You had one job FEH community

I can understand why he would win though. Most people don't prioritize skills inheritance or how good a unit is in arena. He simply won because people like him. Also his votes didn't change much from the time of the mid-voting reveal. People who went for Hector (who was 2nd by a large margin initially) ditched when LA!Hector came out and transferred votes to possibly Tharja, making it a close race. I wouldn't be surprised though if most of those switch votes are the ones who prioritized skills and arena but those who started with Ike were pretty much set in stone.

I personally wanted PA!Azura especially since I haven't had her because I only started when V2.0 came out. Also she would be the unit who least needs min/max via IV because we expect these unit giveaways to be always neutral. Of course people who are just looking to fodder wouldn't mind either way.

Yes he did.

I totally agree with everything said here.
This Ike is great and all, but nothing really special and his stats don't really stand out too much, especially considering, that he will be coming with neutral IVs.
His Warding Breath is the only thing that really matters here and I personally don't really like Infantry units, due to the fact, that they have no class specific buffs, increasing stats.
Winter Tharja or Hector would be the way to go for that vote I thought, considering the incredible abilities etc. .
Tharja is a limited unit and has insane stats, as well as abilities... if people would think about those things, instead of "I like Ike, lets vote for him", then we would have gotten a useful unit...

Well, I expected the vote to end like this, so my Nowi is going to receive a Warding Breath... never mind

Yeah I agree, he's a great hero and unit (and I like Ike) but pales in comparison against his competition as a free unit IMO. Especially Winter Tharja who wins in the power and fodder category. This is coming from someone who didn't even manage to summon him.

However, I'm not really disappointed. He is indeed a Legendary hero (and the first one deserving of said title) so having a guaranteed, well-IVd version of him for Blessings is always nice, there's also Warding Breath which is quite a powerful skill for units like Grima, Adult Tiki, and etc. For me though, I'll build him up nice and pretty and then have him looking fabulous as a collector unit on my bench because the red sword pool is bloated as all hell and he just can't compete without merges :/

You're right. I have thrown all of my votes to Hector, just because I want DC for my Myrrh. Please don't get me wrong. Hector is an amazing unit, especially with Armads + Wary Fighter + QR. I already have him on my team, and DC is too valuable that many units want it.
PA!Azura and W!Tharja are great too. I wouldn't mind getting another Tharja or Azura. Both of them are core members of my team.
But L!Ike is not so great as I think he is. I'm using him in my Arena team right now, even with +atk boon but without QR, he can't do much.

Ike was the only one I didn't have. Voting for him was obvious.

Ikr, I'm annoyed by it too. Imo they executed this thing horribly; they should have just let everyone pick between the four finalists and that's what they individually get.

Uh, no. We got our own opinions, and we're jolly well gonna vote for who we preferred, thankyouverymuchdon'tletthedoorhityourassonthewayout.

IS has no business coddling the gaming populace for filling its coffers, but they did anyway, as a form of thanks. Take of this whatever you will, but its not a colossal screwup like a weaponless boss-level character. It's a token gesture, and everyone should just stop expecting to be rewarded for something that, to a gaming company, should come to them naturally (i.e, supporting this game—and by support, I mean spending money for it, not just acting like some bona fide unofficial mouthpiece in cyberspace).

Take your salt, toss it over your shoulder, use it for soup. Those are all about what it's useful for, not here.

IS deserves the flak it's getting. They engineered the event in such a way that they both expected and wanted L!Ike to win, which was just inviting the rancor of the community should someone come in close second. As many others have mentioned, there would have been zero downside to just allowing users to pick which free unit they want. There also wouldn't have been downside to just announcing they were giving away a free L!Ike. Instead they created a PR disaster for themselves by socially engineering a popularity contest, which never ends well.

I would suggest to others in the community to take the time to use the in-game feedback form to let IS know your if you're upset about the way they handled this. The last time the community was this upset over the way IS handled something was Ayra, and it's something they've clearly taken note of as there hasn't been a repeat of the Ayra situation since (the closest being Rhajat on a separate banner from the other Fates kids, and that was months ago).

Says who?
I'm starting to get tired of the salt by now, what part of different players having different hero pools and different needs don't you people understand?

Just because YOU need tharja doesn't mean every other guy needs her too.
And the figther skills are no longer even an argument, as they are now permanently added trough the fallen heroes.

She's threatening? So is reinhardt, and lyn, and nino, and a good few others, so that's not rally an argument either. And personally, i don't find her problematic at all in arena, btw.

Hector is fine and all, but he's been in at least6 banners by now, and he also had his excellent LA counterpart too. At most he's distant counter fodder now.

The same thing applies to axura, but on a lesser scale. She's an excellent dancer, but you can't use dancers in the higher ranks unless they are +10, and she's been in 2 banners already, same as ike.
As you can see, all the heroes here are solid, and all have flaws, but it depends on your pool which one is better.

Get off your high horse already.

Thing is, no matter who wins, there will be salt. Heck, the least salty option probably was PA Azura: her last summon chance was the last 8% banner, and she's a seasonal refresher unit. Tharja as a character is inherently divisive, while Hector gets the "he's always available" treatment. As for Ike...yeah, we've seen the arguments.

I'm actually fine with Ike winning. I'm upset that people are getting divisive over a 5* unit given for free. Don't want him? Just pass off one of his skills. He's got Def Tactic and Warding Breath.

I voted for him and I am satisfied he won. I like Ike, he has a two handed sword and I know Fire Emblem originally from Smash Bros.

I like his Warding Breath, if I get dissatisfied it will go to my Fae, I only have one Steady Breath and this one goes to Nowi.

I'd also be ok, if Tharja had won. Good skills, good hero. Although she looks like a prostitute.

I like honey, it's great to get this salty smell from the lips.

You need to grow up. You are complaining about getting a free unit. Don't like him? Fodder him. Send him home. Do what you will.

Just because you thought Winter Tharja was the best doesn't mean other people do. I have a perfect IV one, and I cannot stand using her. In fact, I plan on replacing her with LA!Lyn should I pull her. Grima has Vengeful Fighter now, and he is a far superior unit and much more readily available.

You also argue that L!Ike is just fodder. People were voting for Hector just so they had DC fodder. If you have LA!Hector, normal Hector is pretty much just DC fodder. Axura was the least desirable of the four because while she is a good dancer, she has nothing worth inheriting, so she would have been literally useless to many players.

Jesus. If this is how you're going to act after IS gives you a free unit, then you honestly should not be on social media. Ike was chosen democratically, so get over yourself. He is a good unit and good fodder, and if you can't see that, just take your 1000 feathers, stop being salty, and enjoy the game.