Thanks for the mail KM! However... I still need the numbers from the Squall, Sora, and Duke matches! As you'll recall we only went through Ryu's win last night.

And now for some thoughts. This is kind of unfair since I've already run the numbers on these results and all my answers will be x-stat based, but oh well!

1) Most shocking result so far?

In terms of gut-reaction, it had to be clicking in a vote for L-Block thinking "this could have been an awesome upset, but no way he can top Laharl with THIS crappy picture" and instead seeing him out in front... of Kirby! And holding! But the rest of the way Kirby gained and L dropped to the point where it wasn't that crazy, statistically.

Going by stats, I'd say the shocker has to be Pika jumping from bad fodder to Kirby-level respectable midcarder in that win over Tidus. Though Duke and Ryu H utterly defying their old values (or Freeman and Riku collapsing, if you'd rather) can't be far behind.

2) Most impressive character so far?

Vincent and Subby blew away my predictions and impressed me just about to death, but this award has to go to the Chief. This was the round where he was supposed to be hampered by the GTA casual appeal and lack of H3's release, and instead he puts up a number like THAT? Even accounting for Yuna's female bracket inflation, it's still incredible.

3) Biggest disappointment?

I was riding the Midna bandwagon for a while, but Balthier's pathetic showing topped it by a mile, and now after seeing how astoundingly well Mortal Kombat holds up in this format, Balt tops her by two miles! But I don't want to let Magus off the hook too easily, so dishonorable mention there - how do you let a fourpack that ugly hold you down to near 30%? That was really disgusting.

4) Weakest character to advance?

Gut reaction is it's got to be Balthier, checking the stats... confirms that opinion! The other weakest of the weak include Riku, Vergil, HK, Bidoof, and KOS-MOS.

5) Strongest character to lose in Round 1?

Gut reaction I'd have gone Mewtwo, but checking the stats reminds me that I'd forgotten how Rikku actually gave Knux a run for his money for a while there. Rikku's the strongest, and pretty easily, and the others with showings good enough that they'd have advanced in many other packs are Axel, Prince of Persia, Ness, and Bomberman.

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

Well MC's the guy alot of us least-respected who's looking to make the deepest run, but between H3 and that Yuna pounding it's hard to get behind him as either an underdog or a darkhorse. Ryu's an OK choice with the way fighters have continued to to impress, but I'm going to have to go with Pikachu for this award.

His outright, and frankly easy, victory over Tidus combined with Vivi's underwhelming showing on Leon should make the second round 2nd place his to lose. After that we've got Leon being hurt by the presence of Ada, and both of THEM being hurt by the presence of fellow Capcom icon Dante. There's no telling how crucial having a solid Pokemon fanbase backing you could end up being in a situation that wacky. His run would be sure to end after that, but still, earning your way into a fourpack with Master Chief on steroids, Ganon, and Dante would be an amazing accomplishment for a former 15%er.

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The 2007 Guru Rankings! thengamer.com/guru
thengamer.com/xstats = lol x-stats