Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Round | West Division Final |
|---|---|
| Match # | 60 |
| Match Date | Thursday, August 29th, 2002 |
| Vote difference | 5,130 |
| GameFAQs Prediction |
Sephiroth - 38.34% (6,428 brackets) |
Both Samus and Sephiroth struggled to win their previous matches, but considering how big a favorite Sephiroth was (on Board 8) to win his division from the start, most expected Sephiroth to roll over Samus en route to a showdown with Link.
Little did most people know that Samus, despite not having a game released in eight years, was more than powerful enough to hold her own. Take the beginning of this match, for example. Samus performed brilliantly through the first couple of hours. Not only did she prevent Sephiroth from rolling over her in the match, but she actually took a lead of 500 votes. On Sephiroth.
Sephiroth would eventually rebound, however. Much like Samus's 100 vote lead on Cloud in the Summer 2004 Contest, her 500 vote lead on Sephiroth disappeared in a flash. Not only was Sephiroth able to come back with ease, but he was able to make this match far less interesting than his duel with Mega Man. He soon tied the match with ease, and before Samus could even think about what happened, Sephiroth was able to stretch out a lead that Samus would be unable to recover from.
Mega Man could still be felt in this match, for some reason.
Samus may have lost the match, but one could argue that the damage done to Sephiroth was extensive at this point. If he had this type of a struggle against Samus, one could only imagine what Link would be able to do to him. You could almost argue that the contest itself was over at this point, if you look from a transitive point of view. If Sephiroth couldn't beat Link, who would?
Hats off to Samus, by the way. Not only did she prove that her comeback against Sonic was no fluke, but she also gave Sephiroth the fight of his life early on in the match with her last game being Super Metroid prior to the 2002 contest. That's amazing, and one could only wonder what she was capable of afterwards.