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Tina's unexpected win began the long-running "Gordon Freeman Never Wins" joke. The writeup emphasizes how embarrassing the loss seemed for Gordon, noting that even a link from a Half-Life site failed to rescue him.

Max Payne beat Gordon Freeman in a match that looked close on paper but was never seriously in doubt. The writeup remembers it chiefly as the point where the long-running 'Gordon Freeman Never Wins' joke truly took hold.

Sam Fisher extended the Gordon Freeman Never Wins joke, but Freeman's unexpectedly competitive opening made Fisher look weak in his own right. The writeup treats the match more as another chapter in Freeman's losing legend than as a strong Fisher performance.

Leon extended Gordon Freeman's famous losing streak, though Gordon once again performed better than a supposedly hopeless underdog should. The writeup turns the recurring GFNW joke into the main story of another Freeman defeat.

Gordon Freeman ended the long-running GFNW joke by beating Board 8 favorite Phoenix Wright after an early Phoenix lead. The writeup argues that the Phoenix upset hype was mostly fad power rather than a realistic assessment of the matchup.

Sora comfortably ended Gordon Freeman's brief taste of success and then pulled farther away with the Kingdom Hearts day vote. The writeup treats the loss as another turning point in the fading GFNW tradition.

A supposedly weak fourpack produced one of the round's funniest matches, with Duke unexpectedly taking control while Gordon Freeman disappointed again. Ike also impressed with a strong daytime push even though he never completed the comeback.

Sonic crushed Sub-Zero much more convincingly than in their opening-round meeting after his Smash announcement changed the atmosphere around him. The writeup still finds the surrounding results too inconsistent to decide whether Sonic had truly returned to elite form.

Scorpion took first, while Gordon Freeman continued his post-GFNW rehabilitation with another strong advancement. The writeup sees the Orange Box era as having transformed Gordon from a perennial choke artist into a genuinely respectable entrant.

Vincent advanced comfortably, while Gordon Freeman completed another major step in his reversal of the old GFNW reputation by beating Scorpion for the second spot. Falco never became a serious factor.

Pic: The writeup says Scorpion's poor match picture was not the sole reason he lost, but explicitly states that it hurt his chances against Gordon Freeman.

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.

A poll glitch briefly made Peach look capable of producing a historic Gordon Freeman collapse, but the problem was resolved and Gordon recovered. Even with the win, the writeup treats his final performance as weak enough to end serious upset hype against Tifa.

Tifa ended Gordon Freeman's run in a match the writeup viewed as predictable after Gordon nearly lost to Peach. Gordon's weak showing also undercut the significance of his recent outside-contest success.

Gordon Freeman won comfortably, while Simon Belmont held second despite an unpopular match picture and pre-match fears of a Hades upset. The writeup treats Hades's failure as an early warning for the Kid Icarus cast.

Leon beat Gordon and Shadow in a low-turnout match whose trends repeatedly hinted at drama without ever producing a real comeback. The writeup suspects overlap between Leon and Gordon but leaves the explanation uncertain.

Bowser demolished Gordon Freeman far more thoroughly than historical comparisons suggested he should. The writeup treats the result as one of the clearest early signs that Nintendo characters had received a major boost.