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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.

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.

Metal Gear Solid 3 narrowly beat the original Metal Gear Solid in the long-awaited intra-series comparison. The writeup celebrates the close but stable result as a rare feel-good moment in an otherwise disappointing contest for the franchise.

Super Mario RPG completed its breakout by decisively upsetting Resident Evil 4 after several rounds of RE4 warning signs. The writeup treats the win as the payoff to Mario RPG's nostalgia-driven run and Resident Evil's decline.

Majora's Mask rode spillover and presentation advantages to a large early lead, but A Link to the Past slowly erased it and won with the morning vote. The match became a clear demonstration of how quickly rally spillover could fade.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says rally spillover from the previous Undertale-Pokémon match strongly favored Majora's Mask early. It also says Majora had a clear picture advantage over A Link to the Past.

Ocarina of Time routed Symphony of the Night in the divisional final, but still looked weaker than historical comparisons suggested. The writeup explicitly says rally spillover had virtually no effect here.

Super Mario 64 beat Skyrim comfortably while the neighboring rally war boosted Mario's support. The match remained stable despite the outside traffic and ended Skyrim's respectable run.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Pokémon-Undertale rally traffic favored Super Mario 64 and inflated its showing against Skyrim, even though it did not change the winner.

Pokémon RBY appeared to have finally stopped Undertale after building a massive lead while matching its early rallying. A sudden late social-media flood then overwhelmed Pokémon and turned the match into one of Undertale's defining comebacks.

Rally: The writeup describes a full rally war: Pokémon built a huge lead with its own outside support, then an enormous late Undertale Twitter surge erased the deficit and reversed the match.

Final Fantasy VI's early board-vote resistance quickly disappeared as Final Fantasy VII took control. Spillover from the Melee rally widened an already likely FFVII win and erased hopes based on an earlier non-contest poll.

Rally: The writeup says the simultaneous Melee rally favored Final Fantasy VII over Final Fantasy VI and amplified FFVII's existing lead, helping turn the match into a larger rout.

Chrono Trigger looked ready to crush Melee until Smash fans mobilized across Reddit, social media and community sites. The rally flipped the match and stopped each comeback, ending Chrono Trigger's apparent path toward the championship.

Rally: The writeup says a rapidly spreading Smash community rally erased Chrono Trigger's large early lead and repeatedly countered every later Chrono comeback attempt.

Mega Man survived both Zero's overlap and Charizard's late lead, then completed a furious final push to take the match. The writeup remembers the finish as the long-awaited close-match breakthrough for a character with years of contest heartbreak.

LFF · Rally: The writeup says Zero clearly drained Mega Man through their heavy overlap. It also describes a massive late Mega Man fan rally that overturned Charizard's lead in the final minutes.

Red won comfortably, but Vivi's momentum carried him past Squall for second in the Expert Challenge ordering after the Mario upset. The writeup treats Vivi's placement as one of the contest's strangest strength reversals.

Samus controlled the simplest divisional final, with Tifa quickly taking second in the Expert Challenge ordering and L-Block never recreating its old magic. The writeup treats the match as a rare breather in an otherwise chaotic stretch.

Pikachu built a large lead, survived Sora's late comeback, and won despite sharing the poll with Pokémon Trainer Blue. The result sent another Pokémon character into the contest's final stretch and underscored how little strength Sora had left.

LFF: The writeup explicitly says Pikachu resisted Blue's LFF and that the second Pokémon entrant was the main reason Sora could keep the match competitive.

Squirtle beat Cloud outright in one of the contest's coolest Noble Nine upsets, surviving Cloud's overnight recovery and pulling away again late. The writeup emphasizes that Cloud's broader Final Fantasy VII decline made the impossible-looking result suddenly believable.

LFF: The writeup says Leon's overlapping PlayStation-oriented support hurt Cloud and played an important role in opening the door for Squirtle's upset.

Snake won easily while GLaDOS and Kefka spent nearly the entire match in an extraordinarily tight fight for second in the Expert Challenge ordering. GLaDOS finally survived by only a tiny margin after repeated lead changes.

Sephiroth survived an expected Kirby upset attempt after a long early deadlock, then unexpectedly dominated the morning and daytime vote. The writeup treats the result as a rare 2013 case where a Final Fantasy VII heavyweight reasserted himself.

Mewtwo crushed Sonic in a result made even more shocking by Sonic's failure to mount his usual daytime comeback. The win turned Mewtwo into the preferred anti-Draven hope for the remainder of the contest.

Rally: The writeup says rally spillover from the Link-Draven battle materially boosted Mewtwo, with Zen arguing that Sonic probably wins without that outside support.

Draven built a huge rally-driven lead, Link mounted two enormous comeback pushes, and a lengthy site slowdown became the center of a bitter controversy before Draven survived. The writeup treats the match as one of the most consequential and divisive events in GameFAQs contest history.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes enormous organized rallies for both Draven and Link throughout the match. It also alleges obvious late vote stuffing from Link's side, while quoting SBAllen's analysis that found no evidence of massive systematic stuffing overall.

Squall and Seifer survived Sora and Riku after a long match whose trends repeatedly defied expectations. Sora erased much of Squall's lead late, but his weak morning showing left too much ground to recover.

Cloud and Sephiroth unexpectedly rolled over Snake and Liquid, leaving the writeup searching among Metal Gear decline, Liquid's weakness, and possible overlap for an explanation. It treats the result mainly as evidence that Snake had fallen sharply.

Alucard and Dracula comfortably stopped Frog and Magus despite extremely low bracket confidence in the vampire pairing. The writeup calls their divisional win the contest's largest prediction upset.

Link and Ganondorf crushed Mega Man and Wily in another matchup the writeup considered too predictable to analyze at length. Link's dominance remained the only real story.

Samus and Ridley survived Big Boss and The Boss, but only after another performance badly weakened by Ridley's presence. The writeup calls it a second Pyrrhic victory and sees the upcoming trainers matchup as hopeless.

Red and Blue demolished Ryu and Ken in what had been a heavily anticipated rivalry matchup. The result made the Pokémon trainers the clear stars of the contest and a genuine threat to the remaining elite pairings.

Mega Man X and Zero won, but Sub-Zero and Scorpion stayed much closer than anyone expected despite never truly threatening the result. The writeup credits the Mortal Kombat pair with an unusually strong rivalry boost.

The first Mario-versus-Sonic rivalry matchup in contest history turned into a one-sided win for Mario and Bowser. The writeup treats the result as another example of Sonic collapsing under Mario overlap.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario and Bowser's win over Sonic and Robotnik an SFF beating.

Majora's Mask settled a long-running Zelda-series debate by beating Wind Waker decisively. The writeup argues the result did not require any special contest bandwagon because Majora was simply the more beloved title.

Metal Gear Solid 3 ended the Shadow of the Colossus Cinderella run in a match the writeup believes was heavily shaped by being held at night. Shadow stayed close, but MGS3's overnight strength controlled the decisive portion.

Portal's run ended against Resident Evil 4, but the writeup still considers the showing highly respectable and much stronger than old four-way statistics would have implied. It treats Portal as one of the contest's major success stories.

The same-series divisional final was never presented as a serious rivalry, and Final Fantasy IX was simply outclassed by Final Fantasy X. The writeup mostly uses the match to criticize how easy the division had been for FFX.

SFF: The writeup treats this as a Square SFF matchup, noting that Final Fantasy IX was suppressed by Final Fantasy X even if the effect was milder than some older Square pairings.

Twilight Princess overwhelmed Kingdom Hearts II far more decisively than their earlier four-way meeting had suggested. The writeup uses the result as another example of Zelda's exceptional 1v1 strength and the unreliability of four-way comparisons.

Melee built the early lead, but Brawl's European and morning strength completed the comeback and settled the rivalry for the bracket. The writeup argues that the timing format may have mattered enough to make the result less definitive than the rivalry deserved.

Metroid Prime controlled the match, while Half-Life 2's late gains suggested that a different time window might have produced a much closer result. The writeup explicitly says the heavily discussed pictures did not matter.

The poll disappeared entirely for the opening hour, but the eventual match gave Fallout 3 its first clear statement against a proven contest game. The writeup treats the result as the moment serious upset talk against Fallout largely died.

Sephiroth struggled badly against Tifa in what the writeup calls his worst performance, framing the weakness as extreme anti-voting magnified by anger over Missingno's elimination. The result effectively ended confidence in Sephiroth beating Snake.

Snake improved again against Squall in their latest rematch and looked strong throughout. The writeup treats the result as the point where a Snake upset of Sephiroth became the dominant expectation.

Cloud produced one of his strongest matches of the contest by overwhelming the usually consistent Ryu. The writeup treats it as a much-needed reminder that Cloud remained elite despite visible decline elsewhere.

Samus beat Zelda far more decisively than their previous meeting suggested was normal. The writeup sees a mix of Zelda decline and newly visible Nintendo suppression from Samus, further strengthening Samus's case against Cloud.

SFF: The writeup says Samus appears to have SFFed Zelda, contributing to a much stronger result than their earlier 1v1 history suggested.

Charizard upset Bowser on the release day of Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, which the writeup treats as exceptionally favorable timing for the Pokémon bandwagon. The convincing win completed one of the bracket's least likely divisional runs.

Mega Man's excellent run made the divisional final look more interesting than it had pre-contest, but Mario still won as expected. The writeup treats the result as another example of Mario resisting would-be upsets regardless of surrounding form.

Sonic beat Kirby comfortably and completed the collapse of years of hype that Ganondorf or Kirby might break the Noble Nine through him. The writeup treats Sonic as restored to roughly his traditional place.

Link finally produced the dominant performance the writeup had been waiting for and overwhelmed Luigi. The result largely erased doubts created by Link's earlier, more ordinary-looking matches.

Brawl decisively reversed its close Game of the Year history with Metal Gear Solid 4 and dominated the divisional final. The writeup treats the result as final proof that Brawl's contest strength was legitimate.

Twilight Princess took first, but Metal Gear Solid 3 built a substantial lead over Resident Evil 4 before RE4 spent most of the day slowly erasing it. Resident Evil 4 completed another close comeback and advanced.

Melee and Final Fantasy X advanced through a largely featureless staircase match. Kingdom Hearts briefly fought Diablo II for position but never threatened the top two once the PS2 split took hold.

LFF: The writeup says Kingdom Hearts was held down by its PS2 overlap with Final Fantasy X, preventing it from mounting a serious challenge for second.

Ocarina of Time won comfortably, while Pokémon RBY finally broke through against Metal Gear Solid and advanced. The result elevated Pokémon into the site's highest tier and exposed a recurring overlap between Metal Gear and Final Fantasy.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Ocarina of Time imposed Nintendo SFF on Pokémon RBY, though Pokémon resisted it unusually well. It also says Final Fantasy VIII leeched Metal Gear Solid and helped Pokémon take second.

Final Fantasy VII dominated, while Chrono Trigger built a real lead on Mario 64 before collapsing again with the afternoon vote. Mario 64's late recovery ended another promising Chrono Trigger upset attempt.

LFF: The writeup says GoldenEye clearly leeched Mario 64, giving Chrono Trigger a much better chance to steal the second advancing position.

A Link to the Past and Final Fantasy VI advanced in a match the writeup considered almost completely predetermined. The only notable fanbase effect was Link's Awakening taking especially heavy suppression.

SFF: The writeup says A Link to the Past SFFed Link's Awakening heavily and left both lower Nintendo games suppressed beneath Final Fantasy VI.

Mario 3 survived a sustained challenge from Mario World, but the writeup treats the narrow escape as evidence that World's relative strength had risen sharply. It also frames the result as part of a broader generational shift on GameFAQs.

SFF · LFF: The writeup says Mario 3 clearly SFFed Sonic. It also says the other older games leeched Mario World more heavily, making World's near-win over Mario 3 especially striking.

Mario still beat Zelda without being seriously threatened, but the margin collapsed compared with their prior matchup. The writeup treats the shift as evidence that Mario split more badly with the surrounding field and as setup for later surprises.

LFF: The writeup says Mega Man 2 and Tetris hurt Mario's support more than Zelda's, helping narrow the Mario-Zelda gap sharply from their previous meeting.

Sephiroth and Sonic advanced in a match the writeup considered essentially predetermined once Auron shared the field with Sephiroth. Sonic's solid showing quieted some of the criticism generated by his earlier loss.

SFF: The writeup says Sephiroth SFFed fellow Final Fantasy entrant Auron badly, preventing Auron from reproducing his prior win over Sonic.

Kirby continued his unexpected run by taking first, while Dante beat Master Chief in the meaningful fight for the other advancing position. The writeup remembers the match as a fun clash of very different contest identities.

Cloud dominated, while Mewtwo turned a seemingly unfavorable draw into one of the contest's largest surprises. Squall and Sora were left fighting each other for scraps behind the advancing pair.

SFF: The writeup says Cloud's presence created massive Square SFF against Squall and Sora, allowing outside entrant Mewtwo to capitalize and advance.

Snake controlled the match, while Mega Man and Weighted Companion Cube fought for the other advancing spot. The Cube's late surge completed another inanimate-object upset and ended Mega Man's run.

Rally: The writeup explicitly says Weighted Companion Cube rallied during its fight with Mega Man, producing the decisive swing that carried the Cube into the next round.

Pikachu finally ended L-Block's title defense after a tense early struggle, marking a major shift in both joke-character expectations and Pokémon's standing on the site. Crono advanced comfortably alongside him.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Crono SFFed Alucard into the floor, leaving the real advancing fight to Pikachu and L-Block.

Samus and Vincent advanced as expected, but Ganondorf collapsed so badly that Gordon Freeman escaped last place. The writeup treats the fanbase interaction as the defining feature of an otherwise predictable divisional final.

SFF · LFF: The writeup describes Ganondorf as heavily suppressed by Samus through their shared Nintendo support. It also says Ganondorf's presence drained Samus enough to tighten her comparison with outside contender Vincent.

Mario and Mega Man X advanced after an early fight that briefly made another Mario upset look possible. Luigi's collapse under Mario's presence removed the feared family interference and left Liquid out as well.

SFF: The writeup says Mario directly SFFed Luigi, leaving his brother far weaker than his standalone strength and clearing the way for Mega Man X to advance.

Link continued his dominant run, but Zack became the emotional center of the match by advancing again and driving the ZackFAQs bandwagon deeper into the bracket. Duke and Altair exited with respectable runs of their own.

Sonic held off Squall for first, but Squall remained unexpectedly competitive despite sharing support with Sora. The writeup treats Sonic's narrow-looking advantage as another sign that four-way matches exposed his weaknesses.

LFF: The writeup says Sora drained enough Square support from Squall that Squall probably would have beaten Sonic without Sora in the poll.

Snake eventually won, but L-Block dominated the opening and advanced with ease over Kratos and Riku. The writeup marks this as the first match where the joke entrant looked capable of threatening the contest's established elite directly.

Pikachu produced one of the contest's biggest shocks by taking first over a field of Capcom characters. The writeup treats the result as a major turning point in Pokémon's growing contest reputation.

LFF: The writeup says the three Capcom entrants divided overlapping support, creating the opening that allowed outside entrant Pikachu to beat them all.

Master Chief took first, while Luigi defeated Ganondorf in the fight for the other advancing spot. The writeup repeatedly points to Ganondorf's unfavorable first-appearance sprite as the decisive handicap.

Pic: The writeup says Ganondorf's ugly pig sprite hurt him badly against Luigi and likely reversed a matchup Ganondorf had previously won.

The anticipated Crono-Vincent showdown delivered a close race for the second advancing position, and Vincent ultimately broke through. The writeup treats the result as the first true breach of the Noble Nine and a major contest milestone.

Sephiroth beat Mario comfortably in a result that had become predictable by match day. The more notable secondary story was Fox collapsing in Mario's presence after looking strong against Nintendo opposition earlier.

SFF: The writeup says Mario heavily suppressed fellow Nintendo entrant Fox, leaving Fox far weaker than his prior-round performance suggested.

Cloud overwhelmed the field and further fueled speculation that he could challenge Link. Ryu advanced ahead of Auron, with the writeup treating Cloud's effect on Auron as central to the result.

LFF: The writeup says Cloud's shared Final Fantasy support held Auron down, allowing outside entrant Ryu to benefit and claim the other advancing position.

Samus and Mega Man produced a dramatic early duel before Samus eventually established control, while Yoshi and Scorpion fell away. The result strengthened the case that Samus had moved clearly ahead of Mega Man despite the unfavorable Nintendo overlap.

LFF: The writeup says Yoshi's Nintendo support hurt Samus more than Mega Man, making their early first-place battle much tighter than it otherwise would have been.

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.

Final Fantasy dispatched Resident Evil in a routine division final and completed the expected group of top seeds in the semifinals. The writeup treats the match mainly as another apparent confirmation that Final Fantasy remained championship material.

Super Smash Bros. performed far better than expected against Mario and resisted the heavy SFF that many had predicted. The writeup says the result established Smash as a major series while largely killing talk of Mario upsetting Final Fantasy.

Metal Gear beat Kingdom Hearts comfortably after a brief poll glitch mistakenly displayed Castlevania as the opponent. Once corrected, the match followed the expected pattern and sent Metal Gear into the Final Four without much drama.

Zelda crushed Metroid in the expected division final and produced another extreme Nintendo SFF result. The writeup treats the match as the latest entry in a long pattern of Samus and Metroid collapsing against stronger Nintendo opposition.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Zelda's suppression of Metroid was severe SFF and places it in a long history of Samus and Metroid performing badly against other Nintendo entrants.

Mega Man easily dispatched Yoshi and ended the divisional round. The writeup attributes Yoshi's underperformance partly to SFF and uses that result to swing the coming Sonic-Mega Man debate toward Mega Man.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Mega Man likely SFFed Yoshi because voters associate Mega Man strongly with Nintendo-era games.

Sonic shook off Tifa's early resistance and pulled away once his morning vote arrived. The writeup treats the match mostly as a final setup for the much less predictable Sonic-Mega Man quarterfinal.

Vincent survived one of the contest's best matches after Squall repeatedly erased and rebuilt tiny leads throughout the day. The win was a huge bracket buster, but the writeup calls it a Pyrrhic victory because Squall's resistance further damaged Vincent's elite reputation.

SFF: The writeup says a slight amount of SFF, together with anti-votes, likely held Squall back in the close Final Fantasy matchup.

Crono won comfortably, but Master Chief's powerful daytime recovery made the result look less convincing than expected. The writeup treats Chief as unusually non-transitive and questions whether Crono still looked capable of winning the tournament.

Bowser survived a strong challenge from Kirby and gradually built enough of a lead to take the division. The close result weakened confidence in Bowser before Snake, with the writeup considering reverse SFF as one possible explanation.

SFF: The writeup presents reverse SFF as a viable explanation for Kirby keeping the match unusually close, with Kirby's starring role and bracket support potentially suppressing Bowser's expected advantage.

Snake demolished Sora after entering the match somewhat underestimated. The writeup sees the result as both a statement of Snake's true strength and an example of a broader fanbase-overlap effect working against Sora.

SFF: The writeup rejects a simple PlayStation 2 explanation but argues that a broader form of SFF hurt Sora badly against Solid Snake.

Samus advanced as expected, but the writeup considers her showing against Ganondorf disappointing next to Mario's destruction of Zero. Her weak SFF performance is presented as a serious warning before the coming Mario matchup.

SFF: The writeup says Samus barely managed to SFF Ganondorf, with only enough suppression to offset Ganondorf's recent Zelda-series boost.

Mario turned a mildly debated division final into an immediate rout of Zero. The writeup treats the result as a major SFF statement and a warning that Mario and Nintendo were much stronger than the old statistics suggested.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario's win an SFF beatdown and argues that Mario was able to suppress Zero far beyond ordinary expectations.

The writeup spends most of its time reviewing years of disappointing Sonic-series contest performances, using Robotnik's lopsided loss to Ganondorf as the latest example.

Pic: The writeup says Ganondorf dominated despite an ugly Wind Waker picture and suggests Robotnik would have looked even worse against a stronger SSBM-style Ganondorf image.

Kefka led early, but Diablo's familiar daytime strength erased the lead and eventually turned the match into a comfortable win. The writeup celebrates Diablo's unlikely run to the Final Four after very few brackets had trusted him to get this far.

Sephiroth crushed Liquid far more thoroughly than old projections suggested, leaving the writeup struggling to explain what had happened to Liquid and the 2004 20XX group. The result reinforced Sephiroth's overwhelming status while making earlier statistics look suspect.

Bowser turned what had once looked like a possible upset spot into an easy division-clinching win. The writeup treats Ocelot's collapse as evidence that Bowser may have grown stronger since earlier contests.

Samus decisively settled her famous rivalry with Sonic after their controversial classic two years earlier. The writeup credits Samus's run of new games and Sonic's stagnation, while dismissing excuses for the lopsided rematch.

Cloud defeated Sephiroth comfortably despite the rematch carrying at least some plausible upset intrigue. The writeup says the win restored confidence in Cloud just before the expected showdown with Link.

Mega Man beat Solid Snake in a repeat of the previous year's divisional final, with the writeup treating Snake's showing as another major flop. It also mocks the persistent tendency to underestimate Mega Man in bracket predictions.

Link crushed Crono in another late-round match whose winner was never seriously in doubt. The writeup treats the result as overwhelming evidence that Link had improved and remained well ahead of Cloud entering the final stages.

Melee ended Starcraft's Cinderella run in a chaotic divisional final dominated by outside promotion, flame wars, and a detected cheating surge. The writeup remembers the match as both a strong Melee win and a damaging controversy around Starcraft's run.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Starcraft was promoted through Battle.net and multiple Starcraft sites, while a separate sudden proxy-vote surge was identified as cheating. The controversy cast doubt over the legitimacy of parts of Starcraft's run even though Melee still won.

Final Fantasy VII beat Ocarina of Time without the drama expected from the contest's supposed true final. The writeup treats the result as confirmation of Final Fantasy VII's superiority in this field and as another sign of Zelda's sudden collapse.

Chrono Trigger and A Link to the Past stayed virtually dead even for hours, repeatedly answering each other's small pushes. The writeup calls it one of the contest's greatest wire-to-wire matches before Chrono Trigger finally separated itself late.

Super Mario Bros. 3 won a highly anticipated divisional final with surprising ease and further ended Zelda's early aura of invincibility. The writeup treats the matchup as a clear case where shared Nintendo support favored Mario.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says SFF finally worked against a Zelda title, with Super Mario Bros. 3 benefiting in the all-Nintendo matchup against the original Zelda.

Mega Man beat Snake in a steady match that produced little drama but finally sent him back to Sephiroth for a rematch of their near-upset from 2002. The writeup treats the coming Final Four as far more interesting than the match itself.

Sephiroth unexpectedly demolished Mario in what had been expected to resemble the previous year's Mario-Cloud classic. The result became the writeup's clearest evidence yet for a broad Kingdom Hearts-era boost to several Square characters.

Cloud turned a briefly hopeful Sonic challenge into a devastating rout, confirming Sonic's decline and dramatically raising expectations for Cloud against Link. The writeup treats this as the point where Cloud's 2003 strength became impossible to dismiss.

Link beat Samus in a long-awaited matchup that stayed competitive only briefly before Nintendo SFF took over. The writeup considers the result another sign of Link's dominance while arguing that Samus looked weaker than she really was.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says SFF took hold after Samus kept the opening close and later argues that Link SFFed her heavily enough to distort her apparent contest strength.

Samus surprised Sephiroth with a strong opening lead, but Sephiroth recovered quickly and controlled the rest of the match. Even in defeat, the writeup says Samus validated her earlier Sonic win while Sephiroth raised concerns about how he would fare against Link.

Link destroyed Scorpion in a divisional final that the writeup saw as proof of the South's weakness. His continued dominance left Sephiroth as the only remaining opponent viewed as a plausible obstacle before the championship.

Crono's earlier warning signs became impossible to ignore when he controlled a heavily favored Solid Snake. The writeup treats the victory as the culmination of an unlikely run that had grown stronger with every round.

Cloud controlled much of the match before Mario mounted a comeback aided by unusually favorable circumstances and outside attention. The close finish, enormous board reaction, rallying, and unresolved cheating allegations made the match the writeup's choice for the greatest contest match ever.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup credits Mario's comeback partly to a Planet GameCube link and widespread vote solicitation, explicitly treating those efforts as rallying. It also describes alleged proxy voting and supposed vote-stuffing admissions, while emphasizing that the cheating claims were never proven.