Match #52 Results:
Kirby 47.88%
Bowser 52.12%

Today's match was closer than most expected, as Kirby kept things close and was actually taking more than 50% of the vote for a while during the afternoon. In the end, Kirby did a good job of living up to his 1 seed, as he showed himself to be the second strongest character in his division by a pretty close margin. Today's consensus was Bowser with 58.25% and the average score was 43.21. There were 70 picks for Bowser and 4 for Kirby.

Best Five Picks:
1) Draco1214 - Bowser 53.27% (+48.85)
2) Starion - Bowser 53.50% (+48.62)
3) Nai - Bowser 50.73% (+48.61)
4) SuperSmash Master - Bowser 53.62% (+48.50)
5) KingBartz - Bowser 53.67% (+48.45)

All of today's top picks scored under 49 points. They were also the five lowest predictions for Bowser. Draco1214 had the best prediction. Starion was second and Nai was third, as the only Bowser predictor who undershot (with 50.73%). SuperSmash Master was fourth and KingBartz was fifth.

Complete match ranking:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SC2k5&type=match&match=52

Current Leaderboard:
1) creativename - 2281.34
2) Xuxon - 2279.82
3) Master Moltar - 2277.55
4) StopPokingMe - 2276.36
5) Haste2 - 2274.37

The top of the standings narrowed even more as the top 4 are now all within 5 points of each other, and the top 5 all within 7 points. Creativename keeps the lead, followed by Xuxon 1.52 points behind. Master Moltar moved up to 3rd today, switching places with StopPokingMe, who dropped down to fourth. Haste2 climbs two spots to make it back on the leaderboard, taking a 0.2 point lead over Heroic Viktor.

Full standings:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/archives.php?contest=SC2k5&type=total&match=52

Dream Division Leaderboard (Final):
1) Nai - 317.36
2) Starion - 316.66
3) ECW RVD420 - 312.68
4) Ringworm - 312.51
5) Seginustemple - 309.45

Nai is the Dream Division champion. Nai and Starion both used top 5 predictions today to climb the division leaderboard (from 3rd and 5th, respectively) - Starion's prediction was 0.01 better today, but that wasn't enough to make up the gap. ECS RVD420 finishes in third, closely followed by Ringworm and Seginustemple.

Complete division standings:
http://www.oraclechallenge.com/divisions.php?division=29

Special Feature - Former Champion Watch
5) Haste2 - 2274.37 (-6.97)
11) kawaiifan - 2262.06 (-19.28)
13) King Morgoth - 2260.53 (-20.81)
45) Dilated Chemist - 2176.49 (-104.85)

Haste2 looks to have the best chance of repeating as champion - he's been doing very well all season and has been on and off the leaderboard quite a bit. He's now seven points behind creativename. Next is kawaiifan, who started off slowly, but was the top scorer in the second round, which brought her up to 11th in the standings. King Morgoth had a pretty poor start to the contest but has been steadily gaining and is now in 13th place, just a couple points below kawaiifan (a position he became familiar with in SC2k4). Both he and kawaiifan are within striking distance of the leaderboard. Finally, Dilated Chemist made several leaderboard appearances earlier this contest, but his scores have suffered significantly since he left for military training. The biggest blow came when he missed a match due to leaving us a round 2 prediction that involved Magus winning, demonstrating how important it is to be able to adjust your picks as the contest develops.
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SpC2K5 First Vote Champion
Nominate Jay Solano from Operation Shadow for SC2k6