LogFAQs > #945715865

"Decimation" nowadays means vast destruction, but its origin comes from a form of Roman military discipline in which, quote, "every tenth man in a group was executed by members of his cohort."

10%, a decimation.

But what if it's just 10% who survived, when 90% are gone? Are the survivors, the ones left behind, the decimated?

We've lost so much. 8 days left, with each day resulting in exponentially more heartbreak, and the 2-day finals thereafter... but it's almost over.



It's been a long and brutal road, we're in the home stretch now. Characters who were on the cusp of elimination 21, 30, 37 rounds ago... they're all still here. What could have been?

Top 10 Ramza?
Lightning repeat run?
Dunkmaster Nation?
"Ultimate goat" Eiko?

...we'll leave questions like that to the philosophers.

Last year at this time, the iron man list looked like so:

Rydia of Mist (Round 18, Round 60)
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Kefka Palazzo (Round 45)
Edward Chris von Muir (Round 59)
Aerith Gainsborough (Round 88)
Red Mage (Round 90)

The legendary close call for Kefka, averted this year during those iffy days of Locke and Celes runs, now seeming a bit more secure. The rest didn't make it (Aerith going out on Day 87 this year...)

Barret and Red XIII were on the "never iron man" list last year, not so fortunate this year. Squall is the only "never" repeat.

Reminder that Kefka finished 4th and Edward 2nd last year. Can any of the below, with distant near-eliminations, make a similar deep run or even win? We'll find out soon enough.

Let's see how it's looking:

Iron Man Stats:

Barret Wallace (Day 60, Day 88, Day 90)
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Delita Hyral (Day 53, Day 57)
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Garnet "Dagger" Til Alexandros XVII (Day 69)
Red XIII (Day 77)
Edea Lee (Day 84)
---
NEVER BEEN IRON MAN:

Cecil Harvey

Kefka Palazzo

Tifa Lockhart

Squall Leonhart

Seymour Guado
---
Minwu (Day 16, Day 18, Day 35, Day 39, Day 40, Day 43, Day 47) [ELIMINATED - Day 74 (Lasted 58 extra days)]
---
Beatrix (Day 28, Day 56, Day 68, Day 70, Day 71) [ELIMINATED - Day 77 (Lasted 49 extra days)]
Kain Highwind (Day 61, Day 67, Day 72, Day 73, Day 81) [ELIMINATED - Day 82 (Lasted 21 extra days)]
---
Yuffie Kisaragi (Day 17, Day 37, Day 87, Day 89) [ELIMINATED - Day 90 (Lasted 73 extra days)]
Gilgamesh (Day 52, Day 76, Day 78, Day 79) [ELIMINATED - Day 80 (Lasted 28 extra days)]
Penelo (Day 54, Day 55, Day 59, Day 62) [ELIMINATED - Day 63 (Lasted 9 extra days)]
---
Rydia of Mist (Day 13, Day 41, Day 50) [ELIMINATED - Day 52 (Lasted 39 extra days)]
Agns Oblige (Day 63, Day 65, Day 66) [ELIMINATED - Day 71 (Lasted 8 extra days)]
Paine (Day 30, Day 31, Day 34) [ELIMINATED - Day 35 (Lasted 5 extra days)]
---
Lulu (Day 14, Day 38) [ELIMINATED - Day 64 (Lasted 50 extra days)]
Genesis Rhapsodos (Day 21, Day 49) [ELIMINATED - Day 57 (Lasted 36 extra days)]
Sabin Rene Figaro (Day 15, Day 19) [ELIMINATED - Day 41 (Lasted 26 extra days)]
Setzer Gabbiani (Day 5, Day 12) [ELIMINATED - Day 28 (Lasted 23 extra days)]
Leon (Day 26, Day 29) [ELIMINATED - Day 43 (Lasted 17 extra days)]
Zell Dincht (Day 22, Day 33) [ELIMINATED - Day 36 (Lasted 14 extra days)]
Eiko Carol (Day 45, Day 46) [ELIMINATED - Day 53 (Lasted 8 extra days)]
Vincent Valentine (Day 9, Day 10) [ELIMINATED - Day 17 (Lasted 8 extra days)]
Quina Quen (Day 3, Day 6) [ELIMINATED - Day 11 (Lasted 8 extra days)]
Braska (Day 24, Day 27) [ELIMINATED - Day 31 (Lasted 7 extra days)]
Basch fon Ronsenburg (Day 44, Day 48) [ELIMINATED - Day 50 (Lasted 6 extra days)]
Celes Chere (Day 83, Day 85) [ELIMINATED - Day 86 (Lasted 3 extra days)]
Serah Farron (Day 1, Day 2) [ELIMINATED - Day 3 (Lasted 2 extra days)]
---
Zidane Tribal (Day 11) [ELIMINATED - Day 72 (Lasted 61 extra days)]
Vivi Ornitier (Day 32) [ELIMINATED - Day 66 (Lasted 34 extra days)]
Cloud Strife (Day 36) [ELIMINATED - Day 60 (Lasted 24 extra days)]
Judgemaster Cid Randell (Day 64) [ELIMINATED - Day 83 (Lasted 19 extra days)]
Quistis Trepe (Day 25) [ELIMINATED - Day 42 (Lasted 17 extra days)]
Jecht (Day 20) [ELIMINATED - Day 34 (Lasted 14 extra days)]
Reno (Day 7) [ELIMINATED - Day 20 (Lasted 13 extra days)]
Cid Pollendina (Day 51) [ELIMINATED - Day 61 (Lasted 10 extra days)]
Sazh Katzroy (Day 23) [ELIMINATED - Day 32 (Lasted 9 extra days)]
Goffard Gaffgarion (Day 4) [ELIMINATED - Day 10 (Lasted 6 extra days)]
Dr. Cid (Day 8) [ELIMINATED - Day 12 (Lasted 4 extra days)]
Oerba Dia Vanille (Day 75) [ELIMINATED - Day 78 (Lasted 3 extra days)]
Leblanc (Day 82) [ELIMINATED - Day 84 (Lasted 2 extra days)]
Y'shtola Rhul (Day 74) [ELIMINATED - Day 76 (Lasted 2 extra days)]
Edgar Roni Figaro (Day 42) [ELIMINATED - Day 44 (Lasted 2 extra days)]
Aerith Gainsborough (Day 86) [ELIMINATED - Day 87 (Lasted 1 extra days)]
Locke Cole (Day 80) [ELIMINATED - Day 81 (Lasted 1 extra days)]
Cissnei (Day 58) [ELIMINATED - Day 59 (Lasted 1 extra days)]

Notes:
-So last year had a 2 and four 1s, this year has a 3, a 2 and 3 1s, so collectively 8 "snipe days" still active vs. 6 last year
-Heavy favourites Squall and Kefka avoiding any close calls so far, can they maintain it to the final 3? (note that 2 of the final 3 last year fit that bill)
-Despite all those close calls, in that last stretch, Tidus was teflon-y insofar as never being the final safe in a round... until he was the final unsafe
-Yuffie drops after 73 days, falling just shy of Rydia's 74 days from last year (Day 18 - 92)

And looking ahead the rest of the way, of the top 10 last year, the snipes of the final 8 rounds were divvied up amongst only three characters: Edward 4, Kefka 2, Aerith 2. We'll see if there's a character or two who can similarly pile up the saves to keep enduring or if things will be more spread out this year, I guess.