Avengers League Playoffs: Taskmaster v. Nightcrawler

[Jessica Drew]

Welcome to the next playoff match of the Avengers League! If you haven't been following the league, it is a large scale series of battles where posters draft teams and pit their teams against that of other posters, and you vote to decide who wins. When voting, please consider the strategies the players have written, rather than just the team's roster.

Each match is taking place on an empty battlefield, 100 yards away, and each character (with few exceptions) depicted is in his/her most frequent incarnation (therefore, no Iron Spidey or Extremis Iron Man), and the characters have to act in character (meaning that the heroes cannot kill if they aren't normally wont to do so).

If you have any questions about the strategies, please feel free to post these questions here, and the players will answer. The match will last twenty-four hours. After that time period, the player with the largest number of votes wins.

!!! - For your vote to count, you must have a post count of no lower than fifty.

Taskmaster's team: Invisible Woman, Count Nefaria, Sandman, Fixer, Executioner, Taskmaster, Brothers Grimm, Gorilla Man, Henry Peter Gyrich

Nightcrawler's team: Graviton, Blackout, Purple Man, Whizzer, Living Lightning, American Eagle

[Jessica Drew]

Taskmaster's strategy:

Immediately upon entering the battlefield Invisible Woman turns both Gravitron and Blackout’s corneas, eyes and entire heads invisible, rendering them blind, confused and stealing the opposing team’s advantage and also forms an invisible force field around herself and Taskmaster. Count Nefaria’s initial attack is to launch himself at Purple Man at super-speed, nothing Purple Man can do will affect Nefaria’s ionic self (all ionic beings are immune to Purple Man’s control) and uses his fist to turn Purple Man’s head into a fine mist. At the same time Fixer takes to the air (out of Whizzer’s range) and uses his tech-pac to create a spear-like lightning rod, which he fires toward Living Lightning, as soon as Living Lighting takes lightning form he is automatically drawn through the lightning rod into a Faraday Cage (a device that blocks electromagnetic energy), Fixer then grounds the energy while still trapped, rendering Living Lightning unconscious and defeated. Sandman’s initial attack is against the now blind Blackout, approaching as sand, attacking once he’s on top of the panicked Blackout, turning one of his arms to an anvil as strong as concrete and knocks Blackout unconscious, taking him out of the fight. Executioner makes his way toward American Eagle, attacking with his mystical axe creating mystical rifts to keep American Eagle from exploiting his slight speed advantage. Gorilla Man, Gyrich and Brothers Grimm’s job is to occupy Whizzer and while Whizzer will probably take out Gorilla Man and Gyrich, at least one of the Brothers Grimm should get into the air and pepper Whizzer with exploding eggs, acid cream pies and paralyzing stardust, which should take Whizzer out of the battle if not entirely defeat him.

Almost immediately after his first move (killing Purple Man) Nefaria can turn his attention to Graviton, using his flight and super speed to stay out of the blindly lashing out Graviton’s range, Nefaria uses his ranged attack of laser vision to blast straight through Graviton’s chest, killing the most powerful member of the other team. The now unengaged Invisible Woman creates an invisible force field around American Eagle’s head, at which point the attacks of Executioner should use up his slight air supply and render American Eagle unconscious and out of the fight. At this point, the only member of the other team is the Whizzer, Invisible Woman creates a forcefield around the area where Whizzer is battling at least one member of the Brothers Grimm and then allows Sandman and Nefaria into the forcefield. Spinning at high speed like the powers he got from Whirlwind, Nefaria creates a sandstorm inside the force field either eventually stripping all the flesh from Whizzer’s bones or Sandman’s sand fills his lungs rendering him unconscious and defeated.

[Jessica Drew]

Nightcrawler's strategy:

Phase 1 (Instantly and Simultaneously)
• Blackout opens a large portal into the Darkforce dimension all around my team. If anyone (especially Count Nefaria) flies/runs into it, they will be stuck in the Darkforce dimension. As soon as Count Nefaria flies in, he closes it. If Nefaria doesn’t go in, he leaves it open. At the same time of Blackout’s move, Graviton pins Taskmaster’s team to the ground. Nefaria might be able to escape, but Graviton allows him to, and Nefaria, thinking he has escaped the only attack on him from my team, will fly into Blackout’s trap unwittingly. Blackout’s portals are black and look the same as his shields, so Nefaria will just think that it is a shield and try to fly through it, only to be stuck in a different dimension.
• Graviton implodes Invisible Woman’s skull by making a point in her brain have a strong gravitational pull. He then puts up a shield around my team inside Blackout’s portal, leaving a small hole in the back.
• Living Lightning goes into his energy form, and then leaves the shield. Blackout allows him to pass through the portal, and then Living Lightning zooms over to Fixer and overloads his equipment with his electrical powers. He then fires lightning bolts at Taskmaster.
• While the small gap in the back of the shield and the Darkforce is open, Whizzer grabs Purple Man and sprints him over to the other team. If Count Nefaria has flown into Blackout’s portal and is trapped in the Darkforce dimension, then Purple Man tells the Brothers Grimm to attack Executioner. If Nefaria is still in this universe, then Purple Man tells them to attack Nefaria. Their magic powers should be able to affect either Nefaria or Executioner. If anyone tries to engage Purple Man, he tells them to go kill themselves.
• After putting Purple Man down, Whizzer creates a whirlwind around Sandman by running in a circle incredibly fast. This scatters Sandman across the battlefield, and it will take a lot of time for him to regroup himself.
• American Eagle leaves the shield and shoots explosive crossbow shots at Gyrich and Gorilla Man, to keep them distracted.

Phase 2
• If Nefaria is not trapped in the Darkforce dimension, then Graviton unloads on him, holding him in stasis and blasting him. If Blackout’s portal was still up, he removes it. If Nefaria is in the Darkforce dimension, Graviton focuses on pinning Taskmaster’s team down (except for the ones the Purple Man takes control of, as soon as Purple Man gives them their commands, Graviton releases them).
• Blackout teleports behind the other team and blasts Taskmaster in the back. He is already off his guard from Living Lightning’s attacks, and he won’t expect an attack from behind. If necessary, Blackout keeps blasting him to make sure he is down.
• Living Lightning now engages Executioner. Remember, Executioner is already being attacked by the Brothers Grimm, so he won’t last too long. Living Lightning is too fast for Executioner to react to, so it’s not much of a fight.
• Whizzer knocks Gyrich on the head, knocking him out. He then fights Gorilla Man. Whizzer might not be strong enough to put Gorilla Man down, but he’s just a distraction. Purple Man tells Gorilla Man to attack Executioner.
Now the Brothers Grimm, Living Lightning, and Gorilla Man are all working on Executioner. Gorilla Man and the Brothers Grimm are in the front lines, taking Executioner’s retaliation.
• American Eagle runs over (60 mph) and shoots explosive crossbow bolts at anyone who isn’t going down easily.

Phase 3
• Executioner goes down, and Purple Man tells the Brothers Grimm and Gorilla Man to fight to the death. On of them goes down, and my team finishes the other.
• If anyone is left, my guys team-up on them and take them down.
• Blackout brings Nefaria out of the Darkforce dimension and holds him in place as long as possible while Graviton unloads on him, holding him in stasis and blasting him.

[Nightcrawler]

I think I countered Taskmaster's oppening moves with I. Woman and Count Nefaria well. And with them down quickly, Taskmaster's strategy falls apart.

Also, what takes longer, lightning to fly 100 yards (1/2-1 second) or Fixer to make a hypothetical lightning rod attached to a Faraday Cage (if he even has them, which I doubt)? I think Lightning will get their first, and I also think that Faraday Cage's aren't part of Fixer's usual gear.

[Jessica Drew]

Isn't trapping Nefaria in the Darkforce Dimension a ring-out?

[unkiedev]

I want to give this to Nightcrawler. Taskmaster is using a tactic he used in an earlier match that I found questionable then: The Invisible Woman turning hands/corneas invisible from 100 yards away while simultaneously making a shield for her team...I don't think that's going to happen.

However Taskmaster DOES have nefaria flying in at top speed to get Purple Man, which Nightcrawler expected and planned for.

[Nightcrawler]

Isn't trapping Nefaria in the Darkforce Dimension a ring-out?

No, because I don't just abandon him there and say he dies from old age or something. I bring him back later and finish him off.

[kentonator]

I thought that was against the rules, even if you bring him back your still porting him to another dimension, this was discussed a lot in the main thread. I think we came to the conclusion that it cant be used no matter what.

[Jessica Drew]

I thought that was against the rules, even if you bring him back your still porting him to another dimension, this was discussed a lot in the main thread. I think we came to the conclusion that it cant be used no matter what.

This is what I thought, too, and this is what I told Nightcrawler when he asked about using the darkforce dimension in this very way.

[Nightcrawler]

This is what I thought, too, and this is what I told Nightcrawler when he asked about using the darkforce dimension in this very way.

Oh, yeah. Sorry, I asked about that before the very first match, and I forgot about it. It's Blackout's main ability, and it's not like it's some all-consuming blast. It's just a hole that people have to go into.

If you rule against it, then just assume that Blackout put up a regular shield instead of portal, and Graviton takes Count Nefaria out like I say in my strategy.


• If Nefaria is not trapped in the Darkforce dimension, then Graviton unloads on him, holding him in stasis and blasting him.


Also, Graviton won't let go of Nefaria in the beginning of the match.

[Jessica Drew]

Oh, yeah. Sorry, I asked about that before the very first match, and I forgot about it. It's Blackout's main ability, and it's not like it's some all-consuming blast. It's just a hole that people have to go into.

If you rule against it, then just assume that Blackout put up a regular shield instead of portal, and Graviton takes Count Nefaria out like I say in my strategy.



Also, Graviton won't let go of Nefaria in the beginning of the match.

Fine with me.

[Nightcrawler]

Sorry about that, everyone.

[Taskmaster]

I want to give this to Nightcrawler. Taskmaster is using a tactic he used in an earlier match that I found questionable then: The Invisible Woman turning hands/corneas invisible from 100 yards away while simultaneously making a shield for her team...I don't think that's going to happen.

However Taskmaster DOES have nefaria flying in at top speed to get Purple Man, which Nightcrawler expected and planned for.

Why is that questionable? She's done similar things before?

From my explanation on INvisible Woman's powers, this shows she could easily do my initial attack against Graviton and Blackout:

o Her Power is based on visulation, not vision and by focusing on an object without knowing it’s exact location (if she focuses on a building’s pipes, she can turn everything in the building invisible other than the pipes, without actually knowing where the pipes are)
o Can also Shape the same energy into solid forms that can be used for both offensive and defensive purposes
§ Generates near-indestructible, invisible force fields around herself and other targets
§ These force fields have shattered a Celestial’s armor (by projecting the energy inside the being and expanding it rapidly outwards causing the armor to break under the pressure, a task not even Thor’s Mjolnir could do).
§ These force fields can be shaped any way she can imagine and can create shapes such as barriers, columns, cones, cylinders, darts, discs, domes, platforms, ramps, slides, rams and spheres)
§ By generating additional force behind the constructs she can make them offensive weapons from massive invisible battering ram to small projectiles like bullets, spheres and darts.
§ Can generate solid constructs as small as a marble or as large as 100 feet in diameter an her hollow projections, like domes, can extend up to several miles in area
§ Can force an object to explode by projecting a force field within an object and expanding the field
§ Can use her constructs for travel atop animated constructs such as ramps, stairs, slides, columns and stepping discs; approximating levitation or flight
§ Can use her fields to cushion impacts gently by creating constructs as soft and yielding as foam, or in reverse hard and rigid

[Taskmaster]

I think I bypassed Nightcrawlers main defenses (Graviton and Blackout) with Invisible Woman before they even became a threat to my team and without them my strat should work well.

[Taskmaster]

I think I countered Taskmaster's oppening moves with I. Woman and Count Nefaria well. And with them down quickly, Taskmaster's strategy falls apart.

Also, what takes longer, lightning to fly 100 yards (1/2-1 second) or Fixer to make a hypothetical lightning rod attached to a Faraday Cage (if he even has them, which I doubt)? I think Lightning will get their first, and I also think that Faraday Cage's aren't part of Fixer's usual gear.

Fixer's Tech-Pac can be shapped easily into a Faraday Cage considering that they can be made by anything that can stop the energy (a car works as a simple one by itself). The lightning rod was only to draw Living Lightning to fixer and even if Lightning gets their first that works to my advantage since that would make the trap easier to spring and Fixer is well insulated against any attacks LL can do

About his Tech-Pac

Wears a Tech-Pac, a mentally-controlled unit made of thousands of circuits and components, which he can reconfigure at will, creating a virtual arsenal of weaponry and other equipment as he needs it including

[Nightcrawler]

-Graviton implodes Invisible Woman's skull immediately, and I think he could do it before she could blind them. Even if he can't do it until after he is blind, it doesn't matter, that won't affect the attack, and then he can see. Also, has she ever done something like that before?

-Blackout's shield will delay Count Nefaria long enough for Graviton to move onto him. His shields were able to take bazooka fire from very close range without wavering at all, so it should provide a nice distraction for Nefaria.

-I think that Living Lightning will be able to get to Fixer first, he literally travels as fast as lightning. Fixer won't even know what hit him (or short-circuited his tech, as the case may be).

[Taskmaster]

-Graviton implodes Invisible Woman's skull immediately, and I think he could do it before she could blind them. Even if he can't do it until after he is blind, it doesn't matter, that won't affect the attack, and then he can see. Also, has she ever done something like that before?

-Blackout's shield will delay Count Nefaria long enough for Graviton to move onto him. His shields were able to take bazooka fire from very close range without wavering at all, so it should provide a nice distraction for Nefaria.

-I think that Living Lightning will be able to get to Fixer first, he literally travels as fast as lightning. Fixer won't even know what hit him (or short-circuited his tech, as the case may be).

-How can Graviton collapse her head when he's blind and can't see her (or anybody else on the field) unlike Invisible Woman, Graviton's power does rely on his ability to see what he's affecting, it's doubtful he could do it before she blinds him, as well as her shields (the ones that can withstand blasts from Galactus) are up and can protect her at least for long enough to blind him. Yes she's done stuff like that before, specific issues escape me at the moment, but she's frequently been shown to do similar attacks. Once he's blinded Graviton is likely to not be able to focus on any specific attacks considering his fragile mental state

-Yes, but when Blackout's shields blocked a bazooka, correct me if i'm wrong, but he was under the direction and support of Baron Zemo, as well as technology that focused his abilities supplied by Fixer, since that was a one time thing (his last appearance) it doesn't count in this fight. Also once blinded Blackout, another fragile minded individual, is likely to panic and drop any and all shields while focusing on his eyes (BTW Off topic, but your team could really use a psychiatrist Blackout, Graviton, Purple Man all have serious mental issues and thats just off the top of my head

-Even if Living LIghtning gets their first Fixer has been shown that Lightning's abilites wont affect Bert or his Tech-Pac and Fixer's trap will be struck

[Nightcrawler]

-How can Graviton collapse her head when he's blind and can't see her (or anybody else on the field) unlike Invisible Woman, Graviton's power does rely on his ability to see what he's affecting, it's doubtful he could do it before she blinds him, as well as her shields (the ones that can withstand blasts from Galactus) are up and can protect her at least for long enough to blind him. Yes she's done stuff like that before, specific issues escape me at the moment, but she's frequently been shown to do similar attacks. Once he's blinded Graviton is likely to not be able to focus on any specific attacks considering his fragile mental state


Graviton has picked up continents before, and he doesn't need to see the underground area of rock. How will IW's shields protect her brain? Unless they are inside her head, and that would just kill her. I don't think Graviton needs eye contact, it's like how telepaths 'feel' minds, he has done plently of things without eye contact.


-Yes, but when Blackout's shields blocked a bazooka, correct me if i'm wrong, but he was under the direction and support of Baron Zemo, as well as technology that focused his abilities supplied by Fixer, since that was a one time thing (his last appearance) it doesn't count in this fight. Also once blinded Blackout, another fragile minded individual, is likely to panic and drop any and all shields while focusing on his eyes (BTW Off topic, but your team could really use a psychiatrist Blackout, Graviton, Purple Man all have serious mental issues and thats just off the top of my head


Yes, he was being directed by Baron Zemo, but JD made the ruling that someone on my team would be giving orders in the main thread.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/showpost.php?p=3205846&postcount=1336


-Even if Living LIghtning gets their first Fixer has been shown that Lightning's abilites wont affect Bert or his Tech-Pac and Fixer's trap will be struck

Why wouldn't they effect him?

[Sean Whitmore]

Just out of curiosity, Nightcrawler, couldn't Graviton have exploded Nefaria's brain as easily as he did Sue's?


SEAN

[Blackcat]

Neither deserves to win, because they didn't include any X_men in their teams

[Nightcrawler]

Just out of curiosity, Nightcrawler, couldn't Graviton have exploded Nefaria's brain as easily as he did Sue's?


SEAN

No, and that's why I don't have him do that. Graviton holds Nefaria in stasis and blasts him.

[Nightcrawler]

Good match, Taskmaster.

[Taskmaster]

Good match, Taskmaster.

Same here bud