(1)Sora vs (16)Ryo Hazuki 2018

Ulti's Analysis
This match was never going to be in doubt, but that was not the purpose of this match. Sora's entire job in this match was proving he was worthy of a 1 seed and was capable of beating Pokemon Trainer Red in a highly pro-Nintendo contest. He failed, spectacularly, on both counts right off the bat.

Ryo Hazuki is pretty much a step up from bottom of the barrel sludge. He's the last good drop or two in the barrel before you hit the indigestible cesspit, meaning he'll never be at the bottom in strength, but he always comes really close. This is a guy whose only win is against Guybrush Threepwood, an all time useless piece of trash comparable to Dirk the Daring. This guy let Dante and Yoshi separately almost get 80% on him, and is so irrelevant he's only made 4 of the 10 character battles -- none since 2004 and he only made this one to pad out the roster. He's fodder. No other way to put it. I will say however that his fanbase is awesome. You can tell they legit just love the dude, and never try to force an opinion on anyone. Persona fans, Deus Ex fans, and Shantae fans could do well to learn from Shenmue fans.

Sora couldn't even break 70% on the guy. We've seen a similar omen from a bad 1 seed before against Ryo. Remember this turd of a match? https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/poll/976-east-division-round-2-lara-croft-vs-ryo-hazuki

We've seen this story from Sora before. In 2006, Sora was a 1 seed. He underperformed against Tingle and Gordon Freeman before getting demolished by Mega Man. In 2010, Sora was a 1 seed. He underperformed against Midna and Laharl before getting demolished by Bowser. And then 2018 happens, which we'll get to next round. There were some turds laid as a 2 seed in there, too.

Sora is always able to get high seeding, but he never does anything with it. Did you know Sora has never won a division with all these high seeds he always gets? Not once. The closest he came was when he came 500 votes short in the Rivalry Rumble. I'd love to call 2013 a close call, but failing to advance in a poll against Pikachu and a Pokemon Trainer is just an embarrassment. I don't care how close that poll actually was. Sora should have steamrolled it. Crono lost early and that division was right there. He still couldn't get the job done.

But hey, congrats on getting 69% against Ryo Hazuki in your one win as a 1 seed this year. And I know I'm being hard on the guy, but when you regularly get high seeds, you are held to that standard.