Easy set of questions for today....
1) Most shocking result so far?

Probably Gordon losing to Duke actually. I would have given Gordon a small chance of losing to Ike, but I never dreamed he'd lose to Duke Nukem.

Ryu demolishing Riku and Ada beating Balthier were the other biggest surprises, I think.

2) Most impressive character so far?

Probably Link, breaking 70% in this format is pretty crazy.

3) Biggest disappointment?

Maybe Raiden... although he advanced, barely beating Sam Fisher was not quite what we were hoping to see from him.

Oh, but I forgot about Midna. She takes it easily over Raiden and Balthier.

4) Weakest character to advance?

I'll go with Wario. I don't like him, and even if he's not really the weakest, he's going to look pretty damn bad in round 2. =)

5) Strongest character to lose in Round 1?

Rikku. I think this one's pretty clear actually.

6) Who's the contest dark horse at this point?

I'm going to say good old Ryu. After his showing in round 1, he has a good chance to make it to round 3. If Auron suffers a moderate amount of LFF from Cloud, Ryu could very well make it to round 4, which I think is a lot better than anyone expected.
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R.I.P. Robert Jordan, 1948-2007