Avengers League 10/12/09 Game 8: justinkos91 vs. Shyft

[mattbib]

Greetings, fight fans! Welcome to today's match...possibly the final match of Avengers League 2009!

In the first corner we have justinkos91's MYSTIC SANCTION:
Sersi (4), Sandman, Hulkling, Firebird

vs.

In the other corner is Shyft's LOOK GOOD IN GREEN TEAM:
Moondragon (2), Invisible Woman, Sub-Mariner, Vision, Crystal, Speed

Both participants have submitted strategies:

Please do not post or vote until both strategies have been posted and read.

[mattbib]

The battle starts off with each member of Mystic Sanction, preparing for battle, basically a quick power-up before fighting. Hulkling bulks up, Firebird heats up instantly, Sandman enters his sand form, and Sersi, she transmutates herself so that she is immune to telepathy and mental attacks, sealing her mind so it can not be entered; Sersi has transmutated herself to be an exact copy of Makkari down to every detail, shifted herself so she can function underwater, and made herself super-dense before, so something like this is not out of the question. In this situation, some slight molecular changes were made on Sersi's brain, placing mental blocks in her mind so it can not be entered but she can still use telepathy herself; not all mental blocks are psychic, but some are physical. This makes her immune to Moondragon's mental attacks, or perhaps makes them less effective.

Sersi then teleports her team to certain members of their opponents' team; Sersi can still teleport with the blink of an eye and doesn't need to see where she's going to teleport. Hulkling and Firebird are teleported close to Namor and immediately, they go for him (What they do will be shown later), Sandman is ported close to Moondragon, and Sersi ported close to Invisible Woman.

PHASE 1:

Sersi immediately enters Invisible Woman's mind and has her create a bubble around Moondragon's head so that no sound can enter nor can she get air. Sersi then has Invisible Woman render Moondragon's eyes invisible so she can not see. Sandman then surrounds himself around Moondragon's body so she can not move; all of this is being done due to Moondragon needing concentration to use her powers. Moondragon was rendered useless once when Rick Jones immobilized her from moving by taping her to a chair, duct-taping her eyes and mouth, and covering her ears with headphones. Basically this is being done. Moondragon can not protect the minds of her team-mates without her concentration. Sersi then enter's Crystal's mind and plants an illusion in her head, having her believe she is in Genosha again, Vision in her eyes being Vulcan; Sersi can enter more than two minds at once.

Sersi focuses her attention back at Invisible Woman and Moondragon and simply turns Moondragon to stone without affecting Sandman. Sersi then lets go of Invisible Woman's mind, and with her being in close range, she blasts Sue Storm with a blast of energy, strong enough to take her out, but not kill her.

Sersi removes the illusion from Crystal's mind, that is if she and Vision have not torn each other apart yet. Right after this, we got a speedster on the field to deal with, so Sersi enters Speed's mind; She has been able to telepathically communicate with Makkari while he was traveling before, and he is one of the fastest beings ever, and she has been able to scan the whole planet unaided, so finding Speed should be no problem. After entering his mind, she sends him Crystal's ways, sending him circling around her like a tornado until she is taken out; should be able to take her out in a few punches which is something quick. With that being said and done, Sersi then has Speed boost how fast he moves and sends him at Vision. With Speed, he can go as fast as even the speed of sound, Sersi makes him do so in Vision's direction.

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...StratPart1.jpg
*For those too lazy to read, here's the battle so far if you want a visual...

Sending him at Vision at this speed would cause the hyper-vibrations to disrupt the Vision's molecular form and tear him apart while in human form, affect his form molecularly while phased, or severely injure Speed if he remains in diamond form, so...

- Diamond form: Speed is taken out after crashing into Vision. Sersi had left Speed's mind by then and teleports behind Vision, and then touches him, rendering him non-functional (opposite of what's being done in the link though). Vision having no use, Sersi then turns him to good ol' fashioned wood.
- Phased form: Speed's hyper vibrations disrupt Vision while he 's phased, knocking all the molecules out of whack, put in simplest terms. Sersi then slows down Speed and transmutates him until he is nothing more than just the baby that he is; as he slows down, she decreases his age until he is a baby when he stops.
- Regular form: Speed basically shatters Vision upon impact. Sersi then slows down Speed. As he slows down, she decreases his age until he is a baby when he stops. (See Above)


*While the above takes place...

PHASE 2:

Firebird starts by attacking Sub-Mariner. Though fire can not harm him physically, he can still he affected by the heat. Firebird, being a pyrokinetic shapes the flames she fires at Namor so that he is trapped in a ball of fire. While doing so, she focuses as much heat as she can in the ball of fire. This is meant to dehydrate him, but one time won't do. She flies to another point, to another side of the fireball, in case Namor might fly out at her, which is to be expected, with him being blinded. Hulkling then goes to where she was and increases his size; From what I read, Teddy's maximum limit in how big he can shift has yet to be defined.. Though the fire can't contain Namor, if he flies out, she removes the fireball and waits on Hulkling to attack, who is then prepared to take on the Sub-Mariner. First time is not a charm though, Once the two are far enough apart from each other, with Namor either knocking Hulkling back, or Hulkling knocking Namor back, Firebird repeats the fireball oven technique, flies to another side with Hulkling taking her place, and well, repeat until Namor is down.

In Simpler terms... http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...StratPart3.jpg

* Note: Though I will have Crystal and Vision preoccupied, with Speed on the field, Sandman is in his sand form and could easily reconstruct himself if struck down by Speed. Firebird remains off the ground for a lot of the battle. Hulkling would be giant sized/bulked up and he can heal quickly too, a great example of that seen in Secret Invasion. It would take more than speed to take down Sersi.

[mattbib]

Stung from the loss during our last battle, my team are fired up for this rematch!

Phase 1

Vision, Invisible Woman, Moondragon vs. Sersi

This mini-squads actions all happen simultaneously. All take initial defensive manouvers to avoid Sersi’s attacks, then work together to subdue her.

Invisible Woman creates tight invisible shields around herself and Moondragon, stopping Sersi from manipulating their matter, as seen here



This should include any sort of teleportation., She then begins to bombard Sersi with Invisible Javelins. As seen here


http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y23...al_25-25_1.jpg


This alone might be enough to knock out Sersi. Its only 1 part of a three pronged attack however.

Moondragon Links the minds of her team, creating a smooth psylink through which they can all communicate. This time she avoids attacking Sersi’s mind with manipulation, and simply bombards her with psy-blasts of raw energy. This simpler use of her powers should allow Moondragon to also keep her senses alert to any illusion of Sersi’s, and alert her team to it over the psy-link.


Immediately Vision sinks under the ground until only his eyes are showing. Moving under the ground, thus avoiding any attack aimed at him, he positions himself below Sersi, and when the coast is clear, then rockets up, and semi-phases his hand straight through Sersi’s head, exactly as seen here.



Sersi is not omniscient, she can be surprised as shown above, and the attacks of Moondragon and Invisible Woman should provide just such a distraction. This attack would take her out stone cold, especially with the combination of invisible lances and psy-blasts.



Crystal vs Sandman & Firebird
Crystal is in no mood for games. She has complete control of all the elements, and two of the opposing team are elementals, who don’t much like water. To protect herself she creates a small air and electrical bubble, as seen here

http://img9.imageshack.us/i/untitled1e2ff.jpg/

This should protect her from any immediate attacks.
In offense, she creates a twister, and sends it straight at Sandman and Firebird. She manipulates the moisture in the air and fills the twister with rain.. Sandman’s structure should start to come apart as he is turned to mud and pulled apart by the winds, and the water and lack of oxygen and sand/mud being hurled at her should keep Firebird from igniting her flames. Crystal can control fire too, having once manipulated an explosion in space. Should Firebird be able to light even a spark, Crystal will put it out.

Crystal keeps these two stuck in the typhoon.

Speed & Namor vs Hulkling
Namor flies straight up into the air, up and away from the fight, thus avoiding any speed blitz attacks aimed at him. When he is up near the clouds, using the mindlink created by Moondragon, he begins to rocket back down, directing himself at Hulklings location. Once he has Hulkling in his sights he will fully impact on him, smashing him into the ground. Once in the crator if Hulkling is still conscious, Namor wont give him a chance to get back to his feet, quickly beating him senseless. While Namor is gaining altitude and then flying back down, Hulkling is being kept busy by...

Speed. Running a zigzagged line to avoid any attack, Speed will endeavour to keep his Young Avengers team mate on the ground. Speed is much, much quicker than Teddy, and should have no trouble using punches, kicks and grabs to keep Teddy from morphing wings and flying off. As soon as he gets the mental call from Namor, he gives the Atlantean Teddies location and hops away to the side to avoid the impact created by Namor.

KEY POINT: All of my team perform defensive manoeuvres right off the bat. Vision disappears under the ground, Invisible Woman and Moondragon are protected by shields specifically shown to be able to prevent attacks by Sersi, Crystal creates a shield of her own, Namor flies up and away from the fight, and Speed moves in zigzags quicker than the eye can see. Should anyone still be teleported (somehow) the psylink created by Moondragon will allow the team to quickly re-establish the attack pattern.

End of Phase 1: Sersi down, Hulkling down, Sandman and Firebird occupied.

Phase 2:

Dropping their various defensive positions, my team move to finish up.

Crystal drops the tornado, and focuses on creating a huge downpour, really drenching the two already wet opponents.

Speed uses his air vibration techniques to disperse any remaining molecules of Sandman, with Help from Sue Storm, who scoops up puddles of Sandman mud with invisiblebubbles and flings them to the corners of the battle field.

Moondragon keeps up the psylink, but now focuses her psy-blasts on firebird.

Vision & Namor,who is empowered by the rain, physically subdue Firebird with the final blows to knock her out.

End of Phase 2: All opponents down.

[Shyft]

Originally Posted by mattbib

The battle starts off with each member of Mystic Sanction, preparing for battle, basically a quick power-up before fighting. Hulkling bulks up, Firebird heats up instantly, Sandman enters his sand form, and Sersi, she transmutates herself so that she is immune to telepathy and mental attacks, sealing her mind so it can not be entered; Sersi has transmutated herself to be an exact copy of Makkari down to every detail, shifted herself so she can function underwater, and made herself super-dense before, so something like this is not out of the question. In this situation, some slight molecular changes were made on Sersi's brain, placing mental blocks in her mind so it can not be entered but she can still use telepathy herself; not all mental blocks are psychic, but some are physical. This makes her immune to Moondragon's mental attacks, or perhaps makes them less effective.

What examples are there of physical changes to the brain being capable of blocking out telepathy, or Sersi being able to produce them?





PHASE 1:

Originally Posted by mattbib

Sersi immediately enters Invisible Woman's mind and has her create a bubble around Moondragon's head so that no sound can enter nor can she get air. Sersi then has Invisible Woman render Moondragon's eyes invisible so she can not see.

Invisible Woman creates a barrier around herself and Moondragon that specifically stops Sersi's powers. This move fails immediately.

Originally Posted by mattbib

Sandman then surrounds himself around Moondragon's body so she can not move; all of this is being done due to Moondragon needing concentration to use her powers. Moondragon was rendered useless once when Rick Jones immobilized her from moving by taping her to a chair, duct-taping her eyes and mouth, and covering her ears with headphones. Basically this is being done. Moondragon can not protect the minds of her team-mates without her concentration.

Sandman, having taken a moment to beef up, would have been whipped up in Crystal's whirlwind. He also would have been unable to touch moondragon thanks to Invisible Womans shield. This move fails.

Originally Posted by mattbib

Sersi then enter's Crystal's mind and plants an illusion in her head, having her believe she is in Genosha again, Vision in her eyes being Vulcan; Sersi can enter more than two minds at once.


Sersi focuses her attention back at Invisible Woman and Moondragon and simply turns Moondragon to stone without affecting Sandman. Sersi then lets go of Invisible Woman's mind, and with her being in close range, she blasts Sue Storm with a blast of energy, strong enough to take her out, but not kill her.

In that scan she is joining two Eternals in a Uni-mind, not mentally dominating them. She is also exerting alot of concentration. Bearing in mind Invisible Woman and Moondragon are both specifically protected against Sersi from the very beginning, i dont see how Sersi could pull this off, especially seeing as my team would not be standing still themselves, and would be attacking her.

Originally Posted by mattbib

Sersi removes the illusion from Crystal's mind, that is if she and Vision have not torn each other apart yet. Right after this, we got a speedster on the field to deal with, so Sersi enters Speed's mind; She has been able to telepathically communicate with Makkari while he was traveling before, and he is one of the fastest beings ever, and she has been able to scan the whole planet unaided, so finding Speed should be no problem. After entering his mind, she sends him Crystal's ways, sending him circling around her like a tornado until she is taken out; should be able to take her out in a few punches which is something quick. With that being said and done, Sersi then has Speed boost how fast he moves and sends him at Vision. With Speed, he can go as fast as even the speed of sound, Sersi makes him do so in Vision's direction.

Vision has been unaccounted for so far, so Sersi would definately have been taken out already. Sersi tries (and fails thanks to the shielding) to take out Invisible Woman and Moondragon first - that is quite some time before she tries to take over Speed, and attempts to knock Crystal out with him. Sersi would be down thanks to Visions attack.

Originally Posted by mattbib

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...StratPart1.jpg
*For those too lazy to read, here's the battle so far if you want a visual...


Sending him at Vision at this speed would cause the hyper-vibrations to disrupt the Vision's molecular form and tear him apart while in human form, affect his form molecularly while phased, or severely injure Speed if he remains in diamond form, so...

- Diamond form: Speed is taken out after crashing into Vision. Sersi had left Speed's mind by then and teleports behind Vision, and then touches him, rendering him non-functional (opposite of what's being done in the link though). Vision having no use, Sersi then turns him to good ol' fashioned wood.
- Phased form: Speed's hyper vibrations disrupt Vision while he 's phased, knocking all the molecules out of whack, put in simplest terms. Sersi then slows down Speed and transmutates him until he is nothing more than just the baby that he is; as he slows down, she decreases his age until he is a baby when he stops.
- Regular form: Speed basically shatters Vision upon impact. Sersi then slows down Speed. As he slows down, she decreases his age until he is a baby when he stops. (See Above)

As stated above, Sersi would definately have been taken out by Vision long before she would have the chance to use Speed against him. Vision is the 5th character in the order of attacks from Sersi - she would not have had the time to try to take him out, or take over Speed in the first place.

Originally Posted by mattbib

*While the above takes place...

PHASE 2:

Firebird starts by attacking Sub-Mariner. Though fire can not harm him physically, he can still he affected by the heat. Firebird, being a pyrokinetic shapes the flames she fires at Namor so that he is trapped in a ball of fire. While doing so, she focuses as much heat as she can in the ball of fire. This is meant to dehydrate him, but one time won't do. She flies to another point, to another side of the fireball, in case Namor might fly out at her, which is to be expected, with him being blinded. Hulkling then goes to where she was and increases his size; From what I read, Teddy's maximum limit in how big he can shift has yet to be defined.. Though the fire can't contain Namor, if he flies out, she removes the fireball and waits on Hulkling to attack, who is then prepared to take on the Sub-Mariner. First time is not a charm though, Once the two are far enough apart from each other, with Namor either knocking Hulkling back, or Hulkling knocking Namor back, Firebird repeats the fireball oven technique, flies to another side with Hulkling taking her place, and well, repeat until Namor is down.

In Simpler terms... http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o...StratPart3.jpg

* Note: Though I will have Crystal and Vision preoccupied, with Speed on the field, Sandman is in his sand form and could easily reconstruct himself if struck down by Speed. Firebird remains off the ground for a lot of the battle. Hulkling would be giant sized/bulked up and he can heal quickly too, a great example of that seen in Secret Invasion. It would take more than speed to take down Sersi.

Namor flies away from the fight to start, and Firebird is swept up in Crystals whirlwind. This would definately have taken place, as Crystal is only 3rd of the list of characters attacked by Sersi - she would have had plenty of time to trap Firebird and Sandman in the Typhoon. So this fails.


In summary, the tactic hinges of a) Sersi being able to take out Invisible Woman and Moondragon quickly b) Crystal, Speed & Vision apparantly waiting around for Sersi to finish with those two. THe tactic therefore fails because a) Sersi is herself being attacked, and cannot get through Sue's shields, as shown by my scans, b) my other characters do not wait around to be taken down - Crystal would have swept up Sandman and Firebird, Speed would have engaged Hulkling, and Vision would have semi-phased Sersi long before she could attempt to mentally dominate any of my team.

[wolvie616]

to be honest, I just don't think that sersi will go down that easily, so I gave it to justin

[Shyft]

Originally Posted by wolvie616

to be honest, I just don't think that sersi will go down that easily, so I gave it to justin

I did produce a scan showing she WOULD go down from Visions attack, AND that Invisible Womans lances could take her out too...

[justinkos91]

Why would what you do affect what I'm doing in mine?
They are two completely seperate strats, no?

or is that acceptable in leagues?

[Shyft]

Originally Posted by justinkos91

Why would what you do affect what I'm doing in mine?
They are two completely seperate strats, no?

or is that acceptable in leagues?

Of course, that's the idea - you try and anticipate each others moves and assume that as far as possible both strats are happening. So my shielding against Sersi etc would stop your attacks from working.

[justinkos91]

Originally Posted by Shyft

Of course, that's the idea - you try and anticipate each others moves and assume that as far as possible both strats are happening.

KK, still kinda new to leagues :P

[justinkos91]

Originally Posted by Shyft

Invisible Woman creates a barrier around herself and Moondragon that specifically stops Sersi's powers. This move fails immediately.

Does her invisible force-field weaken telepathy? I can understand the transmutation not working on Sue if she is protected, but even if so, all Sersi does is enter her mind and have her use her powers on Moondragon. From what I read from your strategy, Moondragon didn't mindlink until Sersi was attacked by Sue. Sue's mind would still have been open when she ported close to Sue. Sersi's teleportation is a quick blink. Sersi would have dominated Sue's mind and had her immobilize Moondragon.

Sandman, having taken a moment to beef up, would have been whipped up in Crystal's whirlwind. He also would have been unable to touch moondragon thanks to Invisible Womans shield. This move fails.

Sersi ported him near Moondragon, he'd be unaffected by her winds due to the portation. Sersi doesn't have to be close to him to port him out of harm's way.

Vision has been unaccounted for so far, so Sersi would definately have been taken out already.

Sersi can multi-task her powers. Vision would be occupied with Crystal.
Even if so, I made sure Sersi taking down Sue and Moondragon was quick.

[Shyft]

Originally Posted by justinkos91

Does her invisible force-field weaken telepathy? I can understand the transmutation not working on Sue if she is protected, but even if so, all Sersi does is enter her mind and have her use her powers on Moondragon. From what I read from your strategy, Moondragon didn't mindlink until Sersi was attacked by Sue. Sue's mind would still have been open when she ported close to Sue. Sersi's teleportation is a quick blink. Sersi would have dominated Sue's mind and had her immobilize Moondragon.

The scan implies she is immune to all her powers - otherwise Sersi would have just TP'd her. Besides, read the strat - all my teams actions take place at the same time. Moondragon creates her psi-link as her very first action, as Invisible Woman is creating her shield and attacking Sersi. Its the very first thing Moondragon does. So their minds would be protected, or Sersi would have to at least battle against Moondragon - it wouldnt be a simple take over.

Originally Posted by justinkos91

Sersi ported him near Moondragon, he'd be unaffected by her winds due to the portation. Sersi doesn't have to be close to him to port him out of harm's way.

Crystal can direct her winds anywhere. and thanks to the Psi link, she would know were he was as soon as he appeared in front of one of her team-mates. She would still get him in the whirlwind.

Originally Posted by justinkos91

Sersi can multi-task her powers. Vision would be occupied with Crystal.
Even if so, I made sure Sersi taking down Sue and Moondragon was quick.

I dont doubt she can multi-task her powers, but the fact is you have her

1)change the make up of her mind
2)teleport her entire team
3)invade the mind of invisible woman
4) Direct her to attack her team mate
4)invade the mind of crystal
5)direct her to attack her team mate
6)invade the mind of speed
7) direct him to attack his team mate

All before Vision is mentioned in your strat. Even an Eternal would take time doing all those things, especially since her attacks on moondragon and Invisible Woman wouldnt work due to the shield and psi link, and she would be being attack by Invisible Womand and Moondragon. Vision would have had plenty of time to make his attack.

[Jessica Drew]

Would Moondragon be powerful enough to defend against's Sersi's psi attack against Sue and subsequently against herself with only the psi link?

I believe the outcome of the battle hinges upon the answer to that question.

[justinkos91]

Originally Posted by Shyft

The scan implies she is immune to all her powers - otherwise Sersi would have just TP'd her. Besides, read the strat - all my teams actions take place at the same time. Moondragon creates her psi-link as her very first action, as Invisible Woman is creating her shield and attacking Sersi. Its the very first thing Moondragon does. So their minds would be protected, or Sersi would have to at least battle against Moondragon - it wouldnt be a simple take over.

Moondragon can't sense or track Sersi, she made her mind impenetrable.

Also, Invisible Woman isn't completely immune to telepathy, there's been a couple times she's been affected by it while in her shield. During Onslaught, in the midst of a telepathic storm, Sue's invisible shield and Cable's telekinesis were what was protecting them, note, that she needed Cable's help.

Cable also telepathically contacted her, while she was shielded. There is no way Cable is stronger than Sersi, considering he was afflicted with the TO virus that affected his system and powers. That's one example I can think of off the top if my head where telepathy has affected Sue while she was shielded.

Originally Posted by Shyft

I dont doubt she can multi-task her powers, but the fact is you have her

1)change the make up of her mind
2)teleport her entire team
3)invade the mind of invisible woman
4) Direct her to attack her team mate
4)invade the mind of crystal
5)direct her to attack her team mate
6)invade the mind of speed
7) direct him to attack his team mate

She changed her mind first. She then teleported. Those weren't multi-tasked, those happened seperately. Sersi did invade Sue's mind, but like other telepaths, can enter more than one mind at once. With the illusion planting, all she had to do was slip into Crystal's mind, implant the illusion, then leave but Crystal would still be affected and influenced, nonetheless. Plus Sersi's illusion powers affect the senses, not the mind. The only multi-tasking I placed was Sersi being in Sue's mind and planting the illusion in Crystal's mind. That and still remaining in Sue's mind and transmutating Moondragon. Even after Moondragon's takedown, Sersi breaks the illusion and focuses on Speed.

Overall, two multi-taskings...

[justinkos91]

Double Post!

[Jessica Drew]

As you've proved, Sersi can enter two minds at once, but can she dominate both of those minds while a powerful psi is inside their minds as well and another (the Vision) is attacking her...all in the heat of battle? In the scan you provided, Sersi seems to intimate that it takes time to prepare...whatever it is she's preparing, but that preparation involves her entering and connecting two minds. If that type of psi connection takes her a few moments to prepare--and it might not, as I've not read that issue--then I doubt that she'd be able to do what you have her do under those conditions.

It's possible, though. I'm not an expert on Sersi. Given that she's able to knock out Sue and Moondragon (via Sandman), then I belive the Vision takes Sersi down. After she's down, then Crystal is free, which leaves Crystal + Vision + Namor + Speed against Sandman + Firebird + Hulking, and I'd give that match to the former.