Here's why The Guardians absolutely destroy X-Factor. This is a no contest in my honest opinion. Several of the Guardians could solo all of X-Factor without even breaking a sweat.
X-Factor is full of a bunch of Street Level characters to just above Street Level. Sure, they pack a little extra in healing factors and probability manipulation. They can stomp most of Earth based street level teams with ease. They aren't taking on Earth based heroes in this though. The Guardians are characters that were busy saving the universe every day while the Earth based heroes were in the middle of a "Civil War" over a law that was, in the grand scheme of things, very insignificant.
Take Tony Stark for example. Tony Stark joined the Guardians, because he wanted to see what more was out there. Tony Stark has arguably the best tech on Earth. Tony Stark has admitted that he is at least a generation behind what the rest of the universe has to offer in tech. The Guardians have some of the best tech in their weaponry, which puts them even further ahead of even the Iron Man Armors. Rocket Raccoon repeatedly embarrassed Tony and made fun of how primitive the Iron Man armor was in comparison to even the simplest of what Rocket could do with his weaponry, which brings me to Rocket Raccoon.
Rocket Raccoon could blow the entire team away with one shot. There is no debating that. Going back to DnA's great run that established the Guardians, they spent a lot of time trying to keep the Cancerverse from overtaking the 616 universe. In one such occasion, they were battling the Universal Church of Truth. The UCT was trying to bring the Cancerverse into the universe to help resurrect their savior (Thanos). Anyways, they brought a massive Cancerverse creature through the portal. Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vel tried to push the creature back through the portal. Their combined powers were too weak to perform the task. That's why the Guardians have a genius strategist/weapons specialist in Rocket Raccoon. Rocket's grenade packed enough punch to hurt the creature and push it back through the portal. His grenade packed more punch then the combined power of Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vel, who are high tier cosmic level beings.
Staying on Rocket, he is also a master strategist. He was engineered on halfworld to have a genius intelligence for strategy and tactics by the humans who left him to protect the loonies. He also trained to become the sole protector of the loonies on halfworld, which is why he is so dangerous today. Starlord has traveled the entire universe. He has encountered people like Captain America, Tony Stark, Reed Richards, and even Thanos. Starlord has claimed that Rocket Raccoon has the best tactical mind out of everyone he has ever met in the entire universe.
Rocket was the brains behind dropping the babel spire when Ultron and the Phalanx conquered Hala, the homeworld of the Kree. Rocket came up with a plan to have Groot and Mantis take out all of the forces within the babel spire. This is a good time to talk about how easily Groot could destroy X-factor with ease by explaining his powers.
To topple the Babel spire, Groot rooted himself in the structure of the tower. Groot grew so he was as large as the Babel Spire. That's how big he can get when he wants too. That's the Empire State Building size, if not bigger. Groot also gained the ability from Mantis through her pyrokinesis to let Groot manipulate his sap at a molecular level so he can become flammable at will. In case you didn't know, Groot is fireproof, which is one of the first powers he demonstrated way back when he was a villain and has demonstrated recently in his mini-series with Rocket Raccoon. Anyways, Groot burnt down the entire babel spire, and regrew himself from a sprig. This was the decisive move that toppled Ultron.
Groot's size manipulation through growth give him an excellent healing factor. I would argue it is much faster then both Wolverine and X-23's. It is getting better by the day too. If you have been a long time Guardians fan like myself, then you would know that Groot used to be able to talk normally. Now he is only able to say, "I am Groot!". That's not because of him being dumb like most people think. It's because his species wood grows more and more durable as they age. Groot is actually a genius at Reed Richard levels. Maximus explained this to the Guardians, and this was later proven when Rocket traveled to Planet X. Anyways, Groot has become so durable that he has tanked shots from Thanos on two separate occasions and has been left without any damage. Even if Groot is damaged, he can instantly regrow his damaged limbs.
Groot's age has also given him immense strength. I would put his strength quite a bit above a base line savage Hulk. There is plenty of proof to back this up too. Groot has hit Thanos with enough force to make his body fold in half from pain. Groot, more recently was the member picked between both the Avengers and Guardians to put the beat down on Thanos. This roster included the Hulk. Groot puts a pretty impressive beating on the Mad Titan that Hulk has never been able to do to the same effect. Another of Groot's strength feats is killing the Monster of Badoon. The Monster of Badoon has fought the Thing, and beat Grimm in their fight. Groot, however not only beats the Monster of Badoon, he hits him so hard it knocks his head clean off. The Thing is well above a 100 tonner, and Groot hit with strength much higher then the Thing ever could.
Groot could also use his Dendrokinesis for a very easy win. Groot has the power to absorb, and control anything made of wood. He has the power to build a net of trees that is strong enough to carry a village through space, without killing the people in the village from the effects of space, and all the way to his home planet on Planet X. Groot can turn any piece of wood on the battlefield into a living weapon. Groot can also drop sheds of himself, that are basically small dupes of himself. He can create an army of mini-Groots to fight for him. This is one of the reasons why Groot is arguably immortal also. In Groot's current age, he has the power to instantly change his size at will. He can grow from a sprig, to a ten story giant in the matter of seconds. If Groot is destroyed, one of his sheds can grow and get back in the fight.
Another member of the Guardians with a healing factor that is even better then Wolverine and X-23's when combined with her natural durability is Gamora. Gamora has survived the burning of the sun and healed from it. She has intentionally submerged herself in burning lava and acid so she could kill her opponent by dragging him with her. She came out of the lava and acid with absolutely zero damage to her body.
Gamora is more then just a healer though. She was trained by Thanos to master more martial arts styles then even Batman. Batman may have mastered every fighting style on Earth, but he is limited to Earth based fighting styles (unless I'm mistaken and Batman knows some Alien styles too). Gamora has earned her title as the deadliest women in the galaxy. She has fought Ronan the Accuser to a stalemate. Ronan the Accuser has stopped characters as strong as Black Bolt in his tracks and has absorbed Black Bolts power with no damage, but he still had trouble with Gamora. Gamora could easily destroy all of X-factor on her own with her enhanced physicals, healing factor, and far superior skills (sorry Wolverine).
The other mean and green member of the Guardians is Drax. While he is not quite what he used to be as a cosmic level threat, he still is more then enough to dominate X-Factor level characters. Drax is easily a 50 tonner, and is said to have a healing factor. To be honest, I don't know if he has a healing factor, because he has never taken any damage. Drax has gone up against an entire army of Annihilus forces when he was abandoned on a planet overrun with the opposing army. Drax was able to fight his way through an entire horde of the Annihilation Wave before making his way to Annihilus ship, where he kills Thanos.
Last but not least on the Guardians is Starlord. Starlord, while not without his own share of impressive feats, is not always the one dealing the huge blows like the rest of his team can. Starlord instead uses his expert leadership to put his team in the right place to win. Included in Starlord's victories by leadership and/or strategy include, the Annihilation Wave, the Phalanx Conquest, and Thanos outwitted on three separate occasions. Starlord always looks like he is flying by the seat of his pants, but he excels at this. He also always has a hidden agenda unknown to anyone but himself. He keeps himself three steps ahead of even the genius that is Thanos at all times. He's proven this time and time again. Batman better watch out, because Starlord is moving in on the title of Prep-Master. If three wins over Thanos because of prep doesn't earn him that title, it definitely puts him as a pretty close contender.
So one of the best leaders in the universe is taking a squad of characters that tackle cosmic level Universe ending threats on a monthly basis to take on a team of Earth based characters that are just above street level at best? Ya, I'll take the Guardians in a 10/10 no contest win here.
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