Lurker > scarletspeed7

Well they were fun while it lasted.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Reading through bananor's new pitch, I don't feel swayed to change my vote, but I do like it more. I'm more interested in an ACTUAL heist concept in eXcalibur rather than the pseudo-heist concept in Mutant Intent. The name still is very generic to me, but the concept has a lot of room to be interesting. The only real reason this sits behind eXcalibur now is because there is no combination in Mutant Intent that is as absolutely intriguing as Captain Britain and Gambit. What there IS, is actual longterm development potential here. It's definitely moved into the position of being a top-tier contender in this division now, for sure. It just lacks a little of the sleek unique flavor that keeps eXcalibur at the forefront of my mind.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

You may feel that way, but that's not why I feel that way! I think you're overcomplicating the beauty of the simple drama of Magneto vs. Bishop, and shoehorning Beast in doesn't feel like a natural, organic direction for conflict. But that's just my opinion, and there are lots of others voting!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

MartinFF7 posted...

Since the pitch established this is a functional team that works together well, and with the fate of the Earth at stake so everyone is motivated to win, let's talk about what really matters, the powers.

Whoa whoa whoa. The pitch saying something doesn't make it so! I could pitch that Beast is now omnipotent in my pitch, it doesn't affect the fight!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I didn't get this message! I will copy this for next time.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

NBIceman posted...

Mutant Intent: I like the roster and the overall idea of this team quite a bit, but I wish the story pitch was a little more specific in terms of an actual plot. Several teams in this project have a very clearly defined direction that just doesn't quite make up for an uninteresting base concept. Mutant Intent has the opposite problem.

I don't disagree, but I also like that there is a general pitch here, without getting too nitty-gritty on details. The worst thing we could do is limit ourselves by shoehorning a team into a very specific concept. The difference between the Suicide Squad's unique pitch and a single story arc of the Suicide Squad is that you pull back on the specifics and give the gimmick. I think maybe what we need here is more firmament on the gimmick? Because I think in that instance, if it feels like there's a voice here and that there's a wide swath of stories to tell with it, Mutant Intent could conceivably be a very enduring series.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I think that's the issue with cosmic changes in general, and why you would see so much of a tepid response around "No More Mutants" and "Wall-Punching" fifteen years ago, or Rebirth ten years ago. Hickman turns his entire franchises into getting from point A to point B, an interval you're finding yourself trying to jump very quickly.

I think the reason it's so important to keep people in the 616 is because, if you were walking into an office and pitching a title, you would mostly be expected to do the same. Comics fans have a hard enough time juggling continuity as it is; this is why titles have to make huge changes slowly and deliberately.

So while I don't have a problem with the concept (Vulcan, Brotherhood, star of the title, general direction), it's the pieces that become an issue for me as a potential reader. It either spends a ton of time doing the dull housekeeping of rewriting a universe to get to the place you want it, or it just yanks titles from all the other writers at Marvel, reshuffles things, and hands them back, worse for the wear.

And again, I stress that this is just my attitude of writing comics.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

It was, I'm sorry. I really just copy from the body of the text. Please, everyone, adjust your votes accordingly for this.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Votes for Pitches:

Doop's X-Angels vs. MLA: Mutant Liberation Alliance
Doop's X-Angels has become kind of interesting now with the focus of Amanda Sefton. But now I have two glaring issues. First, why is this team still using that heinous, awful name? And secondly, why is Omega Sentinel willing to work with these guys? I adore the character, but I don't buy her willingness to team up with this gang. At the same time, I think most of the MLA concept is interesting. I still hate the complete torpedoing of Shaw as a character here, but it's one glaring concern against two, so MLA barely edges out the win for me here.

Object Impermutants vs. Rocket X
I'm starting to fall out of love with CPU's team name because it just doesn't roll off the tongue. It's a little complicated for a team name. The pun is very cute and meaningful to what would be a storyline name, but a storyline name is not a series name, even when the story is the entire series. Still, that's not a huge complaint in comparison with my issues with Rocket X. The team name makes no sense. Sabretooth makes more sense with this group, but I really question the need for Colossus AND Sabretooth AND Jean Grey to prop up X-23. There's too many stale, veteran characters here.

X-Treme vs. Brotherhood of Righteous Mutants
X-Treme loses the name game here like crazy, but man, there is way too much happening in this pitch for the Brotherhood. I can see this title will be extremely wordy and constantly trying to "do things" without ever really lingering on themes or moments. There's a huge amount of rewriting X-Men's status quo happening here, and I just can't get on board with it. And I still see no interesting stakes here. X-Man is literally killing a universe of people to just come aboard this fly-by-night operation? Joseph exists why? X-Treme wins because the weight of the Brotherhood pitch just crushes itself.

Mutant Intent vs. eXcalibur
The name is a little simpler now, which is great, and eXcalibur has a really clear vision. It's that brilliant Excalibur legacy of having a European continental flavor while still touching the edge of the X-Men universe, and I'm all aboard. Globetrotting heists really make value of the Captain Britain/Gambit relationship, and Valerie Cooper is a perfect facilitator for everything. This team just works. Mutant intent isn't bad (although the name is a little dull), and I could see a potentially interesting title there, but eXcalibur feels both original and faithful to its forerunners, and even the clear interplay of team members here just flies off the page. You can see the roles everyone plays there. This is a matter of a solid pitch just going up against an excellent one.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Snake5555555555 posted...

Scarlet, sorry, but I PMed an updated pitch yesterday to reflect my new roster. You can just change that, my fight line-up is still the same.

Fixed.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

My Pitch Votes:

AmazonX vs. X-trinsic:
X-trinsic remains a mediocre name, and AmazonX remains a terrible one, but the big change here is the entirely new pitch with Namor presented in an entirely new way. Love the political aspect, love the slight touch of X-Force in this pitch, and I especially love that Boom-Boom has been brought in to completely counterbalance the heavy nature of this title.

X-Mortis vs. Future of X:
X-Mortis remains a unique departure in style for an X-Title while still hewing close to the messages that X-Men have always imparted to its readers. At the same time, I really only see Future of X as a single story arc. And given that the always-bland killer-of-Black-Panther's-good-runs Storm remains at the forefront, I'd rather read X-Mortis. Dust, in particular, is a character with a ton of great depth to explore.

New eXperiments vs. RetroaXtive:
This is a push. The new pitches here made a huge shift in my opinions for both teams. I think the wordiness of RetroaXtive makes it feel like it's overcomplicating the concept to some extent, and this hurts my opinion of it. I also still am not entirely thrilled with Beast in this lineup. At the same time, Scare's pitch is improved. The overarching nemesis I ASSUME is a Stryker or Stryker legacy of some sort, which definitely explains the union of Wolverine and Deadpool and doesn't feel like a joke. I think this pitch still needs some honing a bit, but for now, I'm actually torn. Both lineups here feel decently suited to their groups, although Quicksilver is being completely wasted.

Otherworld X vs. Generation X: The Xth Generation
XthGen (see, I'm already abbreviating it, it's that good) is such a solid, consistent, tight plot. It rings of X-Men and it completely overcomes what I dislike about the original Generation X. I'm still a little disappointed that we have too many teacher positions in proportion to the students, and for me, Jubilee almost skates between the old-young line. But the team itself is extremely, extremely solid. Otherworld X still feels like an opening to a story and not a series to me. I do enjoy Magik and Madrox, but I wish this pitch was a little darker (with a Doctor Moreau feel to Dark Beast). It's a solid pitch, but it lacks the clear vision of where this series could go in the future, unlike XthGen.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

banananor vs. Wicklebee

Mutant Intent
(leader:Emma Frost)

Everyone here has either lost something or never had it in the first place. Power means nothing in the face of society if it isn't used. Emma Frost, following in Juggernaut's wake, has used her considerable psionic powers and willingness to cross the boundaries of society to welcome this band of malcontents and loners into the fold. Their shared values of independence freedom ironically led them together again and again.

These mutants are seeking what they need, tying up loose ends, tearing a path through the earth, exploring the joys of shared success, understanding what it means to be a mutant. And sometimes, their shared success involves guaranteeing there is a shared world to be free in.

Fight Lineup:
Emma Frost
Firestar
Wither
Synch
Random
Stringfellow

eXcalibur
It was discovered that King Arthur's crown had jewels that were taken and spread throughout the world, so Captain Britain wanted to build a team to retrieve them. He requested the aid of Valerie Cooper, a U.S. adviser and psychologist for mutants. She brought together old friends of Captain Britain and former Excalibur members along with a team of Mutants and a school teacher who just wishes to find her children. The espionage of Pete Wisdom and thievery of Gambit working together with various other skills could very well find it. The school teacher, however, hides a secret from the group, including some hatred of the leader of this new eXcalibur.

Fight Lineup:
Gambit
Valerie
Black Knight
Morph
Sage
Lionheart


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

By the time X-Man had checked in on the main reality again, it was too late. The Shi'ar Empire - who staged the "cosmic crisis" as pretext for emptying Earth of its most powerful heroes - had launched a surprise invasion of Earth and had effectively taken over the entire planet. They knew all the places to strike, including Krakoa, detaining the majority of mutants and inhibiting their powers with standard Shi'ar tech. The Empire was tired of the problems emanating from Earth, culminating in Vulcan's emperorship, and had resolved to formally control Earth by absorbing it into their Imperium. A planet-wide shield was erected to prevent the heroes' return, and captured mutants and inhumans throughout the world were detained, to be teleported to a heavily-secured orbital prison. With only one chance to free one of the groups of prisoners scattered across the world, X-Man's scans located the most potent opportunity, a dedicated holding cell for a small group of mutants with incredible powers to threaten Shi'ar supremacy: Tempus (time), Gaia (reality), Joseph (magnetism), Elixir (healing & death), and Vanisher (group teleportation). Abandoning the "Age" reality, X-Man, Vulcan, Cyclops and Petra struck hard, freed the prisoners and escaped via Vanisher just as reinforcements arrived. Forced to work together to survive, fight back to free the planet, and eventually launch the counter-offensive at the heart of the Shi'ar Empire, their strong teamwork skills and drive to survive set them apart as the pre-eminent Earth-based resistance force... the <b>Brotherhood of Righteous Mutants</b>.

Fight Lineup:
Vulcan (Gabriel Summers)
Elixir (Joshua Foley)
X-Man (Nate Grey)
Joseph
Vanisher (Telford Porter)
Phoebe Cuckoo


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

ChichiriMuyo vs. MartinFF7

X-treme
After returning from a dystopian future where psychic invaders have decimated the human and mutant populations, Gateway teleports to the Xavier School to make contect with Charles Xavier. Upon learning of this dark future Xavier promptly gathers former and current students in order to address the situation. However, Gateway isn't the only individual to notice the imminent danger and both Crusader X and Longshot approach the Proffesor to inform him that the invaders responsible for this devestation aren't just incomming, but some advanced scouts have already arrived. With this knowledge available, Gasteway took a team consisting of Monet St. Croix, Copycat, Sprite, Wildchild and Crusader X to root out one of these scouting groups.

Fight Lineup:
Mimic
Professor X
Triage
Longshot
M
Crusader X

Brotherhood of Righteous Mutants
Body broken by battle, Vulcan's final act as Emperor of the Shi'ar was a retreat; boarding his escape ship, he set course for Earth before passing out in the ship's stasis chamber. His arrival was sensed by X-Man, still keeping tabs on reality from inside his "Age of X-Man" pocket universe, with the return of a mutant as powerful as he was caught his attention. Barely clinging to life in stasis, X-Man retrieved Vulcan and brought him back to his "Age", to be treated and healed of his injuries - both physical, and psychological. When he awoke from his coma, some time had passed; to his left was X-Man, and to his right, Petra, his friend and only surviving former teammate. X-Man explained what happened, how he had told Petra the situation and before he could ask her, she volunteered, wanting to be by his side during the recovery process. Vulcan was glad to see her; but also, cured of the insanity which had gripped him since his reawakening in "Deadly Genesis", was wracked with incredible guilt for what he had done and the lives he had taken. Other than Petra, the only other people he wanted to see were his brothers, Cyclops and Havok; while Havok was offworld as part of a team of X-Men, Avengers, and Fantastic Four summoned to tackle a cosmic crisis, X-Man was able to reach out to Cyclops, bringing him to the "Age" and reuniting him with his brother. Vulcan apologized for what he had done, even if under the grip of insanity, and wanted to dedicate his life to helping the X-Men and try to make up for all the wrong he did... and he would soon be given the opportunity.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

IhatethisCPU vs. redrocket

Object Impermutants
The troubles started when Kitty Pryde went missing two weeks ago. First, she was simply MIA, then days went past and no one could contact her, and then... people began denying having ever known her to begin with. James Howlett, Charles Xavier, even Peter Rasputin expressed confusion, even saying they'd never even heard her name before. Then others began to disappear, the people that had loved them paying no mind, as if they'd been erased from existance. Kurt Wagner, otherwise known as Nightcrawler, his daughter, T.J, or Nocturne, are visited by others that are discovering that their compatriots and families are forgetting them as well, even when they're with them.

This started from Layla Miller, whose visions of the future are being corrupted by people hat once prominently featured in them vanishing, to Karasu, whose brother no longer acknowledges her, to young Gabby Kinney, whose adopted sister, X-23, is beginning to not remember who she is, although both are fighting to stave off the Vanishing. A situation that Kurt, to his horror, is starting to realize is beginning to be mirrored with T.J. They gather those four, along with six others with smaller social circles that are also at risk of Vanishing. Can they discover the cause, and who's responsible in this 12 issue series? *

*This is being pitched as a 12 issues series because Nightcrawler has never had a starring/leadig role in a series that went past 12 issues, and I am managing expectations.

Fight Lineup:
Nightcrawler
Cypher
Nocturne
Chamber
Sway
No-Girl

Rocket X
Weapon X. For decades they have been a scourge to mutantkind. Wolverine, X-23, Deadpool, and many more, the list of victims and atrocities committed was long. Now, rumors have surfaced that Weapon X has returned in a new secret base to continue theirtwisted experiments. X-23, aka Laura Kinney, has assembled an elite team of mutants to destroy the base and put an end to Weapon X once and for all.

Fight Lineup:
Marvel Girl
Sabretooth
Darkstar
Cannonball
Bling!
Lockheed

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

DeathChicken vs. Johnbobb

Doops X-Angels
Amanda Sefton is a witch and one-time ruler of Limbo. One day a magical vision struck her: Mutants in cages, Xavier's dream dead. Only through assembling a specific team of shadow operatives could the terrible future be averted. Doop, Kitty Pride, the undead Ororo Munroe, Revanche, Omega Sentinel, Warbird, Blink, Feral, Callisto. Amanda gathered this squad, dedicated to aiding mutants who slipped through the cracks. The Mutant Underground would see them to safety.

The only catch is, Amanda also envisioned that the end of this road would be the death of the entire group, including herself. Only in that way could Xavier's dream ultimately be saved. Amanda Sefton has not shared this fact

Fight Lineup:
Doop
Shadowcat
Revanche
Blink
Bloodstorm
Omega Sentinel

MLA: Muntant Liberation Alliance
With incredible new powers and no longer speadheading the X-Force, Theresa Cassidy goes out in search of a new team to lead to fill the void left by Jamie Madrox. She happens upon a lone Cloak who is desperately searching for his suddenly missing partner Dagger. Together they form the Mutant Liberation Alliance, a group of like-minded mutants with the mission to independently free any mutant under duress or being held against their will. Siryn brings together her previous teammates Sunspot and Darwin while Cloak contacts previous teammate Iceman, as well as a handful of young mutants including Jimmy Hudson, the son of Wolverine looking to find his place in the world, and Wind Dancer, a young woman Siryn takes a special interest in as a sort of protege, who is herself lost after the disbanding of the New Warriors.

Meanwhile, Siryn brings in a mysterious mutant with incredible powers simply going by the name Reflection, whose identity is a slowly unfolding mystery to both the team AND to the reader. Over time it will be revealed Siryn has located and hypnotically seduced the cruel Sebastian Shaw, secretly utilizing his vast array of resources while keeping him disguised. With Siryn and Cloak using their teleportation to lead the way, the team goes out in search of both Dagger and any other missing or captured mutants.

Fight Lineup:
Sunspot
Sebastian Shaw
Darwin
Northstar
Cloak
Jimmy Hudson


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Rules:

1) Players are divided into two divisions. Each round, players will face one opponent in two categories. These categories are: "Fight" and "Pitch".
2) "Fight" matches should be voted on with the following criteria: "Who would win in a fight?"
-Characters are expected to have the abilities (and limitations) from their last living appearance.
-All fights will take place on a habitable uncolonized moon of Saturn where there is a temperate climate, water, air, flora, fauna, etc.
-Teams are kept in an isolated, impenetrable chamber prior to the beginning of conflict and are unaware of their opponents until the fight begins.
-The only directive supplied to these teams is that they must defeat their opponents. If the do not attempt to do so, Earth will be destroyed.
-Voters should consider the potential conflicts within teams as a factor (can characters with negative relationships work together), as well as the intelligence of the characters, resourcefulness, etc.
3) "Pitch" matches should be voted on with the following criteria: "Which pitch would make a better series?"
-All pitches must feature rosters in the Marvel Universe (616). No alternate realities or future skips, etc. It must take place alongside the rest of Marvel continuity.
-Voters should consider team name, roster, cohesiveness, quality of concept, and whether the team fits with the concept, among any other criteria they wish to consider.
-Voters should NOT consider whether a dead character is suddenly alive in this pitch. Voters SHOULD consider other aspects of team status; if characters would make sense working together, if characters have abilities that are mutually exclusive, etc.
-Pitches should be one paragraph (No more than two).
-Players can rewrite/rework their pitches between each round.
4) Anyone who is not involved in a specific match can vote for either team in either category. The player with the most votes in one of the categories will get a win in said category.
5) After each player has faced seven opponents, the players with the best "Fight" records in each division will face off and the players with the best "Pitch" records will face off.
6) Rosters each week will be made up ONLY of 6 members of the team. Every character must be active against at least three distinct opponents. Every character must also be inactive against at least three distinct opponents.
9) Between rounds, players may make one-for-one trades with any other player.
10) Rosters must always house exactly ten members.
11) You have 72 hours to vote.

Rosters:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oMXJ7yV_srLGwN7WBO1YgGAIzobC2ZgHohGI5jz5y-E/edit?usp=sharing

Quick Pick Form (Bold your Choices):
Fight
DeathChicken vs. Johnbobb
IhatethisCPU vs. redrocket
ChichiriMuyo vs. MartinFF7
banananor vs. Wicklebee
Pitch
DeathChicken vs. Johnbobb
IhatethisCPU vs. redrocket
ChichiriMuyo vs. MartinFF7
banananor vs. Wicklebee

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

MegaManX vs. Eddv

Otherworld X
When the thought to be retired Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man) falls out of Magik's portal to Limbo screaming about the dead are coming right before dying himself! Magik and New Mutant friends Warpath, Magma and Rictor enter Limbo prepared for the worst!

They find a very surprising sight of Dark Beast looking over a horizon of portals. Where are these portals coming from? Dark Beast throws a list at Magik demanding they find a strange group of misfit mutants: Beak, Stacy X, Xorn, and Celeste Cuckoo. In turn Magma must hold Magik back from killing Dark Beast on the spot, and when a familiar voice of Jamie Madrox surfaces, the New Mutants know something odd is afoot, he just died!

What Dark Beast isn't telling the New Mutants is that he plans to replace these mutants with alternate reality versions that would be loyal to him for saving their doomed existence. As the group all leave Limbo, Dark Beast murders Madrox so he won't know stuff. Is Dark Beast really behind this, and what dead futures from the X-Men's past will haunt them next in OTHERWORLD X!

Fight Lineup:
Celeste Cuckoo
Beak (Barnell Bohusk)
Warpath (James Proudstar)
Stacy X (Miranda Leevald)
Magma (Amara Juliana)
Rictor (Julio Richter)

Generation X: The Xth Generation
Warren Worthington III has decided to use some of his resources reviving the formerly-defunct and often troubled Massachusetts Academy. It had long been a splinter school for training new mutants following the methods of instructors who in ways differed with the vision Xavier and Cyclops had for the X-Men, a tradition Archangel intends to continue and revive. In order to make the new Academy a success, he has managed to recruit one of its original instructors, Banshee to provide and former villain Havok whose unique perspective on the world helps to serve to counterpoint the idealistic Archangel and provide a well-rounded education - though more often than not this leads to a layer or two of angst illustrating the conflict between cynicism and idealism that defines Generation X. Banshee represents the middlepoint between the two having seen such devastation in his life - losing so much to both mundane terrorism and mutant-specific terrorism, yet still seeing such hope and potential for the future. The book is defined by the 7 coming of age stories for each of the students as they grow as people, particularly focusing on Mercury, Leech and Jubilee, while new mysteries surrounding Hollow's past, the St. Croix twins present and of course the future of mutantkind. Expect of course to see your standard X-Men romantic angst, this time featuring the unlikely pairing of Leech and Nicole St. Croix, a troublesome crush by Paige on Havok and the deep aromantic friendship of Hollow and Mercury clashing with world shaking dangers challenge the beliefs and ideals of our heroes. The big money draws of the book are Archangel, Havok and Jubilee, and the book intends to make stars out of Leech and Mercury.

Fight Lineup:
Archangel
Claudette
Nicole
Hollow
Leech
Havok

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

RetroaXtive
Bishop arrives from the DARK FUTURE, in an attempt to disband the X-Men, as all he knows coming in is that they were responsible for the assassination of Senator Kelly, which snowballed into the eradication of mutantkind. He knows this isn't plausible to do alone, but also that sharing his story with too many could cause unforeseen problems in the future-- he believes a tactical strike rather than brute force makes the most sense, and recruits Domino, a mercenary, to help him in this endeavor. He tells her of his story in order to justify an assassination mission on the leadership roles of the X-Men. She believes him and decides to work with him. After some planning, Bishop and Domino choose their spot, attacking Professor Xavier and Jean Grey and knocking them comatose during a battle between the X-Men and Magneto's brotherhood, earning them the ire of a team of X-Men. But Bishop's time travel device is damaged in the battle, meaning he cannot be sure he succeeded in changing the future just yet as he remains stuck in the past. Magneto attempts to make him an ally after the battling, and realizes he really is from the future as he describes a plot he and Mystique were hatching but had not started yet. Rather than simply returning the future to one where Mutantkind is not eradicated by not eliminating Senator Kelly, however, Magneto would rather attempt to manipulate the future for mutant supremacy, and with the aid of Mystique subtly attempts to manipulate Bishop's goals in a way that would facilitate this, realizing that simply planning with intent makes changes to the future a reality to Bishop.

Beast, not directly aligned with the team and still officially an X-Man, does not agree with his team's hot blooded reaction to Bishop's attack, and believes evidence suggests Bishop is likely from the future and did what he did for a reason. Rather than attempting to convince his team they are misguided, he seeks out Bishop in secret, and after some dialogue, believes that simply providing Bishop with inside information about the current state of the X-Men from time to time and allowing him to act with this knowledge in mind would be best the best way to aid Bishop in making the future better. Doctor Nemesis, with his specialization in time travel, is recruited to try and repair/replicate Bishop's Time Travel device. Deathlok Prime is brought in to help decide optimal courses of action with his probability calculator. Others are mostly muscle chosen by Magneto, though Whedon's law background opens some alternate approaches for him to attempt to manipulate things to further his goals. The dynamic is Bishop and Magneto are both trying to 'fix' the future but with Magneto trying to subtly manipulate things into a heavier skew towards mutants/their own gains, which causes strange interactions with Domino in particular whose luck ability causes many of these plots to go awry as her goals are more in line with Bishop directly and as such good luck for her is ultimately achieved in the plots failing. A hot blooded X-Men team without the cooler heads of Xavier and Jean to keep them in check, meanwhile, act as the antagonists. With all the evidence needed at his fingertips, can Bishop determine Magneto's true motivations and overcome them, or perhaps even find a way to work with Magneto directly to create an even better future for mutants and humans alike? Time will tell.

Fight Lineup:
Mystique
Dr Nemesis
Domino
Deathlok Prime
Firefist
Rockslide


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Scare vs. Lopen

New eXperiments

Picking up a security shift for a friend, Puck feels things are a bit fishy and ends up digging deeper into where he is supposed to be keeping an eye on. What he discovers however is several mutants being held in what looks like medical holding cells. One of whom he recognizes as Deadpool. Deadpool signals for help and Puck assists him and the other mutants in escaping. We learn that the facility was looking to create a new type of mutant and that they have been working on new DNA and cloning techniques. Deadpool reveals that he was captured as he was trying to free Wolverine from a different, similar type of facility and he had been looking into this for a short while.

As they go along recovering the rest of their squad and finding out more information about what is really going on, it smells a lot like a ghost from Wolverine and Deadpools past. Stryker, however, is nowhere to be seen or heard. Who is behind this and what did they get from their research? What new mutants are running around? Clones of several of the group have been put into leadership roles in other mutant teams and needs to be addressed along the way. Its up to the eXperiments to tackle.

Fight Lineup:
Deadpool
Warlock
Quicksilver
Polaris
Karma
Anole

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Snake vs. Mega Mana

X-MORTIS
If Fantomex has returned from the Astral Plane, that could only mean one thing: danger is on the horizon. Branded with a mysterious symbol, Fantomex discovers 6 other mutants also share the same markings as he. While Glob Herman, Marrow, and Shark-Girl are more than eager to step away from the recent mundanities of life on Krakoa, the long-retired couple of Wicked & Freakshow want little part of what Fantomex is spewing. And don't even get us started with Lifeguard! But, as the threat of the Shadow King begins to reemerge, paranormal events start occurring world-wide, and mutations start to go haywire, Fantomex is able to spur the marked mutants into action with a little assistance from the guiding hands of experienced mentors Strong Guy and a matured Broo. What do their markings mean? Why did it target them? And could a certain reptillian devil really be the key to putting an end to all this madness? In this story that's part Hellblazer and part Cronenberg, X-MORTIS examines the realities of living with physical mutations, being comfortable with your body image, and the struggles of keeping your promise to be a better person and become a hero worth remembering.

Fight Lineup:
Fantomex (Charlie-Custer 7)
Wicked
Marrow (Sarah)
Strong Guy (Guido Carosella)
Freakshow
Broo

Future of X
House of X and Powers of X led everything to today, but is the future really certain?

Future of X's first mission brought them to the overwhelmed hellscape known as Limbo. Cable and company blasted their way through the demonic dead and escape unscathed. The only clue to how this nightmare scenario began pointing to the last days of the Jean Grey School.

Fight Lineup:
Shatterstar (Gaveedra Russell)
Daken (Akihiro)
Widget (Kate Rapustin)
Genesis (Evan Sabahnur)
Prodigy (David Alleyne)
Shard (Shard Bishop)


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Shaduln vs. NBIceman

AmazonX
After helping to rescue Danielle Moonstar, Hippolyta founded a new group of female heroes with Moonstar as the leader to defend against the Doommaidens. After defeating the Doommaidens, Hippolyta left Moonstar to continue leading AmazonX to face threats to the peace.

Fight Lineup:
Moonstar
Captain Britain
Dagger
Dazzler
Pixie
Blindfold

X-trinsic
When an uncharacteristically humble Namor, reeling from the consequences of his war with the surface world, makes a pilgrimage to the newly legitimized Krakoa as a mutant-Atlantean ambassador seeking good-faith inroads of allyship between two long-persecuted peoples, the Quiet Council is understandably wary. Their compromise to his request for manpower in helping to get Atlantis back on its feet is to send him a team made up of former enemies, problem children, others who volunteer for personal reasons, and one or two strays that, frankly, no one really wants around. Their further contingencies are that Namor be amenable to the occasional sensitive side job that would otherwise be unbecoming for a respectable country to handle should such occasions arise (literal WET-works, in this case), and that their involvement with each other be kept secret until such time that he's no longer persona non grata to many.

Namor agrees, even promising to personally subdue any team member that gets out of hand. That's all what he wanted anyway, because as it happens, the Council's suspicion may not have been misplaced. The world believes the Sub-Mariner a war criminal now, but as far as he's concerned, the true blame for his actions lies squarely on the shoulders of Charles Xavier, a man unfit to be a leader of mutantkind in any capacity. And now that Namor's been provided with an unstable and unpredictable combination of malcontents, schemers, and impressionable young minds, not to mention the questionably sane Spiral who he somehow recruited all on his own, there may come a day when the fledgling nation of Krakoa discovers whether the devil they know is truly preferable to the one they don't.

Fight Lineup:
Aurora
Boom-Boom
Lady Mastermind
Namor
Primal
Spiral


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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Rules:

1) Players are divided into two divisions. Each round, players will face one opponent in two categories. These categories are: "Fight" and "Pitch".
2) "Fight" matches should be voted on with the following criteria: "Who would win in a fight?"
-Characters are expected to have the abilities (and limitations) from their last living appearance.
-All fights will take place on a habitable uncolonized moon of Saturn where there is a temperate climate, water, air, flora, fauna, etc.
-Teams are kept in an isolated, impenetrable chamber prior to the beginning of conflict and are unaware of their opponents until the fight begins.
-The only directive supplied to these teams is that they must defeat their opponents. If the do not attempt to do so, Earth will be destroyed.
-Voters should consider the potential conflicts within teams as a factor (can characters with negative relationships work together), as well as the intelligence of the characters, resourcefulness, etc.
3) "Pitch" matches should be voted on with the following criteria: "Which pitch would make a better series?"
-All pitches must feature rosters in the Marvel Universe (616). No alternate realities or future skips, etc. It must take place alongside the rest of Marvel continuity.
-Voters should consider team name, roster, cohesiveness, quality of concept, and whether the team fits with the concept, among any other criteria they wish to consider.
-Voters should NOT consider whether a dead character is suddenly alive in this pitch. Voters SHOULD consider other aspects of team status; if characters would make sense working together, if characters have abilities that are mutually exclusive, etc.
-Pitches should be one paragraph (No more than two).
-Players can rewrite/rework their pitches between each round.
4) Anyone who is not involved in a specific match can vote for either team in either category. The player with the most votes in one of the categories will get a win in said category.
5) After each player has faced seven opponents, the players with the best "Fight" records in each division will face off and the players with the best "Pitch" records will face off.
6) Rosters each week will be made up ONLY of 6 members of the team. Every character must be active against at least three distinct opponents. Every character must also be inactive against at least three distinct opponents.
9) Between rounds, players may make one-for-one trades with any other player.
10) Rosters must always house exactly ten members.
11) You have 72 hours to vote.

Rosters:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oMXJ7yV_srLGwN7WBO1YgGAIzobC2ZgHohGI5jz5y-E/edit?usp=sharing

Quick Pick Form (Bold your Choices):
Fight
Shaduln vs. NBIceman
Snake vs. Mega Mana
Scare vs. Lopen
MegaManX vs. Eddv
Pitch
Shaduln vs. NBIceman
Snake vs. Mega Mana
Scare vs. Lopen
MegaManX vs. Eddv

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I have a couple rosters still outstanding. You have three hours left!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

8 more rosters. 14 hours!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

All right, 16 hours. Please submit your rosters! Need 12 more!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Still waiting on 15 rosters. Remember, if you don't submit them, I'll take your 6 highest draft picks automatically.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Actually, maybe I can make it work, it's just more freaking work in formatting these, which I would prefer not to do. So if people desperately want full rosters listed, fine, but if it's just one person, no.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

MartinFF7 posted...

....who's to blame for making the Fight and Pitch votals not add up? 2 off on Wickle/Chichi too, geez... funny how they ended in dual shutouts in that match too, nice.

Some people did not vote in both, and some people did not vote in every match.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Standings and Results for Round 1:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oMXJ7yV_srLGwN7WBO1YgGAIzobC2ZgHohGI5jz5y-E/edit?usp=sharing

Trading is open starting now, and closes at noon tomorrow (central time as always).

Please submit your rosters by noon tomorrow and updated pitches (if you have them).

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Little more than 2 hours left to vote

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Little more than 2 hours left to vote.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Fastbreak posted...

Can we rename our teams, scarlet?

Yes

banananor posted...

Is round 2 starting immediately at the end of round 1, or do we have some extra time to make adjustments & pick rosters?

I'm thinking we'll do 24 hour periods between rounds.

MartinFF7 posted...

(1) Deadline for pitch changes for next round?

When the round starts, so 24 hours after this round ends.

MartinFF7 posted...

(2) No issue with completely different pitches, or is the "core" concept required to stay intact with only tweaks allowed?

No.
MartinFF7 posted...

(3) Clarification on rule 6 for trades, which was originally posted as such:

scarletspeed7 posted...
If the trade comes in after week 3, two sit-outs. If it comes after week 6, 1 sit-out. Week 9 or 10, none.

But with the default min sit-out number changing from 3 to 2 after that was posted (and weeks 9 and 10 not existing...), need an update on that

Week 3, two-sitouts, Week 5, one sit-out, Week 7, none.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Frozen 2's previews trail both Toy Story 4 and Finding Dory, so a little bit of personal disappointment probably incoming. Big numbers still, I'm sure.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

About 30 hours to get those votes in!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

About 30 hours to get those votes in.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

So uh... MURRAY FROM FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Leonhart4 posted...

American Automobile Association

called them an hour ago :(

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Good! Glad to hear.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

The position isn't bad, the attitude is. Don't crucify people for not deep-diving into every medium. There's so much content out there for consumption. Crucify them for being proud that they don't deep-dive into every medium.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

So the big thing you're missing is Shatterstar captaining an old wooden pirate ship through the timestream.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Let's use this thread for trades.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

I'm still 50-50 on Johnbobb vs. CPU, and I'm torn on rocket vs. banananor.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Pitch Votes for me

Wicklebee vs. ChichiriMuyo
MartinFF7 vs. DeathChicken

Still torn on
Johnbobb vs. IhatethisCPU
redrocket vs. banananor

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Ok, Pitch Votes for me
Mega Mana vs. MegamanX
Eddv vs. Scare
Lopen vs. Shaduln
NBIceman vs. Snake

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Johnbobb posted...

I'd argue Chamber is definitely the biggest challenge my team faces, but that's where Iceman and Siryn comes in handy the most. Chamber's auditory illusions would interrupted by Siryn's screeches, as her control over sound can dictate what can and cannot be heard by the people around her. Meanwhile, Camber's existence is dependent on the psionic flame in his core, which Iceman could snuff out on a molecular level.

This is the most creative fight-based argument so far. I love it.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

You can reference them, but you can't use them as part of your team or in a major role. I would argue this is okay if she never shows up.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

That is an EXTREMELY bold statement to make. I think he very well could. I think he could learn the good Twitter game and still be a bitch backstage. In fact, he might make his rise even more quickly by towing the company line publicly and simply hyping his friends in the Kliq without diving into the Rollins-tier bitchery.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Please check this pitch for X-treme instead of what is posted. I clipped a sentence off:

After returning from a dystopian future where psychic invaders have decimated the human and mutant populations, Gateway teleports to the Xavier School to make contect with Charles Xavier. Upon learning of this dark future Xavier promptly gathers former and current students Monet St. Croix, Wild Child, Sprite, and Triage. As the Professor explains the situation to his studends an unfamiliar man with a familiar face walks in - Bran Braddock a.k.a. Crusader X - who has built a device that has detected the approach of what seems to be the alien invaders. In order to combat this threat Professor X decides he'll need to recruit two more individuals who he knows will be reluctant to join - Mimic and Copycat. With their unique abilities to copy anyone's powers this will give the team several individuals with high level psychic powers. While Copycat took little convincing when she learns of this possible future, Calvin agrees only to help when necessary as his powers can be overwhelming. With the team set a strong gust of wind hits and Longshot, able to read psychic imprints, informs the team of something he's learned - the invaders are already here!

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful

Lopen posted...

I'll give thoughts on the other pitches in a bit when I'm not on mobile but I just wanted to justify Beast a bit cause I feel like scarlet thinks I took him just cause he was the top rated guy left

I envisioned Beast as the angel on Bishop's shoulder to Magneto's devil. I think without the subtle inner team conflict it loses focus after Senator Kelly stuff, yeah, but the idea I had in my head was mostly dealing with problems Magneto himself creates with Mystique's help by trying to mess with the future (since they only need to make it a plan to see how the plan ends up working and want to work against it-- you can create a lot of frame jobs). So while Beast is at odds with the team dynamic I also don't think Beast is the type to tear things apart outright either.

With Dark Beast you don't really have that dynamic imo cause dude probably is alright with Magneto doing Magneto things and it's just like you said where does it go.

That's even worse. This implies that Bishop can't serve as his own good in response to Magneto's supposed evil. And the fact that Magneto needs to be placed in the devilish position lessens the impact of his words. And if Beast is counter to Magneto at every major moral moment, why is he on this team? Bishop should have strength of character enough to pushback against Magneto in those dramatic moments without a blue bear nosing in.

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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful