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The community has picked Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, as the latest Character of the Month. That means the mutant will get to boast about having his very own edition of Best Covers, Best Battles, and Must Read Comics (which will be posted on Monday). However, being Character of the Month doesn't mean we're going easy on Slim. Not only will he receive those articles, but we're also going to test his abilities as a combatant. He was barely able to drop his first challenger, Wolverine (click here to read how that went down), and we wanted to spice things up just a little bit for his second match. You see, this time around, Cyclops is taking on Dick Grayson, a.k.a. Nightwing, and Damian Wayne, a.k.a. Robin!
Nightwing & Robin's advantages: impressive hand-to-hand abilities and extensive training with the Dark Knight, a solid history of teamwork with each other, a variety of gear which provides options at a distance and up-close (batarangs, smoke pellets, escrima sticks, etc), commendable agility and thrives in a city setting.
Cyclops advantages: accurate, concussive optic blasts which can be fired at a range of different power levels and can even be ricocheted, an incredibly gifted tactical mind, and praiseworthy melee capabilities which focus on countering and throws.
No matter which side you ended up rooting for, this isn't exactly a straightforward fight and there's a whole lot of variables to consider (city at night, begin 40 feet apart). Can Cyclops shoot down the projectiles and use his accuracy to take down one of his enemies? If Damian is knocked out, how will that impact Nightwing's performance in the fight? What happens if they get close? So on and so on. The Comic Vine community has been discussing our latest battle since Monday and they've picked a winner. The poll fluctuated a bit in the beginning, but one side held onto a moderate lead for most of the week. When the dust finally settles, the voters believe the duo from DC will earn the victory.
It looks like a slight majority of the voters believe The Dynamic Duo's numbers advantage and training will allow them to eventually defeat the mutant. They earned a fair 52% of the votes, but Cyclops wasn't too far behind. The X-Man's powerful projectiles and tactical mind gave him a good amount of support, and he's walking away with 44% of the votes. A mere 3% couldn't select and clear winner and decided this fight is just too close to call. Now, let's see what the community has to say about our latest Battle of the Week!
DoctorThomasElliot
"I love this fight choice. This will be a very interesting battle for Summers. Grayson and Wayne are so well trained in various tactics that they have basically become in sync during battles, one fighting the opponent while the other studies his/her movements and weaknesses in order to prepare a thorough plan of attack. However, Scott will most likely see through this strategy and will use his energy blasts to take out both opponents. Big mistake on his part. Grayson and Wayne will most likely use their gadgets such as smoke pellets or some sort of projectile adhesive to temporarily blind the X-man. During his moment of weakness, both boys will use their knowledge of multiple martial arts and pressure points to quickly render the mutant unconscious before he has time to recover. Leaving them the winner of this fight."
Lunacyde
"Umm, Cyclops for the slight majority. he has faced enough acrobatic characters in the past. Nightcrawler (who can also teleport for example) and had little problem tagging them on occasion. It won't be easy, and NW and Damian will take a few victories through tyeamwork and tactics but they just don't have the tools to beat Cyke for a majority.
People sometimes overlook that Cyke is a master tactician, has an innate mutant ability for marksmanship, and has more experience than either of these two. I may not like him, but he has what it takes to put the team in their place. The fact that he can control the spread and intensity of his optic blasts just leaves it more unlikely they will even be able to close the gap. Up close he is an experienced and skilled enough fighter to at least buy time and get some shots off on these two."
NoSoAmazing
"I really didn't want to get involved in this thread, but I feel like the dynamic duo of Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne is being underestimated. Heck, Nightwing alone would give Scott problems but add in Damian and Cyclops is going to have hell on his hands.
For starters, why do people keep using the logic that since Cyclops defeated Wolverine, he automatically defeats anyone you think less of? ABC logic doesnt work here for multiple reasons. One, there of two opponents this time around. Two, both have different fighting styles than Logan. Three, Both Dick and Damian are much more versatile than Logan and have various ways of taking Scott out. Four.... Know what? I'll stop there and get to the point.
Cyclops is going to have a much harder time keeping up with two opponents rather than one. Both are arguably more skilled than Scott and possess a great deal of cooperation. Also add in the fact that Dick is arguably more stealthy than Wolverine. (Yes I'm bringing him back up since that's the only person people like to bring up.) Dick has even snuck up on Bruce before, and Bruce is a character who tends to think very fondly of his environment.
Let's also factor in that neither side has knowledge of each other. In other words, Cyclops could actually predict Logan's movement to some degree. However, now he's dealing with two extremely acrobatic beings who aren't just going to sit there and soak damage. No. There going to dance around Cyclops throwing batatangs, shooting grappling hooks, throw flash grenades, etc. And he won't be prepared for a single thing. I mean seriously. Wouldn't some knockout has be sufficient enough?
And going back to what I said about neither side being knowledgeable about each other, Cyclops is going to be very hesitant in the battle. He's not going to go full visor or spam optic blast, no, he's going to not try and harm the kid or the guy he knows nothing about. However, from Dick and Damain's point of view, Cyclops might look like some lunatic spamming lasers and destroying property and will therefore see him as some sort of villain. (Ergo that wouldn't be to hesitant on taking him out.) I don't see why a quick staff to the face wouldn't take Cyclops out.
I see the duo of Dick and Damian taking this seven out of ten times in my opinion."
thevagrantking
"Honestly, this is very very tough.
Nightwing and Robin can win via gadgets and team work. Those are going to be their primary advantages. I don't buy the Close Combat advantage. I don't care who you are, there's no way to prepare for those close combat bank shots Cyclops can pull off. As long as he's capable of aiming at -something-, he's going to be able to hit you. And if you're in close combat, he knows where you are. The way for Cyclops to negate that advantage is his tactical mind. Does he have a trick up his sleeve to negate gas canisters? Is his suit taser resistant? Does he have clever ways of minimizing the odds against very skilled opponents? (Let's not forget that Cyclops has his own degree of stealth abilities too, via Cyclops vs X-Men in the Danger Room).
Nightwing and Robin's biggest disadvantage here are their durability. Neither of them are going to be able to tank a shot from Cyclops, barring a Wide Beam or an AoE shot where he blows up a car. Like in the fight against Batman, if Cyclops can get 1 shot off on either of them, it's game over. Neither of these guys are taking any kind of advantage over Cyclops in 1v1. Similarly, Cyclops is a glass canon. If either of them get clean shots off, it's also game over.
My brain says too close to call. But my heart wants Cyclops over D&D."
meatwadf
"Ok. After mulling it over and reading back up on all the characters, here's my takeaway. Keep in mind, I'm less familiar with Damien than I am with Summers and Dick. Also, pardon me if this goes on a bit...
Besides the obvious benefit of his punch blasts, Cyclops is an accomplished tactician with years of experience, especially with fighting solo against teams. He's shown a great understanding of how enemies think, and how to use their weaknesses and strengths against them, being extremely adept at using battlefield psychology. He's also a master of two martial arts that are fantastic against opponents used to getting in close, and his beam (if anything) is simply deadlier the closer you get to him. Scott also has the benefit of being a pragmatist in a fight. He will do what's necessary to win, so I don't see any argument about whether or not he would fight to the best of his ability against a kid like Damien. Would he go full blast? No, but he would do what was needed to take him down, especially once he saw how dangerous the little guy is. The terrain also greatly aids him with this, giving him plenty of surfaces to surprise D&D (Dick & Damien) with. This ties in to an even more useful ability, an amazing sense of spatial awareness. He doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, but he can keep track of a fight and where everyone is moving like you wouldn't believe.
Dick alone would be a good fight for Cyke, though I see that one ending more in Cyke's favor. However, Nightwing has some great abilities and skills to bring to the table. He is in peak physical condition (practically Capn' America level), with years of training under Bats and then solo work after that. Now, he's more experienced with street level thugs, but he has tons of history fighting post-humans as well. While Scott is an expert in two (very useful) martial arts, Nightwing is a master of at least ten, and has shown himself to be the near equal of the dark knight himself. He's also an expert marksman, and is simply nasty with thrown objects. Not quite Bullseye level, but he's up there. Along with his natural athleticism and acrobatic skill, Dick lives in the city. It's his playground and where he is most at home. He is in his element, and knows how to maximize its use. I think a lot of people forget just how damn brilliant Nightwing is, as he's an expert hacker, built his Nightcar, posseses amazing detective skills, etc... He'll make sure to think through the fight with the X-Man from the start, and not just rush in punching.
Damien is an interesting choice to pair with Dick, as he was literally trained from birth to be a supreme monster in CC. On top of this, he is (from what I can tell) one of the stealthiest things you will not see in a fight. He was able to sneak into the batcave with no one aware of him until he revealed himself. I wasn't aware of this little gem until recently, but he also can mimic voices perfectly, something that could be very handy in a dark street at night. Also, (like Cyclops) Damien fights to win and will do whatever is needed to put the crazy guy with eye punch beams down. And while he doesn't have the level of experience fighting post-humans that Cyke has, he still has it.
The terrain could go both ways for them, but I'm gonna give a slight edge to D&D (Dick and Damien). Despite Cyke being able to take advantage of it with his blasts and spatial awareness, I feel the stealth of Damien, combined with Dick being in his home element gives that advantage to them. D&D are also simply an amazing team, and will keep Cyke on his toes constantly. Dick's a great leader, and will know how to best utilize Damien's abilities. I could easily see them making use of Damien's stealth and vocal mimicry to really mess with Scott's head. While the range seems like an advantage to Scott at first, I believe that it simply gives D&D more time to react to the situation and begin planning accordingly. Scott is a fantastic shot, but he's not going to go full boat right out of the bat. I see the first few moments like a wrestling match, each opponent sizing up the other, and trying to counter as they go.
Quite simply, I feel that the teamwork of D&D, combined with the terrain, will give them a slight edge of Cyclops. I love the man with the visor, and he'll definitely get in some great shots, but I just feel the odds are too much in his favor here. It's been shown that characters like Daredevil have dodged his blasts in the past (and even Wolverine), so I don't find it impossible that natural martial artists and acrobats like D&D won't be able to occasionally do the same. I see D&D playing off of each other's abilities and using their numbers against Cyke to the best of their abilities, eventually scoring enough of an edge to win a slight majority of the fights.
I'm giving it to Dick and Damien, 6/10. This was hard for me, as I simply love Cyclops, but I think he's just a little outmatched by his opponents here."
Gregg "k4tz" Katzman
"I'm giving a very slight edge to the X-Man. Nightwing and Damian's teamwork, agility, and weaponry means Scott is absolutely going to have to work for it though. First and foremost, I think Scott's accuracy and *ahem* uncanny skills with his power is key. He's obviously not going to go all "get off my lawn" against them, but there's no reason why he wouldn't be unleashing blasts that can stun and/or knock out a human. The second that "child" begins to flip around and throw sharp projectiles, Scott knows not to underestimate him. Now, tagging them won't be an easy feat -- you know, given Nightwing's absurdly good agility and potential smoke pellets -- but I think the team's at a disadvantage because they're unaware of just how good Cyclops is with those optic blasts. Sure, we've watched him miss Bullseye and there's some other low end feats, but the good really outweigh the bad. From his tactical mind allowing him to dish out brilliant ricochet shots to displaying absurdly good accuracy, I'm confident he has what it takes to tag Damian and eventually tag Nightwing. When all else fails, he can simply unleash a wider blast, too. Not with great force, of course, but just enough to knock them down and possibly even out.
'Cool story, bro. But if they get close -- and I believe they can -- Cyclops is done for. Game over, man!' I agree Damian and Robin have an advantage if they get close, but it would be selling Cyclops short to assume that automatically means he's done for. Assuming they do get in close, we need to remember Cyclops is a seriously commendable melee fighter. He's been able to toss around Wolverine (I know Logan wasn't at 100%, but it was still impressive) and has plenty of hand-to-hand experience. If anything, his focus on countering and tossing instead of strikes will work to his favor when facing multiple opponents (this was seen when the team thought he was the Dark Phoenix). If it was purely hand-to-hand in this situation, I'd side with Wayne & Grayson. However, it isn't purely unarmed combat when they reach close range. Just like team DC can use their weapons in close proximity, so can Scott. He's talented enough to ricochet his blasts when an enemy is within arm's reach, even if his back is turned to them, and his ability to use optic blasts effectively in close range can be a big game changer. One good connect is all he needs to turn the tide, and given his history of using optic blasts, I'd say it's a strong possibility.
A good case can be made for either side and I really do believe you're overestimating or underestimating one side if you think it's a walk in the park for anyone in this fight. Damian and Dick have the skill, resources, and teamwork needed to give them a fighting chance and the environment can even work in their favor (although, it's worth noting Cyclops has experience against sneak attacks). They can absolutely earn the win, I just think Cyclops' sharp mind, mastery of his power, and ability to hold his own in close quarters combat will serve him well. It won't be easy, but I do believe Scott can take the edge."
Do you agree with the verdict? Feel free to continue the debate in the comments section! Also, would you like to suggest an upcoming opponent for Cyclops? Tell us below or share it via twitter.