Malcolm Merlyn runs the SHIELD Gauntlet

Not to me. I haven't seen Merlyn do anything that puts him miles above Black Widow in hand-to-hand, regardless of how flashy her fighting style was. I think that Hawkeye beats Merlyn in a bow and arrow shoot-out, due to far better archery feats, but Merlyn beats Hawkeye in hand-to-hand, due to far better hand-to-hand feats, and i think that Black Widow is more likely to win a shoot out with Merlyn because she has guns, and she can definitely dodge arrows, but their hand-to-hand fight could go either way. Also, i repeat:

I think it ultimately depends on who gets the drop on who. I never said i was positive that Black Widow would beat Merlyn in hand-to-hand, but i do think that she has the best, and only real, chance of beating Merlyn in a fist fight.

in h2h hes not getting passed melinda mae.

@silverrings said:

I just listed it for you. Beat Oliver 2/3 and stomped Diggle. Diggle and especially Ollie>>>>>>>>Fodder and a Featless Hawkeye. I'm really not sure how that's insufficient. It's all the proof you need. Oliver would beat Natasha too, and eve Diggle would give her a fight.

Only with her gadgets and/or against a fatigued Merlyn. Without either of those variables she loses just as soundly as Ward and May do, who are frankly from what I've gathered pretty close to Natasha in H2H skill.

@nerdchore said:

Was she that good?

@shroudofsorrow I do appreciate what you've said. Black Widow seemed more physically capable than Merlyn, generally, despite the flourishes, specifically more agile and acrobatic. To add to taking out agents, Hawkeye and outrunning the Hulk she also beat up three guys while tied to a chair. Impressive stuff. I know why Merlyn is a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant, specifically in his own tv series, but Widow is a match for him, mostly due to her differences in fighting style. Like i said, it's close, and i'm not saying that she wins, but i'm definitely not saying that Merlyn wins either.

Stops at Hawkeye or Clears

@silverrings said:

I doubt it. May hasn't yet done anything Widow couldn't do.

She is more agile and acrobatic, this is true, but that by itself won't be enough.

1. Those weren't agents, they were security guards, and she did that with her heavy assistance from her arsenal.

2. Hawkeye is so far below Diggle and Oliver it's not even funny

3. Outrunning the Hulk long enough to escape does not correlate to H2H, or even combat speed. No real point bringing it up.

4. Yes, but notice how long it took her to take those goons out? Like I said, her fighting style, while pleasing to the eye, also prolonged the fight. That it took her that long to take out two guys is also noteworthy.

Are these good feats? Yes. Do they correlate to her being better than Merlyn? No. His feats are still superior.

Differences in fighting style might make the fight last a bit longer, especially since again, Widow's fighting style prolongs the fight, but it's not really going to be giving her much of an edge.

Mae has taken on some pretty beefy guys in the show, though id say ward and mae are about equal is combat skill, and probably a little better than widow according to her movie fts.

this is all speculation cause merlin has his gear so unless mae and ward had prep time their combat skills wont be able to push them to victory.

@nerdchore: Eh, Black Widow's H2H feats are about as good going by what you said. Merlyn's beating Arrow and Diggle surpasses beating "some beefy guys". If that's all May's done then Merlyn does indeed take her down with little effort. Honestly I'd even say he stomps her and Ward just as hard as he did Diggle.

I dont think diggle is better than may and ward. but yeah i forgot about him beating arrow so statement retracted.

@nerdchore: Not better no, but he is in their range. And the fact that Merlyn stomped him does not portend favorably for May or Ward if they were to take him on instead. I would even go as far as to say Merlyn could beat both at the same time, though not easily.

i dont know why my posts keep getting cut in half, but i was tryng to add that may and ward versus merlin would be more interesting.

@nerdchore: It would be a good fight in my opinion, but Merlyn still takes a majority.

Not I just see hawkeye missing as she swinging on the pole no I did not mean it in that way, why do you have such a dirty mind

and that's why we need the op to state the starting point because if Merlyn is near cover, then he clears if not he stops at the final round @shroudofsorrow

Clears or stops at 7. Don't think he's winning a shootout with Hawkeye though.

Merlyn clears. Infact he won't even have to try that hard. Everybody here is his inferior in physicals and skill.

Stops at Hawkeye

No he doesn't.

@jimmy_rustler: Why not? Hawkeye is much better at archery than Merlyn is. I see Hawkeye tagging him before Merlyn lands one. Yes Merlyn has dodged arrows, but not arrows from someone as accurate as Clint.

So Oliver isn't as accurate or even more so than Clint?

AAA+ debating skills would read again thank god comic vine has posters like you

@jimmy_rustler:

I'll reiterate from my response to siliverrings,

So was Oliver but yet he still lost during their Christmas shootout..

Considering this only has relevance to the point you're trying to make, I'm going to address what you said next.

So Oliver isn't as accurate or even more so than Clint?

But no you're right, Oliver has done much more accurate shots than Clint. Even though his best is shooting the grenade out of the air.

This makes me laugh. I think i was trolling, but ten months is a long time...

@stormdriven: Being more accurate doesn't make your arrows faster...

Merlyn still dodges/catches arrows while Hawkeye has never shown the capability.

Nick, you be rustlin' jimmies too on the low lol. It's funny though bc you do such a good job of backing up your statements, which makes your brand of rustling even more effective.

@stormdriven: Aside from the no-look shot, Clint has done absolutely nothing with s bow that Oliver hasn't duplicated. My opinion remains firm until you bring something better to the table.

You really think he'll have enough energy to continuously dodge arrows after running through almost the entire gauntlet?

No, he won't. He goes down for the count.

Okay, point out anything besides the grenade feat that is comparable to hitting high-speed hovercrafts and/or targets on them with pinpoint accuracy.

@stormdriven: Dodging an arrow doesn't seem to be a particularly taxing maneuver.

It's aim dodging by leaning slightly. Merlyn took a flashbang to the face and kept going like nothing happened. Fought equivalent fodder to round 1 (with no equipment) and went on to fight Arrow/Diggle and escape with an advantage, then went on to basically beat Arrow then lose to Arrow's self-stabbing.

@stormdriven: You forgot one of his BEST accuracy feats. Accounting the wind factor and basically using it to his advantage to curve an arrow. Probably not applicable in a short range bow and arrow battle, but still RIDICULOUS!

@sachmoo: It's a cool feat, but yeah, not much combat application.

Yet he has to go through the SHIELD fodder, Hawkeye, Agent Ward, Agent May, and fight Widow twice (where he could lose in the shootout, since Widow is a pretty good shot). That isn't going to be easy, and he'll be lucky to do anything meaningful in a fight. And it's not like he fought either Oliver or Diggle together for very long, he injured Diggle with a throwing knife then ran away, and beat Oliver who he's already better than.

He can run all the rounds

@shroudofsorrow: Definitely doesn't clear first time around . . . Not sure exactly what he stops at

Second round, 7