Board 8 > Contest Stats and Discussion - Part 1364

(+) Yeah! (+)

Lightning with 53%

---

I also get the same feeling I do when I pick the character I'd prefer to win in a toss up and usually regret it.

---

I remember last character battle we mentioned the Smash test: a character that is worth anything has to be able to convincingly beat random Smash characters

If lightning could only beat Steve in a close one I wouldn't say she passes that!

---

I feel like you have to be able to beat Master Hand convincingly (as in 57%+) to be worthwhile

Sorry Noctis

---

and those are all characters you shouldn't take over someone who's worth anything!

but if you can win a clear victory over Master Hand (who isn't all THAT strong, getting under 40% on Wario isn't great) you're at least in the discussion as a low midcarder

---

I take Steve over Lightning without a second though, then slowly wonder what I was thinking until the match happens.

---

If anything, previous contests have proven that waifus are top-tier, so I wouldn't dare pick Steve over Lightning.

---

If anyone could lose in embarrassing fashion because of Smash, it's a Final Fantasy character.

---

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

If anyone could lose in embarrassing fashion because of Smash, it's a Final Fantasy character.

especially Cecil

but not our the ZackFAQs

(or Urdnot Wrex never forget)

---

Zack lost a clutch match to Kefka that's so embarrassing his fans didn't even bother to try to get him back in!

---

ZackFAQs knows when to hold 'em and knows when to fold 'em

and when to fold 'em is right before you're weak enough to lose to K. Rool, so we may never see Shepard again either

---

Sorry Leon we both know Shepard is going to be in the next contest and impress everyone by managing to break 40% on Piranha Plant.

---

Shepard almost lost to k rool?

---

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/7299-division-8-round-1-shepard-vs-k-rool

he actually was losing for a while at the beginning but he managed to pull away

and then he got doubled by Ryu next round

how badly would he lose to Aerith now?

---

Shepard almost lost to K. Rool and Ocelot almost lost to DeDeDe.

It was a really, really bad contest for pretty much anyone not named Tifa who wasn't in Smash.

---

of course I'd expect every irrelevant Smash character to be much weaker whenever the next Character Battle actually is but yeah

---

By the next Character Battle we'll be in the middle of Smash Supreme hype though.

---

which may no longer feature K. Rool or Dedede...!

well it'll always feature Dedede because of Sakurai I guess

---

Good thing we got that Claire victory in while she had a chance!

---

I'd ask why Cecil was the favorite against Crash, but I guess we're used to this site being FinalFantasyFAQs and Crash doesn't exactly have the greatest track record.

---

UltimaterializerX posted...

Master Hand is stronger than several of the actual fighters. Like who takes him to lose to Villager, Steve, Mimi, a random Steve alt, a random Bowser Jr alt, or Terry Bogard?

I'd vote for me over the whole competition!

---

Would Bowser Jr even beat a random koopa kid

---

LinkMarioSamus posted...

I'd ask why Cecil was the favorite against Crash, but I guess we're used to this site being FinalFantasyFAQs and Crash doesn't exactly have the greatest track record.

I think it was mostly because we just didn't think Crash was that great, and probably wouldn't boost much from N. Sane Trilogy.

For what it's worth I am a HUGE Crash fan who had him the entire time, and didn't really ever feel good about it

---

pjbasis posted...

Would Bowser Jr even beat a random koopa kid

I'd hope not

LinkMarioSamus posted...

I'd ask why Cecil was the favorite against Crash, but I guess we're used to this site being FinalFantasyFAQs and Crash doesn't exactly have the greatest track record.

few characters have a worse track record than Cecil

picking him to win that match is still my biggest 2018 regret even if it was just a 1 point match

CHNW

---

Cecil would have crushed that match in any other year. People forget that Crash went on to get 47% on Big Boss, one of the absolute most wild results from that contest that only isn't discussed because everyone got their points in the end.

---

I'm not so sure Cecil wins it in 2013 either because Crash looked fairly decent there too!

but there's been a Crash resurgence for whatever the reason, as we can see from the poll results today

---

KamikazePotato posted...

Cecil would have crushed that match in any other year. People forget that Crash went on to get 47% on Big Boss, one of the absolute most wild results from that contest that only isn't discussed because everyone got their points in the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTTJKufp_-Y

---

Forget Shepard in more matches. Big Boss needs to retire before the Ocelot levels of MGS decline hit him.

---

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Forget Shepard in more matches. Big Boss needs to retire before the Ocelot levels of MGS decline hit him.

I feel like that was more Crash than anything! Big Boss still got 48% on Red the match after that.

Which is still lower than what we saw at his peak, but he's not quite Ocelot levels just yet!

---

LeonhartFour posted...

I feel like that was more Crash than anything! Big Boss still got 48% on Red the match after that.

Which is still lower than what we saw at his peak, but he's not quite Ocelot levels just yet!

Yeah, that's why I said before. He goes out with a respectable loss instead of the inevitable decline to struggling...I don't know, Banjo?

---

perhaps you're right because losing to Banjo would be the worst fate imaginable

other than losing to Cecil I guess

---

Well you don't have to worry about Big Boss declining to Cecil levels, although he's kinda close now!

...But if Cecil joins Smash and brings an actual music library with him, he's taking the entire contest.

---

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

brings an actual music library with him

if he manages that even I might vote for him

---

Everyone talking about Final Fantasy characters doing bad while we're also forgetting CBX was the year FFPF (Final Fantasy Protagonist Factor) came in full force.

---

Advokaiser posted...

Everyone talking about Final Fantasy characters doing bad while we're also forgetting CBX was the year FFPF (Final Fantasy Protagonist Factor) came in full force.

they all underperformed except for Cloud!

and that was mostly because a lot of people didn't think Cloud still had it in him to be the #2 character

---

LeonhartFour posted...

they all underperformed except for Cloud!

and that was mostly because a lot of people didn't think Cloud still had it in him to be the #2 character

That's what FFPF is! FF protagonists getting their butts ultra-kicked in embarrasing manners (with the exception of Cloud, since Cloud used Smash Coat and it was super effective).

---

so we're talking about a factor that we somehow forgot while discussing it?

---

Cloud isn't the #2 character. If his matches with Mario or Zelda actually matter, he loses.

---

hey now he beat Zelda no problem

(spoilers the #2 character in raw strength is probably Samus and by a decent margin, just Mario is her kryptonite, even when she's actually capable of beating him)

---

I'm just saying, when you overperform in two of your matches in the Loser's Bracket, you probably overperformed in the other two!

---

I'd wager Zelda was the one overperforming in the double elimination portion because of her performance in the main bracket!

---

LeonhartFour posted...

so we're talking about a factor that we somehow forgot while discussing it?

I mean, it looked more like you didn't see much of an explanation to some of those results!

---

that factor isn't really an explanation as much of a designation to describe what happened!

---

Was the FFVII Remake announced at that point?

That's gonna keep Cloud relevant for a long time. Like #2 relevant.

---

WarThaNemesis2 posted...

Cloud isn't the #2 character. If his matches with Mario or Zelda actually matter, he loses.

I disagree, in a way. Those matches did matter because they were semifinal matches and determined whether or not the finals would be an even MORE boring all-Nintendo affair (at least having Cloud in there adds some more variety). Voters are clearly fine with Cloud beating everyone else so long as Link is clear and away the winner.

I think Cloud would have been favored to beat Samus in 2018 as well, at least very late in the bracket with a finals spot on the line.

---

pjbasis posted...

Was the FFVII Remake announced at that point?

That's gonna keep Cloud relevant for a long time. Like #2 relevant.

It had been announced but there had been no significant progress on it.

But yeah, Cloud should be the favorite to be #2 again with how well received FFVIIR was.

---

Leonhart4 posted...

with how well received FFVIIR was.

Speaking of this, are we going to see the return of Clinkeroth? Or is Tifa now in the top 3?

---

With how badly Sephiroth got bodied by Mario, I don't think I'd put him back at #3. He's free and clear of something else embarrassing like losing to Sonic or Crono now though.

---

Cloud was either #2 or #3 in 2018 depending on Samus. I do think we overestimate her a bit though. Tifa vs. Seph was definitely a weird result. As the one person who called that match (yes, I'm proud of that, sorry), I just couldn't imagine the fanbase here ordering them the same way as they did a decade ago.

Zelda definitely overperformed in every match after Snake, increasingly. She needed that boost to get past Mario for sure. She's probably #5 here.

---