I see only one trend- If you want to win, be head and shoulders above, like 20-30 points above. Then, there will be no questions, no controversies.
Nah, who are you kidding? There's absolutely no end to controversies in skating. Our forum thrives on them The moment someone wins by 20-30 points, someone will immediately call foul and people will start tearing up protocols to debate inflation. Then people will argue about the flaws of CoP, how it allows for such insurmountable gaps, how the judges are flawed in their scoring, how a hype was built around an unworthy skater, how creative and beautiful programs were possible only under 6.0, how CoP has reduced skating to "barrel jumping"....and so forth. It's an unending cycle. You might as well enjoy the ride.