JLAvengers League: Mikl C vs. Joe Acro

[Sean Whitmore]

Welcome to the first match of the 2007 JLAvengers League! The League is a large-scale series of battles—a tournament—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 takes place in a different locale from the Marvel or DC Universe. The teams begin 100 yards away from each other. Each character is depicted as they were in the JLA/Avengers mini series (with few exceptions), 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.

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

Today’s match: Mikl C versus Joe Acro. This match takes place in the DC Universe's China. Joe Acro's team is out to retrieve the Spear of Destiny, and Mikl C's team is set to defend it.

Mikl C: Silver Banshee, Thor, Mongul, Shao Kahn, Firestar, Fire, Ultron

Joe Acro: Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Dr. Strange, Red Tornado, The Predator, Sabra, Jericho, Taskmaster

[Sean Whitmore]

Joe Acro's strategy:

Note: Everything beside one bullet is simultaneous or near-simultaneous. Some simultaneous events have been provided multiple bullets for clarity.

Main Phase:

• Green Lantern forms a sound-proof dome around the entire team, including himself, and gives Red Tornado his own personal forcefield (with which to combat a possible takeover by Ultron). Taskmaster hands his shield to Predator. Dr. Strange casts an illusion spell to make the enemy team see Jericho as Predator and Predator as Jericho.
• Green Lantern throws "Predator" toward the opposing team with a forcefield akin to the dome, aiming for Thor. As GL does this, he also picks up the dome and begins moving it forward.
• The illusion was cast on the assumption that the opposing team would know to avert their eyes when Jericho tried to make contact. However, since Thor thinks he's about to face Predator, he will likely not avert his gaze. Jericho makes contact and possesses the Thunder God.
• Green Lantern drops the shield, dropping "Jericho", Sabra, and Taskmaster to the ground. Dr. Strange fires a hex bolt at Ultron, the bolt presumably of higher intensity than normal given that it's the DC universe. A hex bolt has been shown to be an effective manner of damaging Ultron's more malleable interior, briefly shocking his system.
• As soon as the the dome drops, Jericho-Thor and Taskmaster work to finish Ultron. Using a combination of the agile moves he's copied from Captain America, Wolverine, and Daredevil, Taskmaster avoids Ultron's attacks long enough to slam his sword into the android's mouth and down his throat. Jericho-Thor summons a bolt of lightning to strike the sword. The sword acts as a lightning rod, adding another shock to Ultron's already-weakened system. The hex-bolt/lightning combo should shut down Ultron. If he can, Taskmaster pulls takes his sword back.
• As soon as the the dome drops, Sabra runs to fight Silver Banshee. As she does so, she makes sure to spray paralyzing quills in various directions, aiming for members of the opposing team, especially Banshee and the unengaged Shao Kahn. She and GL attack Silver Banshee, with Lantern making sure to put a vice on his opponent's head so that she can't scream.
• As soon as the the dome drops, "Jericho" (as he is still viewed as such) rushes Mongul. The Predator is a fierce warrior, much like Mongul himself. Given that Mongul can't be sure that he's fighting Jericho (illusions fooled them once), especially since he seems to be blocking with a shield (like Taskmaster would), Predator should have the advantage. At the very least, Predator merely has to hold off Mongul for the duration of the fight.
• As soon as the the dome drops, Red Tornado (still with forcefield) rushes to intercept the two flying fire characters. He spins into the air and spins his arms, aiming tornados at the flyers. It's a battle of the elements as Tornado works to spin Fire and Firestar (if neither were hit by a quill) out of the sky. It is my assumption that he will either succeed or distract them from interfering with the others.
• Dr. Strange distracts attacks anyone not engaged at a given time with mystic bolts.
• Everyone knows to do their best to avoid tank fire of the Chinese. If GL finds Banshee too difficult to combat, he will simply encase her in a green cube, as he did in the mini, until "Thor" can arrive.

Clean-up:

• Jericho-Thor joins Lantern and Sabra in battling Silver Banshee. Taskmaster shifts to fight Shao Kahn. If he’s been defeated, Taskmaster goes to help Predator. Dr. Strange moves to assist Tornado using teleportation spells, using the same method Scarlet Witch did in the mini, attempting to force the flyers into his ally's whirlwinds.
• As enemies fall, my team supports itself with those available. I imagine that the last one standing is Mongul. Those remaining gather 'round and dispose of the alien. They then claim the artifact.

[Sean Whitmore]

Mikl C's strategy:

Shao Kahn uses his sorcery to counter-spell whatever Doctor Strange's opening move is.
Ultron goes to take on Doctor Strange. Magic is pretty weak against metals in the MU and sometimes doesn't work at all
against robots- see Amanda Sefton trying to subdue the Reavers.

Silver Banshee teleports to wherever Sabra is and uses her death wail to KILL HER. Then she teleports around using her
strength to aid anyone in need. She teleports to where Jericho is, closes her eyes and slams the ground hard enough to cause a
tremor. He falls over and she punches her hand through his chest. Shao Kahn helps with this by firing sorcerous blots towards
Jericho and Sabra to distract
them.

Thor is taking on Hal Jordan. Thor calls down a lightning storm and clourds to obscure Hal's vision, and no green bubble is gonna
last long against a blow from an Uru Hammer weilded by a god. Thor also dispels any Tornado caused by Red Tornado
as he is the top weather controlling person here. He outranks Storm in the MU.

Firestar and Fire form a tagteamin the air. They fly up and fry predator easily. They then use their combined fire attacks to incinerate
the entire area around Taskmaster, meaning his enhanced reflexes are useless. Crispified.

Mongul goes to take on Red Tornado. He uproots giant chunks of earth to throw at him if he is flying. Mongul has
durability to withstand any of Tornado's attacks, and when Firestar and Firestar/ Ultron come at him he's screwed.

[Mikl C]

Few things: DCU magic is harder to control for a MU mage and Doctor Strange is doing some extremely compicated magic here. Especially his "hex bolt" to Ultron. Wanda used to take 5 minutes powering those things up, and it was specific magic. Doctor Strange's illusion spell also won't work for 15 seconds and by that time we'll have started the fight.

I think Thor could break through the bubble.

[Joe Acro]

I was under the assumption that the characters understood the differences affecting them going into the fights, hence why Flash was allowed to wear the harness. Being a master sorceror, it shouldn't take long for Strange to understand how this different magic works, especially since, according to Wanda, it's just stronger and a little harder to control. I feel that Strange has enough skill to handle it. Also, you make this point, yet you have Shao Kahn do his own magic. On a related note, can he even do magic? I was under the impression that he is simply a martial artist with mild energy powers.

How accurate is Silver Banshee's wail? Would if work even if she doesn't know Sabra's real name? But let's assume that Banshee does make inside the dome and that her cry does work. How long does it take for her to scream after appearing (given that her sonic powers are required for teleportation)? How long would the scream take to work? (I'm merely ignorant of that point.) In all of that time, would none of my team strike?

Green Lantern's field can withstand many things. Even Thor's hammer and lightning. It might be a strain and he might not be able to do much else, but he can hold off Thor.

A few of your attacks, namely the use of Fire, Firestar, and Ultron, would likely fail with the shield in place.

[Kara Zor El]

OK. Two good strats here. Much more enjoyable to read, and well thought out.

I'm leaning toward Joe's strat but will hear some debate first.

I like the deseption in Joe's with Predator.

I think Thor could break the bubble but after many blows.

[Mikl C]

If the illusion spell is gonna take 15 seconds anyway, then all my characters are gonna be hammering on the shield so it's gonna come down that much faster. Also, I didn't say that DS couldn't use the DCU magic, just that making specific hex spells using Chaos magics would be intensely difficult and take even longer than the 15 seconds to cast. Ultron's encephalo ray is quick and has knocked out many superpowered heroes cold.

[Mikl C]

Also: this version of Ultron is the PURE adamantium version that could only be destroyed using antarctic vibranium. Not the secondary adamantium Ultron which whooped the avengers and was taken out by Thor's lightning. Even they were heard to remark "that shouldn't have done it."
So your strat version of taking him down wouldn't even work, IMO.

[Mikl C]

Last point: Isn't predator FAR outmatched with Mongul? This is a Thanos-level strength character here. Even with Taskmaster's shield I can't see Pred lasting 2 minutes let alone winning. But maybe I'm wrong here I don't know much about Predator.

[Mike Smash!]

Yeah, Predator wouldn't stand a chance against Mongul. He might be able to dodge him for a while, but Mongul's battled Superman and lost. Predator's lost to....Danny Glover.

[Mike Smash!]

A couple points.

I don't see Shao Kahn being able to counter much of anything Strange tosses his way. He's the Sorceror Supreme and I can see him eventually schooling just about any other sorceror on the draft list, even my sorcerors.

Faust and Fate would give Strange a real fight, but I don't think Kahn is anywhere on that level. And given Strange's skills and experience, I think he could quickly adjust to the magical realities of the DC Universe. The guy's done battle in other dimensions with different natural laws before, so he's an old hand at this sort of thing.

I really liked the Jericho/Predator switch. And I think it would have a real chance of success. If his possession power takes effect immediately, Thor turning on his own team would be a great way for them to be distracted long enough to not just dogpile Jericho.

I agree that Thor could eventually break Hal's shield, but Hal has one of the strongest wills in the universe and a battle between these two would be epic. But Hal's ring gives him the ability to immediately create a new shield or adjust his strategy. But this might be moot if Jericho gets to Thor first.

I don't think Banshee would kill Sabra in the first round since she's behind Hal's soundproof shield (smart move), but a blast from Banshee would be quite a hit.

I have no problem with the illusion spell being immediate, since it's really only a minor effect. I think of "major" as being a massive effect like fire from the sky or a massive attack on the other team.

[Kara Zor El]

Yeah, Predator wouldn't stand a chance against Mongul. He might be able to dodge him for a while, but Mongul's battled Superman and lost. Predator's lost to....Danny Glover.

I agree. The Predator has it's invisibility and is adept at measuring it's opponent and hunting it accordingly. So I doubt it would fall to Mongul quickly. It also has a very powerful laser cannon on it's shoulder, so it can hit Mongul from a distance.

But about the 15 second thing. It would in my opinion take longer than 15 seconds for the seven characters to break through a GL sheild.

[Mikl C]

Meh. Shao Kahn can just fire his bolts at the shield then :p

[Mike Smash!]

I agree. The Predator has it's invisibility and is adept at measuring it's opponent and hunting it accordingly. So I doubt it would fall to Mongul quickly. It also has a very powerful laser cannon on it's shoulder, so it can hit Mongul from a distance.

How powerful is that laser cannon (I haven't seen those movies in a while)? Could it hurt Mongul?

[ragnarok_2012]

Few things: DCU magic is harder to control for a MU mage and Doctor Strange is doing some extremely compicated magic here. Especially his "hex bolt" to Ultron. Wanda used to take 5 minutes powering those things up, and it was specific magic. Doctor Strange's illusion spell also won't work for 15 seconds and by that time we'll have started the fight.

If the illusion spell is gonna take 15 seconds anyway, then all my characters are gonna be hammering on the shield so it's gonna come down that much faster. Also, I didn't say that DS couldn't use the DCU magic, just that making specific hex spells using Chaos magics would be intensely difficult and take even longer than the 15 seconds to cast. Ultron's encephalo ray is quick and has knocked out many superpowered heroes cold.

As I understand the rules, major spells take 15 seconds to cast.

I don't consider illusion spells to be a major effect for Dr. Strange to produce.