Amph Comic Book Draft XI: Now Featuring a Stan Lee Cameo: Winner is EmpireForever!

Didn't matter in the first place; I'm just talking. I still want to post about my team after work.

Now. Who wants to talk about vg/live action/animated?

 

This matchup would actually be very compelling. Bad blood between Ares and Hercules, Indigo and Metamorpho (kind of), Selene and Hellstorm, Namor and Radioactive Man, Bastion and Post; hilarious banter between MODOK and Rocket, Plastic Man and anybody else; a huge variety of powers and abilities.

Here are some of the reasons PCK should win though.

Magic:

Magic in the Marvel Universe is proven highly effective against technology. Specifically, Talisman has magiked away tech armor, and Hellstorm has shown control over electricity and electronic devices. It is not easily prepared for, if at all without magic, and has done things like block telepathy, buff character's strength and durability, instant teleportation, time travel, etc. It can do whatever the user needs, as long as they know what they're doing.

They know what they're doing. Hellstorm is respected by the likes of Voodoo, Strange, and The Ancient One for his ability in the mystic arts. The Coronet provides Talisman with vast knowledge of the magical world, supernatural intuition, and clairvoyance--estimating probabilities is fine, actually seeing the future is something else.

They're equipped with the aforementioned Coronet, a library of arcane texts and tomes, the Netheranium Trident, the bequeathed Shaman's Pouch, and mystical Olympian weapons and artifacts from Hercules.

The best part is, Liz's innate power is to negate and absorb magical energy. The one thing capable of stopping magic (i.e. magic) is totally useless against them.

Cohesion:

On multiple occasions, both Hellstorm and Talisman have linked their teams via telepathy. The hive mind allows uninterrupted, fluid communication throughout the constantly shifting and no doubt confusing battlefield.

Guardian and Talisman, Herc and Monica, Star-Lord and Rocket, have same-team experience directly relevant to this scenario. Invincible, Metamorpho, PM, RM, and Hellstorm have, for the majority of their careers, been involved in this kind of squad sized team environment. Star-Lord, Monica, and Guardian--and Metamorpho to a lesser extent--also have experience leading this kind of super powered diversity. They know how to deploy their pieces in the heat of conflict, because they have experience doing so.

Technology:

The Guardians are equipped with technology far more advanced than anything ever seen on Earth. Rocket is a whiz, Guardian (Mac) is among Earth's super geniuses, and that was before his computer like cyborg brain upgrade. They're capable of hacking computer systems, etc. They've also got the expert brain of Radioctive Man.

Diversity:

Outside of magic and one beefy arsenal of weapons, they're covering the bases on energy, radiation, the periodic table, and most other scientific fields. Preparing for one of them is difficult enough--preparing for all of them: Impossible. Plastic Man. It's a nightmare.

Speed:

Invincible is far and away the fastest character on the list. The closest person to the speed he's capable of is Monica, and she's already blowing everyone else out of the water. The speedblitz is on like so much konged donkey.

 

He has no TP or TP defenses (except Guardian and Gastric Man). Also, I win on Tech.

He has an edge in Magic (though I have counters) and Cohesion (though, not as much as other teams). Also, I have teleporters which you valued highly in previous fights where he may have minimal. I'll also come up with the best plan -- vis a vis MODOK and Indigo -- we just won't execute it...

PS - even though I'll still likely finish 2nd, I'd like to point out that you all suck for making me beat you all as a replacement other than EF!

 

We have tp. We have teleporters. You have no counters. MODOK is a goober.

 

Any chance we won't drag this out for another week?


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Disagree Mikaboshi.

 

Hi, I'm done with the vacation portion and am safely ensconced in the Southern Northlands in England and I'll try and have something up later tonight even though it likely won't matter and I'll still finish second.

 

Taking them one at a time, at an initial level -- your team has an edge in magic. Whereas I have just Selene, you have Hellstorm and Talisman. However, as you say... we're prepped.

You know who else can use magic -- just not inherently -- Ares (*1). You know who can't because he's not an actual Olympian god, just a bastard son of Zeus? Hercules! (your momma!) You know who else can use magic? Namor! As all Atlantean magic flows from their king (*2). And, since as you point out... " mystical Olympian weapons and artifacts from Hercules" -- that's not even capturing what we've already got when prepped!

Horn of Proteus: "The Proteus Horn was an Atlantean relic that allowed the user to summon and control many of the sea monsters and mutates found in the sea." (please recall: MCU Asgard + water. SO MUCH WATER!)
Trident of Neptune: whose full power will actually be unlocked when given 24h of prep.

Gauntlet of Ares: So that Ares has the full strength of Hercules.
AIM Time Belt (*3): Death's Head II is now a teleporter.

PLUS all of the " mystical Olympian weapons and artifacts from Hercules" that Ares will have easier access to. Plus all of the additional Atlantean artifacts kept in the city that Namor doesn't have access to, if we're playing it that way.

This also forgets the most important part of this: Selene. As a function of prep, she's getting life-force from everyone else -- even if a small-part -- which not only allows mental control over those people but also increasing her own powers, both of magic and telepathy but also strength, stamina, speed, etc. (PS - this won't work on Plastic Man. Plastic Man can also be beaten by like half my team, so that's cool...)...

Radioactive Man has also, for the majority of his career, been a villain threatening the denizen of where we're fighting. I will grant you that your cohesion is better than mine -- basically, of all 10 teams my cohesion would be 1/10. I don't think this is a surprise at the moment.

However, I don't think your cohesion is all that, especially with people who don't like to play well with others. Star-Lord and Rocket love their people -- less so others. Hellstorm mostly likes to do his own thing. Granted, they all can work with others but it's not a huge slam-dunk like you make it out.

Again, still better than mine.

Putting "They've also got the expert brain of Radioctive Man." among that group is like Stacey King saying "I'll always remember this as the night that Michael Jordan and I combined for 70 points. !" (NOTE: MJ scored 69 points...)...

Also, they're all morons comparatively.

Indigo / Brainiac 8 is more advanced than anything the Guardians have ever seen and is well, well, well more intelligent and technically capable than.... basically the other team combined. Throw in MODOK (who is, in fact, PREPARED FOR ALL CONTINGENCIES!!!) and, yeah.

Also, on the technology front -- you have two full technopaths, You have two beings who are adaptive and, with prep, will start already basically adapted and who will only get better. And you have MODOK who is even more of a master of radiation and power sources than even poor, cranially-challenged Chen Lu.

Yes. Let's cover diversity, since you clearly left one clean thing off your Table of Diversity...

The Replacement Killers

Temugin (TP, TP Immune, Energy, Darkforce, Magnetism, Regeneration, Teleporter)
Black Knight (Anti-Magic, Anti-Energy, Anti-Armor / Shields)
Death's Head II (Best Fighter [Tied; Ares], Adaptive, Teleporter, Energy, Regeneration)
Ares (Best Fighter [Tied; DH2], Can Use Magic, Regeneration, Best Tactician)
Super Skrull (TP / Hypnotism, TP Immune [Psionic Shields], Force Fields, Flight, Energy, Fire Immune)
Selene (TP, Magic, Mind Control / Absortion, Pyrokinetic, Darkforce, Teleporter, Astral Fighting -- only player on both sides who can)
Indigo [Brainiac 8] (Technopath, Teleporter, Shields, Energy, Regenerating, Flight, TP Immune, Most Advanced Technology)
MODOK (TP, Robot Bodies for various uses -- best use here TBD, IS PREPARED FOR ALL CONTINGENCIES!!!)
Namor (Flight, Can Use Magic, TP-Resistant, Magic-Resistant, Will enjoy so much water!)
Bastion (Technopath, Adaptive, Regenerating, Energy, Flight)
Post (Kevin Tremain) (Adaptive, TP Immune, Teleporter, Environmental Bonding [with, you know, the advanced Asgardian environment], Energy, Invisibility)

I've noticed you left on particular thing off your list: Telepathic Assault and Resistance / Immunity. My side has a lot of it (on both sides) and your side... does not! In fact you have no one TP-capable, and have very limited resistance. Weakness!

Yes, because speed blitzes work awesome when you have two very fast characters and near half my team can teleport. Also, as Yakkers has noted before (or was it Inty?) Invincible tends not to speed blitz unless he's cleaning his room. And we already had a Monica v. MODOK fight where he was prepared for her contingencies and she lost. So I don't see why it would be any different to deal with any particular energy frequencies she may have and KO her again.

Having said that, those two are faster than the non-teleporting members of my team.


Overall -- it basically going to come down to: will my team mind-frag your team before our cohesion falls apart? I don't think I'm going to change Yakkers vote (which is odd, since he voted for MIKABOSHI'S team over yours on the basis of telepathic assault superiority), but I still think I'll make a fight of it.

Also you all should still feel sorry for dragooning me as a judge for me to beat you all!

*1 = Even though not accomplished at magic, as an Olympian god Ares has the potential to use magic, and recreated Olympus after being wounded in a battle with Kyknos. (Issue: Incredible Hercules #116)
*2 = http://www.comicvine.com/namor/4005-1476/
*3 = Minion formerly possessed an A.I.M. time belt; though he lost this during his second trip to Lionheart, later time-traveling adventures suggest he may have replaced it.

 

I put in the Stacey King quote for you and Inty.

 

I'll be back from vacation late tomorrow. I'll vote for EF on Wednesday.

 

Okay, so Selene is going to weaken her team to make herself more powerful, only to be completely useless when the fight starts.

Magic is not an option. Not only is talisman capable of negating anything and everything up to and including Cytorrak, she siphons it and amplifies it. All of those fancy Magic weapons aren't doing anything but hurting your team.

Okay. Brainiac 8 is smart. Sure. She has displayed absolutely nothing the guardians haven't seen. To say she is beyond them is conjecture, considering what they've come across and deployed themselves. She's not done anything more impressive than any of their weaponry (less impressive, If you ask me), and has never constructed or built countermeasures for anything or anyone except for the time she matched frequencies with jade.

And MODOK? he can estimate probability, that's grast, especially on a fractured team like that. It doesn't help him construct or prepare for them any faster. When's the last time MODOK did anything quickly? When is the last time he did it without an army of AIM minions to help him?

There are no people who don't like to play well with others on my team. One person who was previously a villain (and who has, for the past twenty years, been on hero teams) and the son of satan, who has historically worked with the avengers and who recently has worked with strange and voo doo do not constitute "people who don't like to play well". In addition, there are real, experienced teammate connections.

Okay, I suppose I can go prove this again, but there are actually two fully capable telepaths on my team, capable of offense and defense, and the guardians are prepared, and have access to defenses. With no way to actually break the magical defenses this team can bring, I don't know it matters, really. The gap, say, in your team's mental powers and mine and the gap between your team's magical ability and mine is small in comparison.

Actually, re: speed, check out the invincible war and fights against viltrumites in invincible. Invincible fights conquest across earth--the entire planet--so fast that by the time the teleporting (oh my) guardians of the globe arrive at their last known location, the fight has moved halfway around the globe. against dangerous people he does not hold back when he knows he doesn't have to. Good thing he's prepared, I guess.

so. No. I don't think there will be any mind fragging, and we can teleport as well (thanks magic! Also guardians)

 

@Trimaj

 

Oh, P.S., yeah, great job, DP. Missing however many rounds and making the finals. Almost like the time Wang Chi won it all (maybe?) after taking over a team way late.

Also I'm with the Yak. I think we can squeeze another one out of this list before we add people again. Or we can do another version. Whatever. If anyone is even interested. I am planning on hosting, anyway.

 

We need more power! I reckon it should be anyone around Silver Surfer's level and below, with characters like Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Onslaught, Apocalypse and Magneto, etc., being included. Or it could be anyone around Galactus' or Thanos' level and below, but maybe that'd be too much power.

 

You don't wanna see it done.

 

Are you changing your vote?

Also, PS - re: speedblitz and adamantium monofiliament wire...



Ares doesn't play fair, yo! <3

 

Just announced: Squirrel Girl is getting an ongoing title.


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You have bastion and three mutants. Saying your cohesion is poor is like saying bill gates is doing okay for himself.


Ongoing title? Trying to raise awareness for her mcu debut?

 

My cohesion is definitely the worst. No question. I rated it 1/10 after all.

 

Nah, didn't win. Got to the finals or semis and (rightfully) got knocked out. Don't remember exactly what I took over, but it was Reed and Xavier as the first two picks and War Machine as the 4th or 5th rounder. No one really knew how obscenely OP'd Hourman was, though, so that got me a bit farther than I had any right to be.

 

ZIZZ won. With MY team.