Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Division | 7 |
|---|---|
| Match # | 25 |
| Match Date | Thursday, September 27th, 2007 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Kirby - 51.03% Laharl - 19.04% L-Block - 18.94% Nathan Hale - 10.93% |
| GameFAQs Expectations |
Kirby first place (2pts) - 89.52% Kirby second place (1pt) - 6.94% L-Block second place (2pts) - 27.78% L-Block first place (1pt) - 4.99% |
| Advancing Prediction |
Kirby - 96.46% (35,424) L-Block - 32.77% (12,034) |
It's hard to remember, but once upon a time Laharl vs L-Block was a very debated commodity in this match. Kirby was the obvious first place winner here, Nathan Hale was the obvious last place pick (and boy did he deliver on that), but Laharl vs L-Block had some of the craziest arguing all contest.
The arguments or the reaction to L-Block's terrible picture aren't worth getting into four years after the fact, especially given L-Block laid them all to rest at the very beginning of the match. Forget beating Laharl; L-Block was beating Kirby, and fairly easily at that. He was up by 40 votes for a few minutes, but then Kirby tied it before the freeze.
Kirby was obviously supposed to go berserk from here, and he did in the next update. 33 vote lead, boom, over.
"Not so fast, my friend!" -Lee Corso
L-Block came back to take the lead in the next update, and held it for 10 minutes. Kirby came back and totally swamped him after that, of course, but the whole L-Block vs Laharl thing was beyond over at that point.
What was interesting here is how well L-Block did, and some hype started for him possibly getting to round 3. In the next round it was going to be him, Kirby, another Nintendo character in either DK or Marth and Kratos. Maybe there'd be some weird Nintendo hate crime going on that would allow L-Block to sneak by, you know? Remember, back when this happened we didn't realize the guy was a beast, nor did he look like one early. It was more wishful thinking than anything, although I seem to recall a "be careful what you wish for" quote being written somewhere...
Stats and Analysis[]
- L-Block overperformed by +11.95%, the #2 most impressive performance of 2007
- Kirby underperformed by -6.64%, the #11 most disappointing performance of 2007
- L-Block advancing was the #2 most surprising result of Round One
I have a very good memory, and as such, I remember all the Laharl vs. L-Block arguments well.
"Laharl may not be very popular, but people actually do care about him. who the hell votes for a tetris block?"
"L-Block will be SFF'd by Kirby beause of the Nintendo vote."
"will anybody even get the joke?"
at some point, I just gave up arguing over this match. "it's a freaking Tetris Block vs. our weakest entrant that won't go away", I reasoned. "who the hell cares? give me The Block just because it'll pull 15% just on novelty alone." I remember Draco1214's arguments in particular, ones that absolutely hated the Block. I kinda giggled at them, figuring it was a meaningless two points.
and it was! but uhhh, yeah. what happened at the beginning of the poll was one of the most amazing sights of the entire contest.
coming up to the match, we all awaited the picture. what was L going to look like? would it be recognizable?
looks above at pic
oh man, the board was pissed. what the hell was that? it was a 3D L! would anyone even recognize the thing? time to wade through the stats archives to get a good feeling for this match..
tranny: hmm. go L! I don't think that's completely recognizable, though.
HM: ... what is that
Ed Bellis: dammit
Gaddswell: LOL L-Block
Moltar: L-Block is so screwed. For once the picture isn't in my favor!
yo: (looks at picture) **** this contest.
man, yoblazer had a bad contest when it came to calling things. :)
of course, everyone's tune changed shortly thereafter, when L had the craziest board vote we've ever seen. L took the lead and managed to get ahead by 40, but Kirby was quickly closing the gap. L-Block managed to stay ahead at the freeze -- by one vote. Kirby took a 30 vote lead at the next update, but L wasn't dying off. Laharl was as good as done for, and L was going to fade, but still embarrass the hell out of our favourite obscure RPG character.
but then it happened - L-Block wasn't done. I can remember hitting reload and sitting there laughing for a good minute straight. L cut the lead to 3 votes.
tranny: ................. L-Block is a legit midcarder. stronger than Balthier, Midna, Raiden..
Ed Bellis: ... ...this is too amazing.
HM: This is amazing. L-BLOCK FOR ROUND 3 BELIEVE
Moltar: Round 3? That's thinking too small. Contest Champ? aww yeah
the 00:20 update was maybe my favourite of the entire contest - L-Block, out of nowhere, takes the lead. I had utterly no idea what was going on, and nor did anybody else. this was insane. we usually nominate jokes that people know and will rally for -- but this was a tetris block. it was the last lead it would have, but hoooooooooly crap, a tetris block was outdoing a high midcarder.
Kleenex: WHAT
HM: oh sweet jesus
yo: OMGFDOMFMGOMFGOMG I TOSS PROFESSIONALISM OUT THE WINDOW. I WILL HEREBY REACT LIKE A 13-YEAR-OLD AOL USER FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS MATCH.
L-Block collapsed from there and lost by 17,500 votes -- hard to believe, I know -- but those first 30 minutes were amazing. the most surprising minutes of the entire contest, for sure.
Match Trends[]
