I don't see the big issue with using Board 8 to make the bracket. Send invites to 10 or so of the Stats Topic veterans to some private Board. They are ineligible for a prize entry and threaten a usermap axe if they leak any info before the bracket goes public. Have them officially register as consultants with a $0 pay or something to make them official employees.
The worst part about this contest is that there was a lot of room for improvement even in just bracket placement. Move Squall out of that division, give X and the lower NNers some debateable matches. Give us Mario/Cloud and Samus/Snake. BAM, classic contest.
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Game of the decade? More like Guru of the decade mirite?
However, the Guru of the next decade so far is SuperNiceDog