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Mario finally produced the dominant performance people had been waiting for, restoring confidence before his expected match with Cloud. The result also became an early case used to develop Board 8's SFF theory.

SFF: The writeup says Mario's unusually dominant result against the closely linked Donkey Kong helped introduce what Board 8 would later universally call Same Fanbase Factor, though it was still treated as a fledgling theory at the time.

Cloud ended Alucard's surprise run, but did not dominate as thoroughly as his earlier matches suggested he might. The writeup says that performance, combined with Mario's previous showing, restored genuine uncertainty before Mario versus Cloud.

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.

Solid Snake ended Aeris's underseeded run in an expected victory. The writeup focuses less on the match itself than on how Snake's showing might translate against the much stronger Crono.

Scorpion's decisive win over Pac-Man shocked most observers and exposed how weak the entire half-division had been. The writeup remembers the fallout, including outside attention from Penny Arcade, as the moment the first contest truly became a larger event.

Link overwhelmed Jill in another match the writeup considered a formality. His weak division had effectively handed him a direct route toward the Final Four while he continued to look like the tournament favorite.

Samus erased what had looked like a decisive late Sonic lead and won after an extraordinary closing surge. The match triggered a massive backlash, outside vote recruitment on both sides, cheating suspicions, and lasting changes to how contest results were followed.

Rally · Cheat: The writeup says Samus and Sonic supporters spammed for votes across the internet, chat rooms, buddy lists, and gaming chats. It also says many users suspected cheating behind Samus's extraordinary late comeback despite CJayC stating that no cheating was detected.

Mega Man built a surprising early lead on Sephiroth before Sephiroth reversed the match and pulled away late. The writeup considers it one of the contest's best fights, but one overshadowed by the famous matches immediately before and after it.

Link ended the once-enormous Magus upset hype with a comfortable win, though Magus still performed better than expected. The writeup leaves the reason for that overperformance unresolved, mentioning both board hype and possible sprite-picture effects without settling on either.

Samus beat Squall as expected, but Squall's strong showing confirmed that his earlier Luigi upset was not a fluke. The writeup notes complaints about Samus's sprite picture but does not treat the image as a demonstrated cause of the result.

Cloud destroyed a Bowser whom much of the board had strongly supported, making the scale of the win especially striking. The writeup discusses a severe picture mismatch but stops short of attributing the result primarily to it.

Sonic narrowly held off Aeris in another performance that confirmed how far he had slipped from his pre-2002 reputation. Aeris's strong resistance made an upcoming Sonic win over Cloud look extremely unlikely.

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.

Sephiroth dispatched Alucard in a match largely ignored because it followed the Mario-Crono controversy. The writeup mainly uses the result to strengthen Sephiroth's case before facing Mario in the divisional final.

Snake comfortably beat Ryu despite pre-match concern that his poor sprite image could hurt him. The writeup says the feared picture effect did not materialize here, though the performance did little to improve Snake's chances against Mega Man.

Mega Man demolished Vercetti and completed the collapse of the pre-contest hype that once had Vercetti winning the division. The writeup treats the match as an easy tune-up before Mega Man's real test against Snake.

Super Mario Bros. 3 beat Final Fantasy but looked much less dominant than expected for the division's presumed favorite. The writeup argues that strong loyalty to the Final Fantasy name explains much of the resistance while leaving Mario's prospects against Zelda less secure.

Zelda dismissed Tetris and looked like the clear favorite to take its division. The writeup treats the result as another step in Zelda's dominant opening run, with Mario 3 offering the only real counterargument.

Chrono Trigger turned a heavily debated matchup into a comfortable win and restored confidence after earlier daytime weakness. The writeup says Super Mario World had looked like a plausible upset pick, but Chrono Trigger established itself as a true divisional favorite.

Final Fantasy VI's sustained early lead punctured Zelda's aura of invincibility before A Link to the Past recovered and pulled away. The writeup also remembers the notoriously poor official artwork as an impetus for later user-created match pictures.

Final Fantasy VII crushed Metal Gear Solid and, in the writeup's view, became the unmistakable favorite for the entire contest. The performance was framed as a direct challenge to Ocarina of Time to show comparable strength the next day.

Ocarina of Time handled GoldenEye easily, but the writeup judged the showing insufficient to answer Final Fantasy VII's previous performance. The match is remembered mainly as the final setup for the division's anticipated showdown.

Starcraft shocked The Wind Waker with another late comeback, extending its improbable run and ending Zelda's unbeaten start. The writeup credits Battle.net rallying for making the difference and treats the result as Starcraft's arrival as a legitimate contest force.

Rally: The writeup attributes Starcraft's decisive late comeback to organized Battle.net promotion and heavy Saturday-night traffic. It explicitly rejects cheating as the explanation for this particular match.

Melee overturned the old assumption that Final Fantasy X would beat it comfortably. After an early lead, a comeback, and long stretches of near-even voting, Melee held off the late Square vote and advanced to face Starcraft.

Link destroyed Yoshi in a predictable same-company matchup, but the degree of suppression surprised even people expecting SFF. The writeup treats the result as another intimidating sign of Link's championship strength.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Link versus Yoshi a straight SFF match and says the fanbase effect was even harsher than most expected, heavily suppressing Yoshi.

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.

Mega Man beat Zero as expected, but Zero resisted far better than a typical same-family opponent. The writeup argues that their distinct series fanbases may explain why the anticipated SFF barely appeared and why Mega Man looked vulnerable afterward.

Solid Snake survived Frog, but Frog's ability to stay competitive made Snake look like one of the contest's biggest disappointments. The writeup uses the match to criticize overly literal reliance on extrapolated standings.

Cloud easily beat Squall in a heavily shared-fanbase matchup, but the result did little to improve his standing against Link. The writeup remembers the match mainly as another predictable step toward the planned final.

SFF: The writeup explicitly frames Cloud versus Squall as a matchup with a massive amount of SFF, with Cloud dominating the fellow Final Fantasy entrant.

Sephiroth beat Auron exactly as the bracket seemed designed to produce, leaving little suspense. The writeup's main takeaway is that Sephiroth looked clearly weaker than Cloud against a common opponent.

Sonic beat Dante in another predictable Chaos match and briefly renewed hope that he could challenge Samus. The writeup immediately tempers that optimism by pointing to Dante's poor picture as a possible reason for Sonic's apparent overperformance.

Pic: The writeup says Dante's match picture was exceptionally poor and suggests it may explain why Sonic performed better than the old projections expected.

Samus dispatched Sora without drama and quickly erased the renewed optimism around Sonic. The writeup views the match as confirmation that Samus should win the division comfortably, even if Cloud remained beyond her reach.

Link advanced comfortably, but the writeup regarded the result as another slightly weak showing by his historical standards. Mega Man X's performance kept alive the possibility that Link had lost a little of his old invincibility.

Luigi eliminated Weighted Companion Cube without any sign of the old joke-character surge. The writeup treats the loss as further proof that the Cube was now operating on ordinary strength rather than a bandwagon.

Years of Ganondorf-over-Sonic upset hype collapsed when Sonic controlled the match from the start. The writeup treats the result as a major correction to the idea that four-way contests had revealed Sonic to be much weaker.

Kirby beat Vivi without difficulty, but failed to look strong enough to preserve serious hopes of upsetting Sonic. The writeup treats Kirby's old four-way bandwagon strength as clearly gone.

Mario crushed Ike in a result the writeup considered inevitable once they met. The scale of the Nintendo suppression made the matchup effectively noncompetitive.

SFF: The writeup explicitly calls Mario's win over fellow Nintendo entrant Ike a total SFF beating.

Mega Man produced a third straight performance far above the writeup's expectations and overwhelmed Ryu Hayabusa. Rather than settling on SFF or picture factor, the writeup treats the streak itself as proof that Mega Man had returned near his old strength.

Bowser completed a bracket-busting upset that had become increasingly predictable after Sora's poor first two rounds. The writeup treats the loss as the clearest sign yet that Kingdom Hearts had fallen sharply.

Charizard decisively eliminated former champion L-Block in what the writeup frames as a literal changing of the guard between two bandwagon-friendly entrants. L-Block's long decline was now impossible to miss.

Samus crushed Sub-Zero and briefly looked strong enough to challenge even Cloud's level. Although she cooled from that early pace, the writeup still considers the result one of her strongest performances.

Zelda advanced as expected, but Jecht performed much better than his prior results suggested and ignored the usual daytime trend expectations. The writeup suspects the contemporaneous Final Fantasy release helped explain the odd showing.

Cloud won comfortably, but Captain Falcon still performed better than several much more established characters had managed against him. The writeup treats Falcon's showing as further evidence that Cloud had weakened.

Ryu won clearly, but Leon resisted far better than the disastrous sprite led people to expect and even held up well during his preferred daytime period. The writeup leaves open whether a fairer picture could have made the match significantly closer.

Pic: The writeup says Leon's ugly Resident Evil: Gaiden sprite hurt his chances and suggests the matchup might have been different with more even pictures.

Pikachu briefly led Snake behind a strong opening vote before Snake finally took control and pulled away. The writeup remembers the opening as entertaining but ultimately sees Snake's recovery as convincing.

Squall settled a long-running near-elite debate by beating Auron in a match that finished close but was rarely in serious doubt after the opening exchanges. The writeup treats Squall as clearly the stronger of the two.

Missingno built the expected early lead through bandwagon support, but Sephiroth erased it decisively once the night vote arrived. The writeup treats the loss as the end of Missingno's remarkable run and as fuel for even more anti-Sephiroth sentiment.

Rally: The writeup says Missingno's rallying was organized in advance and powered a substantial early lead, though the push was nowhere near enough to survive Sephiroth's overnight strength.

Tifa beat Big Daddy, but the writeup thought she looked oddly weak compared with her prior performance. It attributes the flat showing to backlash from Missingno supporters after Sephiroth had eliminated their favorite.

Chrono Trigger destroyed Final Fantasy X in a matchup that had been heavily debated before the contest. The blowout erased old concerns about Chrono Trigger's decline and made it look like the strongest game on the site without outside intervention.

Melee beat Kingdom Hearts II as expected, but bled enough support to look doomed against the newly dominant Chrono Trigger. The writeup also notes that the Melee rally from the previous round did not return here.

Final Fantasy VI won a debated matchup with Wind Waker without ever facing a sustained comeback. The result became a rare modern example of Final Fantasy beating Zelda in a close-looking contest matchup and validated FFVI's stronger 2015 form.

Final Fantasy VII crushed Smash 4 and looked far stronger than Final Fantasy VI had in the neighboring match. The writeup treats the result as decisive evidence that FFVI was not going to win their coming same-series showdown.

Pokémon RBY was already routing Sonic 2 before Undertale rally spillover pushed the result even higher. The underlying blowout made Pokémon look like a true title contender even after separating out the outside traffic.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's simultaneous rally traffic spilled into the Pokémon poll and further boosted Pokémon RBY beyond an already dominant natural performance.

Super Mario World built the expected early advantage, but Undertale's rally started earlier than in prior rounds and eventually overwhelmed it. The match also produced a major cheating scare that the writeup says was unsupported.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale's expanding social-media rallies steadily erased Super Mario World's lead and eventually carried Undertale comfortably ahead. Cheating accusations are explicitly rejected by the administrator.

Metroid Prime built a large early lead, then Skyrim used its stronger morning and daytime trends to erase it and win. The writeup treats Prime's familiar trend collapse as the decisive factor after an opening aided partly by rally spillover.

Rally: The writeup says Undertale rally spillover helped Metroid Prime's unusually strong opening and boosted turnout, although Prime's normal early strength also contributed.

Twilight Princess looked unusually competitive at the start, but Mario 64 recovered and settled into a comfortable win. The writeup attributes much of Zelda's early strength to rally spillover and the lopsided match pictures.

Rally · Pic: The writeup says Twilight Princess benefited early from Undertale rally spillover and from a major picture imbalance: Mario 64 received a poor image while Twilight Princess received an especially strong Link image.

Ocarina of Time won easily but again looked weaker than expected for the site's traditional top game. Final Fantasy IX's strong showing, aided by the picture matchup, became another warning that Ocarina was vulnerable later.

Pic: The writeup directly blames Ocarina of Time's weak-looking performance in part on a poor Ocarina picture paired against one of Final Fantasy IX's best possible images.

Symphony of the Night decisively ended Donkey Kong Country 2's surprise run once the low seed finally met a proven heavyweight. The writeup still considers DKC2's overall contest a major success.

A Link to the Past crushed Dark Souls and looked largely immune to the Zelda fatigue affecting other entries in the series. The writeup treats the dominant result as evidence that LTTP remained a genuine elite game.

Super Metroid and Majora's Mask traded tiny leads for hours before Majora finally pulled away with the later vote. Both analyses remember it as one of the contest's best pure matches, notably without rally controversy.

Super Mario RPG beat Chrono Cross comfortably and continued a run that had exceeded almost every pre-contest expectation. Chrono Cross still earned respect by keeping the result more respectable than many of Mario RPG's earlier opponents.

Resident Evil 4 beat Metal Gear Solid 2 without danger but again landed far below the strength expected of it. The result made Super Mario RPG look increasingly likely to take the division.

Metal Gear Solid survived the feared rematch with Shadow of the Colossus and never allowed another Cinderella upset to develop. The writeup treats the result as a welcome piece of redemption for an otherwise poor Metal Gear contest.

Metal Gear Solid 3 unexpectedly routed Mass Effect 2 after most predictions had expected a very close match. The writeup gives major credit to MGS3's exceptionally strong picture and treats the win as the series' best result of the contest.

Pic: The writeup explicitly says Metal Gear Solid 3's excellent Big Boss image was the real reason it performed so strongly, calling it one of the best possible pictures for the game.

Ganondorf comfortably eliminated the contest's top overall seed Dante in a match that barely moved. The writeup treats the loss as proof Dante was badly overseeded rather than evidence of a close divisional race.

Vivi beat Donkey Kong for the third time in nearly identical fashion, continuing one of the contest's strangest recurring rivalries. The writeup concludes that Donkey Kong's apparent revival had been overstated.

Zero comfortably ended Wario's run through a weak part of the bracket and looked exactly like the reliable upper-midcard favorite expected of him. Wario's respectable share still surprised the writeup.

Pikachu beat Yoshi in their long-awaited first direct matchup and looked like the only Pokémon character consistently meeting high expectations. The Detective Pikachu trailer arriving the same day is noted as favorable timing.

Red beat Big Boss but struggled enough to make both Pokémon and Metal Gear strength difficult to interpret. The writeup uses the close result as evidence that Red's multiway reputation had overstated his 1v1 power.

Alucard crushed pre-contest favorite Kefka and turned what had looked like a wide-open division into his breakout run. The writeup attributes Alucard's rise to a mix of Castlevania revival, Netflix exposure and Smash visibility.

2B performed respectably in defeat against Bowser and convinced the writeup she belonged in the midcard. At the same time, the loss confirmed that her top seed was far too generous.

Kirby demolished Phoenix and erased the significance of Phoenix's narrow rules-assisted win over Ike. The blowout made Kirby the popular favorite over Bowser despite older evidence favoring Bowser.

Zelda destroyed Squall in the match that fully established her as the star of the main bracket. The writeup treats the scale of the win as evidence of a genuine Breath of the Wild and Smash-era boost, not a rally.

Aerith beat Fox in a nearly static match and extended the deepest run ever by a 15-seed. The writeup emphasizes the historic seeding achievement more than the competitiveness of the poll.

Bayonetta led for much of the match, but Geralt again used the overnight and morning vote to complete a comeback. The writeup treats the win as another entertaining step in an unusually strong newcomer run.

Auron beat Sub-Zero in another remarkably similar rematch between two characters who had repeatedly met before. The writeup finds the consistency more interesting than the outcome itself.

Luigi demolished Tails in the biggest blowout of the round and ended Tails's surprise run. The writeup treats the result as another example of the Mario side dominating Sonic-family characters under overlapping fanbases.

SFF: Tsunami explicitly calls Luigi versus Tails an SFF matchup and argues that Mario-family strength suppresses the Sonic-side character in this cross-franchise Nintendo-adjacent rivalry.

Mega Man X and Tifa traded leads throughout one of the contest's best matches before outside support became decisive late. Tifa's final rally push erased X's last advantage and carried her through the divisional thriller.

Rally: The writeup describes organized pushes for both Mega Man X and Tifa, including subreddit and outside-site rallies. It explicitly says Tifa's broader rally sources supplied the final push that decided the match.

Sephiroth beat Amaterasu in the familiar pattern of losing early support and steadily climbing, but the writeup considers the final showing weaker than his old form. The result is treated as a subtle warning before stronger opposition.

Ryu comfortably ended KOS-MOS's unlikely run through one of the weakest sections of the bracket. The writeup treats the result as a return to normal after KOS-MOS reached Round Three for the first time.

Breath of the Wild destroyed Final Fantasy XV and completed three straight overwhelming wins. The writeup considers the result historically dominant while treating possible fanbase overlap as too uncertain to explain much.

Dragon Quest XI survived a spirited Monster Hunter rally and confirmed that its surprising contest strength was genuine. Monster Hunter still exited with more respect than expected.

Rally: The writeup says Monster Hunter: World mounted a meaningful rally that repeatedly cut into Dragon Quest XI's lead and reduced the final margin without seriously threatening the result.

Mass Effect 2 beat Horizon Zero Dawn despite rally spillover boosting Horizon. The underlying result kept Mass Effect favored for the division while also validating Horizon as stronger than expected.

Rally: The writeup says spillover from the simultaneous Bloodborne rally significantly favored Horizon Zero Dawn and lowered Mass Effect 2's final percentage.

Resident Evil 2 survived Bloodborne in the contest's defining close match after a major rally was curtailed midway through the poll. The writeup treats the moderation decision as the central reason Bloodborne failed to complete the upset.

Rally: The writeup says Bloodborne received a major subreddit rally that nearly swung the match, and that the moderators' decision to disallow rally threads midway through the poll was the decisive factor in Resident Evil 2 surviving.

Smash Ultimate crushed Spider-Man in a predictable divisional semifinal, but once again looked less dominant than Super Mario Odyssey. The comparison further fueled upset talk for their coming head-to-head match.

Super Mario Odyssey demolished Shovel Knight and produced a third straight performance that looked stronger than Smash Ultimate's. The writeup notes the conspicuous absence of the developer rally that had saved Shovel Knight previously.

Persona 4 Golden beat Grand Theft Auto V from wire to wire and completed another bracket-busting win without current-match rally assistance. The result established Persona 4 Golden as the contest's most surprising divisional finalist.

Xenoblade Chronicles crushed Fire Emblem: Three Houses and completed the collapse of the pre-contest division favorite. The writeup sees some same-audience suppression but puts more emphasis on anti-voting and Xenoblade's genuine rise.

SFF: The writeup says Three Houses was probably SFFed to some extent by Xenoblade Chronicles, although anti-Fire-Emblem voting and general overestimation are treated as larger factors.

The Witcher 3 beat Super Mario Galaxy 2 after a briefly entertaining opening and again looked stronger than expected. Galaxy 2 still performed well enough to confirm that its earlier blowouts were not purely weak-opponent artifacts.

God of War beat Fallout: New Vegas in a match that was never seriously in doubt, though New Vegas remained respectable. The result sent God of War into the division final with little hope of stopping Witcher 3.

Persona 5 annihilated Sonic Mania and continued to look like the clear class of its division. The writeup treats Sonic's run as mostly bracket-driven while emphasizing Persona's modern mainstream strength.

Portal 2 beat Red Dead Redemption 2 in a closer-looking divisional semifinal that remained under control for most of the day. The result validated Portal 2's hidden strength and ended the author's overconfidence in newer games.

Dark Souls repeated its 2015 win over Metal Gear Solid V with a much larger margin. The writeup treats the widening gap as a clean combination of Souls rising and Metal Gear declining.

The Last of Us beat Batman: Arkham City but again failed to look strong enough to threaten Dark Souls. The result left its popular pre-contest division-win pick effectively doomed.

Skyrim beat Mario Kart 8 but looked weak enough to become a serious target for later upset speculation. The writeup treats Mario Kart's prior SFF history as irrelevant to this current matchup.

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver survived an initially close NieR: Automata challenge and pulled away once the early rally pressure faded. The result closed Round Three with Pokémon still looking surprisingly legitimate.

Rally: The writeup says NieR: Automata supporters had active rally efforts during the match, including the jokingly described hentai rallies, though those pushes never became large enough to overturn Pokémon.