Who is Altair?[]
Altair is a major character in Assassin's Creed, an assassin from the time of the Third Crusade. Born to assassin parents, Altair grew up trained in the art of assassination, and quickly became a master. After failing a mission to recover an important artifact and allowing the headquarter of the Order of Assassins to be attacked, he was stripped of his title and offered a deal - kill nine men, and he could keep his life.
My concern is for the people of the Holy Land. If I must sacrifice myself for there to be peace, so be it. - Altair
Contest History[]
Win-Loss Record: 4-3
Summer 2008 Contest – Division 1 - Fourth Group
- Division 1 Round 1 --- 1st place, 61439 [43.10%] – Lucario, 31653 [22.21%] – Isaac, 29815 [20.92%] – Guybrush Threepwood, 19639 [13.78%]
- Division 1 Round 2 --- 2nd place, 40504 [30.50%] – Duke Nukem, 41268 [31.07%] – Marth, 30755 [23.16%] – Lucario, 20288 [15.28%]
- Division 1 Final --- 4th place, 17184 [11.94%] – Link, 74138 [51.52%] – Zack Fair, 31794 [22.09%] – Duke Nukem, 20797 [14.45%]
Despite having overwhelming nomination support from the board (mostly due to Explicit Content’s victory in the Guru Contest), no one expected much from Altair in his contest debut. Pokemon was on fire, as Pikachu and Mewtwo showed the year before, so people expected big things from Pokemon / Brawl star Lucario. Besides, Assassin’s Creed seemed like it just came and went with little fanfare – despite huge sales figures, it received mixed reviews and was overall considered a disappointment.
But in his round 1 match, Altair went out and proved he was no chump, scoring a near doubling over the hyped Lucario. The pain Altair dished out was so huge people considered him the overwhelming favorite to win in round 2, even though he was up against tougher, more established competition. Unfortunately, his huge round 1 victory only proved Lucario was really that weak, as Altair came in second place behind Duke Nukem the following round. However, even in losing, Altair came out looking decent. Using his powerful ASV, he managed to shave off 2,000 votes from the Duke’s lead and finish very respectably. He got killed by Link and Zack later on, but by then, Altair already set himself up as one of the more impressive newcomers in recent history. With Assassin’s Creed becoming a more popular, more established franchise, who knows what Altair could be capable of in the future?
Winter 2010 Contest – Chaos Division – 2 Seed
- Chaos Round 1 --- Defeated (15) Liquid Snake, 44955 [59.12%] - 31086 [40.88%]
- Chaos Round 2 --- Lost to (7) Vivi, 32944 [44.21%] - 41571 [55.79%]
- Extrapolated Strength --- 77th Place [20.25%]
Altair showed huge promise back in 2008 and he delivered in his next contest appearance. When the bracket was released, his round 1 match with Liquid Snake drew immediate attention. Everyone knew he was going to receive a boost from the critically acclaimed Assassin’s Creed 2 (despite barely being in it). The question was whether or not it would be strong enough to take down Liquid, who showed some serious power in 2008, putting up very scary numbers against Luigi. Ultimately, Altair would go on to shock everyone once again, putting up nearly 60% against the unreliable board favorite. The beating was so scary he instantly became the huge favorite against Vivi.
But wait, didn’t this same thing happen in 2008? Sure enough, Vivi showed that round 1 was more about Liquid’s weakness than Altair’s strength by scoring nearly 56% of the vote in their match. In the end, Altair ended up equal to Donkey Kong in the stats. While he did receive a nice boost, it still isn’t strong enough to challenge the upper midcarders (like Vivi) quite yet. However, going from Duke Nukem to Donkey Kong is no joke, and with more games on the horizon, Altair has the potential to keep on getting stronger.
Summer 2013 Contest - Division 4 - 25 Seed
- Division 4 Round 1 --- 1st place, 13157 [44.43%] - (16) Ratchet, 9692 [32.73%] - (3) Shulk, 6767 [22.85%]
- Division 4 Round 2 --- 2nd place, 8341 [29.26%] - (7) Kefka, 11953 [41.93%] - (4) Lara Croft, 8216 [28.82%]
With the Assassin's Creed series continuing with different main characters Altair has become a bit forgotten, almost missing the bracket altogether. Even though he may be forgotten it does not mean he is not liked as he became tied for the lowest seed to advance into the second round. While the expectation was for him to lose in the second round it was quite surprising to see him easily lose and even struggle to finish above Lara Croft. Assuming he does not get another role in an Assassin's Creed game it is likely that Altair will continue to drop in strength.