Board 8 > Your First Thought 36: "Character always screwed by bracket placement"

(+) Yeah! (+)

start dropping suggestions for future topics, put them in spoilers though so we don't get people thinking too early, this is supposed to be kneejerk reactions.

these topics do not close when they are done so if you want to go argue over the results feel free to bump old topics and increase my brand recognition: https://bit.ly/YFTB8

Previous results:
1) Strongest non-Noble Niner: Zelda (Tifa, Squall, Bowser)
2) Weakest Noble Niner: Sonic (Crono, Sephiroth, Mega Man)
3) Fodder Line: Vyse (Isaac, Pac-Man, Revolver Ocelot)
4) Strongest Western Franchise: Witcher (Mass Effect, Elder Scrolls, Fallout)
5) Strongest Indie: Shovel Knight, Undertale (Hollow Knight, Cuphead, Stardew Valley)
6) Biggest GotD2 Snub: Pokemon Go (Skyward Sword, Smash 4, Mario 3D World)
7) TJF/"The Jug Factor": Tifa (Morrigan Aensland, Tina Armstrong, Jill Valentine)
8) Strongest Pokemon not in a Contest: Blastoise (Bulbasaur, Charmander, Greninja)
9) Most unpredictable character: Kefka (Alucard, Donkey Kong, Magus)
10) Game series with most inconsistent strength: Final Fantasy (Pokemon, Mario, GTA)
11) Most disappointing performance of GotD2: Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Tropical Freeze, Undertale, Dragon Age)
12) Game series you wish was stronger: Donkey Kong/Country, Resident Evil, Phoenix Wright, Trails
13) Character that always disappoints: Tidus (Magus, Cecil Harvey, Donkey Kong)
14) A joke that stopped being funny: L-Block (GFNW, Weighted Companion Cube, CATS)
15) Character I am sick of seeing in contests: Link (Guybrush Threepwood, Lloyd Irving, Draven)
16) How did this get into Game of the Decade 2?: Dying Light (Fate/Grand Order, Persona 4 Golden, Obra Dinn)
17) Strongest game that's never been in a contest: Super Smash Bros. (Final Fantasy VII Remake, Skyward Sword, Final Fantasy V)
18) Theoretical winner of 'Worst. Game. Ever.': Big Rigs (E.T., Superman 64, Sonic 06)
19) Long-gone character that deserves another shot: Strider Hiryu (Liquid Snake, Terry Bogard, M. Bison)
20) Character that has fallen the furthest: Vincent (Magus, Tommy Vercetti, Crono, Gordon Freeman, Satan)
21) Low midcarder: Ness (Fox, Tidus, Zidane)
22) Strong franchise with characters not worth shit: Elder Scrolls (Grand Theft Auto, Tales, Persona)
23) Theoretical winner of 'Best. Boxart. Ever.': Ocarina of Time (FFVII, Phalanx, Mega Man)
24) Strongest Nintendo game with no N9er in it: Pokemon RBY (Star Fox 64, Xenoblade, something with Kirby)
25) Weakest playable character in Smash Ultimate: Alph (Mii Fighters, Dark Pit, Pichu, Little Mac)
26) Most photogenic character ever in a contest: Tifa (Dante, Crono, Solid Snake/Solid Shit)
27) Character I can beat in a fist fight: Guybrush (Olimar, Ness, a Pokemon)
28) Strongest game never on a Nintendo platform: Persona 5 (Kingdom Hearts/II, Symphony of the Night, God of War 2018, FFVII)
29) Franchise where the 1st game is the strongest: Pokemon (Chrono, Metal Gear Solid, Mass Effect)
30) The winner of 'Best. Video Game. Dad. Ever.': Kratos (God of War) (Jecht, Bowser, Phoenix Wright)
31) The Best SBAllen-Era Contest: Character Battle 2007 (Game of the Decade 1, Character Battle IX, Character Battle X)
32) The strongest incarnation of Link: Ocarina of Time (2007, Breath of the Wild, "Just Link what do you even mean")
33) Character Battle entrant you'd kiss on the lips: Tifa (Zelda, Morrigan, Lara Croft, Samus, KOS-MOS, Link)
34) The most fun Character Battle match ever: Link/Draven/Shepard (Mario/Vivi/Ganondorf, Frog/Chief, Red vs. Blue/Cloud vs. Sephiroth, Ryu/Dante '10, Mario vs. Crono 2)
35) The weakest Zelda game: Zelda II (One of the CD-i games, Spirit Tracks, Four Swords Adventures)

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Cecil
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Meta Knight

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Knuckles
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I dunno

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Tidus

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Wesker

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Knuckles

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i thought of Phoenix Wright

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Ike
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Alucard

Though I guess he invalidated that last time.

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I have no idea

I guess Knuckles is a good one though, probably

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Yoshi

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Phoenix was my first thought

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Tidus

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Knuckles

I think it says everything that Tails is way weaker but has made it to Round 3 and he hasn't

I don't know if Knuckles is the best answer but he is a good one. Wesker is another good one as he's strong enough to be something besides LFF/1-seed fodder these days. Meta Knight too.

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First thought was Chester, which makes no sense (what exactly would a winnable match for Chester look like?).

Then I thought of Donkey Kong (no matter how he waxes or wanes, he will always be fed to Vivi and get the same percentage). Wish I had thought of my man Knuckles though, thats a good answer.

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Knuckles

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Knuckles

Remember when it was contest tradition that Knux would draw Snake in Round 2?

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Cecil

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Cecil

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Mewtwo

Proto Man

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Shulk

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I think my mind sort of said "Gor-Tidus"

So I think that means Gordon Freeman is my answer

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_SecretSquirrel posted...

Remember when it was contest tradition that Knux would draw Snake in Round 2?

Yeah, in 2002, 2003, and 2004! And then in 2005 he got a bad draw AGAIN, but this time in Round 1!.... oh, wait.....

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Knuckles

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Haste_2 posted...

Yeah, in 2002, 2003, and 2004! And then in 2005 he got a bad draw AGAIN.... oh, wait.....

He did! Lost in round 2 again.

But yeah, Knuckles is my answer.

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See my edited post.

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I see it.

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Alright next character battle we should consider trying to get Knuckles a high seed so he can not job to a 1 or 2 seed in round 2

then again if we do he'll probably draw like, Pikachu or something round 2

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Knuckles. He even gets screwed by the bracket when the game has his name in it!

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WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Knuckles. He even gets screwed by the bracket when the game has his name in it!

Twice!

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also people saying Phoenix is weird

I know it's "first reactions" and everything, but he's had great bracket luck for someone who's a low midcarder at best! I'd say the only real bad stroke of luck he had was drawing Jecht in 2010.

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if i ever win guru my guru pick will be Knuckles so we can have him as a 1 seed

watch the 4 seed that year be auron or some ridiculously underseeded high midcarder

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Mewtwo

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ZenOfThunder posted...

if i ever win guru my guru pick will be Knuckles so we can have him as a 1 seed

watch the 4 seed that year be auron or some ridiculously underseeded high midcarder

that would mean Knuckles made it to round 3!

the danger is like what VI said of him drawing someone who's perennially underseeded but really strong as an 8 or 9 in round two, like Pikachu (who was a 7 seed in 2018)

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Tidus

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LeonhartFour posted...

also people saying Phoenix is weird

I know it's "first reactions" and everything, but he's had great bracket luck for someone who's a low midcarder at best! I'd say the only real bad stroke of luck he had was drawing Jecht in 2010.

Phoenix has the advantage of being the Board 8 mascot, so he's got no problems drawing 2-4 seeds when his strength dictates in the 7-10 range. Drawing Chris Redfield and Ike in 2018 was very much a miracle happening on top of it. And even drawing Marth and Nightmare in Round 1 of 2013 was also pretty good as well.

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and Mewtwo's another character who's gotten ridiculously lucky a couple of times!

Mewtwo is a fraud was a thing for a reason!

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Magus

(poor guy, always screwed by bracket placement)
(pretty sure this isn't true)
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I mean, it doesn't take an especially strong 8/9 seed to take down Knuckles. Frog/Knuckles is probably a heavily debated match nowadays, for example, and I don't think Frog comes to mind as regularly underseeded.

I'd be more worried about Peach dropping a few seeds and being his 16 seed!

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Drakeryn posted...

Magus

(poor guy, always screwed by bracket placement)
(pretty sure this isn't true)

Magus is actually a decent answer beyond 2003!

I mean, yeah, he's a fraud, too, but he's still had bad luck, like getting stuck up against Big Boss the first time he got a Naked Snake picture.

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The correct answer is probably 'Everyone who was on the ass end of the villain/hero match in 2004'.

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LeonhartFour posted...

Magus is actually a decent answer beyond 2003!

I mean, yeah, he's a fraud, too, but he's still had bad luck, like getting stuck up against Big Boss the first time he got a Naked Snake picture.

Depends on how you want to view his 2003 placement as good luck at the time, or really long term bad luck.

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So, what, that would be...Ganondorf, Bowser, Magus, and Sephiroth?

Yes, the epitome of unlucky characters!

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_SecretSquirrel posted...

Depends on how you want to view his 2003 placement as good luck at the time, or really long term bad luck.

I mean, getting into a position to get 35% on Link when you don't deserve it is fantastic luck!

It's everything else that happened after that I'd consider bad luck.

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When it comes to brackement placement luck/lack thereof, I think it's useful to look at the number of entrants that advanced each round. In regards to Phoenix, I wouldn't really consider 2013 good bracket placement for him. 72 characters made it to Round 2 that year, and he was almost certainly one of the 72 strongest characters in the bracket, so in a nuetral environment he would have been expected to make it to Round 2. In 2018 however, he made it to Round 3, which only 32 (not counting the byes) other characters did. I wouldn't say he was a top 32 character in the bracket, so that was good bracket placement to me.

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Yesmar_ posted...

In regards to Phoenix, I wouldn't really consider 2013 good bracket placement for him.

He beat Vincent! That's pretty lucky since it required Vincent to have the worst picture of all time to do so.

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LeonhartFour posted...

I mean, getting into a position to get 35% on Link when you don't deserve it is fantastic luck!

It's everything else that happened after that I'd consider bad luck.

I look at it in the same vein as a Pyrrhic Victory. It was great at the time, but it led to a series of circumstances that culminated in the most embarassing loss in Board 8 history.

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