Gender: Male Location: Planning to take over the WORLD!
since i'm bored (and because this thread has utterly derailed from its original, desired course...) i'll go over some brief thoughts on the teams as i see them. i'ma give 2 rankings. first will be based on nothing more than the teams themselves, taking into account only the showings and feats of the characters as i know them. think of this initial ranking as a raw score.
the second set of rankings will take into account the person in control of the characters, as WELL as the team itself.
based solely on the chosen characters:
#9--Decter: cable is great, one of the most versatile and powerful in the field. skrull is...lackluster at best though, with so many more powerful still in the iter unchosen. dr. light is also an underwhelming choice at this level.
#8: boks: comet is a cool and versatile pick. has some great showings. occult is....a typically odd choice from beatboks, very underwhelming on the surface. starman is also...underwhelming, relying too much on invention and weapons that could (seemingly) be exploited.
#7: DS: the superman clone is obviously a great pick up--the single greatest powerhouse in the tourney. but fantomex offers little outside his misdirection, and matter lad may suffer a bit from...obscurity. looking at the pieces individually, as opposed to synergistically, a case could be made that this collection may be the weakest gathering in the tourney.
#6: BW: again, looking at the pieces individually, this grouping might seem underwhelming. hawkman is clearly limited at this level and serves only one purpose...pym's a great pick up and creel has the potential to be deadly in these things though.
#5: Scoob: bolt is solid, his voice a great equalizer. he also has some great versatility. mags is a good pick, with many great showings and the atom is very solid as well. the collection strong, but lacking in a couple of areas that might possibly be exploited by other, more versatile teams.
#4: abhi: i like the picks--starhawk served him well in the last tourney, and black is a great pick up. cap atom is also solid, but i wonder a bit at the pick as opposed to others who might have a similar powerset without the exploitable weaknesses. collectively strong, with a very wide range of abilities, able to counter most any type of threat.
#3: smurph: very strong, well balanced team. may have a weakness that can be exploited, but it wouldn't be easy. a powerhouse collection of individual characters, with a huge range of versatility. gonna be very difficult to take this team down...
#2: lob: as usual, lob is a master of picking characters. lol it would be easy to argue cassie to be over the cap for the tourney. coupled with an omega energy manipulator and monica? speed, raw power and mental powers. the trinity covered, in a way no other combo can touch on the surface. no glaring weakness, and many great showings to fall back on. the team is capable of doing a lot of harm in this thing...
#1: carver: maybe i'm being a bit biased. i love ww. her combo of raw power, speed and magic are a deadly combo at this level. add in doom, who of all the characters in this thing has by far and away the best individual showings? carv has done with 2 characters what know one else imo has done with 3. there is no weakness in the combo, and somewhere in his hundreds of showings, doom has found an answer to nearly every challenge. if used correctly, this combo would be extremely difficult to take down....
now, i'll re-rank (without the commentary) based on my knowledge of individual posters, how they've done in bz's and tourneys and on just how clever i feel they can get with their amalgams....
#9: decter (sorry bro, don't know much about you, but here's hoping you do well. )
#8: lob
#7: carver (dude, surprise the sh!t out of me! that combo is too good to waste!)
#6: boks
#5: abhi
#4: ds
#3: bw
#2: scoob
#1: smurph
on the surface a couple of plans look pretty transparent. at a glance, bw's combo looks unbeatable--we'll wait and see what answers people have....
were i a betting man, smurph is likely where i'd put my money, but i honestly believe anyone in the top 4 of the second list can take it. i live to be surprised though and would love to see one of the others take the crown.
I don't actually know how obvious Blair's combo is, so I have no idea if people have answers to it or not. I'm less sure of what Smurph's doing, but as a whole I agree with your assessment.