Hey. I added a post on page 1 (toward the bottom) to plug goober's Battle Zone. Hasn't been used in a while, but it's a nice premise, and provides a way for people to create and regulate their own tourney-style matches.
Recommended for those looking for experience or a debating opportunity without the months-long commitment of a tourney.
I think 2 things are clear. One, Marvel > DC. Two, men > women.
More seriously, though, the Marvel/DC numbers are startling to me. Slight Marvel leaning on this forum, sure, but tourneys are all about researching and knowing all kinds of powerful/versatile/obscure characters. Whoever fits the bill the best, regardless of company. It's natural for a few more Marvel than DC characters, since the company is slightly better known. But 42-9?! I wonder if maybe Marvel as a company is simply more diverse and powerful at any given level (herald and below, of course).
2. The World Series of Poker has all of its events, leading up to the Main Event. But then at the end of each year they invite the 8-10 best players in the world, and maybe the most recent year's main event champion, to play in a winner-take-all match. It's for money, sure, but it's mainly as a way to showcase the best and brightest all at the same table, which rarely happens otherwise.
So my idea: Invite a group of maybe 8-10 combatants to participate. The "best and brightest" as it were. Tourney winners, notable entrants, etc. No rules, power levels, schedules, etc. Matches would be Battlezone fights, with participants finding a convenient time, setting the rules themselves, etc. and the parameters and rules would change match to match. So maybe we have jinzin vs. leonidas (2 tourney winners chosen at random) in a street-level match. Then Digi vs. goober in an abstract battle to see who plays the winner.
Here's the catch. The winner gets...hell I dunno yet. A championship t-shirt, maybe a little bit of cash, a DVD, etc. An actual real-life prize. I'll front the bill and actually send it to the winner. I'd "host" and also participate.
It might take us a year. It wouldn't matter. There wouldn't be "down time" because it wouldn't be a tourney-style format. There wouldn't be rule disputes because everything would be set by the participants for each match. The idea is to provide a fun competition without the stress of a tourney, and to reward those who have dedicated time and effort to tourneys.
Broken down to brick-ish characters- I think the only true "brick" there is Sasquatch, maybe Wonder Man.
Not startling, as I didn't expect many pure bricks would win, but still goes to show how versatility > all, especially in tourneys.
In regards to your assessment about Marvel vs. DC choices:
Something else to consider is DC continuity. It may not be a big deal, but the distinction between PC and Current characters is somewhat blurred, and also cuts out a fairly significant portion of DC's history.
Plus, our Marvel respect threads far outnumber our DC threads. Just something to keep in mind.
All good points. I'm still not sure that those factors account for the over 4-to-1 difference in companies, but they certainly contribute to it.
And yeah, versatility pwns. Unless you're doing "physical" so much better than anyone else (which is hard which specific caps) it's not worth it to have the best brick. That's the same logic I used to convince KFish to dump Abomination in the current tourney.
Juggernaut is a notable exception to the maxim that the usefulness of bricks is very limited. By all accounts, he should have a tourney win. He just hasn't been utilized fully.
Interesting. So at least part of the Marvel bias is your doing. It's 25-8 when you remove your characters, so it still definitely exists. And among the current tourney hopefuls, only Charlotte's squad is more DC than Marvel (4-2). I have 2, you have 1-2, and Blair/Smurph has 0 (I think).
I still think it's somewhat of a trend. Smurph mentioned that the crisis destroys some feats, which is true. Perhaps the bias is because of this, because a lot of exotic (i.e. weird) versatility feats come from more classic eras. Take away pre-1986 Thor feats, for example. Mjolnir suddenly becomes less godly in versatility (though still powerful). Think of the wonky sh*t Superman did pre-crisis. Think he'd be more useful with those added in? Undoubtedly. Same goes for a lot of characters. So there's likely just as much useful stuff in DC, but we only have access to parts of it.
And Surfer's just too obvious. I don't think I could pick him at this point simply on principle at High Herald, despite the fact that he's very useful. I still prefer Thor, to be honest, who has been almost as useful in his history (1 win, a couple more finals appearances, and he likely would've had another if I hadn't been booted from Evangel's last outing).
What's funny about that is that I almost never read DC except stuff I need for the tourney. The only DC series I order on regular basis just for pleasure are Birds of Prey (hence Oracle in the tourney, not simply for purpose of walking talking memory bank).
And they're getting canceled soon((
Clearly a lot is influenced by what we read. Every tourney sees people picking their favorites, because they know those characters the best and can get the most out of them, and also won't be blindsided with bad showings they don't know about. Long pig/Dr. Strange; Raoul/Superman; Scoob/Thor; Digi/Minion; etc. etc.
I read as much DC as Marvel (maybe slightly more) but most of my picks this tourney were still Marvel.
And I wish I could utilize Wildstorm more, which is my truest company, but my best shot was/is The Doctor, who was on my squad in Evangel's. I never really got to let loose with him, which always made me a bit sad. Wrecking everyone with Minion in this tourney (so far) has been a nice consolation though.
My two previous tourney have K' and Hawksmoor in the teams, but both my boys got aproximately 1 moment of glory each and didn't do anything good for the rest of the thing.
Girls (Ems and Babs) seem to be much more of a success so far.
It also has quite a bit to do with power levels. DC has its fair share of meta levels, but it's obvious that most of Marvel's most popular characters are below that level.
I considered Colossus for the current tourney, but he's too one-dimensional. I wanted him for his magic resistance, but Black Knight provided that along with more versatility.
Cyke's....eh. I suppose he's got good energy output for his level, and I'm interested to see what happens if I face him with Havok on my squad.
Leadership and tactical prowess is kinda worthless in tourneys. Ask Optimus Prime....he and I found that out the hard way.
And if you could win a tourney with Colossus on the roster, I'd give you a medal. Dude's a brick with magic resistance. Not awful, but not great either. Imo, at least.
KMC Community Forums
Oct 17th, 2008 10:59 PM
.....
((
