LogFAQs > #947956471

Division 5 Round 1: King Dedede, Pit, Ryu Hayabusa, and Zero

King Dedede - 16807 [13.41%]
Pit - 18326 [14.62%]
Ryu Hayabusa - 45800 [36.53%]
Zero - 44430 [35.44%]
Total Votes - 125363

As you can see, BrawlFEAR dominated the nomination process this year. Everything from Sandbags to space ants from that game made the field in this contest, and Nintendo or no, there was a <i>ton</i> of first round fodder from that game in this contest. In fact, here are the only Brawl playables to not make the field in 2008:

-Zero Suit Samus, who I don't even count as a separate character from Samus
-Peach
-Popo, who I also don't really count since Nana got in
-Sheik, who is another that doesn't really count
-Pokemon Trainer Red, and yes the default in Smash is Red and you will never convince me otherwise
-R.O.B.
-Mr. Game & Watch
-Jigglypuff
-Toon Link (please)
-Wolf

Of that entire list, the only ones who count as actual characters are Peach, Pokemon Trainer, R.O.B. (if I'm feeling <i>very</i> generous), Game & Watch, Jigglypuff, and Wolf. From that list, only R.O.B. has never made a contest. If you go back to Melee, only Pichu, Roy, Popo (I guess), and R.O.B. hasn't gotten in. I don't care enough to do the research past that, especially given Smash Ultimate's roster isn't even full yet and I'm supposed to pretend like these writeups are happening in 2008.

To the point. Damn near EVERYTHING from Brawl made this contest, and a lot of it went out in round 1 because all of these characters faced each other. Some people think this proves BrawlFEAR was overrated, and to that I simply point at Snake's run.

So when people look at this match and place all of the blame on Zero for shitting the bed, it's not entirely his fault. The Mega Man series is basically Nintendo's bitch at this point, and he had to sit there splitting the votes with two other Nintendo characters. This doesn't mean Zero had any right not getting first place here, but what ended up happening is at least somewhat explainable.

That said, this was still an epic choke job. Zero was once thought of as a character that could crack the Noble Nine, and it was mainly due to this set of matches:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1344-east-division-round-2-zero-vs-sonic-the-hedgehog
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1768-20xx-division-semifinal-mega-man-vs-zero
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1364-south-division-final-solid-snake-vs-mega-man
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/1775-20xx-division-final-mega-man-vs-solid-snake
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2557-tournament-quarterfinal-solid-snake-vs-mega-man

There was also the fact Zero and Ryu had a 1v1 match before: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/2068-mushroom-division-round-1-zero-vs-ryu-hayabusa

That poll is real. It actually happened. So we all just penciled in Zero > Ryu without thinking much of it, because this wasn't some lol x-stats thing. We have a direct 63-37 result.

Yeah, <i>whoops.</i>

Turns out Zero is good, but not <i>that</i> good. When the poll started, Zero struggled to get out of the gates, while Pit and Dedede pulled up the rear. If you folks want to talk about the one time epical battle those two had for third place, knock yourselves out. You're a manic if you do, but hey, you do you.

Zero did eventually get going, and overnight it looked like he would cruise to a comfortable, yet disappointing first place. He built up a lead of 700 overnight, and it seemed like we could all just go to bed. But then the unthinkable happened, and Ryu not only started cutting off votes overnight, but he won the morning vote by such convincing fashion that by the time he caught up, it was clear Ryu was going to win. The dude flew by Zero, and kept laying the wood on him all day long until he ended up winning by 1400. It was one of the most shocking board results of the entire contest, because even with two Nintendo characters bringing up the rear, there was no tangible reason to think Ryu could just turn around a 63-37 match in three years' time like this.

This was a very embarrassing loss for Zero, though not altogether inexplicable, and again, it didn't even matter in the grand scheme of things since both of them advanced anyway. Thanks, 4ways. First off, Ryu Hayabusa is not some bottom feeder. Outside of 2005 and 2006, this guy is always involved in entertaining matches and he often wins them. Just ask Master Chief. Just ask Jill Valentine, whose mega-duel with Ryu back in 2004 might legitimately be the most entertaining round 1 match we'll ever have. Just ask Simon Belmont, who almost lost to the guy <i>after</i> Smash Ultimate hype. Or in an actual gaming sense, ask anyone who gets to that hidden mission in Nioh. That fight is some of the most annoying nonsense in the entire game.

The other factor to consider is the warning signs have been there for years of Mega Man's gang falling off. Mega Man himself went from beating Snake every year to losing to him, and Zero's gradual downfall is pretty evident. If you want to see how bad it would get, just skip ahead to 2013 and 2018.

So... yeah. Another random first place upset that would have meant so much more were it an actual 1v1 contest. Thanks, 4ways. You suck.

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