Board 8 > The 128 Greatest GameFAQS Contest Matches of All Time - The Top 64

(+) Yeah! (+)

Kirby has had some close-ish matches in his history, but he doesn't really have any classics outside of his 2008 run, I'd say.

No it's not the same highs but he manages to have debatable matches every time, except in 2004.

I wouldn't put it above the others mentioned here, but going through some characters I noticed he almost never had an entirely predictable path, which is impressive.

One of my favorite matches is Kirby/Tidis. Not only was I one of the few people on the board who called it, but to get out of surgery and see (at the time) my favorite character owning a match he was projected to lose was a delight.

40. The Legend of Zelda vs. Final Fantasy (2006) R5

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/23732cc9.jpg

The Legend of Zelda 50.99% 80825
Final Fantasy 49.01% 77702
TOTAL VOTES 158527
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)The_Legend_of_Zelda_vs_(1)Final_Fantasy_2006
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2455-tournament-final-the-legend-of-zelda-vs-final-fantasy

I know that this match might never have been in as much doubt as the final result implies, but if nothing else, the match remains, and will always remain, as the greatest representation of raw strength in contest history. Truly a heavyweight battle for the ages between two series that were at or near their peak popularity on the site. Weve had offsite rallies that might have been more powerful, but weve never had any other match featuring two entities whose inherent strength was greater than what was put on display here. This wasnt just a single character or a single game going up against another; it was an entire history of games, it was the history of the two biggest companies on the site, going up against one another in a battle that it was hard not to feel was existential in a way. The final result would say something about the site, not in a pejorative way, but in a way that showed where the real center of gravity was.

Despite Links dominance in the Character Battles, there was still a sense going into 2006 that in terms of games, this was still a Final Fantasy site. The winner predictions were closely divided, (the hype for Twilight Princess was hard to ignore), but in the end the board sided with FF. The school of though went that while the Zelda games were all very popular, they were also all very similar, with one singular fanbase. Final Fantasy had a greater variety of games, even if some werent as popular, and many overlapping fanbases that would accrete together into a larger whole. Any confidence people had in this prediction was tempered immediately, upon the first day of the contest, when Zelda smashed Civilization in a match where it became the first contest entrant to break 100,000 votes in a single match. Even though its percentage wasnt that far off from what had been previously predicted, this set off an alarm for many, and over the next several weeks the two titans engaged in a tit for tat battle across the rounds. If Zelda had smashed records in its R1 match, Final Fantasy would turn around and do the same two weeks later, destroying Diablo 85/15 in a match where its own total hit 107,648, topping Zeldas number. The two series would spend the rest of the contest trying to one up the other, each one breaking 100k votes every round until the semis, with Zelda topping off at 114,009 votes in a Round 3 beatdown of Metroid where it won by an overall margin of 93,414 votes, two records which still stand to this day.

It was a closely matched rivalry, until FFs Semifinal match, when the wheels finally started coming off. It would win the match, but as I wrote about earlier in the list, it allowed Super Mario Bros. to break 46%, a much higher number than was expected, especially for a series whose best days had, at this point in time, last been in 1996. Zelda was considered a much stronger series than Mario, so if Mario had been able to do this on Final Fantasy, FF would have to enter the Finals as a notable underdog. The Finals had seemingly been decided then, 24 hours before the match was even set to begin. And this caused a mini-meltdown in some quarters of the site. We hadnt yet internalized the idea of the LAW, and while people had made peace with Links dominance of one type of contest, there was still an assumption that Square/Final Fantasy had their own spheres of power. For Final Fantasy to lose here, in a contest format people had assumed favored a series with a wide variety of games, left people outside of the Nintendo faithful with a distressing vision of the future, of a Nintendo labeled boot stomping on GameFAQSs faceforever.

Despite the Finals being considered a fait accompli at this point, Final Fantasy actually went out and put up a good fight. Zelda started off strong, as expected, but Final Fantasy struck back overnight, cutting 700 or so votes off of Zeldas 2,000 vote lead before the Day Vote kicked in. The Day Vote would halt any momentum Final Fantasy might have been building up however, and it would be unable to do much else the rest of the day besides stall out Zelda from time to time. It made one final run in the evening hours, taking the lead just below 51%, ending with a performance that might have looked impressive compared to its numbers against Mario, but which in the end was just not quite enough to win. If the vote totals of these two series in the previous rounds had indicated a massive reservoir of strength, the numbers for the Finals did not disappoint, with an overall vote total of just under 160,000 votes, a number which would only be broken once without the aid of outside support. Final Fantasy would get 77,702 votes in its loss, a staggering number that would set a record of its own. The amount of power on display here would probably never be seen again, and while people might have overreacted to the result, they werent wrong to recognize the passing of the torch that was taking place, and of Final Fantasys final moment as an absolute giant on the site.

I still kinda wonder how a Zelda/Mario match would've gone

Zelda/Mario probably goes similar to Link/Ganon vs. Mario/Bowser in the Rivalry Rumble.

Thinking about what characters had the most classics made me consider how many characters only missed a single contest. There are 16 with perfect attendance. The Noble Nine, Squall, Kirby, Tidus, Dante, Gordon, Ryu and Alucard.

The ones that are one off are basically all missing either 02 or 06, mostly the former. Donkey Kong, Knuckles, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Master Chief, Sora, Zero, Aaron, Ganondorf. Think that might be all that are one off but not certain.

Leonhart4 posted...

I still kinda wonder how a Zelda/Mario match would've gone

It's hard to fathom, but I wonder if Mario would have actually had a shot post-Galaxy. Not that the Galaxy games themselves have a great contest legacy, but mainline Mario games had been out of the limelight for so long in '06, it's hard not to think that just being relevant again wouldn't have given the series a boost.

ctesjbuvf posted...

Thinking about what characters had the most classics made me consider how many characters only missed a single contest. There are 16 with perfect attendance. The Noble Nine, Squall, Kirby, Tidus, Dante, Gordon, Ryu and Alucard.

The ones that are one off are basically all missing either 02 or 06, mostly the former. Donkey Kong, Knuckles, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Master Chief, Sora, Zero, Aaron, Ganondorf. Think that might be all that are one off but not certain.

I was thinking Jill only had one absence (2005) but I guess she missed 2018 as well.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7275-division-5-round-1-jill-vs-fox

Nah, she was in 2018, too. She just lost in Round 1.

Damn, Jill got hosed in 2018. All that rally trash in that bracket, and she draws Fox on impending Smash Ultimate release steroids and still manages 45%?

Jill wasnt going anywhere.

Okay so unless we're missing somebody, Jill is the only character with one absence that wasn't either 2002 (no official nominations were held and bracket was hand-picked by CJayC based on unofficial nominations by CE) or 2006 (female half of the bracket significantly hampered the predominantly male pool of regulars).

39. Mario vs. Vivi vs. Ganondorf (2013) R2

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/1/1f802204.jpg

Mario 41.09% 16409
Vivi 41.27% 16483
Ganondorf 17.64% 7045
TOTAL VOTES 39937
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(1)Mario_vs_(6)Vivi_vs_(9)Ganondorf_2013
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/5246-character-battle-ix-division-8-round-2-mario-vs-vivi-vs

Look, is this one of the craziest upsets weve ever seen? Yes. However, did it also take place during 2013, a contest where the site was seemingly transported to some alternate reality similar to ours, but also radically different? Also, yes. As I mentioned back when I ranked Squirtle > Cloud, the 2013 Contest feels like some crazy GameFAQS Contest fanfic, and its hard at times to rank its matches against those from a normal contest. This match, despite its completely unexpected nature and the partial involvement of 4chan, does feel a bit more grounded in the reality of the site than Squirtle/Cloud did at least, and so it got a boost in the rankings. There is still a sense of unreality surrounding it though, to me at least, and while I wouldnt say that a match can ever be hurt by being *too* inexplicable, this one goes right up there and toes the line.

This next paragraph would be where I normally set up the match, talking about the expectations we had in the days leading up to it, and if it was an upset how much credence the upset predictions were getting. For this match though, there wasnt any buildup or any discussion. It was considered one more win for Mario. Possibly closer than he would have liked because of Ganons presence, but the end result was never in question during any stage of the contest. After all, Mario had beaten Mega Man X before with Zelda (and Mudkip) in the poll with him, so Vivi should be no problem. The next round with Squall did have some people calling for an upset, but this match was not on anyones radar. The 2013 Bracket was replete with opportunities for split votes, seemingly designed to allow every opportunity for a rally fueled character (usually a Pokemon) to slide through, but in all those cases, we saw the upset coming ahead of time. As the contest went on, it became clear that forces like 4chan were going to interfere in the results to an extent that they never truly had before, but even with all of that brewing we marched towards this match with complete naivete. Vivi didnt seem like the type of character that those outside groups would rally around, and even if they did, the match wouldnt be close enough to matter anyway.

The match started, and right from the beginning, one thing was clear. The match *was* going to be close. Vivi was going 50/50 with Mario, not just in the first minute or even the first five minutes, but half an hour in, and Mario was sitting on a barely there 18 vote lead. Instead of Vivis Board Vote wearing off at this point, the black mage started gaining again, eventually taking back the lead, and battling over it with Mario for the next hour or two. And everyone following along was sitting in absolute shock. This was some of the most extreme LFF wed ever seen, especially in regards to Mario, and it was due to a character like Ganondorf, who while obviously still a Nintendo icon wasnt even from the same series. It not only violated our preconceived notions of such splits, it seemingly went against previous vote splits we had seen with our own eyes. Regardless of the reasons, Mario was in trouble, and he got in even more trouble once 4chan caught wind of things. Five hours in, on the back of rallies, Vivi started building up a lead for good. Mario would make runs at the lead constantly, but every time he tried to start building momentum for a comeback, he was swatted aside by a brand new rally which would slow his comeback and force Mario to start over again from square one. In the last 60-90 minutes of the match, Mario would make the best attempt he could, but the forces pushing against him were too powerful, and the day would end with Vivi advancing to the Third Round, an incomprehensible result.

Of course, for anyone excited about a Nintendo icon being upset, it didnt take long to realize that Vivi advancing only created one more bit of aid for Pokemons Long March through the bracket, as this was now setting up a FF split between Squall and Vivi in the following round. But still, in the moment, it was hard to think about anything else besides history being made. In hindsight, many upsets become clearer, but this one remains opaque. Sure, the 4chan rallies were what pushed Vivi over the edge, but they werent pumping votes into the match the second it started. That initial 50/50 was mostly GameFAQS itself. How did that even happen? It seems borderline mathematically impossible. There are some match results that we almost seemed to have wished into being, but no one was wishing for this because no one even realized it was possible. Ive heard the 2013 Contest described as a fever dream, and if so, this might have been its most striking hallucination.

All you really have to do is believe that something like 90% of Ganondorfs votes go to Mario and this is actually kind of plausible. If Shadow can get 45% on Mario, even when you factor in the Mario/Nintendo boost and the Square slump at the time, Im willing to believe Vivi can get 42% on a good day.

Vivi > Mario is the only wacky 2013 result I actually liked (Mega Man beating Charizard with Zero there kinda counts for this too with how that contest was going). It was refreshing to see one that wasn't Pokmon.

Although none of these characters had met before, Ganondorf had been involved in a four-way in 2007 with a Mario brother and a Final Fantasy character (alongside Master Chief), and had done decently well. It's just the site culture which changed.

Vivi > Mario was such a favored result by the board that we forgot it meant nothing at that point.

2018 showed Vivi had become a near elite, so that's how he could hang with Mario with Ganondorf leeching him. Also Mario has been overrated since like 2008, but there was no real chance to demonstrate it before then.

Also this is one of those upsets seemingly everyone loves but me because of the unintended consequences. It basically guaranteed a Red win the following round and deprived me of a chance to see what Squall could do in an LFF situation of his own.

ctesjbuvf posted...

The ones that are one off are basically all missing either 02 or 06, mostly the former. Donkey Kong, Knuckles, Luigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Master Chief, Sora, Zero, Aaron, Ganondorf.

I stared at this for a solid minute trying to figure out who Aaron was, and how there'd be some character with that name in so many contests that I couldn't think of.

Vivi > Mario is one of those results that just made me laugh at that contest. As if the three-way battles weren't weird enough, or the Pokemon rallies, or that we were left buttfurious and buttdevastated, randomly we have this faceless black mage who defeats the face of gaming and knocks another brick out of the Noble Nine.

Ya done messed up A-U-ron

That's phone auto correct doing Auron dirty again

Does anyone have the match pic with Chrono Trigger where the scene was everyone camped around the fire? I forget what match it was against and the results.

Presumably the Melee match lol

Yeah 4chan and Ganondorf. The weird thing about the match to me is that a solid part of the board dismisses the 2013 contest all together but still considers that one match an all-timer because that one was a result to get behind. Personally I might not even rank it but I recognize it's held in high regard.

It's this one and Mega Man > Charizard, the real underdog upset

That was my favorite result of that contest yes. The one time both LFF and Pokemon lost in a contest dominated by both.

38. Final Fantasy Tactics vs. Metal Gear Solid (Sp2004) R2

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0c5e7037.jpg

Final Fantasy Tactics 49.98% 40292
Metal Gear Solid 50.02% 40330
TOTAL VOTES 80622
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/(5)Final_Fantasy_Tactics_vs_(4)Metal_Gear_Solid_2004
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1642-division-32-round-2-final-fantasy-tactics-vs-metal-gear

GameFAQS and its tastes have been preserved in amber for so long that it can be hard to remember a time when the strengths of characters and games had the potential to vary notably from year to year, when each new contest had the potential to bring about the reordering of preferences, and a new tier list of which entrants were elite, and which were just common midcarders. You could have matches whose results, just a couple of contests later, seemed unreplicable, as if they were from a decade previous, not just a couple of years. The two games in this match would meet up five years later, in a Round 1 match that saw FFT defeated soundly, not just by MGS, but by Pokemon G/S/C as well. It wouldnt get blown out, either that year or when it returned in 2015, but its status as a foundational game for its era had clearly faded. Thats not what we saw here however. This is a definitive only on GameFAQS in 2004 kind of match and we had the good luck to see it take place on GameFAQS in the Spring of 2004.

And this wasnt a nailbiter that no one saw coming either; it was one of the most hotly contested matches of its division, and was, in some ways, the last really debated match to take place in it. Metal Gear Solids appeal was obvious and needs no explanation, however, the 2004 contest took place during a period where Snake was considered a consistent disappointment, and there were some assumptions that the game would be more of the same. And speculation on FFTs popularity was no more definitive. With 2004 being the first Games Contest, it was an open question as to how much the imprimatur of a beloved series could help the less notable games in it or spun off from it, and with some of the lesser mainline FF games blocked due to the series cap, there was a dearth of evidence to draw on when it came to determining FFTs strength. Even on a site as in love with JRPGS as GameFAQS it was hard to argue that FFT would be making a match with Metal Gear Solid competitive on its own merits. The Final Fantasy name would be doing a lot of the lifting and the only question was, would that lifting be enough?

Initially, it looked like it would not be. Despite a strong start from FFT, MGS moved into the lead very quickly and used the First Night Vote, along with the beginning of the Day Vote, to build up its lead. As the Morning Vote started to kick in, MGSs lead would go up 100 votes or so every 15 minutes. It wasnt ahead by a lot, but it was well on its way to a solid victory. And then, just as soon as Metal Gear Solids gains had started, it hit a wall. By 9 AM EST, its gains had started to slow, and it would take another two hours of fits and starts just to get the lead 100 votes or so higher, to a peak of 741 votes, the highest lead that either entrant would have for the entire match. From that point forward, the vibe would shift, and we would be in store for what was, at the time, the closest wire-to-wire match we had ever seen. Shortly after 12:00 PM EST, what had started out as some stalls from FFT here and there, and a drop in MGSs percentage throughout the morning, would turn in a full fledged comeback, FFT chopping into the lead consistently all throughout the afternoon. It looked as if the underdog Square game was on track to pull off both the comeback and the upset, until MGS struck back, and was able to stall things out for a couple hours around dinner time.

FFT was not finished yet however, and around 9:00 PM EST, it would unleash one final push, erasing the remaining 400 votes of Metal Gear Solids lead in only two hours, and bringing the match to a tie. With four hours left to go, both games had enough time left to build up a lead, if only they could get the momentum. However, instead of momentum what we got instead was four hours of deadlock, and a match that would remain within 100 votes all throughout the final portion of the poll. There have been few matches in history that remained this close for this long right at the very end, and the tension was unbearable, as both sides waited for one of the games to break through. Despite never leading any 15 minute updates, FFT remained in the match all the way to the very end, but ultimately it was Metal Gear Solid that would emerge victorious, albeit by a minuscule 38 votes. Once again, the Metal Gear series had failed to impress like the board thought it should, however, what the series might have lacked in preconceived strength it had made up for in grit, holding on throughout 24 of the closest hours we had ever seen, showing that despise being weaker than expected, you could never count the series out.

Ah, I've been waiting for this one to come up. I've decided that when it showed, I would finally get something off my chest.

Some 10ish years after this match, another B8er (who has long-since left GameFAQs) admitted to me on AIM that he had stuffed for MGS in this match. He said he didn't remember exactly how many votes he had stuffed, but it was "definitely more" than the 38 it won by. He also said that, at the time, he had never played either game and hadn't even entered a bracket so he had absolutely no skin in the match, he was just sick of seeing Final Fantasy win. Looking at Ulti's analysis, I wouldn't be surprised if this is what we're looking at:

Around 2:45 EST, Final Fantasy Tactics managed to push the poll to being even again, but yet again, it was unable to make the push necessary to win the match. Metal Gear Solid made a huge push of around 50 votes or so, and since it happened that late in the poll, it meant the end for Final Fantasy Tactics in the match, and a win for Metal Gear Solid.

It's one of the great sadnesses of contest history for me that Ramza never won a contest match because the Nintendo Boost in 2005 essentially neutered the strength of all non-mainline FF content. The original Games Contest is where it all peaked.

Underleveled posted...

Ah, I've been waiting for this one to come up. I've decided that when it showed, I would finally get something off my chest.

Some 10ish years after this match, another B8er (who has long-since left GameFAQs) admitted to me on AIM that he had stuffed for MGS in this match. He said he didn't remember exactly how many votes he had stuffed, but it was "definitely more" than the 38 it won by. He also said that, at the time, he had never played either game and hadn't even entered a bracket so he had absolutely no skin in the match, he was just sick of seeing Final Fantasy win. Looking at Ulti's analysis, I wouldn't be surprised if this is what we're looking at:

Was this person's name George Romero?

Or Albion, perhaps

Who claimed he was "rallying" for Hogger all day in 2008 and the only time Laharl made cuts was when he stopped to eat a sandwich or something

It was SanityLapse, who was pretty outspoken against FF (and RPGs in general) during the heyday of gauntlets. This was when we had that particular AIM convo.

I mean, virtually any closely contested match likely had some level of vote stuffing that went undetected, particularly in the earlier days of contests, so it's not that shocking.

Yesmar_ posted...

If the vote totals of these two series in the previous rounds had indicated a massive reservoir of strength, the numbers for the Finals did not disappoint, with an overall vote total of just under 160,000 votes, a number which would only be broken once without the aid of outside support. Final Fantasy would get 77,702 votes in its loss, a staggering number that would set a record of its own. The amount of power on display here would probably never be seen again, and while people might have overreacted to the result, they werent wrong to recognize the passing of the torch that was taking place, and of Final Fantasys final moment as an absolute giant on the site.

There were actually 3 matches that exceeded the Zelda/FF match in total votes through legitimate means (no massive outside rallies). All of them were L-Block matches from 2007.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2924-
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2925-
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2926-

Although there was some outside involvement in L-Block's final 2 matches of the regular contest, it was largest internally driven by the site's userbase. And even the bonus match exceeded 160000 votes. Since then, Melee/Undertale has also broken the 160000 vote mark as well, but with significant outside help.

_SecretSquirrel posted...

I mean, virtually any closely contested match likely had some level of vote stuffing that went undetected, particularly in the earlier days of contests, so it's not that shocking.

People doubted StarCrafts close victories for the same reason iirc.

_SecretSquirrel posted...

I mean, virtually any closely contested match likely had some level of vote stuffing that went undetected, particularly in the earlier days of contests, so it's not that shocking.

oh for sure. Im sure almost every match thats been decided by less than 50 votes or so came down to who outstuffed at the buzzer.

bwburke94 posted...

Although none of these characters had met before, Ganondorf had been involved in a four-way in 2007 with a Mario brother and a Final Fantasy character (alongside Master Chief), and had done decently well. It's just the site culture which changed.

Yeah. Looking back at it, the signs of LoZ's massive boost in 2018 might've been there in 2013 as well.
LusterSoldier posted...

There were actually 3 matches that exceeded the Zelda/FF match in total votes through legitimate means (no massive outside rallies). All of them were L-Block matches from 2007.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2924-
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2925-
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2926-

Although there was some outside involvement in L-Block's final 2 matches of the regular contest, it was largest internally driven by the site's userbase. And even the bonus match exceeded 160000 votes. Since then, Melee/Undertale has also broken the 160000 vote mark as well, but with significant outside help.

L-Block was definitely fueled by outsiders as well. Though you're right that it started internally, and then outsiders picked up on it and ran with it.

Speaking of last minute suspicious comebacks. <_<

37. Samus Aran vs. Vincent Valentine vs. Crono vs. Pikachu (2008) R4

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/4/46275fc8.jpg

Samus Aran 30.91% 37909
Vincent Valentine 25.25% 30963
Crono 25.31% 31041
Pikachu 18.54% 22736
TOTAL VOTES 122649
https://board8.fandom.com/wiki/Samus_Aran_vs_Vincent_Valentine_vs_Crono_vs_Pikachu_2008
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/3301-contest-quarterfinal-samus-vincent-crono-pikachu

Crono is one of our strongest characters, and has been from the very beginning. However, despite his strength, the matches of his that everyone remembers, the ones that will make it near the top of this list, are his losses. This match however, is different. This match was Cronos Revenge. But first, the backstory. Crono was a solid link in the Noble Nine for our first several years, despite some of his dramatic losses. Starting in 2006 though, he began to slip, getting a reputation as the weak link of the Noble Nine, and eventually becoming the first Noble Niner to lose to a Non-Noble Niner in a match. The character that pulled off that accomplishment was Vincent, and if Crono fans were looking for a rematch, they got one right away as the two were set up against each other the very next year. Once again the two of them would face off in a battle for second place in a match, and once again the winner of their showdown would knock the winner out of the contest for good.

Other than the imminent release of Chrono Trigger DS, which wasnt considered much of a factor pre-release, there was very little reason to think that anything had changed between 2007 and 2008. If Vincent had had the edge before, he should have it again, and most people did indeed side with him for this match, but Crono would retain a core of support. It didnt matter that there was no reason for the previous years result to reverse itself this time around. It was Crono, goddammit, Theres just something about the guy that makes people root for him, and people were going to show him support no matter what. And that support, while based more in hope than in logic, did gain some traction as the contest went on. Vincent would turn in a series of performances which while competent were not as impressive as in the past, while Crono managed to put away his opponents with ease every round, not even breaking a sweat against a returning L-Block, whose strength was a massive question mark going into things. Both of them generally met their marks in their three previous matches, but if you had to parse things out to a fine detail, Crono had had a slightly better run so far when compared to the pre-contest expectations. Vincent retained a slight advantage prediction wise, but the match was increasingly looking like anyones game. And the stakes were extremely high, as whichever character advanced would be going into a Semifinals match with three Nintendo icons, a golden opportunity for a vote split, and for a ticket to the Finals.

As expectations rose, the match started, and in the initial hours it played out much like it had the year before. Crono swept the Board Vote and started to build up a sizable lead over Vincent, several hundred votes ahead by the early morning hours when the European Vote was expected to kick in, and for the bottom to drop out from under Crono. And initially, Crono looked like he would be in trouble. His lead peaked at just over 800 votes, several hundred votes behind what he had done in 2007, a match he had lost by more than 1,000. If Vincent was able to pull off the same trends he had the previous year, it wouldnt take very long at all for him to put the match away. But Vincents trends werent the same as they were the previous year. Sure, he surged during the First Night Vote, cutting down much of Cronos lead, and then went on to stall things out during the Morning Vote as expected. But, even though the trends were broadly similar to those from 2007, they were more muted, Vincents comeback less extreme. At the midway point of the match, Vincent still hadnt closed the deal, despite starting from a lower vote deficit. Still, he was only 200 or so votes away from the lead, and he had the ASV yet to go. As long as Crono collapsed as expected, Vincent would be fine.

And Crono did still collapsekind of. It was enough for Vincent to take the lead over him, but Crono held on much better than he had during the ASV in the past couple of contests. As the afternoon and evening wore on, Vincent would build up a lead, but he did it slowly, struggling to get to 200 votes over Crono, with the latter sniping and stalling things out from update to update. If Vincent was looking to put away all doubt as to his status as a Noble Nine breaker, he wasnt doing so convincingly, but still, a win is a win is a win, and Vincent, at this point, was winning, increasing his lead slowly, vote by vote. Until, very suddenly, he wasnt. With only an hour left to go, on a dime, the match shifted. With 60 minutes left to do something, Crono went on a last minute tear the likes of which we had rarely seen before. It started off gradually, and then in the final minutes of the poll, Crono exploded. Not only was he beating Vincent, at points he was pulling in more votes than Samus. Call it a clutch, call it suspicious, call it whatever you want, but in the second to last update, Crono surged into the lead. It was a lead which he would hold for the final five minutes of the match, all the time he needed, both to secure his place in the Finals, and to redeem his reputation and his place in the Noble Nine. For this year, at least.

Pikachu had a great run in 2008, which included taking down the reigning champion. But three of the top 10 (at the time) was just too much for him at the Sweet Sixteen.

Only the Mario clutch can defeat the Chrono Trigger clutch

One of the weirdest developments of 2008 was the disappearance of FFVII's rise to heaven, particularly with the ASV

It started off gradually, and then in the final minutes of the poll, Crono exploded. Not only was he beating Vincent, at points he was pulling in more votes than Samus. Call it a clutch, call it suspicious, call it whatever you want, but in the second to last update, Crono surged into the lead.

I mean that sounds like straight up clear stuffing lol. Is this what 'clutch' means

andylt posted...

I mean that sounds like straight up clear stuffing lol. Is this what 'clutch' means

Yeah if anyone uses the word "clutch," it's almost always a euphemism for vote stuffing

I mean it could be rallying, except for the fact that where does one rally for Crono in 2008?

Yesmar_ posted...

I mean it could be rallying, except for the fact that where does one rally for Crono in 2008?

The largest known collection of Chrono Trigger fans is, in fact, GameFAQs itself

Yeah Chrono Trigger feels noticeably more popular on GameFAQs than most other places but it IS kind of an internet thing in general. My understanding is that it was just kind of a modest hit when it was released but then boomed in popularity in the late 90s/early 2000s when emulation took off.