You've just given a cherry picked example to show that yes, withdrawing during market downturns is bad. I don't disagree with this? I'm merely saying that, on average, over the long-term, it makes more mathematical sense to ditch the EF if you're a high net worth individual. For example, you have literally just picked the worst case scenario and used that to justify why the strategy is bad. What about all the times your emergency doesn't coincide with a total market crash? My all stock "emergency fund" will actually grow larger than yours, on average. You probably have several emergencies over the course of your life.

Honestly your example is about as useful as me saying investing in stocks in general is bad, because sometimes, they go down. So what? We're talking about broad long-term averages here, nothing more.

It's fine to argue about personal psychological preferences, but as I say, this purely a mathematical statement I am making here. It should not be controversial, but it always is.