Board 8 > ~*~Zen Anal-yzes the Summer 2013 Contest - 5 Years *2* Late Edition~*~

(+) Yeah! (+)

pretty sure Kanzaris was the biggest Draven guy in 2013

unless I'm mixing him up with being an Undertale mark in 2015

they run together in my head
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LeonhartFour posted...

pretty sure Kanzaris was the biggest Draven guy in 2013

unless I'm mixing him up with being an Undertale mark in 2015

they run together in my head

Thats correct (for Draven, that is; I dont remember if he was involved with Undertale at all)
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(8)Chester vs (22)Caim vs (8)Spring Breeze Dancin'




This was the bonus match post-Round 1, it didn't count for points I think and I also think we voted on what match we wanted to see. @LusterSoldier usually remembers this stuff better than me.

Something tells me we could have come up with something more interesting, but at the time the board was obsessed with finding the weakest possible character in these things. Yet somehow we all knew and wanted it to be Chester but we also voted for him?? You can't make this shit up, we never agree on anything. The only thing we learned from this match is that Caim is so weak he can barely double Spring Breeze Dancin'. We also learned just how low we could get the votals to go.

(1)Mario vs (1)Crono vs (7)Mega Man X




Here's another match where I wonder what the hell we were thinking. Why X in this match? Did we really need Mario vs Crono for a tenth time? Crono has dropped so much in the decade leading up to this match that this didn't even need to be a question. Even with X potentially sapping some of Mario's votes away he was still able to beat Crono quite comfortably. Could X beat Crono if Mario weren't here? Maybe. I seriously don't think Crono is going to be shit come CBX. I'd be shocked if he made it out of Round 3, even with a good seed. Put him up against a Pokemon and watch him crumble.

(11)Mewtwo vs (6)Pikachu vs (1)Mega Man




Speaking of which, here's a match that pits all the second place winners of the Semis together, including two whole Pokemon. Mega Man was destined to win this one based on the virtue of heavy SFF, but which Pokemon would come out on top?

A lot of people argued it would be Pikachu, but Mewtwo was already on fire, and if any of the rally people were checking in they probably would have voted for him as well. There wasn't really an option for Pikachu to win here. A 1-v-1 between these two in 2018 would definitely be interesting.

(1)Link vs (1)Solid Snake




The only thing super interesting about this match is that originally it was scheduled to be Link vs Draven but reddit set up a rally for Draven because they are scumbags and can't even let us have a bonus. So instead Allen put up a poll for a replacement, but reddit also rallied for Link vs Draven in that poll because they are scumbags and can't even let us have a poll for a bonus.

Allen did the right thing and gave us Link vs Snake, which may seem silly for people who weren't here in the 2013 season, but at the time Snake > Link was the "cool" upset pick everyone was pushing. I will actually admit there was potential for it, but Link was just too strong and probably will be too strong forever. The dude is just a vote magnet, and now with Breath of the Wild beneath his wings he will most likely dominate the 2018 season unless there is some major structural change or gimmick introduced.

Still, Snake performed admirably here, and if he were still getting games regularly he might stay near Link's level even post-BotW, but unless my prediction comes true and the Martyr Factor plays a role in his strength, we will probably never see Snake come this close ever again.

I really don't have much else to say about the bonus matches, they were super vanilla. Hopefully Luster has the other potential matches written down somewhere.

Thanks for contributing to this thread, everyone. It's good to see all of us so passionate after such a long drought (Best Year doesn't count). I want to see every one of you on the leaderboards this year! <3
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I don't think anyone thought Snake could beat Link 1v1. The idea was that Mario (who was supposed to make the finals...!) would LFF Link enough for Snake to sneak by. I didn't buy it, but there was decent support for the idea.

Thanks for the writeups. I really enjoyed them!
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ZenOfThunder posted...

Why X in this match?

Draven.

The one who didn't really belong there based on the circumstances was Crono because Allen himself set him up to fail (and even picked Pikachu in his bracket!).

Also, I think Snake might have had a chance before Draven. Somehow losing to Draven made Link the plucky underdog again. It's kind of like how OoT looked super vulnerable in 2015 because it dominated the last Games Contest, but now that Undertale took it behind the woodshed, it'll probably dominate the next one.
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Either way, Snake getting closer to Link than Cloud did in 2010 was pretty awesome, even if he did lose.
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I really do remember people thinking Snake could beat Link even without Mario, it wasn't many people but they were vocal that "THIS WAS THE YEAR"

That's why that Bonus match happened iirc, it was partially to put that theory to bed

Happy you enjoyed the writeups, I want to write more in the future if I have time. I just don't know what about. I was thinking maybe L-Block's contest but all the details are way too blurry for me at this point.

I really appreciate the support everyone gave, you guys are all great. I know it sounds cheesy but I've always considered Board 8 a kind of weird pseudo-family where everyone is all my annoying cousins that I still love even though they keep asking me if Ethan Hunt could be Simon Belmont in a contest
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Well, even then, Link was still the overwhelming favorite in the Guru. He had nearly 80% support to win the contest. Snake had 15% though, so he had a decent backing.
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Was this the match where the LoL subreddit broke their own rules and pinned the link to GameFAQs at the top of the reddit?
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And yeah, great topic series Zen. Had a lot of fun reading it.
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KamikazePotato posted...

Was this the match where the LoL subreddit broke their own rules and pinned the link to GameFAQs at the top of the reddit?

I believe so

I didn't know that was against the rules, I just remember them pinning it and being like "fuck this"
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ZenOfThunder posted...

(1)Mario vs (1)Crono vs (7)Mega Man X




Here's another match where I wonder what the hell we were thinking. Why X in this match? Did we really need Mario vs Crono for a tenth time? Crono has dropped so much in the decade leading up to this match that this didn't even need to be a question. Even with X potentially sapping some of Mario's votes away he was still able to beat Crono quite comfortably. Could X beat Crono if Mario weren't here? Maybe. I seriously don't think Crono is going to be shit come CBX. I'd be shocked if he made it out of Round 3, even with a good seed. Put him up against a Pokemon and watch him crumble.

This match was called a "Revenge Match" since it included 3 characters that had all been eliminated from the contest earlier than expected, usually from specific circumstances surrounding the matches they lost on. Mario and MMX got eliminated by a rally, while Crono was screwed by LFF in his match.
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yep

like I said they got buttfurious that the David Hayter rally was actually working
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Them pinning the rally is actually what got us our bonus match. Bacon came to the board and asked us what kind of bonus match we wanted, because "reddit decided to ruin what could have been a good match". He seemed more ticked off at them than at B8, which was saying something.
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well there's a reason why Allen has tried to do what he can to stop rallies from happening ever since then
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What made Snake so strong that year, anyway?
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Anagram posted...

What made Snake so strong that year, anyway?

Snake's been that strong for a while now.

It's kind of weird to think that he's been closer to the top of the Noble Nine now longer than he was near the bottom.
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Anagram posted...

What made Snake so strong that year, anyway?

the hype coming off of the E3 MGSV trailer was absolutely unreal

the hype surrounding MGSV in general was absolutely unreal

people were just super keen on Snake, Kojima and MGS in general. I think it was the hype on top of a culmination for all the love MGS has gotten over the years. Snake was really well-liked and people thought him becoming such a huge icon on top of having no haters would trump the tired-old Link Chmofsky who always wins

instead everyone just voted for Draven and anti-voted FF
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ZenOfThunder posted...

the hype coming off of the E3 MGSV trailer was absolutely unreal

That trailer got me to finally buy a PS3 so I could play the series!

Though I actually only ended up playing 1-3 and like the first act of 4...
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LeonhartFour posted...

Either way, Snake getting closer to Link than Cloud did in 2010 was pretty awesome, even if he did lose.

Shining moment
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LordoftheMorons posted...

ZenOfThunder posted...

the hype coming off of the E3 MGSV trailer was absolutely unreal

That trailer got me to finally buy a PS3 so I could play the series!

Though I actually only ended up playing 1-3 and like the first act of 4...

MGS4 has more than one act?
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believe it or not the game did not end with Johnny crapping himself
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it's weird how quickly MGS4 shits the bed, I spent like two months straight just playing in the sandbox levels of the first two (maybe three) acts but I can hardly remember playing anything else after that more than twice

there's just so little gameplay after a certain point and that gameplay was pretty shallow
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The last three acts are better than the first two though.
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Well, return to Shadow Moses was better than the rest of the game combined.
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LeonhartFour posted...

The last three acts are better than the first two though.

yeah they're way doper but they have like no gameplay

Anagram posted...

Well, return to Shadow Moses was better than the rest of the game combined.

this is also correct yes
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Snake in Smash forever!
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Honestly it's pretty crazy. Smash has 7 out of the original Noble Nine.

RIP Crono and Sephiroth
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Sephiroth could make for a decent AT, at least.
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https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/916855-savage-island/37998510

what a time to be alive

@swirIdude i see you used this quite a lot
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I think a Pokemon should replace one of them. And Vivi for beating Mario.
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new Noble Nine:

Link
Snake
Cloud
Vivi
Santa Claus
Jay Solano
Pikachu
Phoenix Wright (he beat Vincent who beat Crono)
Sans
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How would you rank these characters in strength?

Mewtwo
Pikachu
Charizard
Red
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SwiftyDC posted...

How would you rank these characters in strength?

Mewtwo
Pikachu
Charizard
Red

You just did.

I think Red vs Pikachu would be interesting.
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I'd say Pikachu = Mewtwo and the direction the wind is blowing will determine the winner every time

then Squirtle, then Charizard then Red
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I'm in the camp that still doesn't understand how Red has any strength.

Red is Ash

I guess?
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SwiftyDC posted...

Snake in Smash forever!

Everyone is back!

I wasn't hyped for Ultimate until that moment.
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ZenOfThunder posted...

Red is Ash

I guess?

That should make him weaker.

In 2013 people were all about the "Badass Red" fanart



like that

it was everywhere

I dunno if that played into the contest or not but people were seeing him as way cooler than they had been
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I'm still upset Red/Blue beat Ryu/Ken in Rivals
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ZeldaTPLink posted...

ZenOfThunder posted...

Red is Ash

I guess?

That should make him weaker.

I dunno, gamefaqs members live in nostalgia so playing pokemon red/blue growing up and watching pokemon I'm sure everyone associated ash with pokemon trainer red so it doubles the nostalgia factor
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FlyingForever posted...

ZeldaTPLink posted...

ZenOfThunder posted...

Red is Ash

I guess?

That should make him weaker.

I dunno, gamefaqs members live in nostalgia so playing pokemon red/blue growing up and watching pokemon I'm sure everyone associated ash with pokemon trainer red so it doubles the nostalgia factor

Well I live in nostalgia and Ash being a terrible trainer was the worst part of pomemon.

ZeldaTPLink posted...

FlyingForever posted...

ZeldaTPLink posted...

ZenOfThunder posted...

Red is Ash

I guess?

That should make him weaker.

I dunno, gamefaqs members live in nostalgia so playing pokemon red/blue growing up and watching pokemon I'm sure everyone associated ash with pokemon trainer red so it doubles the nostalgia factor

Well I live in nostalgia and Ash being a terrible trainer was the worst part of pomemon.

Lol I suppose that's true.

Okay so Frank them 3 way character battle

Ash
Misty
Brock

Thinking now professor Oak would probably stomp all 3 ya?
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I would say

Mewtwo
Pikachu
Red
Charizard

Assuming nothing's changed since 2013. It feels weird putting Red over Charizard, especially with his crappy 2010 showing, but Red just looked flat out better the last contest. I will never understand Red's popularity. He's like, some random kid. Calling him a great main character is like calling Blue/Gary a great villain! (To each his own.) And, yeah, I was very upset when Red/Blue beat Ryu/Ken, as well.

Ash > Misty > Brock. Since Ash is basically Red anyway,Ash probably wouldn't be THAT much weaker than Red, right?
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ZeldaTPLink posted...

I'm in the camp that still doesn't understand how Red has any strength.

He's the main character of an extremely popular game.

Why does any silent protagonist have strength? Mario, Link, and Crono are nothing characters. They still dominate. At least Red made younger me feel hyped as hell when I had to fight him in GSC, which is more than I can say for other silent protagonists.

(Also, Ash is not Red and Ash sucks)
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ZenOfThunder posted...

I really don't have much else to say about the bonus matches, they were super vanilla. Hopefully Luster has the other potential matches written down somewhere.

I believe Link/Snake/Draven was another possible match that was discussed as an idea for the bonus match, but the board was more interested in a 1v1 match instead.
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Matches I want to see in CBX:

Mario vs. Crono/Cloud
Squall vs. Vivi
Mega Man/X vs Sephiroth
Sonic vs. (insert Pokemon here)

I'm a simple man.
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anyone have any idea what topic i should do next
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