Board 8 > Allen: *has tremendous amount of goodwill over contest and excellent bracket*

(+) Yeah! (+)

Allen: "Let me do the laziest possible thing for the match pictures for R1, potentially screwing some chars over in the process"

SIIIIIIGH.
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At least you're gonna play FF8
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Don't count on it.
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Underleveled posted...

At least you're gonna play FF8

nah he'll use this as an excuse to welch

even if it makes no sense
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Let me see if I got this right... ExTha made a bet he won't follow through on because of pictures that have effectively 0 impact? That's ridiculous.
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Oh my god I didn't even think about Quiet.

What the fuck, Allen.
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

Let me see if I got this right... ExTha made a bet he won't follow through on because of pictures that have effectively 0 impact? That's ridiculous.

Nah I said I would play FFVIII if Squall won his division. Which, that has nothing to do with the R1 pictures.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

Oh my god I didn't even think about Quiet.

What the fuck, Allen.

are you ashamed of you actions now?
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ExThaNemesis posted...

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Let me see if I got this right... ExTha made a bet he won't follow through on because of pictures that have effectively 0 impact? That's ridiculous.

Nah I said I would play FFVIII if Squall won his division. Which, that has nothing to do with the R1 pictures.

Oh, okay. Yeah, you're probably safe on that.
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nah Squall should be the favorite to win that division

but ExTha will welch anyway
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Don't you still owe me 5 bucks for that sans thing
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Well if Squall pulls it off, at least there's the Switch port coming out that'll be easy for me to p-

Oh wait.
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Punnyz posted...

Don't you still owe me 5 bucks for that sans thing

there was fine print that I put in my sig in that topic that said if any Undertale characters get in, the contract was null and void.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

Well if Squall pulls it off, at least there's the Switch port coming out that'll be easy for me to p-

Oh wait.

don't worry I'll buy you a copy to play

even if it'll be a total waste of my money
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LeonhartFour posted...

nah Squall should be the favorite to win that division

but ExTha will welch anyway

A D.Va rally could crush Squall, and I think Zelda beating him might actually align with the demographic changes over the years. If Squall is considered a favorite, it can't be by much.
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I'm not worried about an Overwatch rally when talking about favorites.

Squall's been decidedly stronger than Zelda in almost every contest they've ever shared. Zelda can win, but Squall's the clear favorite based on past history alone.
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Squall/Zelda was the most perplexing debated match of this contest for me. I don't really get why anyone is taking Zelda. (I mean logically I get it but it's just not a result I can imagine as being possible)
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pyresword posted...

Squall/Zelda was the most perplexing debated match of this contest for me. I don't really get why anyone is taking Zelda. (I mean logically I get it but it's just not a result I can imagine as being possible)

A game called Breath of the Wild came out. Perhaps you've heard of it.
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ExThaNemesis posted...

A game called Breath of the Wild came out. Perhaps you've heard of it.

I mean you realize Zelda has gotten many games over the course of these contests and not one of them has ever propelled her to Squall's level
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Squall will decline slightly and Zelda, given her first prominent role in a critically acclaimed Zelda game, will boost to high heaven.

I mean I'd be fine if you were right, I'm as tired of ZeldaFAQs as anyone, but the writing's on the wall.
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ZenOfThunder posted...

Again - this is Quiet face
What people want? She was always ugly
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pyresword posted...

Squall/Zelda was the most perplexing debated match of this contest for me. I don't really get why anyone is taking Zelda. (I mean logically I get it but it's just not a result I can imagine as being possible)

Squall is primarily from a one-off game and in the KH series he's not called Squall. Also, he's never been significantly stronger than Zelda, whose name is on one of the most celebrated games of this (and every) console generation. I won't claim that my pick of her isn't the minority pick for a reason, but I will say that she'll put up a hell of a fight either way.
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Zelda's first prominent role was Ocarina of Time

or Melee I guess

I just don't think Zelda actually has a ton of room to grow

neither does Ganondorf for that matter

they're both tremendous leeches who only benefit by being attached to the Zelda series
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

Squall is primarily from a one-off game and in the KH series he's not called Squall.

And yet he had perhaps the biggest boost in 2003. Not being called Squall in KH literally doesn't matter.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Also, he's never been significantly stronger than Zelda

I mean it depends on what you mean by "significant" but he'd beat her easily most years
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LeonhartFour posted...

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Squall is primarily from a one-off game and in the KH series he's not called Squall.

And yet he had perhaps the biggest boost in 2003. Not being called Squall in KH literally doesn't matter.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

Also, he's never been significantly stronger than Zelda

I mean it depends on what you mean by "significant" but he'd beat her easily most years

I don't know about that first part. Maybe it doesn't matter, or maybe he could have garnered a bigger boost. It doesn't change the fact that his stock is in decline since.

As for significant, I mean in the past he'd have to have beat her every year and it wouldn't be a question. The fact that she has been strong enough to potentially challenge him in the past means, to me, he's not significantly stronger.
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I had Squall with confidence until I heard that with only registered voters, Zelda would have beat Zard and Squall would have lost to Missingno. That plus BotW and Squall probably fading a bit like FF7 freaked me out and I waffled a bit, but in the end stuck with my gut and took Squall

Also took him to beat Sonic in losers so that pick is worth a lot
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

It doesn't change the fact that his stock is in decline since.

I mean this is a site stuck in the past and characters whose popularity is primarily rooted in the '90s still dominate here so I'm not sure I totally believe this

ChichiriMuyo posted...

As for significant, I mean in the past he'd have to have beat her every year and it wouldn't be a question.

okay then yes he's significantly stronger
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MZero11 posted...

I had Squall with confidence until I heard that with on'y registered voters, Zelda would have beat Zard

I mean Charizard only won by like 30 votes it wouldn't take much to swing that

I think people are overrating the significance of double votes anyway
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I don't have the stats page up, but there's never been a period when Zelda could crack 45% on Squall? If so, I made a weak choice. Otherwise, I placed a bet on a gamble. And yeah, this site is stuck in the 90's, but hasn't the gap between Link and Cloud actually gotten bigger over time?
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

but hasn't the gap between Link and Cloud actually gotten bigger over time?

the gap between Link and Cloud between 2006 and 2010 actually shrank and that's with Cloud getting noticeably weaker

it's probably bigger than ever now but that's mostly because FFVII in particular has dropped off sharply in a way that nothing else here really has

Chrono friggin' Trigger came out of nowhere in 2015 looking like the strongest game on the site, and it's had nothing.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

I don't have the stats page up, but there's never been a period when Zelda could crack 45% on Squall?

I mean, she probably could manage 45% in some years, but it's never been a point where they were that close in the stats.
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LeonhartFour posted...

ChichiriMuyo posted...

but hasn't the gap between Link and Cloud actually gotten bigger over time?

the gap between Link and Cloud between 2006 and 2010 actually shrank and that's with Cloud getting noticeably weaker

it's probably bigger than ever now but that's mostly because FFVII in particular has dropped off sharply in a way that nothing else here really has

Chrono friggin' Trigger came out of nowhere in 2015 looking like the strongest game on the site, and it's had nothing.

ChichiriMuyo posted...

I don't have the stats page up, but there's never been a period when Zelda could crack 45% on Squall?

I mean, she probably could manage 45% in some years, but it's never been a point where they were that close in the stats.

I still at my core reject the notion that CT wasn't always a favorite son for this site. It wasn't meant to be, but I took Crono in CB2k2. I can't remember if something happened that year of note, but CT is solid 'round here. I think what we really didn't see coming was the complete collapse of Melee, which was apparently a flash in the pan in that first games contest.

And if we're going straight stats, Zelda found herself right in the middle of the N9 in 2k5. Questionable stats, of course, but better than anything Squall ever did.
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

And if we're going straight stats, Zelda found herself right in the middle of the N9 in 2k5. Questionable stats, of course, but better than anything Squall ever did.

You mean 2006? Yeah, I don't trust that Zelda performance on Samus for anything. She wasn't stronger than Sonic and Mega Man that year or any year. Squall's been within striking distance of the bottom part of the Noble Nine for a long time though.
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

I can't remember if something happened that year of note, but CT is solid 'round here. I think what we really didn't see coming was the complete collapse of Melee, which was apparently a flash in the pan in that first games contest.

I mean yeah but the game lost straight up to Mario 64 twice in 2009 so it definitely wasn't as strong then as it was in 2015

Melee didn't really collapse though. It's right around FFX's strength, where it always has been and always will be. CT just became a monster again.
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I did mean 2006, and I did state that the results were questionable that year. But if you think of Tifa and Vincent as being roughly similar strength then Zelda isn't too far off from Squall. Either way the point is moot. I didn't come into this topic to debate the relative strength of these two. Like I said a few posts ago, I knowingly took Zelda out of betting interests. You don't win the contest without taking some chances, and it wasn't the biggest chance anyone took. Probably wasn't the biggest chance I took, for that matter. The chips will fall where they do.
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ChichiriMuyo posted...

But if you think of Tifa and Vincent as being roughly similar strength then Zelda isn't too far off from Squall.

To Squall, you mean?

I mean Vincent handily beat Zelda in 2007 after beating Ganondorf in 2006 (who will always be stronger than Zelda).

I was never saying Zelda couldn't win. I'm just saying Squall deserves to be the favorite because he's always outperformed her except for a weird outlier in 2006. His performances are just better.
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I may not have said the words, or maybe I said them poorly, but I have already conceded sir. And in fact, the last line you wrote was spot on. As I said at the start:

"I won't claim that my pick of her isn't the minority pick for a reason"

I know his advantages, I just don't think they can't be overcome. Again, I never meant to even debate this issue.
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Bump for more people to share in my righteous anger.
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I almost took Zelda due to registered votes doubling and seeing both her and Ganon get 4-seeds this year (they were 16/9-seeds in 2013) after LoZ:BotW released. I expect a stronger Zelda.

Squall's still probably got this though. Dude's just a powerhouse that has earned his benefit of the doubt.
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