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Some Board 8 users thought Simon's Castlevania name gave him a real chance, while Crono was still underestimated by people unfamiliar with Chrono Trigger. Crono's dominant performance instead established him as a serious threat.

Crono turned a heavily anticipated close match with Dante into an easy victory. The writeup says the result revealed how misleading their superficially similar first-round performances had been and made Crono a serious threat to Lara.

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.

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.

Crono nearly completed another remarkable comeback against Mario before CJayC intervened over fraudulent voting. The controversy ended Crono's Cinderella run but began the long-running Mario-Crono rivalry remembered by Board 8.

Cheat: The writeup says Crono's comeback included blatant vote-stuffing and that CJayC removed fraudulent votes. It also discusses later statements suggesting the amount of fraudulent voting may have been larger than the number removed during the match.

Crono cruised past Tom Nook in a match the writeup treats as little more than a formality before the expected Mario rematch. It then spends substantial time on Nook's more memorable connection to an unrelated Board 8 user contest.

Crono obliterated a Kefka whose first-round struggle had already ended most upset expectations. The unusually severe result sparked arguments about Square SFF and set up the heavily anticipated Mario-Crono rematch.

SFF: The writeup retrospectively treats Crono's blowout of Kefka as an SFF match, while noting that Square SFF was still disputed and poorly understood at the time.

Mario and Crono produced an enormous rematch in which Crono appeared to have the win secured before Mario erased a late lead and survived a controversially extended poll. Rallying, cheating allegations, and the disputed timing made it one of Board 8's most controversial matches.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup describes supporters on both sides frantically rallying for votes during the late collapse of Crono's lead. It also records extensive cheating accusations around Mario's comeback, while noting that CJayC said his check found no cheating in the decisive extra period.

Crono demolished Conker and strengthened the argument that his previous result against Kefka did not require an SFF explanation. The writeup also criticizes Crono's seeding as an obvious attempt to force another Mario-Crono matchup.

Crono crushed Magus in a matchup the writeup considers another casualty of the company-based bracket. Magus briefly led with Board 8 support, but the eventual SFF blowout left no useful opportunity to test his real strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Magus was hit by SFF against fellow Chrono Trigger character Crono, making the lopsided result a poor measure of Magus's standalone strength.

Crono finally defeated Mario after their two legendary earlier meetings, but the long-awaited rematch was anticlimactic. Crono controlled the match while the writeup framed the result as overdue revenge and the likely end of the rivalry's classic era.

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.

Crono easily dispatched Zidane in a remarkably steady poll after the chaos of Kefka-Vercetti. The writeup mainly wonders whether shared Square support suppressed Zidane, without reaching a firm conclusion.

Crono easily disposed of Vercetti in a quiet follow-up to the chaos required for Vercetti to reach him. The writeup treats the match mainly as confirmation that Crono still belonged among the contest's elite characters.

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.

Crono won without serious danger, but Vincent performed far better than comparable projections suggested and then held an unusually stable share for most of the match. The writeup treats the overperformance as a puzzle involving either reverse SFF or an Advent Children boost.

SFF: The writeup presents reverse SFF between newer and older Square fandom as one plausible reason Vincent performed unusually well against Crono, while also considering Advent Children as an alternative explanation.

Crono beat Mega Man in a close-looking semifinal without ever facing a sustained comeback threat. The writeup argues that the narrow margin did little to suggest Crono could stop the much stronger-looking Mario in the final.

Mario ended the latest chapter of his Crono rivalry with a convincing championship win, reversing the previous year's result without another dramatic finish. The writeup treats the entire contest as a showcase of Mario's enormous 2005 rise.

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

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

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.

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

Crono took first without drama, while Raiden built a large enough cushion to survive Sam Fisher's strong daytime comeback for second. The writeup treats the finish as close on paper but never truly in danger, while Raiden's poor showing damaged his future expectations.

Crono and Zero advanced as expected, but Zero stayed close enough to make Crono look vulnerable before his anticipated showdown with Vincent. Raiden also emerged as a major disappointment after failing to separate convincingly from HK-47.

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.

Crono and Amaterasu advanced through a largely predictable match, with neither Frank West nor Kaim posing a meaningful threat. The writeup treats it as another routine Noble Nine opening-round performance.

Crono and L-Block advanced in a much quieter sequel to L-Block's chaotic opening match. The defending champion looked strikingly ordinary, creating the first real sense that the repeat bid might be beatable.

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.

The writeup treats Crono versus Vincent as the emotional centerpiece of the contest, built on years of Crono near-misses and frustration. Crono's late comeback finally reversed their previous result and completed the redemption story.

Rally: The writeup says Board 8 rallied intensely for Crono late in the match, turning the final fight with Vincent into a successful comeback for the advancing spot.

Link took the expected first position, while Crono finally reached a true contest final by reversing his old rivalry with Mario. The writeup frames it as the payoff to Crono's long redemption arc.

LFF: The writeup says Link and Samus drained Nintendo support from Mario, allowing outside entrant Crono to beat Mario comfortably for the other final berth.

Link completed his revenge tour and reclaimed the championship, but Snake supplied the final surprise by finishing ahead of Cloud. The writeup treats Snake's run as the culmination of years of gradual growth and one of the contest's defining stories.

Rally: The writeup describes Solid Snake as the contest's biggest rallied bandwagon, saying his accumulated support carried him to a shocking second-place finish in the championship.

The writeup calls this the contest's defining match: Missingno built a bandwagon-backed lead, Crono mounted multiple comebacks, and the glitch character repeatedly fought them off. The upset ended the Noble Nine's unbeaten 1v1 streak against outsiders and became the centerpiece of the contest.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup repeatedly says Missingno was sustained by organized bandwagon rallying. It also records attempted cheating from both fanbases, while explicitly concluding that those attempts did not invalidate Missingno's win.

The writeup is mostly an enormous StarCraft and Blizzard rant; the actual match is remembered for Missile unexpectedly taking second over Kerrigan behind a highly favorable cute-dog presentation.

Pic: The writeup explicitly calls Missile's cute-dog presentation the ultimate picture factor and treats it as part of why he could beat Kerrigan.

Pikachu decisively eliminated Crono after Magus collapsed under same-series overlap. The result became one of the clearest signs that the old Noble Nine hierarchy no longer controlled the bracket.

SFF: The writeup explicitly says Magus was SFFed into the ground by Crono, giving Pikachu the opening it needed.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.