Fox, easily.
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I don't see any reason why Ness would beat Fox. Star Fox is a much more well-known series than Earthbound, and Fox is much more popular in Smash Brothers.
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Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Mortal Kombat isn't as popular as it was some years ago...

...and consider that Street Fighter characters (which have for sure a bigger fanbase) can't do very well... what could help MK's characters?
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Currently playing: Killer7 [GC] + Yoshi Touch & Go [DS]

I was referring to ness vs. tails. I'd take fox over ness without even having to think about it.
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Fox got 25% against Cloud in the first contest. That's around Tommy Vercetti's 2k4 level. I know that it doesn't mean much, but he performed better than expected against Pikachu the year after. It'd be worth it to see him again.
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Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
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Fox > Ness > Captain Falcon > Marth > Falco

I really don't think Falco would be that popular.
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"I don't like it when people I don't like get what they want."--Janelle

Mortal Kombat is a more casual-friendly series, and it's still churning out games.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Meh, I still couldn't see Marth beating Falco. Smash Brothers is the only thing he has to draw from here.
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It's just not the same without this name.
Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Star Fox is a much more well-known series than Earthbound

I'm not sure of this... In the States Earthbound is very popular, that's for sure. And in any case, GTA San Andreas is more well-known than Earthbound and we know how the match went...
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Currently playing: Killer7 [GC] + Yoshi Touch & Go [DS]

From: Nai | Posted: 9/5/2005 6:12:59 PM | #359
Star Fox is a much more well-known series than Earthbound

I'm not sure of this... In the States Earthbound is very popular, that's for sure. And in any case, GTA San Andreas is more well-known than Earthbound and we know how the match went...

Earthbound is popular? Do you live in Soviet Russia?

===
Oh. My. God.
Did the PS2's light just change color...?!

But you're ignoring that fox is in SSBM, Ness's main source.
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Yeah, but SSBM >>>>> GTA on this site.
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Awesome STP, Eggplant.
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I'd take Fox AND Falco over Ness...
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Earthbound wasn't what propelled Ness to victory, and I think that's fairly apparent. It was being in Smash Brothers. Fox cancels out the big X factor that Ness has, and he's in a more mainstream and well-known series on top of that.
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I think Captain Falcon > Fox = Ness > Falco > Marth
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Return of SF1: YOU DON'T HAVE A CASE!
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The thing about ness is that a lot of people who have played earthbound probably never would have if ness wasn't in the SSB series. I doubt it wouuld even be in the top ten SNES message board section at all.
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Earthbound is popular? Do you live in Soviet Russia?

No, in Italy °_° Earthbound never got released in Europe, so for our point of view, over there it IS popular =D



Well, anyway you may be right... I'm also sure that Ness got a great boost from his SSBM presence... I don't know anyway, I'd still take him over Fox.

Falco would be a less powerfull than Fox imho. But above, respectively, Captain Falcon and Marth...
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Fox would beat Tails, and I wouldn't doubt that for a second. Fox could be a decent competitor given the right bracket. It's a shame he got caught with Cloud right off the bat in 2002 and hit with Link in 2003 only after defeating Pikachu.

Ouch! Tell me about it! 15 seed against Cloud, nothing to do there. Then he proves he has decent strength when he beats Pikachu soundly, only go get pounded into the ground by Link... Seriously,

FOX MCCLOUD NEEDS TO RETURN TO THE SUMMER CONTEST!

Next year, we need to get some rallies going. Given that SSBM has increased Nintendo a lot, I'd say Fox could have it in him to win another match or so if he could make it back in. Plus, he's had a decent selling good game that came out in February this year, StarFox: Assaut, which I personally thought was really good. I was surprised that that new game didn't get him to at least an 8 seed this year... but I guess it's not meant to be.

Next year, Fox needs to come back. Board 8 can help.
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The others' individual non-SSB fanbases won't matter since I think they overlap too much. I'd expect Captain Falcon, Ness, Fox, Falco, and Marth to be somewhat close in strength. It all depends on who's more well-liked in the SSB series.
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Thats True, Fox Could be a relatively strong character if given the chance.
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I too would take Fox over Ness, though I could see Ness fighting tooth and nail. I would think it'd probably be a 54-46 match though.
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I'd take Fox over KOS-MOS.
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say, Leon, how exactly did you determine which 5 characters the board was willing to rally behind and nominate? how many characters did you start with and how did you whittle them down to 5? all i remember is the topic with the 5 characters that asked which board members would pledge their support.

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If Fox can be in a Leon rally next year, that'd be great.
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Vote for Yoshi
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and in the meantime:

Mario 63.39% 60083
Zero 36.61% 34697
TOTAL VOTES 94780

Mario breaks 60000 votes while Zero continues to inch towards 37%.

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Well, it started with a basic nomination topic (with filtering, of course. I didn't allow obvious fodder to participate) to determine who should participate. Then there was a Hurt/Heal to whittle the field down to sixteen, and then just a straight up tournament after that. The Wild Card was determined via gauntlet mode. Of course, I only did the Hurt/Heal thing because I didn't have much participation. I'd expect to get quite a bit next year if I do it again.
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Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

well, Leon has said before that his rally topic was to help characters that have never been in the contest before. but, i would personally like to see Fox, Morrigan, and Strider return.

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"Start wearing purple, for me now. All your sanity and wits, they will all vanish, i promise. It's just a matter of time..."

i think you should do it again, Leon. if you need a hand running it, i would be willing to help. ^_^

when would you start it, though?

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"Start wearing purple, for me now. All your sanity and wits, they will all vanish, i promise. It's just a matter of time..."

I did it in March this year.
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Yeah, I guarantee there'll be loads of participation in another nomination/rally/tourney like that. This past one was a resounding success, afterall (twice for Revolver).
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Ocelot, Leon, and Tifa turned out to be midcarder level (although it's questionable for Ocelot).
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Yeah, it's kinda weird that Ocelot ended up with a higher seed in the Summer Contest than the Spring Contest despite stiffer competition.
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Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Tifa turned out to be midcarder level

Tifa's placement isn't locked yet.

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“What is it that is most precious to you, Cloud? I’ll enjoy stripping that from you!” – Sephiroth

The odds that Tifa is elite are very low, regardless of what you want to think.
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Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Our definitions of "elite" are quite different. I can see Tifa in that near-elite range, however.

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“What is it that is most precious to you, Cloud? I’ll enjoy stripping that from you!” – Sephiroth

??? So how high do you have to rank to NOT be called a mid-carder? Would Squall be considered a Mid-carder? After seeing what Mario did to Zero today, Luigi HAS to be much stronger, in addition to probably being previously underrated...
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The odds of that are low, too. I don't see Luigi being quite THAT high. I'm not sure I'd put him above Yoshi's 2004 level.
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Faithful supporter of Squall Leonhart in SC2K5

Wow. I would easily rank Luigi ahead of Yoshi's 2004 value. That just seems far too low to even consider, if you ask me. I see Luigi jumping far more than 2.26%.

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“What is it that is most precious to you, Cloud? I’ll enjoy stripping that from you!” – Sephiroth

I consider mid-carders to be the group under Zero/Ganondorf/Squall/Auron/Knuckles/Magus.
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Not me. I'd have difficulty believing he could beat Knuckles (though it looks like he might've gone up, too).
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Knuckles/Magus.

You have quite a range above the mid-carders if you consider those two to be above it.

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“What is it that is most precious to you, Cloud? I’ll enjoy stripping that from you!” – Sephiroth

How did you stick Knuckles and Magus in there? I love Knux and all, but he's clearly under Squall. And if you include him, then you have to look at Sora, Dante, and Kirby as well.
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MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

Why isn't Bowser in that list?
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SC2K5 Score: 57/64
Today's Pick: Mario

Ridiculously good vote totals for this match. Almost 100,000 and still four and a half hours to go.
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Why isn't Bowser in that list?

Because Bowser is clearly too good for all of them. <3
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MM are my INITIALS "There are only 10 kinds of people in this world, those that read binary and those that don't."

Err, whatever. I don't know how to calculate the stats, so I just guessed. Forgot Bowser.

But, I'm sure you guys know the group of people I'm talking about. Weaker then the noble nine, but stronger then almost everyone else.
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When Tifa gets over 45% against Sonic will people still consider her mid-carder? I think she's right up there with Squall and Auron personally
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The difference between Magus/Knuckles and then the other characters you listed is rather significant.

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“What is it that is most precious to you, Cloud? I’ll enjoy stripping that from you!” – Sephiroth

Yeah, guess so. Just exclude Magus and Knux then.
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