Comic Vine Battle of the Week: Guardians of the Galaxy vs. X-Force

It's time for another team fight, Viners. This week, we have one of the incarnations of X-Force taking on the latest version of the Guardians of the Galaxy (well, minus Angela and Iron Man). Both are highly formidable teams and obviously bringing very different advantages to the table. Are you going to side with the raw might of The Guardians of the Galaxy or the deadly efficient X-Force? Even if you have a clear winner in mind, the objective here is just to have fun thinking about the fight and let it play out in your head. Get that creativity flowing -- we aim to amuse you, Viners.

We know not everyone will be knowledgeable on both rosters, so please keep in mind you have ALL WEEK to vote. Seriously, the poll is open until Friday morning (ET), so there's no need to vote right away if you're not totally sure on who you should side with. Go ahead and conduct your own research or head to the poll thread (link provided below) and read the arguments that'll be made for both sides (or at least we hope both sides get some love). If you do know both sides well enough, feel free to jump into the poll thread right now and let us know who you think should win and why. Impress us enough and you just may earn the Viner Argument of the Week spot in Friday's update (post must be free of scans). You can't put that accomplishment on your resume, but it's still a pretty damn satisfying award.

Comic Vine Battle of the Week Rules

• Combatants are in character.
• Characters have standard gear.
• This is a random encounter.
• In case the picture didn't make it clear enough, below is the roster for both sides.
• X-Force: Wolverine, X-23, Warpath, Archangel, Domino
• GotG: Peter Quill, Rocket Raccoon, Gamora, Drax, Groot
• Knockout, incapacitation, or death all count as elimination. Making a tactical retreat counts as a loss, too.
• They're fighting in a generic downtown city setting. It's unpopulated, at night and all standard city lights remain on. They start roughly 20 feet apart and visible. There's a lot of cover between them (a variety of idle vehicles, bus stops, dumpster bins, benches, etc.). The entire city region is on limits (rooftops, inside buildings, alleyways, sewers, etc.).
• It's not mandatory, but if you take time to vote, elaborating as well would be extra awesome. Keep things informative and your post could be the next Viner Argument of the Week!

Click the following link to cast your vote. Again, it would be extra cool if you could get your elaboration on as well. If you vote for a side, be sure to tell us why! Oh, and do try to remember this is just a conversation about fictional characters fighting, so keep things informative and not personal.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!

Viners, you have the week to research, debate and vote! This means there's no reason to vote right away if you don't have all of the info you need to make an educated decision. Check the homepage Friday for an updated article with the following:

• Thoughts from the CV staff.
• A Viner Argument in favor of the poll's winner (can't include scans and must be in the poll thread).
• If we're lucky, blurbs from industry talent.

Feel free to make future match suggestions in the comments below or via Gregg's Twitter page.

Guardians take this, no contest. Drax or Gamora alone could probably take X-Force.

Also, ROCKET RACCOON!!!!

Interesting pairing, curious to see who takes the win here.

I'll abstain from voting until I hear more arguments. Leaning towards Guardians right now though.

Does anyone have feats for Archangel? Celestial tech is no joke.

Going off of Bendis' take on the Guardians and Yost's X-Force, I have to pick X-Force here. While the Guardians are no slouches when it comes to a fight and they have some real heavy hitters, the resilience of this particular make up of the team is what I think really gives them the edge here. Mary Sue Wolverine aside, the rest of the team has proven time and again their ability to fight through the pain and get the job done. Throw in some adamantium, vibranium, luck, and a damned agile flyer and you have a team that can manage most of the advantages that the Guardians have.

The way I see it, the battle really comes down to leadership. Quill is good but he doesn't fully command the respect of his team which is fairly unmanageable. Wolverine has the respect of his team and where he goes, they follow. While it will be a close battle and Groot will surely survive as a splinter somewhere, X-Force takes this fight though it will be damn close.

Drax is only list as a 50 tonner while Proudstar(Warpath) is listed as a 90 tonner with enough durability to tank shots from Juggernaut without being injured. I thinkn the combination of Gamora and Drax could be troublesome for X force. Domino "BS" ability giver the edge over RR and Starlord. I'd have to with X force. Put Wolvie on Drax, Warpath on Gamora(X-23 will be helping out shortly after dismantling Groot), X-23 can use Groot as scratching a post. RR and Archangel can battle it out in the skies assuming rocket raccoon is using his rocket skates and Domino will out luck Starlord.

Are you high? Groot could either expand branches throughout her entire body or just hail mary toss her a couple miles away. People are seriously underestimating the power of a talking tree. (Well.. I suppose you would)..

I hope you realize Warpath wasn't/isn't at that level of power in the X-Force...

Can't Groot grow into the size of King Kong and one shot the X Team?

@godtriggerhulk

Archangel is well on his way to becoming Apocalypse with this version of X-Force. He alone could be the deciding factor.

Apocalypse Archangel tanked a blast from Holocaust (Genocide) when he had his helmet removed. A blast from Holo also nuked an entire town and one shot Wolverine who has insane durability. He was also stabbed and mentally assaulted by members of X-Force with no real effect.

Gamora is the single best fighter here, but Angel defeated both Wolverine and AoA Sabretooth in single combat, and that is no laughable feat. He reacted quick enough to defeat AoA Nightcrawler before he could behead him.

And his single largest feat is he defeated Jean Grey (PIS with Phoenix not fighting aside, it's still Jean freakin Grey)

I think Archangel alone could be more than the team could handle. The argument can be made "but that's Remender's Uncanny X-Force Archangel" and you'd be right, all those feats did come from a separate run. It was never specified that he received a power boost. He was already amped with the Death Seed.

The only difference between that run and Yost's run is Warren was still in control.

"Oh, and do try to remember this is just a conversation about fictional characters fighting, so keep things informative and not personal."

No she isn't. Wolverine is more skilled than her.

I apologize for the are you high part. All I meant by the last part was that, people would underestimate a talking tree. Wasn't taking a dig at him. My bad!

S'okay. Just try to stick to the facts instead of mudslinging, no matter how much you disagree with someone. Throwing in jabs only makes the post seem less credible (to me, at least).

Much like the debate between Batman and Wolverine, she has consistently shown greater skill. Yes, we all know Wolverine is a lvl 7 fighter. We know he beat up on Cap. We all the the danger room simulation and the Olympic lvl routine argument. But seriously, 9 times out of 10 he fights like an idiot unless the story requires him to use his ability.

Here we go again...

@doombert: No. Looking at Wolverine's consistent history, he has usually consistently brought out the skill against relatively skilled fighters. Look at his fights against Captain America, Iron Fist, Daken, Shang Chi, Winter Soldier, Mister X, etc. Just because Wolverine doesn't drop taekwondo kicks in every situation he runs into does not take away from his massive technical knowledge. Wolverine is definitely holding more pure skill than Gamora.

Not voted yet. But Based on what I know so far, Guardians take it via Groot, Drax, and Gamorra.
But I'm open to being swayed.

ya I think Gamora mixed with Drax would be the tipping point plus with Groot shouting "I am Groot" over and over again it might annoy X-Force enough to get them off their game lol

This.

In no way, shape or form has Gamora shown skill feats even remotely in Wolverine's realm. Sorry. I've had this debate plenty of times on the Vine over the years. Am well versed on arguments on both ends of the equation and know, preemptively, there is nothing you can show to prove Gamora is the more skilled of the two.

Consequently, Batman also stands head and shoulders above Gamora in the demonstrable skill department.

@super_soldierxii: I got to give you credit for calling the "Gamora is more skilled than Wolverine." arguments man :)

I already stated he defeated Cap, origins and IMO AvX. I concur.

He spar'd with Iron Fist. He didnt fight him. No real winner was determined.

Daken humiliated Wolverine earlier in his career. It's not that they had Wolverine get so much better, they dumbed down Daken.

Shang Chi in my eyes is legit. No qualms here.

Winter Soldier. Bucky had him beat until he regressed, went feral, bit the shit out of him and used is above human strength to break his handcuffs. Skill had nothing to do with his victory here.

Mister X. Again, James didnt defeat Mister X by skill, he defeated him by going feral. Mister X couldn't read his mind and was set at a disadvantage. When Mister X prepared for another fight with Wolverine by fighting feral animals Logan refused to fight him.

I'm going with the Guardians of the Galaxy on this one.

@doombert:

He spar'd with Iron Fist. He didnt fight him. No real winner was determined.

I do not particularly understand the group that says that match isn't legit because it was a sparring match. Nobody tries to purposely lose a sparring match. Iron Fist lost there. Plain and simple.

Daken humiliated Wolverine earlier in his career. It's not that they had Wolverine get so much better, they dumbed down Daken

This is a bunch of hogwash. Daken was never better than his pappy. He was able to beat Wolverine the first time due to his father's mixed feelings about fighting him. James essentially lost that fight before it even started due to mentality. Wolverine came back a second time after a refresher course from Silver Samurai and handily beat Daken and ripped his claws out all while holding back. The third and final time they went at it, Wolverine had been pushed to the end of his rope by Daken and came at him bloodlusted and ended up curbstomping and drowining him. Daken even got scared by the demeanor of his father. Daken was never dumbed down, he simply never was in his dad's league.

Winter Soldier. Bucky had him beat until he regressed, went feral, bit the shit out of him and used is above human strength to break his handcuffs. Skill had nothing to do with his victory here.

He beat Bucky silly while handcuffed. Of course there was skill involved.

Mister X. Again, James didnt defeat Mister X by skill, he defeated him by going feral. Mister X couldn't read his mind and was set at a disadvantage. When Mister X prepared for another fight with Wolverine by fighting feral animals Logan refused to fight him.

Oh boy, Wolverine can still use skill when in a feral state. He did so to Ogun and outskilled him. Wolverine went feral so X couldn't even read his mind, and when the battle came down to a pure skill contest, James wrecked X.

I wasn't even trying to prove that James was more skilled than Gamora by noting feats. I was just noting how he has used the skill against skilled fighters. But if I need to, I can note his wins over fighters like Silver Samurai, Deadpool, curbstomps of Sabretooth, etc. What's Gamora got?

Wolverine beats her in marital knowledge, technical knowledge, and in skill feats.

well you are using the x-force them that kills and have several members with enhanced healing so....x-force. good luck guardians

Also, I'm at work currently, so my responses are going to be a bit untimely.

I do not have enough knowledge on Gamora to dispute your claims that Logan is better than her. I admit that. I'm going off what I read on wiki and what I've seen in viner arguments, I do however have enough knowledge on Wolverine to dispute your examples on his abilities. Most of his great showings are plot driven, or use the advantage of his other abilities to give him the edge.

His origins fight with Silver Samurai is a great example. It has this fantastic build up, I really wanted to see this great fight...but it boiled down to him getting stabbed through the gut and cut off SS's hand. Is that skill or use of his superhuman abilities that won that fight?

I will also bring up my original post was just showcasing some of Archangels feats. As I recently stated I don't have the knowledge on Gamora to make a great argument, nor was it ever my intention of doing so.

I'm going with X-Force on this one. I think they have a better functioning team with more cooperation and a better leader than The Guardians.

Then why did you say that she is better than her when you are working with general, little information? Most of Wolverine's skill feats are not "plot driven". That's just you putting your own interpretations around things to lowball. Wolverine blatantly said that the sword fight between him and Harada had gotten to a stalemate right before dismembered him. Is that not skill? And that isn't even the only time James has dropped Harada. He beat him up in Uncanny X-Men #173. Wolverine is definitely more skilled than Gamora and I haven't even touched on his mastery of martial arts and technical knowledge which blow Gamora's out.

Fun! I'm going to have to think about this. I'm not sure what some of their current power levels are, esp. Archangel.

You accuse me of using my own interpretations but I will just swing it back at you. It's my interpretation of the fight that he got stabbed through the chest to win. I don't see how you interpret that differently.

You interpret Logan defeating Bucky by biting him and kicking him once. Never mind he was pinned with a dagger to his throat right before hand. Never mind that Logan used is strength to break his handcuffs...and nothing else happened. Bucky was clearly defeated by a bite and a kick. A very skillful bite and kick. Never mind all that.

Never mind the fact that going feral means going animalistic. Never mind the fact that it means he is thinking on a very primitive level. Never mind the fact that when he does he always uses his durability to get in close and hack and slash away. Never mind all that. It's his skill that wins. The beast won out over the man. Ask Ogun. Wolverine even knows the "man" didn't defeat him. This is truly you interpreting things in your own way.

Never mind the fact that Daken's fighting ability went to shit around Franken-Castle time. Never mind the fact that he just mysteriously stopped using his vanish trick. Never mind that during his Uncanny X-Force fight that Daken would have had that fight won if it wasn't for Logans healing factor. It was his skill that did it. Forget the fact half his face was carved off. It was his skill.

Never mind the fact that during the sparring match both combatants said they weren't going full at each other with full effort. This is obviously the same thing that would happen in a real fight, both not going full blown.

@godtriggerhulk: that's true, bring that up in more arguments

this is going to be good can't wait to see who takes this

Going with x-force every member is a monstrous efficient stealth character, wolverine could probably take Drax. Wolverine stated he knew the pressure point physiology of almost every alien being which would be effective against Drax. Angel has Celestial Tech in his armor and wings which is no joke and Warpaths strength and durability could take groot and I think x-23 could hang in their with Gamora, at least until the other are done and domino can snipe peter and rocket

This battle is not even close. Rocket Raccoon solos with ease. Groot solos even easier. He's a tree that can trade blows with Thanos. lol.

Here's a valid argument.

:D

I think Guardians have this locked down alright.

@thelaughingfish said:

Here's a valid argument.

:D

I think Guardians have this locked down alright.

Thank you.

When I was reading this I thought to myself, "Didnt Drax fist his way through Thanos' chest?"

I think GoTG stomp this fight.

Archangel lost to Hawkeye in AvX. The only problem I see with a match up is Domino. Quill has the computer implants. Gamora is an intergalactic kungfu fighter and though it wouldnt be used here, Groot is on genius level per the Inhuman Royal family.

@micah: you do know GoTG are designed to put up a fight against Thanos? They have taken on Magus, the Shiar Imperial Guard and Inhuman Royal Family (minus Blackbolt) at the same time. The GoTG fought against the Badoon that gave Kang trouble and whipped up on the entire Celestial Race.

Gallery

I dont think the Celestial tech card is going to work much against the GoTG

drax and groot arre two brutes, but xforce are just savge... xforce

@boschepg said:

@thelaughingfish said:

Here's a valid argument.

:D

I think Guardians have this locked down alright.

Thank you.

When I was reading this I thought to myself, "Didnt Drax fist his way through Thanos' chest?"

I think GoTG stomp this fight.

Archangel lost to Hawkeye in AvX. The only problem I see with a match up is Domino. Quill has the computer implants. Gamora is an intergalactic kungfu fighter and though it wouldnt be used here, Groot is on genius level per the Inhuman Royal family.

Just being near Thanos made Drax more powerful, it not something he can replicate against anyone.

@boschepg: X- Force was designed to take on the most dangerous threats to mutant kind and have fought: Seline, Apocalypse, various Super-Skrulls, Nimrod Sentinels from the future, Stryfe, The Thunderbolts and The Brotherhood: Thier not easy prey even for the gotg

@dondave: so are you voting for GotG or X Force?

@boschepg: GotG

Dondave exists to stamp out out-of-context and untrue character statements, he is the devil's advocate!

@granitesoldier: I may have to start a GoTG respect thread, lol

@dondave: Psych is epic, I appreciate the fist bump of awesome.