Board 8 > The Noble Nine will never die.

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's likely that, once this contest ends, there will not be a reasonably small group of characters unbeaten against outside competition in 1v1s.

Now that Pikachu has defeated Mega Man, the smallest such group consists of the following characters:

- Noble Nine
-- Pikachu (beat Mega Man in 2018, Zero in 2018)
--- Fox (beat Pikachu in 2003)
---- Aerith (beat Sora in 2003, Fox in 2018)
----- Zelda (beat Aerith in 2006 and 2018, Squall in 2018)
----- Auron (beat Alucard in 2006, Aerith in 2010, Vincent in 2018, Zero in 2018)
------ Ganondorf (beat Alucard in 2004, Auron in 2005)
------- Magus (beat Ganondorf in 2003)
-------- Knuckles (beat Magus in 2005)
--------- Zero (beat Knuckles in 2018)
---------- Luigi (beat Zero in 2006)
----------- Yoshi (beat Luigi in 2004)
----------- Tifa (beat Luigi in 2005 and 2018, MMX in 2018)
-------- Alucard (beat Magus in 2010, Red in 2018)
--------- Sora (beat Alucard in 2005)
---------- Bowser (beat Yoshi in 2003, Sora in 2010, Charizard in 2018)
----------- Charizard (beat Bowser in 2010)
---------- Pokemon Trainer Red (beat Sora in 2018)
----------- Mega Man X (beat Red in 2010)
------ Squall (beat Luigi in 2003, Knuckles in 2005, Auron in 2010)
------- Vincent (beat Squall in 2005, Ganondorf in 2006, Magus in 2018)
-- Missingno (beat Crono in 2010, Yoshi in 2010)

In case you're not keeping count, that's a "Noble 30", and Pikachu>Mega Man adds a full 20 characters to the list via the Aerith>Fox>Pikachu chain. (Previously, NN + Missingno could form such a group, as Missingno's only 1v1 loss is to Sephiroth.)

So no, the NN will never die, despite having lost a 24-hour 1v1 match for the first time ever.
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Mega Man got more votes than Pikachu so it still isn't dead
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bwburke94 posted...

It's likely that, once this contest ends, there will not be a reasonably small group of characters unbeaten against outside competition in 1v1s.

Now that Pikachu has defeated Mega Man, the smallest such group consists of the following characters:

- Noble Nine
-- Pikachu (beat Mega Man in 2018, Zero in 2018)
--- Fox (beat Pikachu in 2003)
---- Aerith (beat Sora in 2003, Fox in 2018)
----- Zelda (beat Aerith in 2006 and 2018, Squall in 2018)
----- Auron (beat Alucard in 2006, Aerith in 2010, Vincent in 2018, Zero in 2018)
------ Ganondorf (beat Alucard in 2004, Auron in 2005)
------- Magus (beat Ganondorf in 2003)
-------- Knuckles (beat Magus in 2005)
--------- Zero (beat Knuckles in 2018)
---------- Luigi (beat Zero in 2006)
----------- Yoshi (beat Luigi in 2004)
----------- Tifa (beat Luigi in 2005 and 2018, MMX in 2018)
-------- Alucard (beat Magus in 2010, Red in 2018)
--------- Sora (beat Alucard in 2005)
---------- Bowser (beat Yoshi in 2003, Sora in 2010, Charizard in 2018)
----------- Charizard (beat Bowser in 2010)
---------- Pokemon Trainer Red (beat Sora in 2018)
----------- Mega Man X (beat Red in 2010)
------ Squall (beat Luigi in 2003, Knuckles in 2005, Auron in 2010)
------- Vincent (beat Squall in 2005, Ganondorf in 2006, Magus in 2018)
-- Missingno (beat Crono in 2010, Yoshi in 2010)

In case you're not keeping count, that's a "Noble 30", and Pikachu>Mega Man adds a full 20 characters to the list via the Aerith>Fox>Pikachu chain. (Previously, NN + Missingno could form such a group, as Missingno's only 1v1 loss is to Sephiroth.)

So no, the NN will never die, despite having lost a 24-hour 1v1 match for the first time ever.

The Fabulous Thirty. Wait...those aren't the same sound.

Note that Fox and Alucard are the only non-Pokmon on that list that don't share a franchise with a member of the Noble Nine. (Well, technically Sora, but the different Final Fantasies are closer to each other for Kingdom Hearts's existence).

Company Breakdown (Noble Niners):

Nintendo: 13 (3)
Square: 10 (3)
Capcom: 3 (1)
Sega: 2 (1)
Konami: 2 (1)

Seems more or less in line with expectations based on Noble Nine count. I especially like to note that this expansion from 9 to 30 adds at least one character from each of the five companies that possesses a Noble Niner, but no characters from any other company.

You know what? Let's just call this entity "The Noble Nine Club". I'm picturing it as a members-only club, founded and owned by the Noble Nine (hence the name) but by no means exclusive to only them.

It should also be noted that most of 2003's highly hyped newcomers made it in. (Poor Shadow. He debuted so strong and it turned out to be a fluke.)

What other characters could join the club with the right draw? I'd say Ryu (SF) definitely could; he was viewed as the #10 character after the first few contests, and he's put up good numbers on the Noble Nine themselves, but all of his midcarder wins are against fellow "outsiders" like Dante and Leon. On that note, while Ryu would only join himself if he beat a "low-tier" club member like Yoshi or Fox, he's also the only one who'd be brought in if Dante broke through. And speaking of that Capcom fest, Amaterasu is a character who could break in in the future.
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TsunamiXXVIII posted...

What other characters could join the club with the right draw? I'd say Ryu (SF) definitely could; he was viewed as the #10 character after the first few contests, and he's put up good numbers on the Noble Nine themselves, but all of his midcarder wins are against fellow "outsiders" like Dante and Leon. On that note, while Ryu would only join himself if he beat a "low-tier" club member like Yoshi or Fox, he's also the only one who'd be brought in if Dante broke through. And speaking of that Capcom fest, Amaterasu is a character who could break in in the future.

Leon, on the other hand... In addition to losing to Ryu, Leon lost to DK this year, and that starts a chain of dominoes. DK lost to Vercetti, Vivi, Vivi, and Vivi. Vivi lost to Kirby in 2010. Kirby lost to Jill Valentine in 2002. Jill famously lost by 27 votes to both Ryu Hayabusa and Peach. And Peach lost to Gordon Freeman in 2010, which means that the likes of Tina Armstrong, Max Payne, and Sam Fisher join the club. Now, that trio has so few appearances that they don't have many losses to characters not already in the club (even if in one case, that's Vercetti), but while we aren't counting 3ways and 4ways, Max Payne literally lost to Guybrush Threepwood in 2013. He also lost to Scorpion in 2002, which ends that thread... so let's pick things up at Hayabusa!
Thanks to him, Leon beating a member of the club would bring Dante in, and Hayabusa also lost to Simon Belmont. Which, uh...just brings in Geralt; all of the other losses were to members of the club. By my count, that'd be another 18 members if Leon broke through.
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