Big Shoes: Esquire vs. MightyRearranger

Round 1 : Abandoned Attilan

The first battle takes place in the Inhuman City of Attilan after the Event. Given that many Inhumans are above limits, they were spirited away leaving Attilan without much of its leadership and command crew. This left Attilan drifting through deep space. Over time its power reserves began draining leading to shutdown of non-critical systems. Only Life Support and Gravity are still running but not without their drawbacks. Life Support systems were left in Rain Storm Mode leading to parts of the city being flooded while Gravity was left on Moon Mode lowering gravity to Earth's Moon's Gravity.

Power can be restored if you choose to expend time doing so but it will take 1 Hour of Time to do so regardless of what powers and abilities you have.

Attilan's Computer can be hacked but given the limited power, you can't really do much beyond lower Gravity and change the weather.

There is 1 Set of 5 Space Suits in the otherwise empty Chamber of Devices.

Rules:

• No BFR is allowed but if you can manage to push someone into space who can't survive in space, it will work as expected.
• No Tele-BFR or Dismemberment
• Win is by Death, Incapacitation, or KO
• Each team gets 5 minutes prep and basic info about the enemy team. The Basic Info includes names, pictures, and abiities. Bought Equipment is not known until you engage it. Obviously, if you have the perks that grant you more prep or knowledge, you get that instead.
• The First Team Listed starts in the Old City while the Second Team Listed starts in the Prison. Fear not Second Team, you don't have to break out. :)
• Bought Items are listed in Parentheses.

@esquire

• Ultimate Wolverine - (Talismans, Old Power Forcefield and Taser, Anti-Venom Symbiote, Webshooter)
• Bedlam - (Potis Atiare, Darkhawk Amulet, Vibranium Suit and Sword, Webshooter)
• Mystique - Dual Pistols, Knife (Phoenix Fragment, Webshooter)
• Vanisher - (Battle Computer, Mento's Helmet, Ebony Blade, Vibranium Suit and Shield, Webshooter)
• Feral - (10 Rings of the Mandarin, Prometheus Suit, Webshooter)

Achievements:

• Ex-Men
• More like Professor SuX
• Absolute Power
• Evil Always Wins

vs.

@mightyrearranger

• Rick Flag Jr. - (Superman Suit, Streamsword)
• Bronze Tiger - (Insider Suit, Blacklight Projector)
• Deadshot - Suit, Wrist Guns, Sniper Rifle (Tactigon)
• Scarecrow - Fear Toxin (Yellow Lantern Ring, Carnage Symbiote)
• Count Vertigo - Helmet (10 Rings of Mandarin, Sould Sword and Armor)

Achievements:

• Evil Always Wins
• Secret Injustice Club

This should be good

@mightyrearranger

Right off the bat, my team has several major advantages. Because of my perks, in addition to my 5 characters I have both Bastion and Danger, giving me a 7 - 6 numerical advantage. In addition, both Bastion and Danger have the ability to control machines mentally, a capability which I don't see in any of your characters. We even get twice as much training with our equipment, because of the SuX perk.

My team also has the telepathy advantage, which is huge and quite possibly decisive. Mystique's Phoenix Fragment gives her powerful telepathy and telekinesis, and Mento's Helmet gives Vanisher mind-control powers. Your team has no telepaths, giving my team a massive and extremely useful edge.

Finally, my team will be largely unaffected by the lowered gravity, since Logan, Bedlam, and Mystique have flight, Feral has levitation, Vanisher can teleport us around, or Mystique can just use TK to move everybody.

Roles:

Ultimate Wolverine: Tank

Because of the Absolute Power perk, Logan's already impressive healing factor is doubled in potency. In addition, he is given a Deadpool-level healing factor by the Talismans. As if that wasn't enough, he has the Anti-Venom Symbiote, which has a healing factor powerful enough to heal a shotgun blast to the head in seconds. It also grants him bulletproof durability and toughness to shrug off hits from high-tonners, which, added to Logan's adamantium giving him impressive durability, makes him very resistant to blunt force. Finally, he has a forcefield that has tanked shots from Mjolnir. His durability is very good, and his healing factor is obscene. He's also got potent offensive capability with his claws, taser, and the impressive versatility provided by the Talismans.

Bedlam: Anti-Tech

Bedlam's power is to emit Electromagnetic Pulses, both as a field around him and as precision strikes. He has the Absolute Power serum, which doubles his power, and he also has the Potis Ataire, which amplifies his power several more times over. This allows him to devastate any technology with extreme prejudice. With the Darkhawk Amulet, he's also got solid offensive power and, coupled with vibranium, very good durability.

Mystique: Powerhouse

Mystique's major use is for the Telepathy and Telekinesis granted by the Phoenix Force, which create an extremely diverse toolkit of useful and deadly powers for my team to take advantage of. In addition, the Power serum and the PF enhance natural powers, which in Mystique's case consists largely of her shapeshifting ability. Since none of your characters have enhanced senses, she can use her telepathy to dig out whoever she wants from your team's memories and use her massively amped shapeshifting to appear exactly as that person for a variety of useful purposes.

Vanisher: The Assassin

Vanisher is built to be the perfect killer. He's got a battle computer that plans every move of a fight for him, and a helmet that gives him telepathy to read his opponents' moves and strategies before they can begin them. This combination makes him fantastically precognitive, and he's got the abilities to take advantage. He has double-strength teleportation, which allows him mobility, evasive capabilities, and an excellent way to circumvent his enemies' defenses. He has a sword that cuts through anything, which should allow him to kill most everyone he comes across. He has a vibranium suit and shield, in case he ever does get tagged. And his helmet grants intangibility to make that even less likely, as well as telekinesis to add another tool for his battle computer to play around with.

Feral: Support

Feral has incredible versatility, thanks to her 10 Magic Rings and the obscene amount of goodies packed into her Prometheus Arsenal. She has an impressive amount of combat skill thanks to the skill discs she can download into her brain, and she has attacks powerful enough to take down Kryptonians. She can hang back and use her variety of ranged attacks to mess up whoever's day she pleases.

Everyone also has a webshooter, which allows for hindering or even incapacitating opponents, blocking attacks, and giving another option for traversing the environment.

Prep:

Bastion and Danger will use their tech abilities along with Vanisher's tech skills to make a Mandarin Skills disc for Feral to download. None of our characters will know each other, as I'm entirely Marvel and you're entirely DC, so we'll both be stuck with the basic knowledge provided. Prep will consist mostly of making strategies and contingencies, with Mystique's TP link and Vanisher's battle computer making this a very efficient process. Because of the TP link, my team can split up and explore the battlefield while still being linked for planning.

At the beginning of the match, Mystique will read your teams' minds to figure out their location and special equipment. Vanisher will then teleport my team to the Chamber of Devices where they will grab the space suits, then he'll teleport us to the fortress, where we'll wait as my team modifies their plans now that I know about your special gear, your plans, and your mindset.

I would prefer you post your strategy first, since Mystique and Vanisher allow my team to know what it will be and react accordingly.

Hey, I've been out for a bit (took the week off at work for my birthday), so I'm catching up a bit on this one. I'll get my post up ASAP, just gotta check on a couple things with the bossman and read up on some of your characters (there are way too many X-Men in the Marvel U for me to keep track of, haha).

Quick clarification too: While Vertigo himself is not a telepath, he's displayed resistance to psionic abilities/assaults, which I'll touch on in my post.

@mightyrearranger: I haven't read much with Vertigo outside of some Suicide Squad, so I apologize for the misunderstanding.

My characters:

Ultimate Wolverine is basically the same as 616; Healing Factor, Adamantium bones and claws, skilled in hand-to-hand and stealth.

Vanisher is a teleporter who can teleport multiple people great distances with ease.

Mystique is a shapeshifter with mild superhuman stats.

Feral has metahuman physical stats and is feline in her powers, having claws and a tail and such.

Damper can fire electromagnetic pulses and is a solid hand-to-hand combatant.

@esquire

This was partially my fault, he had some questions that I didn't get back to him with. If he doesn't make a full post before Monday then I'll count this as a DQ.

@diredrill: @esquire: I'm alive, haha. Got clarification from DireDrill on the question I had to ask and I'm set to start compiling some scans and getting a strategy up in the brief windows I have over the next 2 days. Also, @esquire, no harm no foul about the Count Vertigo misunderstanding; he's one of those characters who has been tossed around by so many writers that he often gets jobbed and underestimated or becomes confusing.

To start things off though, my team is going to utilize the extra hour of prep to coordinate a strategy before any telepaths can preempt them too far ahead of time. The environment definitely plays in your favor, so we'll have to do our best to negate any further advantages you may have. Rick has worked with the majority of my team before, which can help them immensely through prep. The Squad's first order of business is normally selecting matchups that would favor the team in combat. Rick should have an understanding that the team's tech will be a weakness here, and that Carnage is an unpredictable advantage for us. He's also going to know that Scarecrow (by way of the Yellow Ring) and Vertigo (through metahuman means) are the members of the team with flight powers, thus they need to be on the front-lines.

My biggest priority in the early stages of this battle should be to locate and neutralize Bedlam as quickly as possible. Though Bedlam can utilize his EMP attacks to disable a lot of tech that would aid my team, I don't foresee EMPs damaging Scarecrow or the Carnage symbiote. It'll be Scarecrow's assignment to accompany Count Vertigo, as they'll both ensure the Carnage Symbiote's safety. Scarecrow will use his ring to contain the symbiote until confronting Bastion, Danger, or Bedlam. If any other threats present themselves, Count Vertigo's presence can come in handy.

Also, thankfully for my team, their most powerful member is also the last person anyone on the opposing team should try to use telepathy or other psionic powers on. From the onset of the fight, anyone on your team who tries to access Vertigo's mind can be subjected to his counter-attack, utilizing the Vertigo affect to render them paralyzed. Rick, having worked with Werner for years, can confide with him as far as the battle plan goes, letting Vertigo micromanage Scarecrow as much as possible. Barring any EMP attacks from Bedlam, Werner should be able to use his "Vertigo Effect" on the majority of your party. This can disrupt their flight and incapacitate characters regardless of them wearing any kind of suit. I'll locate scans of his Effect disrupting mind-controllers, illusionists, and telepaths, as well as those that show his power's range as his Effect targets guards who are watching him via security camera. Here, he disrupts Peacemaker and drops him like a fly:

Only problem is, it's up for debate whether Werner derives all of his power from his hearing-aid device or whether he's internalized the majority of it. Comics have not really clarified one way or another on this matter yet. Hence, the Carnage symbiote being unleashed in the event that Bedlam arrives on the scene alone, or if he's teleported with the entirety of your party onto the scene.

Once the symbiote is active, it can assimilate with various members of your team quite easily. Beyond the Mandarin's fire ring on Feral, I don't see any of your characters utilizing an attack that could exploit any symbiote's weaknesses. Feral needs to get a shot off on Crane/Carnage quickly, hopefully before they can turn any member of your team against the rest:

^If Cletus can come up with something this twisted under Carnage's influence, the master of fear should be able to accomplish a lot more with the symbiote.

Additionally, his Yellow Ring should be able to shield him from a fire blast if need be.

Heck, Carnage may just want to assimilate with my entire team minus Vertigo from the beginning.

Regardless, Scarecrow can get the majority of work on this mission accomplished without use of his fear toxin. However, if Rick is willing, Scarecrow can pump the toxin into the prison right before he leaves, ensuring that anyone who teleports into the prison to confront Rick, Floyd, or Ben will be subject to their greatest nightmares.

Ben (Bronze Tiger)'s Insider suit will be highly effective here too, allowing him limited flight and breathing capabilities in the rough environment. Rick Flag's Bat/Supes suit will have some life-support functions too, leaving Deadshot as the only real disadvantaged member of my team in this Fear Gas filled environment.

So our setup, from Rick's mouth to Vertigo's ears, is Werner & Scarecrow leaving the prison immediately; Scarecrow will douse the area in Fear Toxin as he leaves, while Rick and Ben activate life support functions (ie: breathers) on their suits. Floyd (Deadshot) isn't gonna be happy that he wasn't consulted on the plan, but I think Rick can make him understand beforehand that there will be telepaths at play here, so the mission briefing will be limited. Scarecrow is to keep the Carnage Symbiote contained and leave a Yellow force field up around both him and Werner until danger presents itself.

Like I said, many more scans are incoming, but I wanted to get a layout of my strategy up in case I misunderstood any of your team's abilities.

@esquire: Here's a feat displaying Vertigo's resistance to psionics:

^The character attempting to enter his mind is Twister, a former member of the Church of Blood. Her powers are mainly to induce hallucinations in her victims, but this evidence in itself that Werner can detect when a foreign presence is within his mind and quickly breaks the control, as well as counter-attacking with his "Vertigo Effect".

@mightyrearranger

Okay, so my strategy will be as follows: Bedlam, Vanisher and Mystique use their powers to locate your team and mind-read Flagg. Since he has no telepathic resistance and also knows the plan, this will give my team an easy insight into your strategy. Vanisher will teleport to grab the suits, and will then teleport my team into the fortress.

In addition to the plan, Mystique will have pulled knowledge on your team's abilities and gear from Flagg's mind, so we will essentially get full knowledge of your team. This gives me a big advantage, as you don't know what kind of equipment my team is packing. As my characters adapt their plan to your gear and strategy, they'll put on the spacesuits.

If I'm reading your strategy right, it sounds like Vertigo and Scarecrow are going to be leaving the rest of your team behind when they leave to find my team. Once they've separated, Vanisher will 'port my team in behind Flagg, Deadshot, and Bronze Tiger. As soon as we materialize, Bedlam will fry their tech with EMPs, rendering most of their equipment useless. Vanisher will tele-blitz, his battle computer telling him where to go and his Ebony Blade letting him oneshot everyone. Feral and Bedlam will help by using her arsenal and his Darkhawk suit to pour on damage while Mystique restrains your team with TK, but Vanisher should be able to solo with ease, regardless. The spacesuits will protect us from the fear toxin by virtue of being airtight.

Vanisher will then teleport us to where Vertigo and Scarecrow are. Since they have no way of communicating with their team, they won't know they're all alone. Vanisher will immediately tele-blitz Vertigo, slicing him up with the Ebony Blade. At the same time, Bedlam will blast your team with EMPs and Feral will hit them with Neural Chaff, disabling Scarecrow's ring and Vertigo's effect, if he isn't already sliced up.

This leaves Carnage to fight my whole team. Feral has fire blasts to exploit his weakness and the Dragon Talisman gives Wolverine the same advantage. In addition, his Anti-Venom symbiote disperses other symbiotes just by touching them.

Gallery

In addition, with the Power Ring negated, Scarecrow no longer has any telepathy resistance, so he can be mentally KO'd by Mystique or Vanisher. The Phoenix fragment should easily bypass a novice Lantern's defenses anyway, but thanks to the neural chaff it won't need to do so. With the combined firepower of Mandarin's rings, Prometheus's suit, the Darkhawk Amulet, Old Power Taser, various Talismans, and Vanisher's and Mystique's combined TK, Carnage will go down hard.

EDIT: And none of this is even taking into account Bastion and Danger, who add even more firepower to my strategy. They'll simply be accompanying my team and adding blasting power when needed.

@esquire: Shoot, I did mention Rick activating a breather with Ben, didn't I? Welp, I ballsed that one up, haha. My original plan was to gas him and send the specs down with him and his insanified mind, but ah well. Error on my part, I'll roll with it.

Awesome post, by the way! Vanisher, in particular, seems really dangerous (though I'm unfamiliar with him). A few discreps I was hoping to ask you about:

1. 3 of your team members are utilizing their telepathic abilities at the onset of the match. Why would all three be targeting Flag at the same time? This just plays into battle tactic theories, but with only a basic knowledge of the enemy, why wouldn't they be coordinating their strategy to read multiple minds on my team and gain as much knowledge as possible?
2. As far as I know, any EMP attacks won't be disabling the Soul Sword and it's Armor, which should be able to withstand blows from the mystical Ebony Blade.
3. This is the Ebony Blade that gains it's power from killing allies, correct?
4. Bedlam will be needing precision strikes with his EMPs to hit my team. Is there any evidence of him using the EMP field while in close quarters and not disabling his teammates' gear in the process?
5. Though it's been a while and I love Prometheus, I don't think the Neural Chaff has the range that Vertigo's Effect can. Could be wrong though.
6. That's an awesome Prometheus scan. Did I mention how much I love that dude? :)

Shoot, I did mention Rick activating a breather with Ben, didn't I? Welp, I ballsed that one up, haha. My original plan was to gas him and send the specs down with him and his insanified mind, but ah well. Error on my part, I'll roll with it.

If that was the strategy you wanted to use, I have no problem with you adding it in now. I'd rather lose in a good debate than win because of an inadvertent mistake. Bring it on!

3 of your team members are utilizing their telepathic abilities at the onset of the match. Why would all three be targeting Flag at the same time? This just plays into battle tactic theories, but with only a basic knowledge of the enemy, why wouldn't they be coordinating their strategy to read multiple minds on my team and gain as much knowledge as possible?

Bedlam isn't actually using telepathy, he can locate people by the unique EM signatures in their brains. He can't read thoughts, just track locations. But to answer your question, I could have Mystique just mindread and mindrape everyone at the start of the battle, since the only TP resistance you have is Scarecrow's Lantern ring (Even Hal Jordan was vulnerable to TP as a rookie, and that was an inexperienced Hector Hammond, who is nowhere near Phoenix levels, so this shouldn't stop Mystique), and Vertigo, who has never dealt with a telepath even close to Phoenix level, at least that I've been able to find out about. But that makes for a boring and pointless debate, so I wanted to stick with just Flag to make things more interesting.

As far as I know, any EMP attacks won't be disabling the Soul Sword and it's Armor, which should be able to withstand blows from the mystical Ebony Blade.

The Ebony Blade disrupts mystical energies and is immune to most enchantments, so I'm not sure that's accurate. If it is, though, Vanisher's Battle Computer can identify any weakpoints where the Blade will be able to cut. If somehow there are none, then he can use his TK and TP to distract Vertigo around long enough for Feral to use a Vulcan bullet. They go through Kryptonians, so they should go right through the Eldritch Armor.

This is the Ebony Blade that gains it's power from killing allies, correct?

I'm not remembering that as part of its powerset. This is the Ebony Blade that Dane Whitman, the Black Knight, uses. Black Panther had it at one point. It sometimes traps the souls of those it kills, but I'm not remembering anything about killing allies. Are you thinking of the Ebony Blade from Skyrim?

Bedlam will be needing precision strikes with his EMPs to hit my team. Is there any evidence of him using the EMP field while in close quarters and not disabling his teammates' gear in the process?

He can channel his field in a single direction, so Vanisher will 'port him in at the front of the group, like he is here:

Though it's been a while and I love Prometheus, I don't think the Neural Chaff has the range that Vertigo's Effect can. Could be wrong though. That's an awesome Prometheus scan. Did I mention how much I love that dude? :)

As far as I know, that's the only showing of Neural Chaff, so I wouldn't count on it having any greater range than is shown. However, Vanisher can simply teleport Feral in so that she's close enough to Vertigo to use it as soon as we materialize. We have the element of surprise, since you have no way of knowing we're teleporting in, and Feral has superhuman reflexes which are doubled by the Absolute Power serum, so she should be able to beat Vertigo on the draw.

And yes, Prometheus is a great character.

Also @diredrill: Can Bedlam use his powers to disrupt brain activity, or is that considered telepathy above the character limits?

When does voting start?

@dondave: Sometime on Monday. Although voting isn't public in this particular tournament.

@esquire: I was actually thinking of the one from Skyrim, hahaha. *facepalm* Interesting factoids about it though; essentially, if Feral does strike Vertigo's armor with the blade, we have two artifacts that counter mystical energy making contact with each other. Sort of a "divide-by-zero" thing going on there, I have no idea what would happen.

^Vertigo can deploy his Effect in a wide area while avoiding inhibiting any of his teammates with the resulting sickness. In the Squad series, he also uses it in a way that's more internalized and metahuman in nature, rather than device-inspired. If he's already throwing out a field of Vertigo Effect within the room when your team teleports in (if they find him and Scarecrow), they'll immediately feel the daze that accompanies the Effect, which will throw off their aim with all variety of attacks. And I don't see a reason why Vertigo wouldn't want his Effect activated at all times in a life or death situation where he's outnumbered.

Tele-blitzing is just going to be a hazardous situation while Vertigo is around. And I'm more than comfortable with Mystique getting into Werner's head. Like I said, the scan was meant to represent that he can become aware of the presence of another within his mind and then strike Mystique with a wave of the Effect, reducing her to a state where she'll have a hard time standing up, let alone telling her team where Vertigo is without vomiting uncontrollably.

Your team will already take up some precious time once they enter the prison to attack Bronze Tiger. He can hold the Black Light projector and shine it below him as he maintains flight at the top of the Prison area. It at least gives him a fighting chance to bide some time before a blinded Bedlam can deactivate the projector and Ben's Insider Suit. During this time, Ben may even be able to get an incapacitating strike in on a member of your team by striking a nerve, though that's not my priority during that phase of the fight.

@esquire: He can use his powers to disrupt brain chemistry.

An interesting point has been brought up here that I had not considered, namely the Soul Sword versus the Ebony Blade. I would say that for the purposes of debate that they cannot cut through one another.

I'll keep this open through tomorrow so get your posts in.

@mightyrearranger

^Vertigo can deploy his Effect in a wide area while avoiding inhibiting any of his teammates with the resulting sickness. In the Squad series, he also uses it in a way that's more internalized and metahuman in nature, rather than device-inspired. If he's already throwing out a field of Vertigo Effect within the room when your team teleports in (if they find him and Scarecrow), they'll immediately feel the daze that accompanies the Effect, which will throw off their aim with all variety of attacks. And I don't see a reason why Vertigo wouldn't want his Effect activated at all times in a life or death situation where he's outnumbered.

My team will have no trouble finding yours. Logan has enhanced senses, Bedlam can track the EM signatures of their brains, and Mystique and Vanisher can find you with TP. That won't be a problem. I hadn't considered Vertigo keeping his effect on, though. That makes things more interesting. Does he ever just walk around with it on in such a fashion? Most of his missions with the Squad would be life or death, and usually have him outnumbered. And in this battle, he won't know that the rest of his team is dead since he has no way of communicating with them. As far as he knows, everything is going according to plan. But assuming he does leave it on, my best option is Mystique and Vanisher using their psionics to take him down from beyond the range of his effect. Vertigo had to exert himself pretty hard to break out of Twister's illusion, judging by the strain on his face and in his speaking. The Phoenix 5 were astronomically more powerful than Twister could even dream of being, doing things like casually blocking Mjolnir hits from an angry Thor and scan the mind of Professor Xavier himself. With Vanisher adding telepathic power via Mento's helmet, I find it highly unlikely that Vertigo can fight his way free of their mental attacks. Another option is using Bedlam's brain messing ability. Since his powers have been multiplied several times in strength by the MGH serum and the Potis Atiare, his range will be much larger than usual. He can use his EMP control to make people feel pain or pass out, as seen in the following scans. With a massive amp, he will be able to do it more easily and effectively, and from a much greater range.

Gallery

Or Mystique could use her almost unlimited TK to BFR him into space, where he couldn't survive and would subsequently die, as per the OP.

Tele-blitzing is just going to be a hazardous situation while Vertigo is around. And I'm more than comfortable with Mystique getting into Werner's head. Like I said, the scan was meant to represent that he can become aware of the presence of another within his mind and then strike Mystique with a wave of the Effect, reducing her to a state where she'll have a hard time standing up, let alone telling her team where Vertigo is without vomiting uncontrollably.

But as I said above, Mystique's astronomical psionic power should let her simply shut down Vertigo's mind with such power that he can't resist, since he had to struggle to break free of a much weaker telepath. Add in Bedlam and Vanisher and his resistance should be rendered insufficient.

Your team will already take up some precious time once they enter the prison to attack Bronze Tiger.

Time is really no object here. There is no timed objective, the end goal is the termination of one's opponents. No time limits apply.

He can hold the Black Light projector and shine it below him as he maintains flight at the top of the Prison area. It at least gives him a fighting chance to bide some time before a blinded Bedlam can deactivate the projector and Ben's Insider Suit. During this time, Ben may even be able to get an incapacitating strike in on a member of your team by striking a nerve, though that's not my priority during that phase of the fight.

I don't really see this as an issue. Hugely amped Bedlam should have no trouble releasing a large blast that will encompass the ceiling, taking out the Insider and the Projector in one fell swoop. Thanks to mindreading, I should already know that Ben is up there, so I can have Bedlam blast upwards as soon as we teleport in. Or Wolverine could pinpoint Bronze Tiger with his other senses and pull him down using Rooster Talisman's TK. Or Mystique and Vanisher could pinpoint him with telepathy and take him out with TK, even BFRing him into space since the spacesuits will protect my team from any harmful effects of such a maneuver. And really, Feral is the only one who's at all vulnerable to pressure points. Bedlam and Vanisher have vibranium suits, Wolverine has a symbiote and a forcefield, Bastion and Danger are robots, and Mystique's fragment renders her incredibly durable. Ben shouldn't even delay my team for more than a few seconds, and if he does he won't be able to do any damage that Anti-Venom won't be able to heal with ease.

I am opening this up to votes.@jokergeist @thedarklordpandamonium @dredeuced

My vote goes to Esquire. Mightyrearranger didn't seem to have many counters to Esquire's TP and Telekinesis besides Vertigo's questionable level of power compared to the phoenix. Esquire also seemed to have used his lower and mid tier gear to effectively counter Mighty's.

Mighty handled himself well, but I think he more or less was defeated by team construction. This is something that can be easily picked up on and learned, but it was his major problem here -- he just didn't seem to have knowledge on how to try to counter Esquire's buys with his own. Some extra study on his gear both before the match and in the original team creation would do him wonders, as he handles himself well in the debate itself.

Vote goes to @esquire. It became apparent by the middle that esquire was just playing the good guy and giving mightrearranger chances; he deigned NOT to use the Phoenix Fragment's mind raep to basically insta-win, saying he wanted a good debate.

And the way the debate plays out mirrors that. Esquire has a numbers advantage, and the entire time mightyrearranger was just playing defensively after the first few opening salvos, trying to stay on his feet.

Aw, just got to work and missed the deadline, though I had little left to say haha. Esquire definitely has a great team and made excellent gear choices. :)

The telepathy is strong in this tournament, for sure.

@mightyrearranger: Telepathy is definitely something that should be considered when forming your team especially against Esquire as he loves to fight on multiple fronts.

Yeah, Nightshade would have been my safeguard against that sort of thing, since she's usually the Squad's teleporter and has much higher telepathy-resistance than Vertigo. Sadly, since her powers are mystical in origin, I knew early on that she wouldn't be allowed in the tournament; so I went with my Scarecrow idea instead. Definitely a learning experience and a good first tournament to be a part of.

As only 2 votes are really needed for a win here, I am going to call this.

@esquire is the winner. I would like to thank @mightyrearranger for competing and the judges for rendering a quick and apt judgement.

@diredrill: Thanks for organizing the tournament and including me!

And congrats @esquire; good luck in the next round and beyond, I'll be rootin' for ya.

@mightyrearranger: Thanks for a fun debate! I thought you did a great job. Hope to have more debates with you in the future!