I have spent many, many hours in the Battle Square, and I finally realized something: Cloud is really stupid. There, I said it, and I'm not taking it back. Really, I'm telling you, the boy is totally and completely clueless. I have taken every single character (well, except for Aeris), into that Battle Square, and the one person who won the most contistently was Tifa. Yeah, sure, go ahead and laugh. Tifa. But it's true! I set her up with God's Hand, Minerva Band, and Ribbon, and then for materia I gave her Restore, Enemy Skills, Magic Plus, Ultima+HP Absorb, Mime, and some HP Plus. Once I started the battle, I cast Big Guard, then Ultima. I then mimed that until the end, barring any unforseen disasters in my timing with the handicap slots or something. The HP Absorb made sure that her HP stayed high, and Ultima is a nice, short, violent spell. Sure, it was bending the rules a little, but I followed the exact same pattern with the others, and none of them could win as many times or as consistently as Tifa (although Yuffie came fairly close). My conclusion was that the trick lay with the Minerva Band, which protects from Ice magic, something the Escort Guard does not do. Since more enemies in the Battle Square cast ice than other types of magic, the Minerva Band kept Tifa alive longer. Also, Tifa is slightly more agile than Cloud, making it easier for her to dodge. While it took me about four hours and a lot of painful losses to get W-Summon and Omnislash with Cloud, it took me roughly two hours and only a couple losses with Tifa. However, once you've gotten W-Summon, Omnislash, and the Ultima Sword, you will get to fight in the Secret Duel, which pits Cloud against some of the most powerful enemies in the game. Time to change our strategy, eh? I gave him the Ultima Weapon, Escort Guard, and Ribbon, then distributed the materia similarly to the way I distributed it for Tifa. The only thing I changed was replacing Ultima with Knights of the Round. Sure, the duel lasts next to forever because of the excruciatingly long time it takes to cast Knights, but luckily, you only have to win one Secret Duel to get the prized Final Attack materia. All RIGHT!!!!