Transience's 75 Most Important Contest Matches

I wasn't sick of writing about the contest after 150 analysis crew writeups in two months, so I decided to make a list!

We should probably start by defining 'important'. This is *not* a list of the best contest matches, and many of them that rank high were not even particularly close. This is meant to be a list of matches that shaped the contests, or at least the perception of the contests. Some matches set trends and expectations for years to come, some right and some totally wrong. Some matches foreshadowed a big contest result in the future. Others were highly anticipated debuts that were total bombs.

Because of this influential criteria, this list will skew older and more towards later-round matches for obvious reasons. There's a reason that you see Mario 1 listed as a 'most influential' game even though there are many better Mario games that came later. For example, you won't see 2004 Jill Valentine vs. Ryu Hayabusa on this list because it didn't really change anything despite being super close. You might see 2004 Link vs. Ganondorf, though, 'cause that certainly did.

I expect my list here to be counter to a lot of others' expectations so I won't be surprised if people come at me for these picks. That's fine! Let's go!

75 - Mewtwo > Phoenix Wright > Vincent 2013 74 - Link to the Past > Super Metroid 2004 73 - Kirby > L-Block > Laharl > Nathan Hale 2007 72 - Shadow of the Colossus > Metal Gear Solid 2 2010 71 - Cloud > Zelda 2018 70 - Solid Snake > Frog 2004 69 - Shadow of the Colossus > Metal Gear Solid 4 2010 68 - Pikachu > Mega Man (Winner's Bracket) 2018 67 - Vincent > Kerrigan 2005 66 - Sephiroth > Missingno 2010 65 - Mario > Crono 2005 64 - Mega Man > Sonic the Hedgehog 2005 63 - Solid Snake > Cloud > Kirby > Sephiroth 2008 62 - Kirby > Tidus 2005 61 - Crono > Kefka 2003 60 - Samus > Crono > Vincent > Pikachu 2008 59 - Link > Mario 2002 58 - Master Chief > Yuna > Tommy Vercetti > PaRappa the Rapper 2007 57 - Cloud > Mario (Loser's Bracket) 2018 56 - Sephiroth > Mega Man 2002 55 - Samus vs Mario 2018 54 - The Legend of Zelda > Final Fantasy 2006 53 - Vivi > Mario > Ganondorf 2013 52 - Mario > Shadow the Hedgehog 2003 51 - Tifa > Sephiroth 2018 50 - Majora's Mask > Super Metroid 2015 49 - Sonic the Hedgehog > Crono 2006 48 - Solid Snake > Bowser 2005 47 - Samus > Tifa 2006 46 - Majora's Mask > Brawl 2010 45 - Sephiroth > Mario 2005 44 - Missingno > Crono 2010 43 - Kratos > L-Block > Kirby > Donkey Kong 2007 42 - Draven > Jak > Chie 2013 41 - Zelda > Squall 2018 40 - Chrono Trigger > Final Fantasy X 2015 39 - Vincent > Squall 2005 38 - Link > Cloud > Solid Snake > Sephiroth 2006 37 - Sephiroth > Mario 2003 36 - Crono > Mario 2004 35 - Undertale > Melee 2015 34 - Link > Solid Snake > Cloud > Crono 2008 33 - Crono > Solid Snake 2002 32 - Link > Cloud 2005 31 - Brawl > Melee 2010 30 - Samus > Solid Snake 2006 29 - Melee > Chrono Trigger 2015 28 - Solid Snake > Mega Man 2006 27 - L-Block > Solid Snake > Master Chief > Dante 2007 26 - Majora's Mask > Pokemon GSC 2010 25 -