(1)Link vs (4)Cloud Strife (Grand Final) 2018

Ulti's Analysis
Let's hypothetically say Cloud had won this match. It would have meant Link's first loss. Since the legends bracket was double elimination, wouldn't that have meant a third match? This wasn't accounted for in the bracket layout, not that it mattered. Nothing was touching Link this year without a rally.

I know the percentages are similar if you look at their two matches this year side by side, but this match was a little different in that Cloud actually won the board vote before getting buried. Seeing this dude lose every single board vote since 2003 before randomly winning them this year is really something else. It's also hilarious how with all the changes we've seen over the years, our final is still Link vs Cloud after all this time. One Cloud spot in Smash Bros changed everything, and there is real anti-Link sentiment building up here. I know this is very weird to say about our most dominant character historically in a final where him not getting 60% was an act of god, but it's true. I suspect that resentment will grow, assuming we even get contests anymore after the vote total shit show we just watched. What an embarrassment. To have a contest final not break even 30,000 votes is such a damned joke. More on that with my wrapup post.

Usually in a final, even in a total mismatch, weird things happen and you naturally get a closer result. It's human nature. But sometimes, you get an entrant so savage that even the final can't be saved. In 2002, Link scored 62.53% in the final against Mario. In 2004, Final Fantasy 7 scored 58.24% in the final against Chrono Trigger. In the villains contest in 2005, Sephiroth scored 58.17% in the final against Ganondorf. In the Rivalry Rumble, Link and Ganon scored 57.72% on Mario and Bowser. In 2013, Draven scored 49.13% in a 3way match against Snake and Samus, which is completely insane when you think about it. In Years, 1998 scored 66.19% in the final match against 2001. Pretty much every other final has been close in percents, and some people would argue a few of these shouldn't be on the list. Link getting 59.27% in the final here gives him our #3 most dominant 1v1 finals performance ever. Without Smash Bros, Link easily breaks 60% and quite possibly beats his 62.53% on Mario from 2002. That's some true savagery from the guy, and Breath of the Wild is really something else. I know people want Game of the Decade 2, but the reason Game of the Decade was so good is that it was completely and thoroughly unpredictable.

I'll give you two spoilers for Game of the Decade 2. Breath of the Wild breaks 60% on everything except Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate takes second place unless we get an act of god. Which probably won't happen, because a bunch of whiny-ass children think rallying in a popularity contest is bad. More on that in a second.

I had no idea where to put this in our PCA here, but this is probably the best spot given "Cloud broke 40%" is the only thing we have to talk about for the finals of a tournament that had 150 matches in it. Fuck Squaresoft. They do a great thing by letting Cloud get put in Smash Bros, they hype us all up that they might be good partners with Nintendo again, and then they go and fuck it all up by being assholes about licensing? For who? For what? Cloud in Ultimate didn't get a custom skin for his fighting spirit (that game's version of a trophy), and Final Fantasy 7 has two songs -- the same number as Game and Watch got. What a fucking joke. Remember all that vitriol I threw at Nintendo for all those years? It's almost Square's turn if they keep this stuff up. I want to like their games, because I loved them so much in the 90s and I have hope they'll get back to being good, but they constantly and actively give me reasons not to like them. The last time I truly had an "oh shit, awesome!" moment with them was 2002. The original Kingdom Hearts. Since then, they've been just ok. For the NFL fans, you know all those "just ok" commercials you keep seeing? That's Squaresoft. Just ok is not good enough. And stop being bloated corporate idiots. Even with Cloud in Smash, Nintendo just whipped your ass 60-40. Step your game up.

I don't really feel like doing a massive takedown like I did for Blizzard, but just know that they're dangerously close to that point with me. Getting our hopes up and then pulling this trash is just unforgivably stupid after over a decade of being just ok. I don't care that you're giving us some Switch ports of old games. Go port Final Fantasy 8 and stops being idiots with licensing, you morons. Compilations, cooperation, and people working together is what everyone wants now. Should I pull up the amount of money the Avengers franchise has made so far? We haven't even gotten the fourth movie yet, which is probably going to add another 2 billion dollars to the pile. The model is right there, Square. Use it.

With that, our contest was over. Let's wrap this bad boy up.