LogFAQs > #914311564

Hello everyone, and welcome to the project where we rank all the CBX characters by contest strength! This time, well be ranking the Near-Elites, comprised of the following characters:

Alucard, Bowser, Crono, Ganondorf, Kirby, Luigi, Mega Man, Mega Man X, Pikachu, Sephiroth, Sonic the Hedgehog, Tifa Lockheart, Vivi, Yoshi, and Zero

Before we get going, heres the (slightly modified) Rules:

1. If at all possible, please number your rankings (ex. 1 for the strongest character, etc.) - it makes your ranks much clearer, allowing me to tabulate them much easier.
2. Rankings of indirect strength are preferred, but direct rankings will be allowed, especially in tandem with indirect rankings.
3. Stick to one ranking per tier (or one ranking each of indirect and direct strength if you choose to separate them) - dont try to sway the standings with multiple accounts.
4. Youre always welcome to submit retroactive rankings if you missed one or more days, as well as change your existing rankings if so inclined, up until this project ends.
5. And most importantly, be nice to each other, even people you dont like! Discussion is welcomed and encouraged, but this isnt ultimately meant to be an overly serious project, so I dont want to see any knock-down, drag-out arguments developing in here about how someones not ranking by the stats or whatever else - use your discretion about this.

Heres the spreadsheet that Ill be using to record data for this project: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1s6rNxUlXY3kpo9Ru-Pyw9CjtGBIRasJKiUv6a7cEgEw/edit?usp=sharing

Tomorrow night, we'll be moving on to the Upper Midcarders, but for today, heres the Near-Elites listed in an easy copy-paste format:

Alucard
Bowser
Crono
Ganondorf
Kirby
Luigi
Mega Man
MMX
Pikachu
Sephiroth
Sonic
Tifa
Vivi
Yoshi
Zero

As for yesterday, with Day 1's rankings in, the current ranking of the Elites (based on means) is the following:
1. Cloud Strife
2. Samus Aran
3. Mario
4. Zelda
5. Solid Snake

My thoughts:
- First off, I was pleased to see 16 participants in Day 1 alone. And remember, if you missed Day 1, you can always chip in with your own ranking of the Elites, right here!
- Only two of those 16 ranked the Elites based on who won/lost their direct matches, suggesting a broad consensus about (r)SFF, rallies, and other forms of non-transitivity affecting those matches.
- Regarding individual character rankings, the strongest consensus by far was about Snake being last among the Elites, with only three rankers putting him in fourth.
- Samus had the most first place rankings, but she was dragged down by a handful of third and fourth-place rankings, whereas no one put Cloud below third.
- And finally, the first eight rankings were all different, clearly suggesting CBX hasn't given us all the answers regarding the comparative strength of the Elites.
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Hail the reigning Guru champ, Advokaiser!
You proved yourself more statistically metal-minded than I ever have been - well done!