Final Round

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Wario has completed the final duel, which is three of the most intense duels to have to mark, in a cruel twist of fate for us. I rate his efforts in Kongo Jungle, though I think his Moray Towers might be reasonably beatable. Spiral Mountain who knows?

[Sandbag]

Me @ Falco's duel attempts:

[Sandbag]

Final Duel Times:

KONGO JUNGLE:
Wario: 1'53"
Falco: 1'50"

SPIRAL MOUNTAIN:
Wario: 27'00"
Falco: 69'37"

MORAY TOWERS:
Wario: 350 points
Falco: 0 points

[Sandbag]

Also, depending on how you slice it, The Final 3 has one of each original team

[Masahiro Sakurai]

It has to be said, and I really do love you Falco, but this ending really was way too fitting with how this entire merge shook out.

For starters, a key strategic goal of Falco's that he planned on touting at FTC was that he removed all of the duels he thought he'd lose at early on in the game, so to lose at the Final Duel with all of the leftovers is one of those awful awful ways in which the game can repudiate your argument better than any juror ever could. There's also the issue of the terrible track record of eliminating literally anyone in the entire merge; that streak culminating in losing the final duel is just way too fitting. Falco as a character could not have had a better ending.

I do very much feel for Falco as a person though. He, like Squirtle, really gave himself to this game from a less-than-friendly timezone, and I know that such an exit when you feel as if you're so close to winning can be super rattling. A lot has been said for how he's been wrong a lot lately, but I can only be eternally grateful for how much fight he had. The same can be said for Wario, too, win or lose.

[Sandbag]

[Master Hand]

I've obviously been Falco's toughest critic all game long but now that he has actually lost I think it'll be easier to appreciate his time in this. Sakurai is right that there couldn't have been a better ending to his constant comedy of errors than this, lol.

It is notable to me that those with the best challenge resumes were defeated by newbies or those who hadn't played in hella years. I see people often hesitant to play Arena because they think the challenges are centralising, but this ORG has averted that for sure. The card system creating agency and knowledge has really helped that out too.

To me, this victory absolutely should belong to Captain Falcon, he's crushed it all game long and deservingly so. That isn't to say it should be unanimous, there is always nuances to the situations jurors are in, yet it is abundantly clear overall where things ought to be.

Current jury vote preferences are:

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Pyra & Mythra have already said that their vote was between Captain Falcon and Falco in Jury so that'll surely change. Still strange to see it that close.

[Sandbag]

Mar 9, 2022 16:00:48 GMT 10 Master Hand said:

 I see people often hesitant to play Arena because they think the challenges are centralising, but this ORG has averted that for sure.

#CalledOut

[Sandbag]

Mar 9, 2022 16:00:48 GMT 10 Master Hand said:

I've obviously been Falco's toughest critic all game long but now that he has actually lost I think it'll be easier to appreciate his time in this. Sakurai is right that there couldn't have been a better ending to his constant comedy of errors than this, lol.

It is notable to me that those with the best challenge resumes were defeated by newbies or those who hadn't played in hella years. I see people often hesitant to play Arena because they think the challenges are centralising, but this ORG has averted that for sure. The card system creating agency and knowledge has really helped that out too.

To me, this victory absolutely should belong to Captain Falcon, he's crushed it all game long and deservingly so. That isn't to say it should be unanimous, there is always nuances to the situations jurors are in, yet it is abundantly clear overall where things ought to be.

Current jury vote preferences are:

-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Pyra & Mythra have already said that their vote was between Captain Falcon and Falco in Jury so that'll surely change. Still strange to see it that close.

Also if Yoshi has to cast a tiebreaker vote I will cry.

[Masahiro Sakurai]

Yet to read the others, but for me, the standout comment in Wario's is him regretting his F5 move. I think he needed to be talking about the F4 like he speaks about the F5 and vice-versa. It's a relatively good speech from him though; I think the elements of contrition there are needed and feel sincere, without walking back the strengths in his game. He's been a light confessional user so it's good to see him more reflective.

[Tabuu]

Reading Wario's speech and it is very clear that this is his first rodeo. Yoshi too, to a slightly lesser extent, he at least tried to mention the why a little I guess? I think players who haven't done ftcs before (or well?) tend to go more for the "what happened" approach, but forget to focus on the "why should you vote for me" part.

Wario's is literally just a recap with a little "Outro" about voting him to win for a few lines, and that speech is not gonna resonate with anyone. He needed to hype up what made his game work, like the final 5 vote (that he now says he regrets lol, it could've been his winner move if he promoted it correctly, it was a great move and deserves props)

Yoshi's is mostly the same, but he never had a chance with most jurors to begin with, and rightly so. He should get third here, happy as I am that Lord Yupa had his moment to shine and make an ftc here, the egg gimmick and playstyle does not deserve votes to win

Captain Falcon's speech has humor to it to make it readable, though I did glaze over during a lot of the recap segments, but the important part is he actually said WHY he deserves votes.

This ftc will come down to Wario or Captain Falcon here, but I think the Captain has it.

[Sandbag]

Why does every person keep insisting that Captain getting rid of Squirtle before he literally cruises to the end a bad move???

[Sandbag]

I guess even when it comes to he was right about, Wario can't help but be wrong. F5 was YOUR MOVE. It was brilliant. No regrets.

[Tabuu]

Really wish Wario had decided to read Kazuya's speech, because he needed to hear what Kazuya said to avoid the pitfalls he fell into here. He's got a lot of potential to do well in these if he fixes the other things

[Master Hand]

What better way to procrastinate on my Cast Reveal write-ups than to confirm the following:

Master Fingers Hall of Fame and Shame

Captain Falcon
- Thumb (2)
- Index Finger (2)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (4)
- Pinky (1)

Wario
- Thumb (3)
- Index Finger (2)
- Ring Finger (2)
- Pinky (1)

Yoshi
- Thumb (2)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (2)
- Pinky (1)

Falco
- Thumb (2)
- Index Finger (1)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (3)
- Pinky (2)

Kazuya
- Thumb (1)
- Index Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

Squirtle
- Thumb (1)
- Index Finger (3)
- Middle Finger (4)
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

King Dedede
- Thumb (1)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (2)
- Pinky (2)

Robin
- Index Finger (4)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (3)

Dark Pit
- Thumb (2)
- Index Finger (1)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (2)

King K. Rool
- Index Finger (1)
- Middle Finger (1)
- Pinky (2)

Pyra & Mythra
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

Marth
- Middle Finger (1)
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

Piranha Plant
- Thumb (1)
- Index Finger (1)
- Middle Finger (1)

Samus
- Index Finger (2)
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

Duck Hunt
- Ring Finger (1)
- Thumb (1)

Donkey Kong
- Ring Finger (1)
- Pinky (1)

Link
- Middle Finger (1)

Wii Fit Trainer
- Thumb (1)
- Ring Finger (1)
- Middle Finger (1)

Isabelle
- Middle Finger (1)

Sandbag
- Pinky (1)

Crazy Hand
- Middle Finger (1)

Dharkon
- Middle Finger (1)

Transport for NSW
- Middle Finger (1)

Special mention must be made to Captain Falcon, Falco and Squirtle for being awarded all five Master Fingers during the game. This achievement will henceforth be known as the Master Palm d'Or