Welcome to Contest of Champions (CoC) Podcast, Episode #8! CoC is an interactive player vs. player game where your favorite Marvel characters go head to head to answer the eternal question of “who can beat whom in a fight?”
Join Jeff Jackson and Ian Johnson every week as they welcome two team managers who have a stable of five characters each ready to blast, zap, snikt, thwip, and smash their way to be the last one standing! It’s a little bit fan fiction, a little bit debate, a little bit role playing, and a whole bunch of fun! It’s an interactive adventure for the managers, and for the ComicAttack.net community.
This week, we’re joined by Dan Briand and Eli Anthony!
First, we want to remind you, if you are a comic artist, and you would like to provide a sketch or drawing of the characters battling this week, please send a link to your sketch to jeff@comicattack.net. We would love to spotlight your stuff!
Next, on this episode we shared our weekly Fights of the Week! First up was Dan, who spotlighted the ever-entertaining X-Factor #225 by Peter David and Leonard Kirk, where a naked zombie lady wakes up and attacks the team, ending with a french kiss on Layla Miller. Jeff had a real problem with X-Men Schism #4 by Jason Aaron and Alan Davis, but the Cyclops vs. Wolverine battle was epic. Sticking with the X-Men theme, Ian liked Fear Itself: Uncanny X-Force #3 by Rob Williams and Simone Bianchi, where Deadpool cuts off Jonathan Standish’s hand and waxes theologically. Finally, Eli went back into the vault and pulled out 2009’s War of Kings #3, where Gladiator reveals his true allegiance by firing an eye beam through Smasher’s head.
Most importantly, here’s the show:
Episode #8
(You can click the link to listen to the podcast or right click “save link as” to download it.)
This week, we have our first DOUBLE TEAM of the game, and boy, is it a doozy! You can click on the images to find out the characters’ power sets and history.
Skaar
&
Annihilus
vs.
Beta Ray Bill
-
Beta Ray Bill by Ted Kim
at the International Space Station
Here are the rules for the managers, check ’em out.
Here’s how CoC works for you folks at home:
1. Listen to the podcast.
2. Come back here to Comicattack.net to this very post. Share your opinion, comment below, and help sway the public opinion. Even comments provided by the Comicattack.net fans will be considered by Jeff & Ian in their decisions.
3. VOTE on the poll below! You have until Sunday night, October 9 (we’re taking a break next week) at 9:00pm EST to vote. That’s when we record the show. Votes at the time of recording will be the only ones that will count.
4. E-mail us at jeff@comicattack.net or leave us a voicemail at 706 761-0115 with your questions, comments, or rationales. You may make it on the show!
5. Listen to the next episode to see who wins! The winner will be announced at the beginning of the show.
6. One small disclaimer: This is all subjective. Have fun with it and if your favorite character doesn’t win, laugh it off and keep on listening!
Don’t forget to leave us an iTunes Review by clicking here. Follow us on Twitter @CoCComicattack, or Like us on Facebook. To listen to previous episodes and battles, visit this link.
In 2 weeks: Andy Liegl vs. Tom McNeely.
CoC Standings
Eli Anthony 2-0-1
Beta Ray Bill
Dr. Doom
Red Hulk
Invisible Woman
Prince of Orphans
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Dan Briand 2-1-0
Thor
Black Bolt
Skaar
Annihilus
Protector (Noh-Varr)
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 0
Andy Liegl 1-2-0
Ms. Marvel
Magneto
Volstagg
Exodus
Hercules
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Tom McNeely 0-2-1
Gladiator
Dr. Strange
Thor Girl
Quasar
Wonder Man
Environment Switch Card: 1, Double Team Card: 1
Current Environments in Play:
Golden Gate Bridge
Sand Dunes, Death Valley, California
International Space Station
This week’s music is brought to you by Jerry Garcia & David Grisman, Horse Named Bill.
Jeff Jackson
jeff@comicattack.net
Remember people, before you vote take into consideration two things.
– Annihilus DOES NOT HAVE the cosmic control rod. It was the cosmic control rod that enabled him to fire energy blasts and survive unaided in space for a long time. Now he is left with nothing other than a teenage body, his wings to fly, and his claws to attack with.
– Skaar cannot fly. He will just be floating there in space. He has no projectile or long range attacks. He can’t really attack Beta Ray Bill unless Bill flies within his reach. And when Bill does that, Skaar is getting hammered… literally!
After listening to teh podcast, I have to say that there isn’t really a contest.
Annihlus would do just as Eli said and be greedy/paranoid (since he does want to kill all life if the universe) so I doubt he would co-operate much with Skaar since ultimately he wants Skaar dead too. And even still, he would probably realize Bill was more adept to fighting in space (since Annihlus can’t be too stupid) and if anything, would turn on Skaar, viewing it as an opportunity to be rid of one more being in his conquest for universal genocide. Annihlus seems to be an opportunist and would take this opportunity to be rid of Skaar.
Even if he did play nice, the only reason he was able to do anything (in the Annihalation series) was because of the Bands he got from Quasar. He just used his buggy army to destroy all (which that isnt a factor in the fight).
A whack or two (or even a energy beam) from Bill and he’s done.
Skaar can’t fly. Thats the biggest issue. Bill could fling him into the sun if he wanted too and unless Annihlus would go out of his way to help Skaar, which he wouldn’t. Bill wouldn’t kill Skaar though, so he’d just beat the mess out of him using his hammer, whacking him around like the ball in a pinball machine.
So yeah, Bill all the way.
Interesting….
I’m not sure I buy the whole Annihilus and Skaar not getting along argument. If Annihilus can team up with a hated adversary such as Reed Richards to take on a common enemy, surely he can work with Skaar. Neither are the best team players, but when both faced with a common enemy, I think they can put their whole destroy all life / I live in my fathers shadow complexes behind them and work together to fight Beta Ray Bill.
Now, if Aniihilus and Skaar have enough combined power to take out Beta Ray Bill is a different question.
I think BRB has this one. Why? Because I think there’s no doubt Thor would waffle both these guys and BRB is on that same cosmic/ape-s*** level. 😀
Leaning double team…
@ Andy – How man? Remember, Annihilus is at just a fraction of his former self, he’s got the body of a teenager. Also, without the cosmic control rod, he doesn’t have his energy blasts, his hieghtened durability, or his ability to survive in space. And both of them together don’t have strength enough to match Bill’s raw power. And how are they going to stand up to Stormbreaker?
Skaar. Skaar is insane.
Yes, Skaar is, but what can he do in this situation?
– Bill is stronger than Skaar.
– Skaar has a sword – Bill has Stormbreaker, an enchanted hammer
– Skaar can’t fly – Bill can. How will Skaar move about in space? What offense does he have other than throwing things at Bill?
BRB has fought Thor to a standstill, and made Galactus shake in his mighty boots. Skaar isn’t on that level yet (if he ever will be), and especially not in space. The environment is definitely the deal breaker even if you think Skaar is the man.
Let’s not forget that BRB has to KO BOTH opponents to win. He’d have to take out both at once to ensure a victory. Trying to take out one at a time would give the other enough time to recoup.
Skaar doesn’t need to fly to battle BRB. Don’t forget that the environment is the Space Station, with people on board. If BRB tries to take this fight outside, Skaar can just stay on the station and wait for Bill to come back. BRB would have no choice but to face Skaar. He’s not stupid, he’s not going to go out into space where he doesn’t have any footing.
Annihilus has teamed with Reed Richards, Blastaar & Thanos. He also works closely with Ravenous and other cohorts. He leads a friggin army. It’s not like he doesn’t know how to work with a team and manipulate people.
For all intents and purposes, Skaar and Annihilus will end up working together to defeat BRB. They can duke it out between themselves after.
Dan, Beta Ray Bill has fought multiple heralds of Galactus and come out on top. He has fought armies AND a herald of Galactus before at the same time. These two won’t be much trouble for him.
Say what you want about Annihilus’ great teamwork, but the guy is the biggest loner there is. Ravenous SERVES Annihilus, there’s no teamwork there. Its servitude. Thats also how he viewed Thanos. Moondragon scanned Annihilus’ mind and found that he saw Thanos as a lackey. Skaar won’t be content to be in any of those roles, and he won’t have Annihilus telling him what to do. Teamwork is a very doubtful thing from these two.
About the environment, they can’t fight inside the space station, its way too small. So, if Skaar wants to stay inside while Bill thumps Annihilus out in space, great, you just made this a one on one battle. And remember, Bill’s hammer, Stormbreaker, gives him the ability to teleport himself and others. He can easily teleport Skaar outside into space to meet his fate.
What will Skaar do when he goes from standing inside the space station, to floating a few miles away in space? Bill can do that with Stormbreaker.
What will Skaar do then?
Lets assume Annihlus CAN work together with Skaar.
Bill simply teleports outside of the space station to, say, on the moon. Skarr is left alone with the cosmonauts sipping on Vadka like it’s a Pepsi. Bill then teleports Annihlus directly in front of him, and wacks him with the hammer. Annihlus goes flying off into space. Bill teleports him back, directly in front of him. and smacks him again.
Just like a paddle ball.
Rinse and repeat till Annihlus is gone. Assuming Bill can do this relatively quickly, Annihlus can be knocked out in a matter of seconds.
Same for Skaar, teleport him to the moon, hit em, then teleport him back, hit em again, so on and so forth. Again, a matter of seconds. Bill could hit/teleport these guys so fast they wouldnt have time to react. The Russians would probably have him drunk by then anyway, but lets assume Skarr can hold his liquor xD
A note, when Bill teleports them, he doesn’t teleport them on the ground, they are upside down or facing a diff direction, suspended in the air so neither of them have any footing and are completely helpless and cannot attack. As far as Annihlus, Bill could teleport him where hes facing a different direction every time, thus making it impossible for Annihlus to have any idea where he’s being hit from, so he’s unable to attack (I say this because he can fly, right?). Though I highly doubt any physical attack could do harm to Bill.
Thats what I would do anyway. Kinda like playing a fighting game where you do the same move over and over again, but it works. Then again, I’m kinda mean so I’d just teleport them both into the sun and go smash a planet in half or something in celebration.
Oh, I said teleport to the moon because of the whole “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” thing. If bill hit them in space, he’d go flying backwards too. I have no idea why I would even bring any sort of real world physics into this, but there ya go, thats my reasoning 😀
Cliffs:
– Think paddle ball.
– Bill teleports off the space station to the moon.
– Bill teleports his opponents one at a time off the station to in front of him, hitting them with his hammer.
– When they go flying back out into space, he teleports them back, hits again. Rinse and repeat. This could happen in a matter of seconds.
– Bill smashes planet in half to celebrate.
Is teleporting the opponents allowed as per the rules? Just tyring to to clear a few things up here. Also Skaar has taken out the Surfer who is one of big G’s most powerful heralds as well. I’m also thinking that the Old Power gives Skaar ranged attacks. Skaar has also grown and matured in terms of battle strategy and the use of his powers so he’s not as raw and untrained as he once was.
When it comes to a double team I also thought it was assumed they are working together to win the match so the “they won’t get along scenario” doesn’t work for me.
I’ll also say that BRB can take and dish out a LOT of punishment and I’m thinking it will come down to how creative the double team manager can be when considering the power sets of these guys.
Speech, the old power allows him to manipulate a planet’s tectonic plates and such, so how would that benefit him in space?
Also, if you’re referring to Skaar #7, Skaar didn’t defeat the Silver Surfer.
1. Skaar and Surfer fought.
2. Surfer took the old power from Skaar and buried it deep within the planet, out of the reach of Skaar. This left the surfer weakened, but he was not defeated.
3. An obedience disk (which is the laziest stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of and Pak should be ashamed of himself) was implanted on the surfer.
4. The Silver Surfer was not defeated by Skaar.
5. Skaar was able to hold his own in the battle (UNTIL the surfer took his old power) because he was wielding the old power, AND he was on the planet from where the old power originated, where it is at its strongest, and he still couldn’t defeat the surfer while he had it, only held his own, UNTIL the surfer stole his old power.
You can’t use that as a referrence. Skaar cannot use his old power in this situation like he did against the surfer. Skaar isn’t on a planet’s surface, which is where his power does its thing.
Bill has smashed Stardust, a herald of Galactus, with nothing more than his bare hands and physical strength. Skaar and Annihilus, have no shot here. They especially have no shot because niether of them are at their usual strength levels. Annihilus is without the cosmic control rod. Skaar can’t effectively utilize the old power in space. Besides, during his most recent mini, Skaar King of the Savage land, I’ll go back and look, but I dont’ remember him using it at all, even when he was getting handled.
Beta Ray Bill is too much for the double team. Give your vote to the guy with a horse’s face and a big hammer.
He didn’t use the Old Power in the Savage Land because the area itself prohibits him from doing it. It’s the only place on Earth where he can’t use the power.
My Old Power vs Surfer was incorrect because I got him confused w/ his brother so my bad.
Now I know they’re on a space station but it’s hovering Earth so the question is: Can Skaar still harness his Old Power while still in orbit around the planet? May be a stretch but it’s a reasonable question.
BRB’s abilities aren’t in question here because it seems as if the enviroment doesn’t hinder him in any way. But in all honesty how much can he do (and Skaar) without killing the crew that’s on board the space station?
Speech, don’t forget that Stormbreaker can teleport Bill and others. Bill just teleports himself, Skaar, and Annihilus outside the space station and several miles (which in space really the same distance as it is on earth) away. Problem solved. Also, don’t forget that Skaar has done what he can to protect innocent bystanders in a fight as well.
In addition to that, there are unpressurized sections of the station that could get torn through without depressurizing and damaging the rest of the station. This would enable them to take the fight through the wall of the structure, out into space, and leave the fragility of the space station.
Again, what will Skaar do when he is floating in space? What will Annihilus and Skaar do when blasted by Stormbreaker? What about Bill throwing Stormbreaker at Skaar, sending him hurtling through space, and then the hammer returns to Bill just like Mjolnir and Thor.
Just a point of clarification, Beta Ray Bill is not allowed to teleport the characters out of the space station. One rule of the game is that the fight takes place in the designated area. Now, if the battle causes the environment to be destroyed, that’s another issue. But teleporting out is just too easy.
Well, I guess they’ll be destroying the space station then.
I’ve never seen any of these characters do subtle damage to anything in a fight and I’m wondering how they’ll do this without killing the civilians on the station. Annihilus could care less but BRB and Skaar are a different story.
So if BRB damages the stations gravitational equipment, then what does Skaar and Annihilus do? Yeah, float around and get pummeled (sp?). Not even combined do they have the kahonies to stop BRB. NO WAY.
Can’t Annihilus fly even w/o the cosmic rod? Not that he’ll be any faster than BRB but he’s got that ability right, or am I missing something?
No, I think Annihilus can still fly, but he doesn’t have energy blasts or anything, nor his durability or super duper strength. He’s about half as strong as Bill at the most.
And Billy makes good points, BRB has the definite advantage in a zero-G fight.
So BRB knows where the equipment is for the gravity controls are? I can see him winning but not like that.
Wait a minute Speech, the entire station is zero gravity all the time. The difference is some sections are OK for the crew to be out of their suits, and some parts require them to be in their suits because those sections aren’t pressurized.
This whole fight takes place in a zero gravity environment, whether its in the space station or out in space. Advantage to Bill.
Upon seeing Annihilus, and recognizing him for the tyrant who recently tried to destroy the universe, Bill hurls Stormbreaker at him. This could easily crack Annihilus’ exoskeleton and liquify his insides, taking the bug from the Negative Zone out at the beginning of the fight.
Skaar is very bad, but he DOES NOT have what it takes to take ot Beta Ray Bill in a physical contest. When you factor in Stormbreaker and what it gives Bill, there’s just way too much for Skaar to handle.
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If BRB was concerned about the humans on board the space station, he could just teleport THEM off the space station, promptly destroy it and then continue to pwn.
I figured this to be pretty cut and dry! Interesting thoughts though.
@Speech @Billy
This is the International Space Station, not Babylon 5. It is zero-g all the time.
I don’t think zero-g will make much difference to Skaar inside the station. He’s big enough to always have a hand or foot on some surface. But the station is not made of brick and mortar. It is mostly light weight polymer and metal. Strong enough to support normal humans and their routine activity, but would break apart like paper if anyone like Skaar or BRB started pounding around.
As for the humans on the station, they may immediately recognize the threat of having all three of these guys on board, lock themselves in a sealed compartment, then depressurize the rest of the station. This would hopefully blow all three of the intruders into space.
Well put Moses. Skaar & Annihilus are at a HUGE DISADVANTAGE out in open space. Skaar isn’t in contact with the planet’s surface, and Annihilus does not have the cosmic control rod — ADVANTAGE BETA RAY BILL!
Bill’s has planet crushing power in his physical body, which alone would probably be enough to take these two. When you factor in Stormbreaker, Mjolnir’s twin, Bill has more than enough power to take these two down.
Bill can throw Stormbreaker at Skaar, hurtling him away tumbling through space, and as it returns to Bill, it smashes Annihilus in the back of the head… turning his brains to mush. Even that is a far more merciful death than Annihilus deserves.
Again, Bill can take any punishment these two can dish out, and return even more.