Mutant League 01/23/2007 PM Game 4: Dipset Byrd Gang vs. Nightcrawler & Jessica Drew

[mattbib]

Welcome to our second match of the day...

In the first corner we have Dipset Byrd Gang's Exiles Supreme (Blink, Collective Man, Havok, Martha Johansson, Morph, Moonstar, Wither)

vs

In the other corner is Nightcrawler & Jessica Drew's Kinky Kinkos (Mimic (Exiles), Multiple Man, Stepford Cuckoos, Random, Surge, Shinobi Shaw, Vanguard)

Both participants have submitted strategies:

[mattbib]

Phase 1 All this happens Simulteasnsly

Collective Man multiplies to 40.
Martha Johannson psi-shiilds the whole team except Morph for certain reasons.
Blink teleports/blinks her and the whole team across the field to the opposing tem to bring the battle to them. SHe does this so none of the opposing teams initial attacks cannot harm the if they are not there. She teleports the team in certain point sto face off against the oppsing opponents. Wither behind and Blink in front of Mimic. Mimic has a strong love for blink that is his girlfriend. Wither touches Mimic with both hands. While blink is blinking in his dupes back into his body. Mimic is withered as Wither holds own to him. Plus he has half of mutant powers and really doesn't know how to fully use them. Blink than blinks them as far away as she can from the battle, but still in the same area.
Since Collective Man starts out as dupes and Madrox starts out as one. 15 CM keep madrox busy.
Havok blasts Random with his powerful blasts as soon as he teleports into the battle. before he can react to mess with his powers. Havok show's him no mercy as he remembers all the things Random did to him. He won't let up. His plasma blasts affect Random. As Shown in X-factor 142-143. This Distract him as Moonstar blasts him with her psychic arrows. He is out the battle.
Morph is battling Vanguard and cracking jokes. 7 Collective Man attack Surge. and the last 8 are battling Shinobi Shaw
Martha is in a TP duel with Stepford Cuckoos. The CUckoos will probably tree and mess with everyone's minds, but they are being psi protected by MJ. even though it is a strain. They will see Morph unprotected. SHe probe deep into his mind and since the evil of Proteus and it causes them to get a psychic back wave and be distracted. MJ then puts them down with a massive tp blast.Phase 1 results- Mimic is out the battle. stepford Cockoos out the battle. Random injured and out the battle. Madrox, Surge, SHaw and Vanguard are all being occupied.

Phase 2 Time to put the others down.

15 collective man are keeping madrox busy. THey are at a stalemate. Blink assist in the battle and blinks all the dupes back into orignal Madrox. This causes a big shock. MJ tells him to go to sleep. He is out of the battle.
Moonstar and 8 CM are battling Surge. Blink joins in the battle and blinks off her guannlets. Her powers are now out of control.
Mimic is still cracking jokes at at Vanguard. Mimic is trying to get thru is forcefeild. He accepts blink for assistance. She blinks him inside the forcefield. He morphs into a circle and covers Vanguard. He than goes inside his body thru his nose. Morph is now inside Vanguard's body as he takes him out the battle.
Now only Surge and Shaw are left. Surge is out of control. The Collective Man attack her and get hit with electricity. This is a distraction as Havok puts her down with minimal force.
Blink blinks away.
Only shaw stands. the 40 collective man attack him. He holds his own, but from behind blinks in wither as he touches Shaw with both hands. HE is out the battle.The Exiles Supreme win the battle as Mimic cracks his jokes.

Key Points

Blink's teleports are instant and she can teleport multiple people over long distances. As shown in Exiles 1-90. She can also teleport objects inside people like sand inside Hyperion. When Alt-version of Hyperstorm took control of her powers she was blinking people in half. A shown in Exiles 59.
Morph is really Proteus the reality warping mutant. He just thinks he is Morph because of the brain-washing device. If a psi- tries to probe his mind he might revert back to Proteus. As shown when Emma Frost tried in Exiles #89.
Martha Johansson has bested Emma Frost in a TP battle. During Morrison's run.
Havok and Random have a troubled past. Havok's power affect Random protoplasm form.
Blink teleports the team to the other team before they can be hit by any attacks. Blink's teleports are very exact if she want them to be.
As shown in NEw X-men 32. Wither is now with the Black Queen Selene and that is on the Darkside. So he will not hestitate to use his powers to kill.

[mattbib]

Stage One


Vanguard puts up a shield (in front of himself, Mimic, Madrox, & the Stepford Cuckoos) in case of immediate attack by the opposing team.
Vanguard lets Mimic hold on to his hammer and sickle as well.
As Mimic holds on the hammer & sickle, he mentally defends his team from Martha and Moonstar for a moment. Having only half of the Cuckoos power, he wouldn’t be able to keep this up for long, but he’d be able to do it for a few seconds.
Multiple Man starts snapping.
The Stepford Cuckoos mentally attack Blink. If Martha’s defending her, then the Cuckoos are powerful enough to at least keep Blink from acting for a few seconds.
Shinobi Shaw turns intangible, but is ready to attack anyone Blink may teleport over.
Random darts out running toward the other team, firing volleys at (in this order) Blink, Martha Johannson, Moonstar, Wither, Collective Man, Havok, and Morph).
Surge darts out, dodging any incoming attack, and runs to punch out (seem the same order as before) opponents; she can help defensively, if necessary.Stage Two

Mimic taps his feet nineteen times, and then we have nineteen Mimics, EACH with the powers of Multiple Man, the Stepford Cuckoos, Random, Surge, and Vanguard (meaning they have the gauntlets and they each have a hammer & sickle, because Multiple Man can dupe whatever Madrox has in his hands).
Twenty of Madrox’s dupes advance toward the other team.
Vanguard and Shinobi Shaw stay behind to protect the Cuckoos and Mimic.Stage Three

Seven Mimics stay behind
Three Mimics mentally assault Moonstar
Three Mimics mentally assault Martha
One Mimic holds his hammer and sickle to help Vanguard protect the Cuckoos. If necessary, he can attack whoever might teleport or run in.
The Cuckoos focus solely on taking out Blink.
Vanguard stays behind to protect the Cuckoos.
Shinobi Shaw stays behind to protect the Cuckoos.
Three Mimics run at superspeed, with force fields in front of them, attack, and down Havok (either mentally, by plasma shots, or by superspeed punches).
Three Mimics run at superspeed, with force fields in front of them, attack, and down Moonstar, Blink, and Martha Johansson.(either by plasma shots, or by superspeed punches).
Random shoots Wither, taking him down.
Three Mimics and The Multiple Men all run to attack/fend off the Collective Man.
Four Mimics and Surge attack Morph.Stage Four – Blink, Wither, Moonstar, Havok, & Martha should be out.

The Stepford Cuckoos attack and down the Collective Man.
The rest of the team attack and down Morph.

[Mikl C]

BATTAL of the dupes! I'm thinking the cuckoos are more powerful than Martha, right?

[blinkinrogue]

a quick question, everytime mimic creates a dupe, does that dupe possess twice the effectivity of an ability/power than the next dupe that comes out, if so, shouldn't the later dupes have considerably less powers or the same level of powers? im kinda confused. thanks.

[blinkinrogue]

and when mimic taps his feet 19x, wouldnt that like, create 9 and a half dupes? how is that ? given that he only has half of MM's powers... also, technically, can even half a dupe function?

[blinkinrogue]

sorry correct me anyone if im wrong... also i think it was stated earlier about mimic copying only half of a mutant's power, so technically, would the initial strategy of 19 dupes still be in effect? thanks.

[melodyrider]

How can Mimic dupe Surge's gauntlets if she never gives them to him, and without the gauntlets, how will he control her power?

[loopdodgers]

sorry correct me anyone if im wrong... also i think it was stated earlier about mimic copying only half of a mutant's power, so technically, would the initial strategy of 19 dupes still be in effect? thanks.

I was under the impression that since madrox is capped at 40, mimic, having only half his power, would be able to have up to 20 dupes including himself. So his stomping (or whatever) 19 times would make sense.

[blinkinrogue]

OH yeah makes sense, I might have gotten his power wrong coz i was thinking 1 tap would automatically produce like half a dupe, but im still dont know about the power levels of each of the dupe though... with rogue in xmen evolution she had no problems with this coz she always had full power so ok now i am enlightened. thnx.

[Nightcrawler]

-Blink is unable to teleport due to the Cuckoos attacking her. Martha is stretched out across her entire team, while the Cuckoos, who are more powerful to begin with, are focused on one person, who is trying to concentrate hard. Blink isn't teleporting.

-Dipset's strategy relies on his team getting up close and personal with my guys, and without Blink that won't happen. Mimic will still be in the battle, and he is our most dangerous member.

-Even if Blink could teleport Mimic away from the battle, he has Surge's power, so he'll be back quickly. If you try to argue that Blink gets him before he gets Surge's powers, I'd remind you that they were duped before the match even started. In any case, the point doesn't matter because Blink won't be teleporting.

-Our 20 Mimics with 5 powers each are simply too much for the other team. They are outnumbered and outgunned. For every Mimic that falls, there are two more pounding on the guy who took him down, and another dupe will be made for every downed one pretty much instantly. A punch, a kick, even a step is enough to resupply our forces.

[rondre sleazde]

My initial attack should stop some of their first attacks.

[rondre sleazde]

How can they stop blink from teleporting? The one of first thing my team does is teleport. The cuckoos don't try and mess with blink's mind until the 5th part of your phase 1. It doesn't say everything happens immediately and simulteaneously. ANd mimic is busy defending from Moonstar and MJ.

[Nightcrawler]

How can they stop blink from teleporting? The one of first thing my team does is teleport. The cuckoos don't try and mess with blink's mind until the 5th part of your phase 1. It doesn't say everything happens immediately and simulteaneously. ANd mimic is busy defending from Moonstar and MJ.

If you didn't notice, our phases have one thing for each member to do, so yes, everything happens at once.

Your arguement isn't helping your case. You have Martha defending all your members (except Morph) and attacking Mimic (who incidentally has half the powers of the Cuckoos). At the same time the Cuckoos are attacking Blink, who is just one person Martha is protecting. At the very minimun, Blink will be too distracted to focus on teleporting.

[rondre sleazde]

MJ is not attacking Mimic only cuckoos. It takes just one second for Blink to teleport and how ca nshe be distracted from teleporting. IF she does i first. And where does it say they do all the moves at the same time.

[The Lucky One]

How can Mimic dupe Surge's gauntlets if she never gives them to him, and without the gauntlets, how will he control her power?

Madrox duplicates any inanimate object he's touching when he creates a dupe, like handcuffs (MadroX #4)... I used it to good effect 2 years ago in having Madrox copy Sabra's paralyzing wrist launchers and flight cape 40 times. Thus, Mimic would duplicate Surge's guantlets as well.

What I have more difficulty with is what's powering them. Does Surge herself even start with any electricity? The rule is that energy absorbers start empty, so where's she drawing electricity from to power her super-speed? This is a barren field. (Am I misremembering how her powers work? Dropped that book over a year ago, but I thought she absorbed electricity. Maybe I'm wrong, though... anybody?) And even if she does have power in her own guantlets, energy can neither be created nor destroyed; thus, the Mimic dupes might be able to copy her guantlets, but the electricity contained within would be missing. This'll require some thought. I definitely think Nightcrawler and Jessica have the more coherent strategy, but I have to think about how that would alter it.

-D

[melodyrider]

Madrox duplicates any inanimate object he's touching when he creates a dupe, like handcuffs (MadroX #4)... I used it to good effect 2 years ago in having Madrox copy Sabra's paralyzing wrist launchers and flight cape 40 times. Thus, Mimic would duplicate Surge's guantlets as well.

Agreed and understood, but it's never stated that Mimic touches the gauntlets. In fact, as has been pointed out by Nightcrawler, everything in phase one occurs simultaneously, and Surge is already taking off down the field, so it'd be impossible for him to be touching the gauntlets. Besides, it'd be hard for him to hold onto them and the hammer and sickle, wouldn't it?

What I have more difficulty with is what's powering them. Does Surge herself even start with any electricity? The rule is that energy absorbers start empty, so where's she drawing electricity from to power her super-speed? This is a barren field. (Am I misremembering how her powers work? Dropped that book over a year ago, but I thought she absorbed electricity. Maybe I'm wrong, though... anybody?) And even if she does have power in her own guantlets, energy can neither be created nor destroyed; thus, the Mimic dupes might be able to copy her guantlets, but the electricity contained within would be missing. This'll require some thought. I definitely think Nightcrawler and Jessica have the more coherent strategy, but I have to think about how that would alter it.

-D

From what I remember her powers extend to absorbing static electricity.

Agreed. I will have to think about this a while before I vote.

[The Fury]

I'm thinking the cuckoos are more powerful than Martha, right?
Each Cuckoo is real weak for TPers, together they are stronger. If mimik copied a Cuckoo he copied 1 only and that's have of 'poor' so...


Also, Where is it mentioned which power Mimic copies?

[Brian M.]

Where has Martha Johnson been shown to use her TP powers like that, not so much exactly like she is here but I'm wondering if she can push herself like that.

[venuscameback]

Very interesting. I really like Dipset's opening moves with Blink & Wither, but I am concerned that Dipset overstates Martha's abilities. I don't have a problem with her on defence though - as I understand the workings of a psi-shield, the psychic kinda links themselves to all the minds of their team so that if any of them are attacked the psi can defend that one character. Here Martha only needs to defend Blink & can surely do so long enough for Blink to get teleporting.

I don't like that JD & Nightcrawler don't state which powers Mimic has started the match with; the question about Surge's energy source is a good one, and it does seem impossible for Mimic w/Madrox powers to duplicate her gauntlets if she's nowhere near him when he dupes.

However, Matt ruled that Morph was only allowed into the tournament sans Proteus, so that scenario doesn't pan out as Dipset would have liked & I think the Cuckoos can outdo Martha anyway, and no number of Collective Men are likely to be a match for Shinobi Shaw's density control powers.

JD & Nightcrawler's strategy is heavily dependent on Mimic, and understandably so. If Blink and Wither's opening combo works, and I think it does, then they don't have much to fall back on. Vanguard's shield is specifically written as being in front of the team, leaving Mimic vulnerable to Wither being teleported behind him, and with Martha defending Blink I'm confident she can use her teleporting abilities in spite of the Cuckoos attack.

Havok takes care of Random. The Madrii and Collective men pretty much cancel each other out. Blink & Morph team-up to take care of Vanguard.

That leaves Moonstar & Havok against the Cuckoos, Shinobi Shaw and a seemingly useless Surge. Shinobi Shaw is only ever written as being on defence, primarily in protection of the Cuckoos. The combination of psychic arrows and Havok's powerful blasts looks favourable, and then Blink & Morph arrive to turn the tide. I vote Dipset.

[Nightcrawler]

Also, Where is it mentioned which power Mimic copies?



Begining of second phase.

[Nightcrawler]

Also, Mimic has half the powers of Random, so he would adapt himself to at least make Whither's attack less effective.

I also quesiton Martha's effectiveness in a psychic duel. The Cuckoos are very experienced, and has Martha ever been in an actual fight? I'm not saying she hasn't, I just don't know.

[rondre sleazde]

In the N/C and Strat it doesn't say they do all the stuff in phase . In my strat it does say immediately and silmulteneously. MJ is only protected my team except Morph and keeping the Cuckoos busy. I didn't use Proteus as Morph. I just said that he was lurking in the brain. And scared the Cuckoos. That is all he never came out the battle. ANd I think Mimic out instantly. And that is the real major threat.

[AceOfSpades]

Nightcrawler and Jessica Drew: I'm wondering how Mimic using part of the Cuckoo's power is gonna play out in this. Does he sync up with the girls? Does he sync up with his own dupes and make a sort of hive mind?

[AceOfSpades]

Dipset, I love your opening move with Blink/Wither

I have a question for you though. What powerset is Dani using? You mention that she is battling Surge, but I'm not exactly sure how. Surge is fast. Dani.. isn't. Are you illusion casting? Or shooting a bow and arrow?:D

[rondre sleazde]

There six other mutants on your team besides you and you can only dupe 5 power and which ones are those.

[rondre sleazde]

plus wither holds on too him with two hands and mimic is teleported away.

[rondre sleazde]

The Collective Man dupes and Moonstar are battling Surge. She is using the bow and arrow for this battle.

[AceOfSpades]

There six other mutants on your team besides you and you can only dupe 5 power and which ones are those.

oh! another sorta indirect point made by dipset.. does Mimic copy half the strength of one of the Cuckoo's powers, or half the strength of their combined powers?:confused:

[mattbib]

oh! another sorta indirect point made by dipset.. does Mimic copy half the strength of one of the Cuckoo's powers, or half the strength of their combined powers?:confused:
I'm thinking half the strength of one. Unless he's mimicking all three of them at once.
She is using the bow and arrow for this battle.
Did she have that power anymore when she was depowered? I thought it had disappeared after she gained and then lost her quantum powers.

[AceOfSpades]

Did she have that power anymore when she was depowered? I thought it had disappeared after she gained and then lost her quantum powers.

maybe it's a real bow and arrow?

[rondre sleazde]

mattbib doesn't it have to be stated that the people do things simulteanously at the beginning of the match or are we just suppose to assume.

And shouldn't he say, at teh beginning of the match which powers are being copied.

Just asking since you are the man/king/judge of the tourney.

[sephirothskiller]

I was under the impression that since madrox is capped at 40, mimic, having only half his power, would be able to have up to 20 dupes including himself. So his stomping (or whatever) 19 times would make sense.

Madrox has since blown way past the 40 dupe limit. Of course now all the dupes have individual personalities, so there's a good chance that they wouldn't want to fight.


And I have no idea who to give this too. I'm thinking a tie. Therefore I rule for Nightcrawler and Jessica Drew because my coin landed on tails.

[AceOfSpades]

I'm going to go with Dipset.. While the Cuckoos do attack Blink, I think Martha's defense will at least take the brunt of the blow. and then it falls into place once Mimic is out of the picture.

[loopdodgers]

OH yeah makes sense, I might have gotten his power wrong coz i was thinking 1 tap would automatically produce like half a dupe, but im still dont know about the power levels of each of the dupe though... with rogue in xmen evolution she had no problems with this coz she always had full power so ok now i am enlightened. thnx.

that'd be pretty messy.

[rondre sleazde]

NC and JD. This has been a good battle and may the best team win. I had to me the one to face you first. I would say you have one of the toughest teams with the mimic and MAdrox combo. And everyone thanx for the votes.:)

[mattbib]

mattbib doesn't it have to be stated that the people do things simulteanously at the beginning of the match or are we just suppose to assume.I think it's understood that everything in each of their stages occurs simultaneously, or at least close too it.
And shouldn't he say, at teh beginning of the match which powers are being copied.They really should say which five of their own teammates powers Mimic is starting each round with. And if they have Mimic switch to copy others', they need to state who's powers are being replaced.

[Jessica Drew]

Good strat, Dipset. I knew that opening move was coming, too, and it's a good one.

HOWEVER...I think the Cuckoos pretty easily break through Martha's defenses. Martha's psi-shielding her entire team, and the Cuckoos are attacking just one person, so her psi-shield should be pretty thin--thin enough for the Cuckoos to break through and stop Blink from teleporting (and as you notice, we didn't propose that the Cuckoos take Blink out...just bother her enough to keep her from teleporting immediately). I think the Cuckoos have shown enough power before for them to be able to do this...thus negating your opening move.

We stated whose powers Mimic copied in the second stage (not that that's when he started copying them, but just that's where we stated it). From now on, Matt, we'll state it up front, to avoid any confusion.

Surge's powers--at least as they've been portrayed in the comics--don't quite work the same way Bishop's powers do. She doesn't need to stand and absorb energy before she acts; she's absorbing it all the time, in a way that is somewhat similar to how Cyclops absorbs solar energy. She's seemingly always infused with it. Her gauntlets merely help her control and stabilize her powers.

Now, I could be wrong on the following--and Matt, correct me if I am--but I was under the assumption that since the Cuckoos were listed in the draft as one and not as three separate beings, that Mimic would be able to dupe half the power of the three as a whole (or half the power of their uni-mind), NOT half the power of ONE of the three.

[The Lucky One]

Surge's powers--at least as they've been portrayed in the comics--don't quite work the same way Bishop's powers do. She doesn't need to stand and absorb energy before she acts; she's absorbing it all the time, in a way that is somewhat similar to how Cyclops absorbs solar energy. She's seemingly always infused with it. Her gauntlets merely help her control and stabilize her powers.

For some reason I thought she could run out... isn't that why she sometimes has to stop running at super-speed or shooting electricity? Does anyone know the mechanics of Surge's powers for sure- does she absorb electricity from the environment, or convert her own body's energy into electricity, or what?

-D

[The Lucky One]

I'm torn... consciously I have issues with how much Nightcrawler and Jessica Drew have Mimic doing, whether it's how Mimic would control Surge's powers if he's not wearing gauntlets, to how much telepathy he'd really have (that's a good question about the Cuckoos, we should've asked that before the fights started). However, their strategy is much clearer, easier to follow, and ultimately makes more sense. I have to go with them, but I hope to see some of those question marks answered before next match.

-D

[Mitsaso]

Great match people, both strategies are great and thoughtful but Nightcrawler and Jessica Drew's is a little less flawed, so i have to go with this one.:)

[rondre sleazde]

come on people vote on this good battle./

[Atom_basher]

not to sound diplomatic in any way but both strats are really close imo, both have points that i can see working, but the question is whose successful aspects outweigh the others, at this point i can honestly say Im not even leaning one way or the other

[Maka Nani]

Blink & Wither are a lethal combination that their opponents aren't prepared for.

[blinkinrogue]

i think there is a lot of confusion on my part with teh combination of mimic powers with the dupes, and i think that is the problem.... so i will go with wither's team.

[Brian M.]

not to sound diplomatic in any way but both strats are really close imo, both have points that i can see working, but the question is whose successful aspects outweigh the others, at this point i can honestly say Im not even leaning one way or the other

Yea, I'm leaning the same way, straight up. I like how Blink tries to seperate Mimic but I think Martha Johnson is being overexerted while the Cuckoos are just focusing on Blink. It's a tough call.

[Nightcrawler]

Good game, dipset. And it did say which powers Mimic had, in the begining of the second phase.

[mattbib]

Congratulations, Dipset Byrd Gang! You'll be facing AceOfSpades next Tuesday morning, while Nightcrawler & Jessica Drew move to the lower bracket and will face Zombienorthstar & Mitsaso that afternoon.