Final Fantasy Music Game 2017

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All expected votes for the quarter-finals are in!

 

Well, for all that this year has been more back to the basics with strong tracks winning more often than not, the quarter-finals saw a lot of shake-ups.  Three out of four statistical underdogs won.  While One-Winged Angel (43rd) was more of an underperformer than a true underdog, and Sight of Spira (76th) and Song of Memories (35th) were both unexpected contenders at this stage, The Mines of Narshe (82nd) defeat of two-time quarter-finalist The Dreadful Fight (26th) was just a straight upset.

As the rand would have it, both Final Fantasy 7 battle tracks will be facing the lighter fair to see whether we get an all FF7 combat final or something quite different.

SEMI-FINALS (points cumulative through 2016)

(FF6, 12) vs

(FF7, 21)

(FF10, 13) vs

(FF7, 47)

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I side with fight tracks less often than most people, I think, but I have to go with the heavy hitters in this one:

 

One-Winged Angel (FF7, 21)

Still More Fighting (FF7, 47)

[Cairos]

I also like the fight tracks

 

(FF7, 21)

(FF7, 47)

[Cass]

First one is easy, cos no way I'm going Mines of Narshe over One-Winged Angel (and why'd it win last round anyway??)

 

But the second one hurts some. I'm too hyped up today for Sight of Spira to win out though, and regardless, the final is gonna be impossible >.<   >.<   >.<

Still More Fighting has proven a very fun trail-run track, btw. \o/ new music!

 

 (FF7, 21)

 (FF7, 47)

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It ended 5-5.  Mines of Narshe held the tie break.

 

FINAL ROUND INCOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

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Final Fantasy 2017 Finals

          VS

Still More Fighting (FF7) has absolutely dominated this tournament, and that should come as no surprise.  Entering ranked 10th all-time, it has been a perennial contender in this game with the one lone exception of a first-round knockout in the original 2014 run.  In a year where most of the top 10 saw early elimination, it took on a strong opponent in 14th-ranked The Place I'll Return to Someday out the gate and won decisively, 7-2.  Balamb Garden, ranked 91st, and Find Your Way, ranked 23rd, both proceeded to fall 8-2 before the track showed any sign of wavering.  And even then, 7-4 was a pretty clean victory over 6th all-time and 2015 champion Bombing Mission.  In the quarter-finals it faced Freya's Theme, ranked 27th, and things got interesting.  The two songs were dead even at a 4-4 tie with Freya's Theme set to win the tie-break before two late votes propelled it to a 6-4 victory.  The Sight of Spira (76th) readily rolled over and died 9-1 in the semis to guarantee Still More Fighting its first appearance in a final.  Over all, the average rank of its opponents was 39--the second toughest path to a Final on record after Ronfaure's 38 last year.  No matter the outcome, it will end the year in 2nd place all-time behind Dancing Mad.

One-Winged Angel (FF7).  In contrast, One-Winged Angel had the statistically easiest run on record at a 70 average, 3 points lighter than Bombing Mission faced in 2015.  (And that didn't stop Bombing Mission from winning.)  Quite the opposite of its opponent, the song has an established history of underperformance reflected in its rank: 43rd coming into the tournament.  It got an easy pass in the first round, knocking out Dear Friends 8-2.  It cleanly defeated a more formidable opponent in 25th-ranked Awakened Forest 7-2 before struggling against 121st-ranked Succession of Witches 6-4.  After another easy 8-3 win over 48th-ranked Besaid Island, it nearly met its match in the quarter-finals.  30th-ranked Liberi Fatali handed it a 5-5 draw, which One-Winged Angel won on the tie-break.  The semi-finals, on the other hand, came fairly easy.  An 8-2 win against 82nd-ranked The Mines of Narshe paved the way for a first-time finals appearance.  Should the song receive no further votes, it will end the year in 9th place all-time.

It all comes down to this:

Still More Fighting (FF7) vs One-Winged Angel (FF7)

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(nice page bump)

 

I've obviously had a lot of time to mull this over, and I'm going with One-Winged Angel, but I'm already quite content with the outcome this year whoever ends up winning.  :)

[Cairos]

Still more fighting!

[Guest]

Still more fighting as well

[Cass]

I appreciate One Winged Angel, but I <3/enjoy Still More Fighting moarrr...

 

Still More Fighting ftw!

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Winner is.....






 

Still More Fighting, from Final Fantasy VII

In an all Final Fantasy VII combat theme final, Still More Fighting knocks out One-Winged Angel 7-4 to become the 2017 champion.

Still More Fighting was also this year's point leader with a record 52, moving it from 10th place to 2nd and impressively close to Dancing Mad all-time.  A good showing from all four past champions has left our four winners in the top four all-time slots--something I don't expect we'll see again for a while.  The tournament as a whole also saw the most votes ever by a huge margin with 1231, compared to 831 in 2014, 806 in 2015, and 1017 in 2016.

One-Winged Angel had an outstanding 46 point run, ending its three year drought at 8th all-time.

The Dreadful Fight had a grand turnout by votes despite elimination in the quarter-finals.  At 36 points, it finished third for the tournament and brought in enough votes to have won the game in 2014 or 2015.

And Vamo Alla Flamenco remains the only track I've voted for in a final that actually won.

The champions:

2014: Dancing Mad (FF6)
2015: Bombing Mission (FF7)
2016: Vamo Alla Flamenco (FF9)
2017: Still More Fighting (FF7)

All time top 50, with position changes since last year:

1. (=) Dancing Mad (FF6, 104)
2. (^8) Still More Fighting (FF7, 99)
3. (^3) Bombing Mission (FF7, 76)
4. (^4) Vamo Alla Flamenco (FF9, 70)
5. (-3) The Extreme (FF8, 69)
6. (^20) The Dreadful Fight (FF4, 69)
6. (-2) Dark Messenger (FF9, 69)
8. (^35) One-Winged Angel (FF7, 67)
9. (-6) Opening Theme (FF6, 65)
10. (-5) Main Theme (FF4, 62)
11. (-4) Valley of the Fallen Star (FF7, 62)
12. (^7) To Zanarkand (FF10, 61)
13. (^14) Freya's Theme (FF9, 60)
14. (^5) Phantom Train (FF6, 59)
15. (^2) Aerith's Theme (FF7, 58)
16. (^14) Liberi Fatali (FF8, 57)
17. (^5) Prelude (FF4, 53)
18. (-9) The Decisive Battle (FF6, 52)
19. (^16) Song of Memories (FF9, 52)
20. (^3) Find Your Way (FF8, 51)
21. (-11) Within the Giant (FF4, 51)
22. (-7) The Castle (FF8, 50)
23. (-11) Clash on the Big Bridge (FF5, 49)
24. (-6) Ronfaure (FF11, 48)
25. (^3) J-E-N-O-V-A (FF7, 48)
26. (-13) Decisive Battle (FF10, 46)
27. (-2) Awakened Forest (FF9, 46)
28. (^8) Devil's Lab (FF6, 46)
28. (-12) Chateau d'Oraguille (FF11, 46)
30. (^46) The Sight of Spira (FF10, 45)
31. (-12) Fight 2 (FF4, 44)
32. (^50) The Mines of Narshe (FF6, 43)
33. (^15) Besaid Island (FF10, 43)
34. (-20) The Place I'll Return to Someday (FF9, 42)
35. (-1) Birth of the God (FF7, 42)
36. (-4) Blue Fields (FF8, 41)
37. (-13) Red Wings (FF4, 40)
38. (^34) Theme of the Tantalus (FF9, 37)
39. (^20) The Man with the Machine Gun (FF8, 35)
39. (^24) The Silence Before the Storm (FF10, 35)
41. (-12) New Continent (FF6, 34)
42. (^26) The Phon Coast (FF12, 33)
43. (-6) Home Sweet Home (FF5, 33)
44. (-7) The Fierce Battle (FF6, 32)
45. (-14) Last Dungeon (FF6, 31)
46. (^21) JENOVA Absolue (FF7, 31)
46. (^2) Seymour Battle (FF10, 31)
48. (^7) Airship (FF11, 29)
49. (-17) Prologue (FF4, 29)
49. (^2) Wild West (FF6, 29)

Thank you all so much for participating!  You have no idea how much I enjoy running this, and it would all be meaningless without all of you!  See ya in 2018. 

[Guest]

Thanks so much for the game ! I enjoyed it a lot, and I could play to it with our girls lol

(they were very funny judges)

[Cass]

This was fun, thanks!

 

Chae I bet the girls were gorgeous, I'd have loved to have heard the commentary :D

 

Will came in all upset on the first night I voted... The Sight of Spira on repeat calmed him down a treat ^.^

[Guest]

Nice to hear that it worked