Results[]
Ulti's Analysis[]
| Round | Division 7 Final |
|---|---|
| Match # | 55 |
| Match Date | Saturday, October 27th, 2007 |
| Oracle Expectations |
Solid Snake - 39.15% L-Block - 23.30% Kratos- 21.27% Riku - 17.25% |
| GameFAQs Expectations |
Snake first place (8pts) - 27.09% Snake second place (4pts) - 47.64% L-Block second place (8pts) - 0.88% L-Block first place (4pts) - 2.60% |
| Advancing Prediction |
Snake - 74.73% (27,444) L-Block - 3.48% (1,278) |
Also known as "the match where L-Block started going nuts". In round 1 he advanced because he was against fodder, and in round 2 he advanced because Kirby and Donkey Kong screwed each other over. The prevailing belief was that when L-Block finally went into a match with no trickeration, he'd fall flat.
"Whoops"
Not only were Riku and Kratos never in this match at all, L-Block dominated Snake himself early. Yes this is the Solid S*** sprite, but still. L-Block went up by 600 votes in an hour, and the match was basically over from there. It only took Snake three hours to erase that lead and take over first place for good, but that first hour was a massive sign of things to come for L-Block in this contest. If he could dominate Snake that much that early, imagine what he could do with a legitimate rally behind him. You can blame good luck (or bad luck, if you hated the block's run this contest) for L-Block getting through two rounds, but this was all legit.
Oddly enough, I don't think Kratos would have even beaten a "normal" L-Block here. Only beating Riku by 3% is very bad.
Stats and Analysis[]
- Snake underperformed by -6.71%, the #10 most disappointing performance of 2007
- L-Block advancing was the #4 most surprising result of 2007
- It was also the #5 most surprising result of all-time
L-Block's contest run was all about progression. in round 1, it advanced over two pieces of low-end fodder. in round 2, it advanced because of a fanbase split.
In round 3, there were no excuses. Kratos had no reason to flop here, no fanbase splitting, no nothing. L-Block and his 28% were just too much when faced with two opponents of strength. this is the match when people started to really recognize that -- 28% in the Laharl match, 28% in the Kirby/DK match, and now 28% against a noble niner and two legit midcarders. a lot of people thought this would stop when L faced some real competition, but clearly this did not happen.
but that wasn't the most significant part of the match. the most significant part was the beginning, when L-Block ran up a sizable lead on Solid Snake. a 600 vote lead on Solid Snake was something you had to notice -- if L could do this against Snake, what couldn't it do it against? would Mario stand a chance against that early vote? would Cloud? Link? and when the competition gets stronger and stronger, would there be some huge casualties at the expense of a Tetris block?
we were set to find out next round, where L had its biggest test yet -- two noble niners and perhaps the #10 guy in Squall.
In what may have been the most amusing part of this match (and that is saying something), Snake got the victory in this match in spite of his Solid Sprite match picture. Snake would then go on to lose to L-Block three times with much better artwork used in the match pictures.
Match Trends[]
Ed Bellis' Analysis[]
After its dominant and steadily increasing performances in the first two rounds, L-Block went from a silly little joke to a threat to break the Noble Nine itself. This match, featuring three of the most badass characters in gaming (and Riku), would go on to prove those fears and worse – the Block not only took second commandingly, it came damn close to upsetting Snake himself. Kratos and Riku tried their hardest, but L-Block kept those two – who are no slouches when it comes to contest strength, mind you – down to under 10 percent for the bulk of the match. Kratos came back and tried to make a match of it, but the Block isn’t shaped like a boot for no reason. In the end, Snake and L-Block advanced – and even with Sonic and Squall in the mix, L-Block was still a favorite to advance. Crazy stuff.