Victor Creed aka Sabretooth is a vicious yet cunning mutant, whose lifespan can be traced back over 100 years. As a kid, he was chained up in the basement by his dad, who would tear out his "devil teeth" and treat him like an animal. Whether it was that or just a natural inclination, he became probably the meanest and deadliest killers on Marvel's Earth-616.
Powers & Abilities
Super Strength (lifting strength ~ 7 tons)
Incredible Speed
Enhanced Senses (sight, smell, hearing, etc.)
Accelerated Healing Factor
Tactical & Strategic Mind
Unbreakable claws, fangs, and bones (due to Adamantium for this fight)
Conclusion -- Why Sabretooth Will Win This Fight
There is no denying Deathstroke is one of the best strategist, mercenaries, and assassins DC has to offer. Sabretooth is in for a big fight. I hope to show how Sabretooth is not only a ferocious villain, but a strategic and cunning combatant. His superior strength, speed, healing factor, senses, and unbreakable Adamantium will prove to give Deathstroke major trouble in this random encounter fight. This fight depends on Sabretooth going for lethal strikes and keeping the distance between him and Slade minimal.
Alright so I'm sure many of you know who deathstroke is. I'll keep the background fairly short. Slade Wilson enlisted in the army at the age of 16, lying about his age to do so. He quickly distinguished himself in every area of guerrilla warfare including combat strategy, weapons use and unarmed combat. The army asked slade if he would volunteer for an experiment. The army lied to Wilson telling him the experiment was to help soldiers resist truth serum when in reality the army was attempting to create metasoldiers. The experiment was successful, giving Slade abilities far beyond any man. Wilson was discharged from the army after disobeying orders in order to save his friend William Wintergreen from capture. Slade then became the masked mercenary Deathstroke the Terminator. Deathstroke is widely regarded as the most dangerous assassin in the DC Universe and his intelligence, psychical capabilities and combat skill makes him a deadly foe.
Deathstroke's powers/Skills:
Enhanced mental abilities: Can process information and react 9 times faster than any human which allows him to react to attacks almost instantly and makes it extremely difficult to land a hit on him
Increased Cognitive Function: Slade uses 90% of his brain (regular humans use only 10%). His enhanced brain capacity makes Slade a strategical genius.
Super-strength: The experiment also hardened his muscular system allowing him to lift 2-3 tons
Healing Factor: Although no where near Sabertooth's level of healing, Slade is able to heal from otherwise fatal wounds which allow him to continue fighting
Enhanced Agility and Senses: Deathstroke's senses are also greatly enhanced. He is able to detect movements in the air and can dodge point blank gunfire.
Expert Combatant: Even before the experiment, Deathstroke was one of the U.S army's top soldiers, and he is extremely skilled in the use of both firearms and close range weapons. Deathstroke is also an expert in hand to hand combat, defeating Batman multiple times (although his improvements from the experiment were a big help).
Conclusion: Why Deathstroke will win this fight
In order to win this fight, Deathstroke must make full use of his strategical genius and enhanced reflexes. By keeping his distance and observing Sabertooth's fighting methods, Deathstroke should be able to adapt an effective combat style that will allow him to hold his own against such a dangerous foe. Slade's Nth metal armor as well as his variety of weapons should give him multiple ways to wear down Sabertooth until he makes a mistake. If Deathstroke fights smart and utilizes all the weapons available to him, he has a good chance of winning this fight.
Sabretooth in many obvious ways, is essentially a larger and physically stronger version of Wolverine. In fact, on panel, he has had the upper hand against Wolverine more times than Logan has had on him. Of course when you add plot devices, PIS, outside interference, and jobber aura, the victories appear to tilt in Logan's favor - especially in recent years where Wolverine has stomped Sabretooth multiple times. However, when you put all of that aside, Sabretooth has had more showings in his favor against Wolverine than not. One of the big differences between them is Sabretooth is almost always primal, calculated, and unraveled. These differences allow for Sabretooth to show off some major physical attributes that often get under-looked due to the fact he has earned a "jobber" status in recent years. However, when he is on his game and written fairly, he is far from a jobber.
To cite a couple sources on how big of a threat Sabretooth really is, in one narrative, it is clearly stated that Sabretooth is better than Wolverine in almost every way (from a physical and ferocity perspective):
In a fight against a simulation Sabretooth, Psylocke comment about how Sabretooth is far more dangerous than Wolverine. Even in a realitistic simulation, Psylocke resorts to using her telekinesis to BFR him:
The major and obvious offensive physical advantages Sabretooth hasover Slade in this fight are: strength (all kinds) & cutting/bitingpower. Allow me to explain.
Strength
Lifting/Throwing Strength
Sabretooth has a clear advantage over Slade in this department. Slade is no slouch when it comes to strength, especially with his Nth Metal giving his strength a slight amp. However, even with his Nth Metal amping Slade's strength, Sabretooth is still stronger than him.
Here are some examples proving that:
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In a fight with Ms. Marvel in the underground subway, Sabretooth tears off a bolted down steel beam and swings at Ms. Marvel. No surprise Ms. Marvel, a legit powerhouse, stops the beam in its tracks. Nevertheless this is an impressive strength feat for Sabretooth since that beam conservatively would weigh about 1,000lbs - yet Sabretooth tears it out of the ground and swings it like a bat. Our current battlefield would definitely allow for Victory to use objects in his surroundings as weapons.
A pure strength feat. Sabretooth holding up a large steel door open with one hand.
A few strength feats going on here. Sabretooth throws a car several feet and tears off the door. We can assume the car is around 2 tons. Right afterward, Sabretooth breaks through a concrete wall in a single swipe.
Sabretooth throwing Wolfsbane up several stories of a building with one hand. Wolfsbane was fully transitioned in her Lupine form when this feat happening, meaning her weight was at 1,000lbs.
Even with his armor on, Slade roughly weighs only 300lbs. Sabretooth should have no problem throwing him around and lifting him. Thankfully, Sabretooth is not a mindless brick, and can combine his other abilities (which will be covered later) with his superior lifting and throwing strength.
Brute Strength
I am categorizing "brute strength" as basically all strength feats outside of lifting/throwing strength and striking/offensive power (which I will get to next). This kind of strength basically displays the type of force and power is behind Victor's strength with his ability to break, snap, crumble, destroy various things that are quite durable. These feats do not include what he can destroy, snap, or break using his claws and teeth - which I will also get to later.
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1. Sabretooth bending and crushing a weightlifting barbell like a tin can.
2 - 4. Sabretooth is capable of pushing full bore through an energy shield designed by Forge to stop a full grown mad elephant charge. African elephants can pull 10 tons and even horses hit with 7 tons of force at a gallop. What this essentially proves is that a charging Sabretooth hits with more than 10 tons of force. Tied that with his healing factor and durability, it is going to take a lot from Slade to slow down a charging Sabretooth.
5. Sabretooth easily tearing out of Spider-Man's webbing. Spider-Man's webbing has been traditionally shown to be more durable than standard chains. Sabretooth broke out of it easily (one panel) despite being engulfed in it.
6. In an encounter with Polaris, she attempted to chain Sabretooth in restraints made from iron rich rocks and even uses her powers to further support the integrity of the restraints. Sabretooth breaks out of it easily.
7. Sabretooth casually crushing the skull of a loud-mouth mutant with one hand. Fodder? Sure but pretty impressive nonetheless.
Now that I have established Sabretooth superiority in strength, let's move on to his combat abilities.
Combat Skill
As mentioned earlier, there's no way to talk or think about Sabretooth without bringing up Wolverine at some point. They have arguably had the most bloody, personal, and epic rivalry in Marvel history. Let's take a look at what kind of combat skills Sabretooth brings to the table against Slade....
In Uncanny X-Men 212, Sabretooth got the drop on Rogue - a solid mid-tier powerhouse. He literally rag-dolled and knocked her out with absolute ease:
Creed's rampage did not end there. He later encountered Wolverine in their first fight ever.
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A few important things to take from this fight:
The admission (for the second time now) that Sabretooth is not only stronger than Wolverine, but faster.
The way Sabretooth, despite being outmatched in pure skill, can keep up with Wolverine blow for blow
The fact that Sabretooth technically won the fight, so Wolverine resorted to having his X-Men pals interfere.
Although Wolverine is a fast, bullet timing opponent, one may argue that due to his durability and healing factor, Wolverine has no need to dodge attacks from someone like Sabretooth. However, Sabretooth has had a long history of tagging characters with reflexes and reaction times on par or higher than Deathstroke's.
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1. In his classic days, a time where Sabretooth's abilities were not fleshed out by writers (pre Wolverine beef days), Sabretooth was more of an animal. Nevertheless, he was still quick enough to tag Spider-Man.
2 - 7. This the forth encounter Sabretooth has ever had with Iron Fist. In his previous fights, it was during the time where Sabretooth used zero skill and relied on just his primal behavior. In that time, the only thing that impressed Iron Fist was Sabretooth's speed and reflexes, but would end up beating Sabretooth rather easily. However, in this encounter Sabretooth began to finally show off his skill and reflexes. As you will see it is a brawl heavily in favor of Sabretooth. This fight ultimately ends with Iron Fist resorting to using chi punch, which was so powerful it blew up the tunnel they were fighting in. A couple panels later it shows Sabretooth resuscitated. Nonetheless, a great skill feat that shows Sabretooth's ability to go toe to toe with Deathstroke in straight combat if he uses his other abilities properly as well.
Deathstroke's Big Dilemma
So far I have yet to drive home the reminder that Sabretooth is packing Adamantium in this fight. This ups his durability and his cutting power dramatically.
Deathstroke is toting his Nth metal armor in this fight, which I feel it will be a determinant to him more than an advantage for 2 reasons:
Deathstroke wearing his Nth metal means he will rely less on skill and more on being a "tank." He understands his healing, strength, and durability are boosted while wearing the Nth metal armor. During his tenure wearing the Nth metal armor, Deathstroke had no problem tanking explosions and going for head on fist fights with powerhouses far above his strength level such as Lobo & Hawkman because he knew the Nth metal would keep him safe.
You might ask why is 1st point is relevant? Well, it's simple. Deathstroke's Nth metal armor can be cut. It is not completely comprised of Nth metal. Although it has not been fully explained, my guess much of the "blue" colored regions on his armor are not fully protected. Here is why I say that:
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Deathstroke in his Nth metal armor being stabbed in the mid-section with a standard katana.
Deathstroke in his Nth metal armor again being stabbed just under his chest with a standard katana
Deathstroke in his Nth metal armor being cut/sliced by throwing knives on his arms and his neck.
Deathstroke in his Nth meta armor being shot in his mid-section with a standard gun.
Deathstroke using his forearms and shoulder pads to block gun fire, but later maneuvers behind a car to protect himself from further gunfire. This is actually a downgrade from his Pre-New 52 armor which was completely bulletproof from high-powered gunfire, as shown here multiple times:
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What does all this mean? It means nth metal armor Deathstroke will be getting cut up and sliced badly by Sabretooth, who is sporting adamantium claws - a metal much more durable than anything that has already been prove to pierce or cut him. This also comes from the fact it is being delivered by a competent individual who is much stronger and faster (we will get to that later) than Deathstroke. Although Deathstroke is slightly more skilled than Sabretooth, I believe that sporting his Nth metal armor has shown to for the most party to nerf his reasoning to use his pure skill in combat over his physical stats/enhancements, and besides, Sabretooth's superior strength, speed, healing, durability, and his adamantium will make up for any slight skill advantage Slade holds on Creed.
Psychical Abilities: Although Deathstroke does not posses a healing factor as potent as Sabretooth, he still has abilities that put him far above many other meta humans in the DC universe. These abilities have allowed him to engage entire teams of enhanced heroes and come out on top.
Strength
Deathstroke carrying a cable into the water that took 100 people to lift. Notice he is running with it and showing no signs of struggling with the weight.
Easily throwing a man what appears to be a considerable distance using only one arm.
Breaking out of being chained.
Kicking down a reinforced steel door without much trouble.
Rips off an airplane door while at high altitude.
Now Deathstroke is not stronger than Sabretooth, that is fairly clear. But Slade does possess the strength to allow him to deal significant damage and stand toe to toe with Sabretooth. The scans above should prove that Slade is far above peak human and his strength is very impressive. Since Slade has the Nth metal armor, his strength will be significantly increased as well.
Agility
Here Slade uses his amazing agility to run from Superman. Notice his impressive vertical leap and acrobatic skill swinging from the light post.
Displaying his agility after escaping from prison.
Deathstroke's agility will allow him to dodge Sabretooth's attacks and keep his distance until he forms a plan.
Healing Factor
Defeats Roy Harper after being shot in the chest with an arrow. Slade's healing factor allows him to continue to push himself even after suffering a wound that would kill other men.
Slade is shot with a plasma rifle, and is "dead" for 25 minuets before awakening. His healing factor was powerful enough to revive him.
His healing factor allows him to recover from from a attack on his brain designed to kill him.
Deathstroke is shot in the head, and recovers in a few hours.
Deathstroke's healing factor will allow him to stay in the fight even if he sustains a normally fatal wound. The longer Slade lasts, the more he learns about his opponent, so his healing factor will be a key factor in this fight.
Skill/Combat Abilities/Marksmanship
Ruthlessness/Efficiency
Slade kills 38 men in two minuets. These weren't ordinary guys either. They were trained soldiers who wouldn't hesitate to kill. Slade has the skill in speed to eliminate them in 2 minuets, displaying his abilitiy to quickly eliminate targets.
Deathstroke quickly escapes prison, despite having his hands and feet cuffed. He escapes before any other guards realize what has happened.
Deathstroke is able to hit all his targets while firing backwards.
Martial Arts/Fighting Abilities
Defeats Nightwing with little effort.
Single handedly takes on multiple members of the Justice League before being overwhelmed. Deathstroke displays his speed, skill and strength taking on multiple skilled opponents at once.
Takes on Teen Titans and deals with them all with relative ease.
Takes down Batman in a long and brutal fight.
If Deathstroke fights smart, he should be able to take advantage of Sabretooth's more animalistic/brawler fighting style. Slade's agility, tactical genius (I'll cover this later) and martial arts skill along with his enhanced durability should allow Deathstroke a good chance to come out on top in this fight.
Here Slade uses his amazing agility to run from Superman. Notice his impressive vertical leap and acrobatic skill swinging from the light post.
I find only the second half of this feat as legitimate. There is no doubt in mind that Slade is agile, however, to say he's agile enough to out maneuver the likes of Superman is a bit of a stretch. Nobody on Deathstroke's level should ever stand a chance at out running or out maneuvering someone who reacts and moves as quick as Superman. In other words, mild PIS.
Let's move onto the next
Impressive. But this is an agility/speed feat that Sabretooth can easily outmatch. Remember Sabretooth is faster than Wolverine, and Wolverine can move faster than the human eye can follow.
Here is a similar example of Sabretooth clearing several buildings to catch a falling Mystique then immediately evade a blitzing, morals off Rogue:
Not that he really needs to dodge Slade's gunfire, but he can if he wants to. Here he blitzes Punisher, who has a trigger finger on par and at times better than Slade's, before Punisher can even react. Keep in mind Punisher has shot at bullet timers like Daken, Spider-Man, X-23, Daredevil, & Wolverine on a fairly consistent basis.
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Yes, Slade is pretty agile but Sabreooth, when he is on his game is even more agile and can easily tag highly agile street levelers - like Spider-Man and avoid gunfire from Punisher.
Deathstroke's healing is decent, but compared to Sabretooth's, it is quite elementary. Sabetooth's healing and endurance is going to keep him going and going in this fight until he rips Slade apart.
Sabretooth's healing factor has marveled even the likes of the High Evolutionary and his scientists in a recent encounter inside the pages of Uncanny Avengers:
From left to right (1 to 3)
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One of High Evolutionary's elite is torturing a captured Sabretooth for hours with his axe, that can damage someone on the cellular level. Despite this, Sabretooth does not break and rat out his friends.
Impressed by hearing this, the High Evolutionary rips out all of Sabretooth's veins and arteries through his mouth!
Upon examination, High Evolutionary proclaims Sabretooth's tracking ability and healing factor as the most remarkable he has ever seen. This is a huge statement coming from one of Marvel's greatest scientists and the premiere expert of evolution. Oh and not to mention, Sabretooth does not die from having this done to him!
Sabretooth's most impressive healing and endurance feat comes from his encounter soon after this, against the evil hybrid clone of Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch, a new villain by the name of Luminous. She essentially has the powers of both Quicksilver & Wanda combined, without any of the morals. Let's take a look at what happened:
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Sabretooth bum-rushes and hits Luminous. This is impressive in particular since prior to this issue (Uncanny Avengers 3) Luminous stomped both Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch at the same time, so the fact Sabretooth was able to pull of an attack from behind is quite impressive.
Luminous retaliates by blasting Sabretooth than performing a spell that rots away his brain and ages him 10,000 years instantly!
Despite this happening to Sabretooth, it does not slow him down. He gets right back up and begins tearing apart High Evolutionary's synthetic Avengers.
In all honestly, I just do not see Deathstroke getting past Sabretooth's endurance & healing factor without prep, PIS, or weapons that specialize in neutralizing such advantages. It will take much more than swords, grenades, bullets, & punches to put Sabretooth down for the count.
Slicing + Dicing
Near the end of my last post, I showed how Deathstroke, despite having Nth metal armor, can definitely but sliced and punctured. The examples show are standard metals penetrating and slicing at Nth metal armored Deathstroke. I am not saying that Nth metal itself is being penetrated so easily, it is likely happening because areas not directly covered in Nth metal were hit. Nevertheless, the fact remains Sabretooth's Adamantium claws are far more durable than any metal that has been proven to puncture or slice nth metal Slade.
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Bone Claws: Easily decapitates a giant mantis foe.
Bone Claws: Cuts into Constrictor's armor and claims before being interrupted that a second slash would have killed him. This is impressive since Constrictor's armor was taking chi-charged Iron Fist punches prior to this.
Bone Claws: Sabretooth's claws cut into and hurt Killpower, a villain who has traded blows with the Hulk.
Bone Claws: Rips out a man's brain with ease.
Adamantium Claws: Showing off his adamantium for the first time, Sabretooth reacts to bone claw Wolverine's strike, then breaks his claws with ease. This is impressive for 2 reasons: 1) It shows that despite having at least 100lbs of Adamantium added to his skeletal structure, Sabretooth is still more than fast enough to react to the very quick bone claw Wolverie. 2) Sabretooth's new claws and strength easily snap Wolverine's bone claws, which have been strong enough to cut steel doors and pierce the hide of very durable characters like Grey Hulk.
Adamantium Teeth: Sabretooth's adamantium laced teeth easily puncture and cutting the hide of Wendigo, a character who regularly trades blows with 70 - 100 tonners.
Adamantium Claws: Sabrtooth rips into Agent Zero's armor with a single blow, killing him.
Sabretooth's cutting and fighting style will be the key ingredient to my final "battle strategy" on how to end this fight with Slade, so I will save that for later.
Conclusion & What's To Come in Round 3:
In conclusion, Slade has no real way to slow Sabretooth down enough to pick up a win. Sabretooth heals faster and moves faster, his cutting devices in this battle will cut through practically anything. Slade will essentially have to not only worry but trying to put down a calculated savage like Sabretooth, but also heal simultaneously.
Yes, Slade is agile. He will likely dodges a few blows but not most of them. Sabretooth has tagged the likes of Bone Claw Wolverine, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, & other bullet timers who are even quicker and more agile than Slade. Slade will be multi-tasking a lot in this battle, which will come to his ultimately come to his detriment as he finds out much of what he is putting out offensively is not doing much.
What's to come next? Durability, more strangth, & intelligence.
@batman1130 Sorry for the delay! Between a wedding, vacation and laptop crashing I was tied up. You're up!
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