percentages. The writeup treats the result as evidence that Dragon Quest XI was much stronger than the bracket had initially assumed.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver survived an initially close NieR: Automata challenge and pulled away once the early rally pressure faded. The result closed Round Three with Pokémon still looking surprisingly legitimate.

Rally: The writeup says NieR: Automata supporters had active rally efforts during the match, including the jokingly described hentai rallies, though those pushes never became large enough to overturn Pokémon.

Skyrim beat Mario Kart 8 but looked weak enough to become a serious target for later upset speculation. The writeup treats Mario Kart's prior SFF history as irrelevant to this current matchup.

The Last of Us beat Batman: Arkham City but again failed to look strong enough to threaten Dark Souls. The result left its popular pre-contest division-win pick effectively doomed.

Dark Souls repeated its 2015 win over Metal Gear Solid V with a much larger margin. The writeup treats the widening gap as a clean combination of Souls rising and Metal Gear declining.

Portal 2 beat Red Dead Redemption 2 in a closer-looking divisional semifinal that remained under control for most of the day. The result validated Portal 2's hidden strength and ended the author's overconfidence in newer games.

Persona 5 annihilated Sonic Mania and continued to look like the clear class of its division. The writeup treats Sonic's run as mostly bracket-driven while emphasizing Persona's modern mainstream strength.

God of War beat Fallout: New Vegas in a match that was never seriously in doubt, though New Vegas remained respectable. The result sent God of War into the division final with little hope of stopping Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3 beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 after a briefly entertaining opening and again looked stronger than expected. Galaxy 2 still performed well enough to confirm that its earlier blowouts were not purely weak-opponent artifacts.

Xenoblade Chronicles crushed Fire Emblem: Three Houses and completed the collapse of the pre-contest division favorite. The writeup sees some same-audience suppression but puts more emphasis on anti-voting and Xenoblade's genuine rise.

SFF: The writeup says Three Houses was probably SFFed to some extent by Xenoblade Chronicles, although anti-Fire-Emblem voting and general overestimation are treated as larger factors.

Persona 4 Golden beat Grand Theft Auto V from wire to wire and completed another bracket-busting win without current-match rally assistance. The result established Persona 4 Golden as the contest's most surprising divisional finalist.

Super Mario Odyssey demolished Shovel Knight and produced a third straight performance that looked stronger than Smash Ultimate's. The writeup notes the conspicuous absence of the developer rally that had saved Shovel Knight previously.

Smash Ultimate crushed Spider-Man in a predictable divisional semifinal, but once again looked less dominant than Super Mario Odyssey. The comparison further fueled upset talk for their coming head-to-head match.

Resident Evil 2 survived Bloodborne in the contest's defining close match after a major rally was curtailed midway through the poll. The writeup treats the moderation decision as the central reason Bloodborne failed to complete the upset.

Rally: The writeup says Bloodborne received a major subreddit rally that nearly swung the match, and that the moderators' decision to disallow rally threads midway through the poll was the decisive factor in Resident Evil 2 surviving.

Mass Effect 2 beat Horizon Zero Dawn despite rally spillover boosting Horizon. The underlying result kept Mass Effect favored for the division while also validating Horizon as stronger than expected.

Rally: The writeup says spillover from the simultaneous Bloodborne rally significantly favored Horizon Zero Dawn and lowered Mass Effect 2's final percentage.

Dragon Quest XI survived a spirited Monster Hunter rally and confirmed that its surprising contest strength was genuine. Monster Hunter still exited with more respect than expected.

Rally: The writeup says Monster Hunter: World mounted a meaningful rally that repeatedly cut into Dragon Quest XI's lead and reduced the final margin without seriously threatening the result.

Breath of the Wild destroyed Final Fantasy XV and completed three straight overwhelming wins. The writeup considers the result historically dominant while treating possible fanbase overlap as too uncertain to explain much.

NieR: Automata won comfortably while Divinity rallied hard enough to distort the final margin and later extrapolated standings. The push was visible but never made the match competitive.

Rally: The writeup says Divinity: Original Sin II mounted a significant Reddit rally after the opening and reduced the size of NieR: Automata's natural blowout, though it never threatened the winner.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver crushed Rayman Legends and continued looking like a viable proxy for the much older Gold and Silver. The writeup treats the remake's legitimacy as increasingly hard to dispute.

Mario Kart 8 comfortably eliminated Final Fantasy XIV and continued rehabilitating its reputation after the Wii U era. The result also weakened the idea that Final Fantasy XIV's modern acclaim would translate into contest strength.

Skyrim routed Journey but looked weak compared with Witcher 3's earlier results. The match became the first major reason to doubt Skyrim's presumed path to the final.

The Last of Us beat Diablo III easily but still underperformed enough to damage its status as a likely division winner. The writeup focuses heavily on Diablo and Blizzard's damaged reputation while looking ahead to Dark Souls.

Batman: Arkham City handled BioShock Infinite more comfortably than its shaky first round suggested. The writeup treats the result as a partial rebound for Batman and another sign of BioShock's decline.

Metal Gear Solid V beat Yakuza 0 but looked weak enough to reinforce the franchise's decline. Yakuza's respectable showing also validated that its first-round success was not entirely opponent-driven.

Dark Souls obliterated Rocket League and moved from strong contender to serious semifinal threat. The writeup treats the result as another clear sign that Souls had gained enormous respect since the prior games contest.

Red Dead Redemption 2 comfortably beat Animal Crossing: New Leaf despite New Horizons hype giving the older Animal Crossing entry a theoretical boost. The match confirmed that RDR2 remained respectable even on a site hostile to Rockstar.

Portal 2 demolished Kingdom Hearts III and ended one of the more popular second-round upset picks. The writeup treats Kingdom Hearts III's disappointing reception as a major reason the series failed to retain its old strength.

Sonic Mania unexpectedly routed Super Meat Boy in what had been treated as a close matchup. The writeup attributes part of the blowout to overlapping platformer support.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Sonic Mania versus Super Meat Boy an SFF match, arguing that the two platformers share enough audience for Sonic to suppress the indie game.

Persona 5 demolished Assassin's Creed IV and reinforced the series' emergence as a mainstream GameFAQs force. The result also made Witcher 3's earlier Assassin's Creed rout look less uniquely informative.

God of War demolished Nioh and continued to look strong enough for a deep run. The writeup sees some fanbase overlap in the rout but still considers God of War's underlying performance impressive.

SFF: The writeup says Nioh was probably suppressed to some extent by God of War because both games appealed to overlapping PlayStation action audiences.

Fallout: New Vegas beat Dark Souls III in a debated matchup where both sides attracted outside support. The stronger New Vegas rally helped preserve a result that still broadly matched pre-match expectations.

Rally: The writeup says both Dark Souls III and Fallout: New Vegas received organized rally support, with the New Vegas subreddit push ultimately proving much stronger.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 still won comfortably despite rally spillover helping Stardew Valley. The writeup treats both games as respectable while acknowledging that Galaxy 2's next Witcher matchup looked grim.

Rally: The writeup says rally traffic from the simultaneous match disproportionately boosted Stardew Valley and reduced Super Mario Galaxy 2's final margin.

The Witcher 3 obliterated Mass Effect 3 and looked increasingly untouchable in the lower half of the bracket. The writeup treats the scale of the rout as partly fanbase suppression and partly genuine elite strength.

SFF: The writeup says The Witcher 3 suppressed Mass Effect 3 through what became known as Western SFF, with their overlapping Western RPG audience making the blowout even larger.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses beat Ori but again looked much weaker than expected. Combined with Xenoblade's simultaneous dominance, the result badly damaged Three Houses' status as the presumed division favorite.

Xenoblade Chronicles destroyed Overwatch and proved its first-round blowout was not merely a favorable same-fanbase matchup. The result established Xenoblade as the new favorite to win the division.

Persona 4 Golden led from the start but repeatedly needed outside support to repel Red Dead Redemption's pushes. The final score was close even though Red Dead never actually took the lead.

Rally: The writeup says Persona 4 Golden received repeated Reddit and Board 8 rally support, plus some rally spillover, and argues that the outside help likely made the difference in its narrow win.

Grand Theft Auto V quickly erased the much-hyped Cuphead upset scenario and controlled the match throughout. The writeup treats GTA V as clearly stronger than the rest of its historically weak contest franchise.

Super Mario Odyssey demolished Devil May Cry 5 and continued to look stronger than Smash Ultimate through the early rounds. The writeup treats the result as another major boost to Odyssey's divisional hype.

Octopath Traveler and Shovel Knight traded momentum for nearly the entire day before outside support became decisive late. After Octopath's pinned subreddit rally gained control, an official Shovel Knight developer push reversed the match and stole the finish.

Rally: The writeup describes sustained two-sided subreddit rallying and says Yacht Club Games' late official Twitter push decisively swung the finish toward Shovel Knight.

Marvel's Spider-Man beat Minecraft and validated the experts who had trusted its natural strength over casual recognition and rally fear. Simultaneous rally traffic helped Minecraft somewhat but did not change the outcome.

Rally: The writeup says rallying in the simultaneous Octopath Traveler versus Shovel Knight match shifted support toward Minecraft and reduced Spider-Man's percentage during this poll.

Smash Ultimate crushed A Link Between Worlds in a badly drawn same-audience matchup. The writeup treats the loss as unusually harsh for a Zelda game but heavily distorted by Nintendo overlap.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Smash Ultimate versus A Link Between Worlds a standard SFF match and says the Zelda game was likely suppressed heavily by the stronger Nintendo title.

Bloodborne beat Fire Emblem: Awakening and then pulled away sharply once its subreddit rally gained traction. The match established Bloodborne as both naturally strong and capable of meaningful outside mobilization.

Rally: The writeup says Bloodborne fans organized subreddit rally threads that materially increased its margin over Fire Emblem: Awakening, turning a closer natural win into a much larger one.

Resident Evil 2 beat DOOM in a debated matchup and confirmed that DOOM's first-round destruction of INSIDE had overstated its strength. Rally spillover helped DOOM somewhat but never threatened the result.

Rally: The writeup says DOOM was performing worse before the simultaneous Bloodborne rallies arrived and boosted it against Resident Evil 2.

Horizon Zero Dawn upset Borderlands 2 and never looked back after seizing control early. The Bloodborne rally in the neighboring match added a small extra boost to an already convincing Horizon win.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Bloodborne rally boosted Horizon Zero Dawn further after it had already taken control of Borderlands 2.

Mass Effect 2 crushed Fallout 4 more decisively than expected and repaired the concern created by its first-round performance. The writeup notes that people floated SFF as an explanation, but does not settle on it.

Dragon Quest XI demolished Bastion and proved its first-round rout was not merely a fanbase-overlap fluke. The writeup treats it as by far the strongest Dragon Quest contest showing to date.

Monster Hunter: World beat Sekiro far more comfortably than expected and ended the writeup's hope that every Souls-like game would overperform. The result is framed as a major disappointment for Sekiro and a strong statement for Monster Hunter.

Final Fantasy XV survived Hollow Knight in a matchup that came far closer to embarrassment than a mainline Final Fantasy game should have allowed. The writeup treats the win as further evidence of FFXV's weak standing on the site.

Breath of the Wild demolished Halo: Reach and joined the rare group of games producing enormous blowouts in consecutive rounds. The writeup treats the performance as confirmation that even a hypothetical late rally might not be enough to stop Zelda.

NieR: Automata crushed Bayonetta 2 and looked excellent entering the next round. The writeup later treats heavy overlap between the two action-game fanbases as the best explanation for how lopsided the result became.

SFF: Ctes says the most likely explanation is that NieR: Automata SFFed Bayonetta 2 because of their overlapping Platinum-style action audience, and explicitly says he believes the SFF explanation most.

Divinity: Original Sin II beat Hearthstone in a matchup the writeup expected to produce one of the weakest surviving games. Hearthstone's anti-Blizzard baggage and poor historical strength made the outcome straightforward.

Celeste and Rayman Legends stayed extremely close for nearly the entire match before Celeste escaped with the win. The writeup celebrates it as the best match of an otherwise blowout-heavy opening round.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver obliterated Night in the Woods and immediately looked like a true proxy for the older Pokémon Gold and Silver games. The result put Skyrim on notice for a possible later matchup.

Mario Kart 8 upset Uncharted 4 and continued Uncharted's history of collapsing as a high seed. The writeup treats the result as proof that Mario Kart's Switch-era success had erased much of its old Wii U weakness.

Final Fantasy XIV beat Crypt of the NecroDancer and looked better than many expected from an MMO on GameFAQs. The writeup treats the result as evidence that the game's strong modern reputation had translated into real contest value.

Journey beat Fate / Grand Order in a matchup the writeup expected to identify one of the weakest Round Two entrants. The result reflects GameFAQs' limited interest in mobile gacha games more than meaningful Journey strength.

Skyrim crushed Subnautica but looked weak in the opening board vote compared with The Witcher 3 and Dark Souls. The writeup treats that early weakness as a major warning for a game many had picked to reach the final.

The Last of Us routed Crusader Kings II but failed to match the strongest statements from the division. The writeup treats the result as a warning for its planned showdown with Dark Souls.

Diablo III crushed Virtue's Last Reward despite an absurdly anti-Blizzard Board 8 opening vote. The writeup treats the result more as evidence of VLR's extreme niche weakness than as a Blizzard rebound.

BioShock Infinite doubled Terraria but still looked weak because Terraria was later treated as one of the bracket's poorest games. The writeup sees the result as another sign that BioShock's peak had passed.

Batman: Arkham City beat Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but the margin was close enough to create concern about Batman's deeper prospects. The writeup also treats Xenoblade 2 as a respectable loss for a relatively niche JRPG.

Metal Gear Solid V beat Dead Cells in a matchup whose pairing the writeup considers deliberately ironic because both revolve around missing or phantom body parts. The result itself did little to repair Metal Gear's declining reputation.

Yakuza 0 beat The Witness and gave the long-promoted Board 8 franchise a straightforward contest win. The writeup treats the result as validation of Yakuza's growing visibility more than proof of major strength.

Rocket League narrowly beat Dragon Ball FighterZ in one of the opening round's first genuinely uncertain matches. The writeup remembers the matchup mainly for finally providing close-match drama after a long run of blowouts.

Dark Souls obliterated Hotline Miami and immediately confirmed the writeup's belief that the franchise had gained major respect over the decade. The performance pushed Dark Souls into serious divisional-title consideration.

Red Dead Redemption 2 demolished Dying Light in a completely routine top-seed-style matchup. The writeup treats the blowout mainly as a necessary first test before much stronger opposition arrived.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf beat Street Fighter V after years of weak Animal Crossing contest history. The writeup sees the win as evidence that the series had become more relevant, while Street Fighter V's poor reputation made the matchup easier.

Kingdom Hearts III beat Disco Elysium comfortably but looked weak compared with Portal 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2. The writeup treats the result as a serious underperformance for a major franchise entry.

Portal 2 handled Tomb Raider in a routine first-round match without producing the kind of statement its supporters wanted. The writeup still treats Portal 2 as the most likely divisional finalist entering Round Two.

Super Meat Boy crushed Slay the Spire and gave Board 8's guru nomination a rare clean contest win. Combined with Sonic Mania's weak showing, the result fueled hopes for a much bigger upset next round.

Sonic Mania beat Ys VIII but performed badly enough to inspire real second-round upset talk around Super Meat Boy. The writeup treats the weak showing as a significant warning despite the comfortable win.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag beat Civilization V in a matchup the writeup considers a low-tier 8/9 contest. The winner is treated as merely earning the right to face a much stronger Persona 5.

Persona 5 crushed Heavy Rain and reinforced how completely the Persona series had entered the GameFAQs mainstream. The writeup treats Persona 5 as one of the bracket's easiest games to trust in the early rounds.

God of War annihilated The Talos Principle and looked every bit like a serious heavyweight. The writeup notes that The Witcher 3's simultaneous performance still kept God of War's division path looking difficult.

Nioh upset The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth after nearly every prediction group favored Isaac. The writeup treats the result as another warning that the contest's 2017-era Souls-style games were much stronger than expected.

Dark Souls III handled Dishonored without difficulty and continued the broader pattern of Souls games outperforming expectations. The writeup uses the result mainly to strengthen confidence in the franchise as a whole.

Fallout: New Vegas crushed The Stanley Parable in a routine first-round mismatch. The writeup treats the win as modest reassurance that Fallout had not suffered as much from Bethesda backlash as some feared.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 produced one of the contest's most extreme first-round blowouts against Return of the Obra Dinn. The writeup also criticizes the seeding that placed both games far from where their strength suggested they belonged.

Stardew Valley demolished Destiny and emerged as one of the strongest-looking indie games of the opening round. The writeup still cautions that Destiny's extreme unpopularity may have exaggerated the performance.

Mass Effect 3 beat StarCraft II much more decisively than their franchises' older matchup suggested. The writeup treats the result as redemption for Mass Effect 3 and another sign of Blizzard's declining contest strength.

The Witcher 3 obliterated Assassin's Creed Odyssey and immediately looked transformed from its 2015 form. The writeup treats the result as a championship-level statement even if some of the margin came from overlap.

SFF: Ctes explicitly says The Witcher 3 held the SFF hammer over Assassin's Creed Odyssey because of their overlapping open-world appeal and that the effect hit hard.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses won comfortably but looked much weaker than expected next to Xenoblade Chronicles. The writeup treats Smash-related anti-voting and Fire Emblem's familiar tendency to underperform as serious warning signs.

Ori and the Blind Forest upset Dragon Age: Inquisition after taking control early and never truly surrendering it. The writeup credits Dragon Age's decline and Ori's recent sequel and Switch exposure as major background factors.

Overwatch beat Death Stranding in a matchup the writeup frames as a battle between two widely disliked games. The result is treated as more a failure by Death Stranding than a meaningful endorsement of Overwatch.

Xenoblade Chronicles crushed Splatoon 2 and instantly became a serious divisional contender. Even allowing for heavy Nintendo overlap, the writeup treats the performance as one of the round's biggest statements.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Xenoblade Chronicles versus Splatoon 2 an SFF beatdown and says Splatoon was especially vulnerable to being suppressed by a stronger Nintendo favorite.

Red Dead Redemption routed Ghost Trick and produced almost the same kind of opening statement as Persona 4 Golden. That set up their coming second-round match as one of the bracket's clearest tossups.

Persona 4 Golden crushed FTL and immediately looked like a serious threat to escape a crowded division. The writeup treats Golden as functioning essentially like the original Persona 4 despite its Vita-only status.

Cuphead beat XCOM 2 comfortably and strengthened the early-contest belief that some indie games had real GameFAQs strength. Its fast start also helped create early hype for a possible upset of Grand Theft Auto V.

Grand Theft Auto V beat Baba Is You but was briefly embarrassed by Board 8 anti-GTA voting at the start. The writeup treats the result as another example of GTA's unusual inability to produce clean blowouts even against extremely weak opposition.

Super Mario Odyssey produced an enormous rout that immediately made people reconsider whether Smash Ultimate was the obvious divisional favorite. Mortal Kombat's collapse was so severe that the writeup treats it as one of the strangest results of the round.

SFF: The writeup says Mortal Kombat 11 was buried under layers of SFF against Super Mario Odyssey, making its already poor showing even harder to interpret naturally.

Devil May Cry 5 beat Tropical Freeze in a debated matchup and gave the series long-awaited redemption after years of weak game-contest results. The writeup treats the win as a major correction to Devil May Cry's poor historical reputation.

Shovel Knight beat Dragon's Dogma comfortably, though the writeup considers the performance merely solid rather than evidence of the huge indie strength some had expected. Undertale's simultaneous loss overshadowed most discussion of the match.

Octopath Traveler upset defending champion Undertale after the outside rally that defined 2015 never materialized. The writeup treats Undertale's relatively respectable loss as evidence that it retained a real fanbase even after its rally era ended.

Minecraft crushed Dota 2 despite the writeup's complaint that Minecraft should not have been eligible under the contest's release-year rules. Dota never received the rally some feared and is treated as another example of rallybait collapsing naturally.

Marvel's Spider-Man demolished Dead Space 2 and gave a licensed superhero game an unusually strong contest showing. The writeup uses the result to argue that high-quality licensed games can possess real GameFAQs strength.

A Link Between Worlds comfortably beat Bayonetta despite the latter's Nintendo and Smash associations. The writeup explicitly says the match did not look like SFF and instead treats both games as legitimate within their natural strength.

Smash Ultimate annihilated Tekken 7 and looked every bit like the division's overwhelming favorite. Much of the writeup uses the result to celebrate Smash's dominance over traditional fighting-game expectations.

Bloodborne crushed Black Ops while the writeup marvels at how completely Call of Duty's old contest relevance had vanished. The result also exposed casual bracketmakers who still gave the famous shooter too much credit.

Fire Emblem: Awakening beat Deus Ex but failed to look strong enough for the deeper run many bracketmakers wanted. The writeup treats the result as a clear warning after simultaneous games in the division posted much stronger performances.

DOOM demolished INSIDE and looked far stronger than many had expected from a modern shooter. The writeup later concludes that INSIDE was simply one of the weakest games in the bracket rather than a meaningful strength test.

Resident Evil 2 crushed Danganronpa 2 and immediately looked much stronger than Mass Effect 2 had in the same division. The writeup treats the result as confirmation that the remake's acclaim translated into major contest strength.

Horizon Zero Dawn obliterated Fortnite after rally fear and casual recognition had made the matchup look more uncertain on paper than it really was. The writeup treats the rout as another sign that GameFAQs' remaining voters strongly reject casualbait.

Borderlands 2 beat Bloodstained but performed much worse than expected for the fourpack favorite. The writeup treats Bloodstained as respectable while still calling the result a major warning for Borderlands.

Fallout 4 handled VVVVVV and initially seemed to avoid the Bethesda backlash many expected. The writeup later treats that apparent stability as misleading once Fallout's deeper weaknesses became clearer.

Mass Effect 2 beat Resident Evil 7 but looked far too weak for a supposed division favorite facing a 16-seed. The writeup treats Resident Evil 7 as clearly underseeded and the result as an immediate warning for Mass Effect.

Dragon Quest XI crushed the Board 8-backed Trails in the Sky SC and finally gave Dragon Quest a genuinely strong contest performance. The writeup views the blowout as partly amplified by extreme fanbase overlap.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says the matchup reeks of SFF, arguing that Dragon Quest XI and Trails in the Sky SC appeal to an unusually overlapping JRPG audience.

Bastion upset The Walking Dead and reinforced the writeup's view that the franchise's mainstream popularity never translated into GameFAQs contest strength. The result also rewarded skepticism toward supposedly safer casual picks.

Sekiro beat Ni no Kuni in almost the same pattern as Monster Hunter's simultaneous win, leaving their future head-to-head hard to project. The writeup's most distinctive commentary is the unusually strong Board 8 dislike for Ni no Kuni.

Monster Hunter: World beat Bravely Default in a stable newcomer matchup whose trends closely mirrored the simultaneous Sekiro poll. The writeup sees the result as solid but not decisive evidence for the next round.

Hollow Knight crushed Tales of Berseria after many Board 8 experts had talked themselves out of the obvious pick. The blowout immediately made the coming Final Fantasy XV matchup look much more dangerous.

Final Fantasy XV beat one of the bracket's weakest-looking indie entries but not by enough to impress the writeup. The result is treated as the first warning that FFXV might struggle badly against Hollow Knight.

Halo: Reach beat Life is Strange despite significant pre-match distrust rooted in Halo's long history of underperforming on GameFAQs. The writeup treats the win as routine enough while still emphasizing how far Halo's reputation had fallen.

Breath of the Wild opened the contest with an enormous rout and immediately looked like the obvious championship favorite. The writeup frames the result as the start of a Zelda redemption tour after the prior games contest.

Link beat Cloud again in the grand final and completed an overwhelmingly dominant championship run. The writeup treats Cloud merely breaking through Link's usual ceiling as the only real drama and uses the finale to reflect on the contest's collapsing turnout.

Cloud erased Zelda's early lead with the same night-to-day trend reversal he had just used against Mario. The writeup treats the loss as Zelda finally running out of momentum after her extraordinary run rather than evidence that her breakout was false.

Cloud finally beat Mario in their long-awaited 1v1 rematch, reversing the old trend pattern and surviving Mario's late reputation for clutch finishes. The writeup credits Cloud's Smash-era boost and possible anti-Mario sentiment rather than a confirmed current rally.

Link erased Zelda's brief opening lead and won the Legends Bracket comfortably. The writeup treats Zelda's relatively strong same-series showing as one more sign that her 2018 boost was real.

SFF: The writeup frames Link as the site's strongest SFF character and treats Zelda's ability to retain substantial support in a direct same-series match as unusually impressive resistance.

Mario survived Samus by the narrowest margin after hours of lead changes and an extraordinary final stretch. The writeup treats it as the best match of the contest and a reopening of their supposedly settled rivalry.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes active late match vote pushes, including Samus rallies, porn-site rallies, workplace solicitation and the author's own last-minute requests for Mario votes. It also reports contemporaneous accusations that Mario supporters were vote stuffing, though no fraud is established.

Cloud beat Crono again by almost the same margin as their sprite-round meeting. The writeup uses the near-identical rematch to reject claims that the earlier sprite pictures materially distorted the result.

SFF: The writeup says there was likely a small amount of SFF between Cloud and Crono because their fanbases overlap as flagship Square RPG protagonists.

Samus crushed Solid Snake and reinforced the writeup's long-held view that Snake loses much of his support against Nintendo characters. Historical rallying from their 2013 meeting is discussed, but not treated as part of this match.

Crono erased Mega Man's lead, survived a long stretch of back-and-forth voting, and finally won a close match late. The writeup celebrates the result as rare clutch success for a character associated with painful contest losses.

Zelda beat Mario after leading essentially the entire match and pulled away late to deepen her extraordinary 2018 run. The writeup treats the win as a genuine strength result even though some outside rallying also occurred.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Zelda received porn-site rallies during the match, while also stating that she was strong enough to beat Mario without them.

Link continued the long-running Link-Cloud rivalry with another dominant win and looked more overwhelming than ever. The writeup treats Cloud's inability to threaten him as evidence that Link remained completely untouchable without extraordinary outside intervention.

Samus crushed Tifa again in a nearly identical rematch of their earlier Legends Bracket meeting. The writeup sees the repeat as unnecessary but definitive proof that Tifa was not on Samus's level.

Solid Snake beat Sonic more decisively than Zelda had, reigniting arguments about the usefulness of extrapolated statistics after Zelda had beaten Snake directly. The writeup uses the result to emphasize that individual matchups do not obey clean transitive logic.

Crono beat Bowser in an almost exact repeat of their earlier Legends Bracket match. The writeup criticizes the double-elimination layout for producing a rematch with nearly identical trends and no new information.

Mega Man reversed his earlier loss to Pikachu and controlled the rematch after the opening minutes. The writeup calls the revenge satisfying but less meaningful because it happened in the losers bracket.

Mario beat Samus in their long-awaited 1v1 rematch, but the match stayed close enough to validate years of arguments that Samus could compete with him. The writeup treats the result as an unusually satisfying resolution to their old rivalry.

Zelda demolished Sonic in the largest of the contest's Noble Nine-breaking results. The writeup treats Zelda as plainly stronger rather than rally-assisted and calls the loss one of Sonic's worst career performances.

Cloud beat Crono much more comfortably than the pre-match upset discussion suggested. The writeup explicitly rejects SFF as the explanation and credits Cloud's Smash appearance with restoring enough strength to dominate the matchup.

Link overwhelmed Pikachu and continued his untouchable 2018 run. Pikachu's result is still framed positively because he had already broken the Noble Nine and appeared to resist most of Link's usual same-fanbase suppression.

SFF: The writeup says Pikachu likely suffered a small amount of Nintendo SFF under Link, while emphasizing that Pokémon resisted the effect unusually well.

Tifa upset Sephiroth after controlling the early hours and held on despite his later recovery. The writeup treats the result as the burial of Sephiroth's old elite status and one of Tifa's defining wins.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Tifa's win the first confirmed case of Reverse SFF, with the usual same-fanbase hierarchy flipping against Sephiroth.

Solid Snake crushed Auron and used the matchup as another counterexample to complaints that Snake's old sprite hurts him. The writeup treats Auron as the weakest Legends Bracket entrant and Snake as clearly above him.

Bowser eventually pulled away from Alucard, but Alucard stayed competitive long enough to validate his surprising divisional run. The writeup treats the loss as a strong final statement for Alucard rather than an embarrassment.

Mega Man routed Ganondorf in the losers bracket and made the pre-match expectations look far too conservative. The writeup spends much of its analysis rejecting claims that Ganondorf's sprite picture caused the poor result.

Mario finally avenged years of losses to Sephiroth by beating him decisively. The writeup frames the result as the emotional payoff to one of Mario's oldest contest frustrations and another sign of Sephiroth's decline.

Samus demolished Tifa and erased memories of their much closer 2006 meeting. The writeup treats the rout as proof that Tifa's excellent main-bracket run still had a clear ceiling against truly elite opposition.

Sonic beat Auron without serious danger, but the writeup considers the showing weak for a Noble Nine character. Auron's respectable resistance reinforced doubts about Sonic's 2018 form.

Zelda narrowly beat Solid Snake after a long fight in which Snake repeatedly threatened to retake control. The writeup treats the victory as the match that buried the old Noble Nine order and confirmed Zelda's elite-level rise.

SFF: The writeup says Snake's Nintendo-derived support consistently abandons him against Nintendo characters and identifies that overlap, combined with Zelda's boost, as a major reason he lost this match.

Crono beat Bowser without much danger and finally earned his first 1v1 contest win in many years. The writeup treats the result as a modest restoration of Crono's old status rather than a return to championship form.

Cloud beat Alucard comfortably, but Alucard performed far better than in their early-contest meetings. The writeup treats the loss as confirmation that Alucard's breakout run reflected genuine strength rather than only a weak division.

Pikachu beat Mega Man in a record-setting wire-to-wire thriller after multiple lead changes and a final late push. The writeup treats the result as the first clean 24-hour 1v1 Noble Nine break, even though Mega Man won the raw vote before registered-user weighting.

Link opened the Legends Bracket by crushing Ganondorf, though the margin was less extreme than their famous older matchup. The writeup treats the result as heavily distorted by Zelda-series overlap rather than a clean measure of Ganondorf's strength.

SFF: The writeup treats Link's domination of Ganondorf as a clear SFF result, noting that Ganondorf is much stronger than the raw margin suggests and that Zelda resists Link's SFF better.

Sephiroth unexpectedly crushed Ryu and produced by far his strongest-looking result of the main bracket. The writeup uses the match to argue that reports of Sephiroth's collapse had gone too far.

Tifa beat Luigi after a close opening and pulled away without needing the rallying that had decided her Mega Man X match. The win completed one of the main bracket's toughest divisional paths.

Auron finally ended Geralt's string of close wins and claimed the division, though Geralt remained competitive enough to validate his newcomer run. The writeup treats the result as the natural endpoint once Geralt met a proven upper-midcarder.

Zelda crushed Aerith and finished a division where every win had looked dominant. The writeup treats Aerith's record 15-seed run as impressive but completely overmatched once it reached Zelda.

Bowser upset the heavily favored Kirby and repeated his old head-to-head superiority despite most mid-contest predictions flipping toward Kirby. The writeup treats Bowser's broader Mario appeal and recent relevance as more durable than Kirby's apparent momentum.

Alucard decisively beat Pokémon Trainer Red and completed the unexpected divisional run almost no one had predicted before the contest. The writeup celebrates the long-running 'Plan' joke finally paying off.

Pikachu beat Zero comfortably and won another division, continuing the mascot's standout run while most other Pokémon characters disappointed. The writeup sees Pikachu as clearly stronger than the rest of his franchise's field.

Ganondorf beat Vivi after an early struggle, but Vivi stayed close enough to reinforce his reputation as an unusually durable Final Fantasy character. The writeup believes Nintendo and Zelda momentum were just enough to decide the matchup.

Ryu comfortably ended KOS-MOS's unlikely run through one of the weakest sections of the bracket. The writeup treats the result as a return to normal after KOS-MOS reached Round Three for the first time.

Sephiroth beat Amaterasu in the familiar pattern of losing early support and steadily climbing, but the writeup considers the final showing weaker than his old form. The result is treated as a subtle warning before stronger opposition.

Mega Man X and Tifa traded leads throughout one of the contest's best matches before outside support became decisive late. Tifa's final rally push erased X's last advantage and carried her through the divisional thriller.

Rally: The writeup describes organized pushes for both Mega Man X and Tifa, including subreddit and outside-site rallies. It explicitly says Tifa's broader rally sources supplied the final push that decided the match.

Luigi demolished Tails in the biggest blowout of the round and ended Tails's surprise run. The writeup treats the result as another example of the Mario side dominating Sonic-family characters under overlapping fanbases.

SFF: Tsunami explicitly calls Luigi versus Tails an SFF matchup and argues that Mario-family strength suppresses the Sonic-side character in this cross-franchise Nintendo-adjacent rivalry.

Auron beat Sub-Zero in another remarkably similar rematch between two characters who had repeatedly met before. The writeup finds the consistency more interesting than the outcome itself.

Bayonetta led for much of the match, but Geralt again used the overnight and morning vote to complete a comeback. The writeup treats the win as another entertaining step in an unusually strong newcomer run.

Aerith beat Fox in a nearly static match and extended the deepest run ever by a 15-seed. The writeup emphasizes the historic seeding achievement more than the competitiveness of the poll.

Zelda destroyed Squall in the match that fully established her as the star of the main bracket. The writeup treats the scale of the win as evidence of a genuine Breath of the Wild and Smash-era boost, not a rally.

Kirby demolished Phoenix and erased the significance of Phoenix's narrow rules-assisted win over Ike. The blowout made Kirby the popular favorite over Bowser despite older evidence favoring Bowser.

2B performed respectably in defeat against Bowser and convinced the writeup she belonged in the midcard. At the same time, the loss confirmed that her top seed was far too generous.

Alucard crushed pre-contest favorite Kefka and turned what had looked like a wide-open division into his breakout run. The writeup attributes Alucard's rise to a mix of Castlevania revival, Netflix exposure and Smash visibility.

Red beat Big Boss but struggled enough to make both Pokémon and Metal Gear strength difficult to interpret. The writeup uses the close result as evidence that Red's multiway reputation had overstated his 1v1 power.

Pikachu beat Yoshi in their long-awaited first direct matchup and looked like the only Pokémon character consistently meeting high expectations. The Detective Pikachu trailer arriving the same day is noted as favorable timing.

Zero comfortably ended Wario's run through a weak part of the bracket and looked exactly like the reliable upper-midcard favorite expected of him. Wario's respectable share still surprised the writeup.

Vivi beat Donkey Kong for the third time in nearly identical fashion, continuing one of the contest's strangest recurring rivalries. The writeup concludes that Donkey Kong's apparent revival had been overstated.

Ganondorf comfortably eliminated the contest's top overall seed Dante in a match that barely moved. The writeup treats the loss as proof Dante was badly overseeded rather than evidence of a close divisional race.

KOS-MOS upset Aqua and reached Round Three for the first time, despite much of the writeup framing her as an unlikely survivor of an exceptionally weak fourpack. The result is linked to renewed visibility from guest appearances rather than cheating.

Ryu crushed Commander Shepard and made Mass Effect's character decline look severe. The writeup treats Ryu's Smash exposure as part of a broader rise while Shepard never recovered old strength.

Amaterasu beat Lara despite low pre-contest confidence, but the writeup considers the modest margin another example of Amaterasu rarely producing decisive results. Lara's modern games are said to have done little for her contest standing.

Sephiroth briefly allowed Captain Falcon an opening before settling into the expected comfortable win. The writeup treats the result as evidence that claims of Sephiroth's collapse had been exaggerated.

Mega Man X overwhelmed Ocelot and finally produced a clean comparison that made X look near-elite. Ocelot's poor showing added to the wider Metal Gear decline narrative.

Tifa crushed Mewtwo in a matchup many had once imagined favoring the Pokémon character. The writeup uses the result to reject Mewtwo's rally-inflated 2013 reputation and to establish Tifa as a serious threat.

Tails upset Master Chief and controlled the match from early on, turning a fan-favorite gamble into one of the writeup's most satisfying picks. The result also continued Master Chief's long contest decline.

Luigi beat Frog comfortably in a routine matchup that offered little suspense. The source's 'Green SFF' line is a color joke rather than a substantive claim about shared fanbases.

Sub-Zero doubled Claire in the straightforward result the writeup expected from this fourpack. Claire's easy defeat is used as another example of Resident Evil's damaged contest strength.

Auron comfortably beat Vincent and reinforced the writeup's view that Vincent had fallen sharply from his mid-2000s peak. Board 8 overwhelmingly expected the result despite old faith in Final Fantasy VII's intra-series strength.

Bayonetta beat Pac-Man in a match that stayed close by percentage but never developed into an actual rally or comeback. The writeup is more puzzled by Pac-Man's unexpected strength than impressed by the drama.

Simon led early and kept Geralt tied for hours before Geralt took control late at night. The writeup celebrates the match as another close, entertaining step in Geralt's newcomer run.

Aerith beat Captain Toad without much movement and became the first 15-seed to win three matches. The writeup treats her run as a historic seeding oddity even though the path itself was unusually weak.

The writeup is mostly an enormous political and Blizzard retrospective; the actual match is summarized as Fox crushing a weak D.Va after the feared rally never appeared.

Zelda crushed The Boss and made her coming match with Squall look increasingly favorable. The writeup treats Breath of the Wild and broader Nintendo momentum as convincing explanations for Zelda's dramatic rise.

Squall beat Garrus as expected but failed to dominate as strongly as the writeup anticipated. The result is remembered as an early warning sign that Squall's top-seed run was much shakier than it appeared.

Kirby demolished Isaac in a matchup the writeup considers heavily distorted by shared Nintendo and handheld appeal. The blowout further strengthened Kirby's status as a division favorite.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Kirby versus Isaac an SFF match, arguing that Kirby's handheld-heavy Nintendo fanbase strongly overlaps with Golden Sun's audience.

Phoenix Wright narrowly advanced over Ike because registered-user votes counted double, even though Ike won the raw vote. The writeup treats the result as a rules-driven flip and another major disappointment in Ike's contest history.

Bowser decisively avenged his old loss to Charizard and ended hopes of another deep Pokémon run from the dragon. The writeup treats Bowser as fully legitimate and Charizard's earlier peak as heavily timing-dependent.

2B upset the Board 8 favorite Ness and established herself as a legitimate midcard character, though the writeup still considers her badly overseeded as a top seed. The win is attributed to real strength rather than any outside intervention.

Kefka followed his first-round escape with a routine blowout of Bomberman. The writeup finds the near-repeat of Kefka's prior percentage on L-Block funnier than the actual match.

Alucard beat Yuna far more comfortably than pre-contest expectations suggested and continued his recurring habit of producing deep contest runs. The writeup treats Yuna's loss as another sign of Final Fantasy X's long-term decline.

Big Boss barely beat Crash in a matchup that was expected to be routine, turning a presumed blowout into another warning about Metal Gear's collapse. The writeup gives Crash substantial credit for his continuing nostalgia-driven rebound.

Red built a large lead, watched Sora erase much of it, then survived with help from a late Pokémon subreddit push. The writeup treats the match as both a legitimate close contest and a direct example of a small rally deciding the outcome.

Rally: The writeup says Pokémon Trainer Red was rallied through posts to the Pokémon subreddit during Sora's comeback, and explicitly states that the outside traffic made the difference.

Pikachu beat a recently boosted Kratos comfortably and continued to look like the strongest Pokémon character in the bracket. The writeup treats Kratos's God of War revival as making the win more impressive than the raw matchup first appears.

Yoshi crushed Velvet in another unusually lopsided later-round match, though the writeup warns that both of Yoshi's opponents had been extremely weak. The result leaves his true strength unresolved heading into a much harder matchup.

Wario comfortably eliminated Master Hand after the joke and rally support some expected for the Smash boss never appeared. The writeup treats Wario's first deeper run as more a product of bracket luck than newfound strength.

Zero beat Knuckles by almost exactly the sort of margin historical strength estimates suggested, ending another unlucky Knuckles run against elite opposition. The writeup treats Knuckles as legitimate despite yet another early exit.

Donkey Kong upset Leon in one of the contest's most surprising veteran-versus-veteran results, punishing an overwhelming expert lean toward Resident Evil. The writeup treats the match as clean evidence of Nintendo's rise and Leon's weakness.

Vivi demolished Aya Brea and looked much stronger than Ganondorf had in the neighboring match. Because Vivi's first two opponents were both weak, the writeup still hesitates to declare exactly how strong he really was.

Ganondorf beat Chun-Li but looked far weaker than expected for a character many had viewed as a likely division winner. The writeup treats the poor performance as a major warning, while explicitly dismissing earlier complaints about his sprite picture.

Dante opened the next stage by comfortably eliminating Lightning, whose Final Fantasy XIII baggage left her unable to threaten him. The writeup treats the result as another solid Dante performance without much suspense.

Aqua comfortably beat Quiet in a matchup that had looked more debatable before the contest exposed Metal Gear Solid V's weakness. The writeup treats the result as a routine close to an overlong first round.

KOS-MOS upset Ellie despite an outside appeal for The Last of Us fans to vote. The writeup treats the result as another case where GameFAQs' old-JRPG preferences overwhelmed the popularity of a major recent Western game.

Rally: The writeup quotes an Ellie supporter posting to The Last of Us community and explicitly asking people to visit GameFAQs and vote for her during the match.

Commander Shepard survived an unexpectedly strong King K. Rool challenge after trailing for much of the opening portion of the match. The writeup blames Mass Effect's decline and K. Rool's Smash boost for making the result far closer than expected.

Ryu routed Lloyd in another demonstration that the Tales series had little character-contest strength. The writeup treats Ryu as a durable veteran who remained comfortably above ordinary fodder despite years of decline.

Lara Croft comfortably beat a Board 8-backed Robot Master whose real accomplishment was reaching the bracket. The writeup frames the match primarily as a celebration of the community nomination campaign behind Metal Man.

Amaterasu annihilated former champion Draven after the League rally machine that carried him in 2013 failed to return. The writeup treats the result as both catharsis and the contest's clearest proof that old rallybait had lost its power.

Captain Falcon beat newly Smash-boosted Richter comfortably and erased the upset hype created by Richter's recent announcement. The writeup treats Falcon's long Smash pedigree as more valuable than Richter's fresh exposure.

Sephiroth beat Wesker comfortably but failed to look as dominant as a Noble Nine character once would have against similar opposition. The writeup treats the result as another sign that Sephiroth had clearly declined from his peak.

Mega Man X obliterated Isabelle and immediately looked like one of the strongest characters in the main bracket. The writeup treats the blowout as a rare modern performance resembling the massive margins of the earliest contests.

Ocelot survived Dedede in a wire-to-wire thriller where neither side ever established a secure advantage. The writeup remembers the match as a record-level close contest and notes that even a small outside push mattered.

Rally: The writeup says a small Reddit rally helped Revolver Ocelot avoid an upset during an extremely close match with King Dedede.

Mewtwo beat GLaDOS comfortably and resisted pre-match claims that his earlier deep runs had made him look stronger than he really was. The writeup treats the performance as a solid validation of his natural mid-to-high strength.

Tifa routed Geno and remained one of the few Final Fantasy VII characters still looking consistently strong. The writeup also uses the match to revisit Geno's extraordinary history of repeated contest appearances without a win.