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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.

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.

Kefka completed another bracket-wrecking upset by beating both Altair and Lara, while the two Western icons fought to the final minutes for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. Altair barely survived Lara's late comeback.

LFF: The writeup says Altair and Lara likely drained each other through overlapping Western-franchise appeal, helping Kefka dominate while their second-place fight stayed unusually close.

Lara Croft delivered her strongest-looking contest performance in years after the series reboot, while Slime took second in the Expert Challenge ordering. The writeup treats Lara's resurgence as the main surprise.

Squall took control immediately, while Sora decisively reversed his old loss to Aeris. Aeris nearly fell behind Lara as well, making the writeup treat the result as a sharp confirmation of her decline.

LFF: The writeup argues that Squall's presence hurt fellow Square entrant Aeris far more than Sora, helping Sora reverse their old matchup and advance comfortably.

Sora controlled the match while Wesker briefly made the fight with Lara genuinely competitive. Lara eventually pulled away, but the writeup regards Wesker's showing as surprisingly strong despite a potentially damaging picture.

Pic: The writeup says Wesker's ugly match picture may have hurt him in his close fight with Lara for the second advancing spot.

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.

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.

Samus demolished former top seed Lara Croft far more decisively than the writeup expected, turning an obvious win into a major statement about Samus's rising strength. Lara's showing is framed as another step in a steep decline from her early contest status.

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.

Crono demolished top-seeded Lara after her earlier matches had already exposed warning signs. The writeup treats Lara as a seeding fraud and Crono's performance as proof that his unexpected run had become a legitimate championship threat.

Lara beat Ryo in an uneventful match, but once again failed to look like a true top seed against weak opposition. The writeup treats the result as another warning that stronger East Division entrants were likely to expose her.

Lara won comfortably, but the writeup treats the showing as poor for a top seed facing an obscure opponent. It argues that her first match already exposed serious overseeding and declining support.