CB VIII - Heart Division
Between Kefka's contest history of folding to any moderately strong opponent and my personal reluctance to predict against a World of Warcraft character (and the potentially colossal fanbase that might turn out to support it) I predicted Arthas to win. Apparently so did a lot of other people who base their brackets on stats and past results. This upset is Kefka's best contest performance in years and "Dissidia Boost" is probably the best explanation why. As well as getting more exposure he benefits from Dissidia in a way no other character does - finally having decent character art for the poll image. The idea that the character's portrait can sway a chunk of the voters isn't something I take that seriously but after years of looking unrecognisable or unappealing I can't doubt that he'll benefit even a little. On the other hand if Dissidia Boost is real I may be in for more losses soon since I have Tidus, Jecht and Terra all losing in the first round. I'm not looking forward to Terra's match in particular.
Charizard/Duke was the other debatable match of this pack. Debatable in theory but in reality it was nowhere close and Charizard took the victory with ease. Based on some quick figure-checking from previous years this one match suggests Charizard is significantly more popular than Pikachu. I can actually see the basis for this - Charizard is one of the most popular Gen 1 Pokémon, which is still the most well-regarded generation of Pokémon, and was a notable presence in both the anime and the TCG. Pikachu is the 'face' of Pokémon but his years of overexposure have given him a not-insignificant anti-fandom inside and outside the Pokémon fanbase that he struggles against. Charizard is now heavily favoured to beat Kratos in round two which is another result that wouldn't be good for my bracket.
Kratos himself had a match that defied prediction, only managing to win 60/40 over Tails in a match he was supposed to dominate. There was no question that Kratos was going to make himself a fox fur pelt here but Tails defying the predictions to score well was heartwarming to watch. Looking at his contest history Tails has always suggested having some moderate strength but he never gets to show it because of horrible bracket placement. He always ends up starting near a really strong character - he's had early matches with Auron, Dante, the WCC and freaking Vincent.
After four divisions;
Score: 29/32
Percentile: 97.8215
Charizard/Duke was the other debatable match of this pack. Debatable in theory but in reality it was nowhere close and Charizard took the victory with ease. Based on some quick figure-checking from previous years this one match suggests Charizard is significantly more popular than Pikachu. I can actually see the basis for this - Charizard is one of the most popular Gen 1 Pokémon, which is still the most well-regarded generation of Pokémon, and was a notable presence in both the anime and the TCG. Pikachu is the 'face' of Pokémon but his years of overexposure have given him a not-insignificant anti-fandom inside and outside the Pokémon fanbase that he struggles against. Charizard is now heavily favoured to beat Kratos in round two which is another result that wouldn't be good for my bracket.
Kratos himself had a match that defied prediction, only managing to win 60/40 over Tails in a match he was supposed to dominate. There was no question that Kratos was going to make himself a fox fur pelt here but Tails defying the predictions to score well was heartwarming to watch. Looking at his contest history Tails has always suggested having some moderate strength but he never gets to show it because of horrible bracket placement. He always ends up starting near a really strong character - he's had early matches with Auron, Dante, the WCC and freaking Vincent.
After four divisions;
Score: 29/32
Percentile: 97.8215