Alrighty, it's semi-final time. To anyone who intends to vote, please hold off for a day or two to give the participants time to post their write-ups. I'm pencilling in 21:00 EST on Thursday the 5th of October as the voting deadline, so you'll have about ten days in total to cast your votes. Thanks.

The Nephilim - The Coalition

I'll try and see if I can squeeze one in, but no guarantees.

His team has no prep and is going into this fight with no knowledge of who or what they're up against.

Currently in brain fog status. But feel free to vote!

Introducing the Coalition!:
http://www.comicboards.com/php/show.php?rpy=comicbattles-2017082215254370&search=Nephilim&layout=thread

"I am made of things your philosophy will never comprehend." -Loki

Doesn't prevent this from coming down to rough battles. For prep, it is unknown what level of tech skill Dark Claw has. Savage with the Q-Bands can just siphon Kyle's ring powers.

One month of training with Q-Bands doesn't make him Quasar. Kyle has prior experience with both rings, especially the GL Ring, obviously and they can also absorb energy. Who you gonna go with? The newbie that has 1 month of training with a weapon he's never used before and no knowledge of what he's facing or the veteran that has prior experience with both of his items and detailed knowledge of what he's going up against.

As for Dark Claw...yes his appearances are limited, but it was shown in his one shot issue that he has a Batcave with tech and equipment similar to Batman's. I don't think it takes a big leap of faith to assume his knowledge and tech smarts are on par with Batman's.

TEAM DYNAMICS:

I clearly wasn't counting on first-rate teamwork when I picked these characters, but I did have a rationale for how they might be able to function reasonably well together. My intention was that Loki would assume a leadership role, rather than working with the others as equal partners. I don't think Amora would have any great problem with that, given that he's more accustomed to leadership than she is, more powerful, and a prince of the realm they both hail from. And between his manipulative skill and her feminine wiles, I feel the two of them could get the other three to act as their unwitting henchmen. Loki would do most of the planning; those plans would then be relayed to Amora, who'd persuade the others to carry out their assignments as personal favours to her. She'd also play peacemaker, should any tempers flare up. So that's a quick overview of how I see my team managing to cooperate with reasonable efficiency.


PREP:

Reviewing the dossiers on the opposing team, Loki immediately recognises the problem Magneto poses (with all the metal his own team is carrying), and concludes that Stonecutter's engineering skills are the best way to counteract that threat. Using Amora as a mouthpiece, he instructs Stonecutter to devise and build a reliable countermeasure for Magneto as a top priority. Amora presents this as a personal request from her -- an opportunity for Stonecutter to impress her with his skill -- and he's too bewitched by her charms to refuse. (It doesn't hurt that it's in his own self-interest, what with him being equipped with Cyber's adamantium skin and Wolverine's claws.)

Now, there are a few ways Stonecutter could go about this. Iron Man used a demagnetising agent to render his armour immune to Magneto's powers.

 


Doom was able to shield his armour from magnetism with a force field, and could turn Magneto's power against him by reversing the magnetic polarity of his armour.






Thor was able to absorb Magneto's force field into Mjolnir, leaving him exposed to attack.




And Forge built a neutralizer gun which theoretically would've depowered Magneto, had it been used against him.




I'd argue that Stonecutter's engineering skills appear to surpass those of Stark, Doom or Forge, so I think he could potentially reproduce any of the above countermeasures. What I'm going to propose though is an approximation of something he's made already. As shown in PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN Vol 2 #11, Stonecutter was able to build a "secret underground lair of hi-tech machinery" within a day of coming into existence. Pretty fast work, to say the least.

http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Peter-Parker-Spider-Man/Issue-11?id=30205




That being so, a week should be enough time for him to recreate the flying fortress seen in AVENGERS Vol 3 #24-25. Like the previous fortress, it'll be made of stone, to limit Magneto's ability to affect it directly (Interior Alaska contains several mountain ranges for Stonecutter to source material from). It'll have force fields around it, to make doubly sure Magneto can't affect it or anyone inside. And it'll have defences strong enough to repel the likes of Iron Man, Wonder Man and Thor.

  




During the final minutes of prep, Loki augments Bedlam's mental powers, as he did those of the carnival fortune teller, Sandu, to ensure they far outstrip those of the opposing team's telepath, Cable.

 


My team is now primed and ready for...


THE BATTLE:

Gathered aboard Stonecutter's fortress, high in the air, my team surveys the surrounding area through interior viewscreens. Stonecutter stands at the helm of the vessel, manning the controls and monitoring sensor readouts. A few miles away, Joe's team hovers in the air, surveying the battlefield with their own abilities. Within seconds, Majestic spies the distant vessel with his superhuman vision.

He's about to communicate this to his teammates when Cable begins groaning in pain. With his powers increased by Loki, Bedlam has located Joe's team as well -- Cable's telepathic signature in particular stood out like a beacon to him -- and seeing no reason to delay, he's zeroed in on Cable's mind and is bombarding it with an immensely powerful stream of raw psychic energy. Cable's teammates want to aid him, to ease his suffering in some way as he writhes in visible agony, but there's nothing they can do except watch in helpless frustration. The pressure within Cable's mind builds and builds, till his head spectacularly explodes in a shower of white fragments.

Joe's team look on in bewilderment as Cable's headless form falls from the sky, but they're all experienced combatants and know they can't afford to linger. Majestic urges his teammates to follow him, and the group streaks toward the vessel post-haste. Even as they close within a few hundred feet though, Majestic suddenly vanishes in a flash of green light. Unbeknownst to his allies, he's been teleported aboard the vessel by Loki, and bound in shackles and magics which deny him the use of his powers. Amora signals toward Stonecutter, who strides over to the captive Kherubim and promptly guts him with Wolverine's claws.

 






With a mounting sense of urgency, the remainder of Joe's team assaults Stonecutter's vessel in earnest, but find themselves sternly rebuffed by it's defences. Joe's automatons in particular take a pounding from the vessel's defence-cannons.

Ultimate Tony Stark's mind races: "This technology is unlike any I've encountered. That thing looks like something Aztecs might've built, but it's defence systems are highly advanced... and they keep modifying, compensating for anything we hit them with. If I just had more lab time, perhaps I could cobble something together, figure out a way through... but out here, in the heat of battle..." Before he can complete that thought, he realises an external force is attempting to take control of his armour. Stonecutter has remotely hacked into the armour's operating systems, and is systematically overriding it's security lockouts. Seizing full control of the armour, he commands the faceplate to slide back, aims a repulsor at Stark's exposed face, and fires it at full power.




Magneto can scarcely believe what's happening. His team spent nearly a week preparing for this battle; they thought they knew what they were up against, but hadn't planned for anything like this. Three of his teammates are down or missing, the automatons have been reduced to junk, and his powers of magnetism have so far proved ineffectual against the ancient-looking craft. Adding to his problems, the Alaskan wilderness below provides frustratingly little in the way of metal for him to exploit. Rarely has the proud mutant felt so impotent. All of a sudden, his thoughts cloud over, as an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness takes hold of him. From within the safety of the vessel, the Enchantress has cast a sleep induction spell over him. Without his conscious mind to drive his powers, Magneto begins to plummet toward the ground far below.




John Stewart spots Magneto's plight and is about to fly over to help, when Kuurth suddenly appears between them, hurling his hammer directly at the veteran Green Lantern. Reacting on instinct, Stewart has just enough time to throw up a shield construct, but the unstoppable hammer pays little heed, plowing inexorably through the shield and it's creator in quick succession.



  


With no one left to save him, the slumbering Master of Magnetism continues his rapid descent, eventually impacting the snow-covered ground with bone-crunching force.

"Is that it then...?" queries Amora.

"Yes, I believe it is." replies Loki. "Why...? You sound almost... disappointed."

"I suppose I am. I just didn't expect it to be over quite so quickly."

"Fret not, my dear. There's still another battle to come. Perhaps our next opponents shall prove a trifle more challenging."

HA! Made ya look, Joe!

I vote for you.

Joe gets my vote.

It's interesting that a hero/villain performs one amazing feat, or use a power they haven't used for 20+ years, and that automatically propels them to a high status despite scans and evidence to the contrary. I don't know what is worse, selective feat picking that has only been done once or twice 20, or more, years ago or ignoring evidence from scans or the lack thereof. We need to stop putting our favorite heroes/villains on pedestals and start putting them where they really belong. But it's evident that people never will because they would rather accuse others of cherry picking feats, when they don't, and being 'morally superior' when they aren't. I guess being honest and as fair as possible only opens one up to being the target of childish accusations and fault finding by those who insist on acting petty and childish. What happened to a good debate between two civil, mature, adults?

nt

It's interesting that a hero/villain performs one amazing feat, or use a power they haven't used for 20+ years, and that automatically propels them to a high status despite scans and evidence to the contrary. I don't know what is worse, selective feat picking that has only been done once or twice 20, or more, years ago or ignoring evidence from scans or the lack thereof. We need to stop putting our favorite heroes/villains on pedestals and start putting them where they really belong. But it's evident that people never will because they would rather accuse others of cherry picking feats, when they don't, and being 'morally superior' when they aren't. I guess being honest and as fair as possible only opens one up to being the target of childish accusations and fault finding by those who insist on acting petty and childish. What happened to a good debate between two civil, mature, adults?

"I am made of things your philosophy will never comprehend." -Loki

nt

It's interesting that a hero/villain performs one amazing feat, or use a power they haven't used for 20+ years, and that automatically propels them to a high status despite scans and evidence to the contrary. I don't know what is worse, selective feat picking that has only been done once or twice 20, or more, years ago or ignoring evidence from scans or the lack thereof. We need to stop putting our favorite heroes/villains on pedestals and start putting them where they really belong. But it's evident that people never will because they would rather accuse others of cherry picking feats, when they don't, and being 'morally superior' when they aren't. I guess being honest and as fair as possible only opens one up to being the target of childish accusations and fault finding by those who insist on acting petty and childish. What happened to a good debate between two civil, mature, adults?

No counters for magic for Loki & The Enchantress (who have a week prep) and could just bfr Majestic or GL or Magneto.Maybe with a Soul Sword or Magical hammer/axe they could, but none was taken.

In the rules though, you start out with basic understanding of how your items work plus the month training. Even with prep, there's not much in your items that would instantly stop tough opponents on the opposing team.

If you had picked up the Claw of Horus or Wand Watoomb...

... I'm a bit disappointed with the turnout so far, so this'll allow more time for people to read your write-up, and hopefully for a greater number of votes to be cast.

Just to clarify, I don't intend to vote on your battle with Neph, but I encourage others who haven't voted yet to do so. Thanks to everyone who's voted already.

Ugh. How about Friday? Next tourney already please. Zzzz...

Both teams are incredibly powerful as would be expected at this stage, but I do put lot of stock in prep and Neph has none. Edge Joe.

nt

I'll close the voting on Monday, and post the results on the same day. I feel obliged to give Joe those extra few days to get his argument for winning across, since I'm acting as both the host and his competition in this round, which puts me in something of a conflict of interest. But I'll try and get the final match posted as soon as possible after that.

To reduce the gap between the end of this round and the start of the next, I thought we might as well determine the battlefield for the final right here. To ensure the selection is random, I need you to copy and paste the full list of battlefields below into a list randomizer, like the one also linked below, then copy and paste the randomized list in a reply to this post. The battlefield nearest the top of the randomized list, that hasn't been used already (and I've made a full list of the ones that have been), will be the battlefield for the final. Thanks in advance.


https://www.random.org/lists/


1. Asgard (City of Asgard)
2. Galápagos Islands
3. Palm Islands, Dubai
4. JLA WatchtowerF
5. Themyscira
6. Knowhere
7. Avalon
8. Blue Area of the Moon
9. Marvel Manhattan
10. Wakanda
11. Limbo
12. Warworld
13. Genosha
14. Apokolips
15. Grand Canyon
16. Hoth
17. The Gobi Desert
18. Swiss Alps
19. Hallelujah Mountains
20. Gotham City
21. Avenger’s Hydrobase
22. Murder World
23. The Savage Land
24. Edinburgh
25. Serengeti Plains
26. Metropolis
27. Mephisto’s Realm
28. Skull Island
29. The Carrier (In the Bleed)
30. Mustafar
31. Dagobah
32. Carlsbad Caverns
33. Madripoor
34. Broxton, Oklahoma
35. Morlock Tunnels
36. Muir island
37. Tatooine
38. Nepalese Himalayas
39. Wundagore Mountain
40. Thanagar
41. The Deathstar
42. Sakaar
43. Mojoverse
44. Chandilar
45. Gorilla City
46. Slaughter Swamp
47. Cloud City, Bespin
48. Nanda Parbat
49. K’un Lun
50. Alaskan Interior Wilderness
51. Thunderbolt Mountain
52. Zion (Matrix 2)
53. Skyrim
54. The Breakworld
55. Star City
56. Qward
57. Keystone City
58. Coast City
59. Vanaheim
60. Aflheim
61. Jotunheim
62. Nidavellir
63. Svartelheim
64. Muspelheim
65. New Genesis
66. Kashyyyk
67. Zenn-La
68. Gunga City
69. Kamino
70. Latveria
71. Silent Hill
72. Masada
73. Salvation, Texas
74. Dac (Mon Calamari)
75. Fawcett City
76. Battleworld
77. Skartaris
78. Machu Picchu
79. Kahndaq
80. Hala
81. Skrull Throneworld
82. Markovia
83. Santa Prisca
84. Costa Verde
85. Dinosaur Island
86. Utopia [X-men Island]
87. Mega City One
88. New York City
89. Mumbai
90. Tokyo
91. London
92. Amnesty Bay
93. Moria (LOTR)
94. Deep Space 9
95. Felucia
96. Utapau
97. LV-426 (Aliens)
98. Yautja Homeworld (Predator)
99. Walking Dead Atlanta
100. Shield Helicarrier over the Indian Ocean
101. Tower of Fate
102. Hyrule
103. King’s Landing (GOT)
104. Mad Max Fury Road Dessert
105. Halo
106. Orgrimmar (WOW)
107. Tristram (Diablo)
108. Mount Doom (LOTR)
109. Minas Morgul (LOTR)
110. Rohan (LOTR)
111. Rivendell (LOTR)
112. Lonely Mountain (LOTR)
113. Minas Tirith (LOTR)
114. Iron Islands (GOT)
115. Castle Black (GOT)
116. Meereen (GOT)
117. Dorne (GOT)
118. Qarth (GOT)
119. Winterfell (GOT)
120. Bravos (GOT)
121. Oz
122. Narnia
123. Glasgow
124. Purgatory (Supernatural)
125. Machu Picchu
126. Mann (Interstellar)
127. Miller (Interstellar)
128. Edmunds (Interstellar)
129. Planet #2 of the M-344/G System (Pitch Black)
130. Castle Greyskull
131. Snake Mountain
132. Cybertron
133. Justice League Satellite II
134. Attilan
135. Krypton
136. Oa
137. Central City
138. Tyanna [Negative Zone]
139. Monster Isle
140. Kranaltine
141. Kree-Lar
142. Spartak
143. Smallville
144. The Outer Hebrides
145. Zamaron
146. Odym
147. Korugar
148. Xandar (MCU)
149. Fangorn Forest (LOTR)
150. The Vale of Arryn (GOT)
151. The Great Smoky Mountains
152. Alcatraz Island
153. Athens, Greece
154. The English Lake District
155. Liverpool
156. Belfast
157. Cork
158. Dublin
159. Blüdhaven (Remains)
160. Manchester

You...GO!

156. Belfast
2. 46. Slaughter Swamp
3. 6. Knowhere
4. 105. Halo
5. 57. Keystone City
6. 70. Latveria
7. 152. Alcatraz Island
8. 94. Deep Space 9
9. 13. Genosha
10. 1. Asgard (City of Asgard)
11. 8. Blue Area of the Moon
12. 23. The Savage Land
13. 42. Sakaar
14. 88. New York City
15. 32. Carlsbad Caverns
16. 112. Lonely Mountain (LOTR)
17. 86. Utopia [X-men Island]
18. 29. The Carrier (In the Bleed)
19. 80. Hala
20. 2. Galápagos Islands
21. 51. Thunderbolt Mountain
22. 47. Cloud City, Bespin
23. 66. Kashyyyk
24. 34. Broxton, Oklahoma
25. 27. Mephisto’s Realm
26. 25. Serengeti Plains
27. 65. New Genesis
28. 103. King’s Landing (GOT)
29. 20. Gotham City
30. 113. Minas Tirith (LOTR)
31. 100. Shield Helicarrier over the Indian Ocean
32. 93. Moria (LOTR)
33. 53. Skyrim
34. 126. Mann (Interstellar)
35. 148. Xandar (MCU)
36. 85. Dinosaur Island
37. 52. Zion (Matrix 2)
38. 108. Mount Doom (LOTR)
39. 139. Monster Isle
40. 117. Dorne (GOT)
41. 91. London
42. 43. Mojoverse
43. 84. Costa Verde
44. 128. Edmunds (Interstellar)
45. 150. The Vale of Arryn (GOT)
46. 15. Grand Canyon
47.
48. 153. Athens, Greece
49. 136. Oa
50. 37. Tatooine
51. 82. Markovia
52. 140. Kranaltine
53. 39. Wundagore Mountain
54. 154. The English Lake District
55. 56. Qward
56. 61. Jotunheim
57. 83. Santa Prisca
58. 9. Marvel Manhattan
59. 59. Vanaheim
60. 12. Warworld
61. 64. Muspelheim
62. 44. Chandilar
63. 115. Castle Black (GOT)
64. 45. Gorilla City
65. 35. Morlock Tunnels
66. 62. Nidavellir
67. 107. Tristram (Diablo)
68. 33. Madripoor
69. 158. Dublin
70. 106. Orgrimmar (WOW)
71. 41. The Deathstar
72. 101. Tower of Fate
73. 81. Skrull Throneworld
74. 74. Dac (Mon Calamari)
75. 121. Oz
76. 104. Mad Max Fury Road Dessert
77. 147. Korugar
78. 14. Apokolips
79. 31. Dagobah
80. 36. Muir island
81. 125. Machu Picchu
82. 18. Swiss Alps
83. 67. Zenn-La
84. 38. Nepalese Himalayas
85. 159. Blüdhaven (Remains)
86. 135. Krypton
87. 151. The Great Smoky Mountains
88. 63. Svartelheim
89. 137. Central City
90. 10. Wakanda
91. 72. Masada
92. 24. Edinburgh
93. 133. Justice League Satellite II
94. 123. Glasgow
95. 138. Tyanna [Negative Zone]
96. 48. Nanda Parbat
97. 116. Meereen (GOT)
98. 99. Walking Dead Atlanta
99. 131. Snake Mountain
100. 77. Skartaris
101. 122. Narnia
102. 3. Palm Islands, Dubai
103. 127. Miller (Interstellar)
104. 69. Kamino
105. 40. Thanagar
106. 110. Rohan (LOTR)
107. 155. Liverpool
108. 143. Smallville
109. 16. Hoth
110. 78. Machu Picchu
111. 98. Yautja Homeworld (Predator)
112. 157. Cork
113. 5. Themyscira
114. 149. Fangorn Forest (LOTR)
115. 95. Felucia
116. 11. Limbo
117. 22. Murder World
118. 21. Avenger’s Hydrobase
119. 111. Rivendell (LOTR)
120. 141. Kree-Lar
121. 60. Aflheim
122. 49. K’un Lun
123. 87. Mega City One
124. 55. Star City
125. 92. Amnesty Bay
126. 130. Castle Greyskull
127. 119. Winterfell (GOT)
128. 79. Kahndaq
129. 120. Bravos (GOT)
130. 160. Manchester
131. 76. Battleworld
132. 4. JLA WatchtowerF
133. 58. Coast City
134. 129. Planet #2 of the M-344/G System (Pitch Black)
135. 50. Alaskan Interior Wilderness
136. 54. The Breakworld
137. 114. Iron Islands (GOT)
138. 145. Zamaron
139. 146. Odym
140. 96. Utapau
141. 97. LV-426 (Aliens)
142. 142. Spartak
143. 17. The Gobi Desert
144. 73. Salvation, Texas
145. 71. Silent Hill
146. 118. Qarth (GOT)
147. 30. Mustafar
148. 19. Hallelujah Mountains
149. 90. Tokyo
150. 28. Skull Island
151. 26. Metropolis
152. 132. Cybertron
153. 102. Hyrule
154. 7. Avalon
155. 75. Fawcett City
156. 68. Gunga City
157. 89. Mumbai
158. 134. Attilan
159. 144. The Outer Hebrides
160. 124. Purgatory (Supernatural)
161. 109. Minas Morgul (LOTR)

It's interesting that a hero/villain performs one amazing feat, or use a power they haven't used for 20+ years, and that automatically propels them to a high status despite scans and evidence to the contrary. I don't know what is worse, selective feat picking that has only been done once or twice 20, or more, years ago or ignoring evidence from scans or the lack thereof. We need to stop putting our favorite heroes/villains on pedestals and start putting them where they really belong. But it's evident that people never will because they would rather accuse others of cherry picking feats, when they don't, and being 'morally superior' when they aren't. I guess being honest and as fair as possible only opens one up to being the target of childish accusations and fault finding by those who insist on acting petty and childish. What happened to a good debate between two civil, mature, adults?

These are the battlefields which have been used so far in the tournament. Belfast isn't among them, so I guess we're off to Northern Ireland for the final.


Round 1:

Knowhere
Zamaron
Carlsbad Caverns
The Gobi Desert
Odym
Tokyo
K’un Lun
Blüdhaven (Remains)


Round 2:

Rivendell (LOTR)
Tristram (Diablo)
Latveria
Serengeti Plains
Nanda Parbat
The Great Smoky Mountains
Amnesty Bay
JLA Watchtower


Round 3:

Hoth
Smallville
The Breakworld
Kashyyyk


Round 4:

Alaskan Interior Wilderness
Castle Black (GOT)