GameFAQsContests.com

StarCraft overturned Halo in one of the contest's defining first-round battles after both fanbases drew outside support into the poll. The writeup treats the result as proof that Halo was badly overseeded, StarCraft badly underseeded, and the StarCraft fanbase capable of changing the entire division.

Rally: The writeup explicitly describes mass Battle.net spamming, Xbox Live and Bungie involvement, and outside forces being brought in from across the internet to vote for both sides, with StarCraft ultimately benefiting most.

All four games remained competitive, with Diablo II unexpectedly taking first while Halo needed its familiar afternoon strength to catch Knights of the Old Republic for second. KOTOR's near-advancement became one of the round's most impressive losses.

Melee won easily, while Diablo II repeated its first-round success and comfortably advanced again. Halo collapsed to last behind a SFF-affected Wind Waker, producing another major embarrassment for the series.

SFF: The writeup says Melee SFFed Wind Waker, though Wind Waker still held up better than expected and even finished ahead of Halo.

Halo: Combat Evolved handled Ninja Gaiden without reproducing the character-contest chaos associated with Master Chief and Ryu Hayabusa. The straightforward result instead set up the more meaningful Halo-versus-Halo comparison ahead.

Halo: Combat Evolved decisively beat Halo 3 and settled the series hierarchy in favor of the original. The writeup notes that the result was not an extreme same-series suppression, but was still a clear inter-series win.

Halo transformed an almost even opening hour against Uncharted 2 into a decisive win through its trademark afternoon vote. The writeup treats the swing as a classic demonstration of Halo's unusually powerful ASV.

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.

Halo held Minecraft to a steady loss and prevented the rally-driven title run many bracketmakers had feared. The writeup notes that people correctly anticipated an outside-rally threat in the contest, but targeted the wrong game.

Final Fantasy VII crushed Halo and produced what the writeup considers its strongest natural performance of the contest. The result briefly restored championship confidence before the rally-driven chaos of later rounds.