Xenovore & Neo-Gaitox vs Brizgilas & Levy

[Steve]

The Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox vs Brizgilas and Leviathan.

The battlefield: Great Plains of Albertra

[GREGOLE]

Hmmm...

Well, terrain favors Gaitox, but hinders Xenovore. Xenovore is NOT immobile, like some folks thought he was last year, and he CAN still leap, but yes, his mobility is somewhat hampered.

Brizgilas is in a bit of a pickle. Gaitox's armor is rather well-adapted to resisting attacks like Briz's quills, and we all know how Xenovore handles spine-launchers.

Leviathan is a bit more suited for this. While clumsy, he's not facing any particularly quick opponents. If he can handle Gaitox's initial assault, he could do some damage.

Problem is, if he coiled around Gaitox, he'd not doubt get buzzsawed. And Xenovore is pretty well-equipped to rip into him. Spine-crunching claws and all.

No sense fixing on a winner so early, but I do favor Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox right now.

[avpvjp]

Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox, in ranged combat they completely dominate, as the only one on the other team is Brizgilas's quills, which I can't picture doing much damage to either opponent. In close quarters, Leviathan is pretty much screwed, with NG's buzzsaw and claws, and Xenovore's pinchers.

[zillachary]

Xeno and Gaitox have my vote.Brig and Levy are basicly screwed.They'll put up a fight, but they're screwed.

[Steve]

I think Levy is being slightly underestimated here. This is the monster who utterly mangled the sturdy, heavily armoured Ruiner once he closed the distance. He's strong, he's tough and can strike with unexpected speed. If he gets a hold of one of Gaitox or Xenovore's limbs I don't see why he couldn't tear it right out of the socket like he did to Ruiner.

Still, Neo-Gaitox has the advantage of flight, and the secondary advantage of there being nowhere for his opponents to take cover.

[zillachary]

Good point with Levi, but I can still see Xeno and Gaitox winning this.

[Phelan]

I'm in Steve's camp, I do believe Leviathan's being underestimated in this fight.

While there is the problem of there being no where to hide, Levy's heavily armored enough to take the pounding from Neo-Gaitox until the two of them get to close range which, from the bio, is what the cyborg would do.

There's several points that I'd like to bring up about that:

One is that while Neo-Gaitox does have technological modifications there's still a great deal of organic tissue there as well and Leviathan is well equipped with poison. The second point is that Levy will end up getting buzzsawed but I don't imagine the saw will last for long or do as much damage folks think; the way Leviathan's regen works it's next to impossible for him to bleed out and his blood is hot enough to melt most metals after a few seconds. It'll be a nasty few seconds, no doubt about it, but that saw is history if it bites into Leviathan. There's also nothing stopping him from throwing Neo-Gaitox around if things get too tough in melee which would give Levy's regen a chance to kick in and seal off the wounds.

Brizgilas is in for a rougher time. Gaitox's armor would probably laugh at the quills but the Xenovore's still vulnerable to them and there is the chance that the little rat could snipe the Xenovore by shooting off a few quills, running away, digging, and popping up somewhere else to do it all over again. Xenovore's mobility is reduced thanks to the flat plain which is probably the only reason Brizgilas could get away with the sniping tactic. Though, if either Xenovore or Neo-Gaitox gets ahold of Brizgilas he's toast.

As far as the Xenovore goes, it's got some dangerous abilities in melee though I don't think that tongue will be particularly useful in this fight. Levy's armor and skin will regenerate and there's a good chance it'll get shredded on Brizgilas's spines. Up close and personal though is where the fight gets interesting. While Xenovore's got some damn strong pincers Leviathan is larger, tougher, and stronger than the Xenovore as well as packing a nasty cocktail of poisons in his fangs. There's a good possibility that when the Xenovore gets close enough, Levy could clamp down with his teeth, inject venom, and then either coil around Xenovore, trapping it, or just tear a limb off. The Xenovore has an impressive healing ability but there's no gurantee that he'll get the protein needed to fuel it.

However, this is a tough fight though I think Leviathan and Brizgilas have a chance of pulling through.

[tyrantisterror]

Guuuuuh, toughie. Although I'd have to say you guys are majorly underestimating Leviathan's toughness. He's heavily armored in scale and flesh, and can heal pretty well to boot. He could feasibly constrict either monster to death despite their ability to cut into him. Would he be wounded? Hell yeah! But he'd still be able to fight, and pretty hard at that. Brizguirus could distract and damage the other member until Leviathan kills his first victim, then step out of the way so the big snake could finish the job.

Then again, if Briziguirus dies early on, the two monsters could team up and wreak holy hell on Levy, which could tip the match in their favor pretty drastically.

[GREGOLE]

One thing I'd like to point out is that while his basic ability to walk is greatly hampered, Xenovore can and will start leaping around. It won't be the most efficient way to travel, but he could almost certainly catch up to Brizgilas if he needed to.

Brizgilas really isn't all that different from one of Rygama's early stages, which was the fisrt kaiju Xenvore ever engaged. He's somewhat more agile, but Xenovore was able to tear her a new one while seemingly ignoring the spikes repeatedly lodged inside his body.

Gaitox will no doubt be occupied with Leviathan - the more obvious threat, so Xenovore will be able to pursue Briz without having to constantly look over his shoulder. If he catches Briz, the little mammaloid is toast.
What's more, Xenovore's tongue is a nasty surprise, if Brizgilas starts to get away.

Phelan raises a good point. Leviathan probably wouldn't be harmed by the buzzsaw, but I do want to consider something. The saw is obviously there, and simply coiling around Gaitox could cause it to dig into his flesh. Would an animal willingly rip its own body apart like that, even if it knew it would heal?

Gaitox could *probably* manage to hold his own while being constricted. Leviathan is one of the strongest monsters in the tournament, but Gaitox is *the* most durable. He might be in awful condition, but Leviathan is going to need a good while before he can crack Gaitox's shell, and Xenovore is still a factor.

I understand that Leviathan is one of the toughest monsters in the game, but Xenovore's claws are designed for armor-crunching. He managed to rip one of Rygama's arms off with little trouble, afterall.

If he catches Leviathan coiled around Gaitox, he has a bit of an edge with distraction, and can attack the most obvious, yet most vulnerable part of Levy: his spine.

Levy's venom is definitely a factor here, but I have to wonder exactly how it will affect. Gaitox. He may be part organic, but he seems to have some mechanical life-support(like his brain?), so.... I'm really not sure how that would affect him.
But you also have to consider his armor. He has VERY few soft parts, and Levy's fangs, if they're anything like any other snake's, would be rather thin and easily broken, especially against hard armor.


Yeah... this is what I meant when I said "further discussion". This is going to become that obligatory reallyreallyreally long debate that thse tournaments always seem to have at least one of, isn't it?

[Phelan]

I'm not convinced of the Xenovore's ability to catch up with Brizgilas considering the little guy is already faster than Xenovore before the latter is hampered by having to rely on jumping around. Couple that with the rapid burrowing and I'm thinking Xenovore's gonna spend a long while playing whack-a-mole while turning into a pincushion.

As far as Leviathan goes; he doesn't know what a buzzsaw is so he wouldn't understand the danger until after it was cutting into him. At that point it would either be a short lived pain or, if it continued, Levy would simply hurl Neo-Gaitox away.

While I'm willing to concede that Xenovore's claws are some nasty weapons I'm not at all convinced of their ability to cripple Leviathan with the ease everyone seems to be implying. Levy's protected not only by heavy duty natural armor but also dense and very powerful muscles; to snip the spine or even break it would require a hell of a lot of power.

There's also the fact that the secondary nerve clusters spaced along Leviathan's body may ameliorate any damage Xenovore causes to his spine. It wouldn't be perfect but it could help.

Speaking of spines, Leviathan could just snap Neo-Gaitox's spine or just crush him suddenly if the cyborg got to be too bothersome. He wouldn't do it as a first resort but the possibility exists.

While Leviathan is a snake he's not just a viper; his origin was as a conglomerate of dozens of species including constrictors which means their sturdy teeth which are meant to bite deep and hold on. So I doubt they'd really break against Neo-Gaitox's armor even though they may have trouble penetrating for a bit.

Unfortunately, Gregole's right. This is the sort of grueling debate that seems inevitable.

[GREGOLE]

Brizgilas is faster than Xenovore, yes, but I'm not talking about landspeed. I'm talking about his ability to leap around. And Xenovore has some of the best acrobatic abilities around. Add his lengthy, prehensile tongue to the equation, and Brizgilas is going to have trouble avoiding getting caught.

Another thing I want to point out is the ammo factor. Brizgilas' quills are a physical part of his body. There's only so many he can launch.
Xenovore can take being turned into a pincushion. He's done it before. And the quills are organic, so they would definitely help his regenerative factor to some extent. Maybe not so much as flesh and organs, but they would help if he were to eat them.

I maintain that Xenovore could definitely manage to catch up to Brizgilas with a combination of leaps and tongue-grabbing.

Eventually, the battle is going to be two on one, against Leviathan. And while I don't doubt his toughness for a moment, Xenovore's claws are prettymuch the ultimate armor-crunching weapon in the tournament. Levy is the best as what he does in terms of resisting damage, but Xenovore is the best at what he does in terms of overcoming damage resistance.

I don't expect one clamp to sever Levy's spine, but Xenovore does have four claws at his disposal, not to mention an early distraction, should Leviathan be coiled around Gaitox.

I'm aware Levy has the best bits of countless snakes, but the simple fact is, his fangs will be a lot more fragile than his gripping teeth, for both their hollowness and their greater length. And I have a hard time believing that they'll be able to penetrate Gaitox's armor.
Yes, Gaitox's muzzle and eyes are weak points, but they're such bloody small bits, I question whether Levy will even think to strike there.

As for the buzzsaw, spinning or not, it's sharp and pointy. Enogh pressure could possibly force the blades through Levy's skin, and he would know this. He might constrict anyway, but it could make him hesitant, allowing Gaitox room to strike.

As I said, more than likely this battle will become a two on one against Levy.

Now, I agree with the notion that one on one, Levy could probably handle either of these guys. But at once, it's another story.

[Phelan]

Two things:

1) I've been assuming the speed ratings factored in Xenovore's ability to jump. Have I been mistaken?

2) Brizgilas can burrow extremely quickly. That adds another wrinkle into Xenovore catching him. It also neatly answers the ammo problem because as Brizgilas is burrowing to a new firing position his quills are regrowing.

As far as Xenovore's regeneration goes, I'm doubtful of those quills containing enough protein to really serve as raw material for healing the guy. And while the Xenovore can stand being a pincushion sooner or later something vital's going to be hit.

The question, in my mind, isn't if Brizgilas get offed. It's a matter of how long it takes and, in that time, can Leviathan have dealt with Neo-Gaitox? There's also the fact that, when Xenovore finally rips Brizgilas apart, the monster may very well stop to feed the defeated giving Leviathan even more time to deal with Neo-Gaitox one-on-one.

About the buzzsaw...well, Leviathan has piss-poor eyesight. He relies mostly on his vibrational sense and heat detection as well as smell to track enemies or prey. I'm pretty sure he won't even see the buzzsaw until they're already up close and personal at which point it might be too late to do much about it. There's also the fact that Neo-Gaitox will probably try and bring it into play no matter what Leviathan does; that certainly fits within the cyborg's fighting style.

Regardless of how, once that saw cuts Leviathan open Neo-Gaitox is in for a world of hurt because that saw, the internal mechanisms that run it, and the front of Neo-Gaitox's armor are all going to melt within a few seconds. And under that armor I'm betting there's plenty of soft tissue for Leviathan to sink his fangs into.

The end result is that I see this fight coming down to a one on one between Leviathan and Xenovore -- if Neo-Gaitox is still around I doubt he'll be in much of a position to help. And, speaking of help, I also don't see Neo-Gaitox helping Xenovore with Brizgilas, it doesn't fit within his solo, glory-hog, fighting style.

But the sticking point is still Xenovore vs Leviathan and, in specific, how capable those claws are at getting through Leviathan's armor and defenses. I've read Xenovore's entry multiple times, specifically the bits concerning those claws since the debate sprang up but nothing I've read has given me the impression that the Xenovore's appendages are as capable as they're bieng made out to be. So have I missed something somewhere?

I'd also like to reiterate my point about Leviathan's nervous system. Even assuming Xenovore does crack Leviathan's spine those secondary nerve clusters would pick up a good portion of the slack and keep him fighting, perhaps long enough to do enough damage to the Xenovore.

The damnable thing is, while I'm not convinced Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox could kill Leviathan, even though Brizgilas is a casuality, I'm also not convinced Leviathan would win -- he could very well, once Brizgilas is dead, try and leave the battlefield and if the survivors didn't bother him he'd be gone.

While Neo-Gaitox might not let Leviathan go given his personality and fighting style, I'm not too sure about the Xenovore considering he's insane.

[GREGOLE]

I voted Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox, on the grounds that I'm not convinced that Leviathan can take both of them on at once, even if both are wounded.

[avpvjp]

Voted Xenovore and Neo-Gaitox, since Brizgilas'll be out fast and Levy can't take both Xenovore and NG at the same time.

[zillachary]

Xeno and Gaitox for me as well.

[tyrantisterror]

Okay, I see Xeno and Gaitox taking this by a nose. Levy is a force to be reckoned with, to be sure, but these two are pretty much built to take out heavily armored foes. Levy's going to kill one of them while the other kills Brizigilas - I don't doubt that for a fact - but he's going to be left wounded while facing the other no matter which one he kills first. Now, if Xeno goes for him first he has a better chance - Brizigilas will definitely do some damage to Gaitox, and while Gaitox is powerful he isn't exactly competent. However, Xeno is more likely to go after Brizy first while Gaitox takes on the bigger foe (biting off more than he can chew would be very in character for him). All the damage Brizy deals to Xeno would be worked off and then some when the big lug eats him, leaving a full strength Xenovore to face a damaged Leviathan. There's a very good chance Xenovore could take him in that likely scenario.

So that's my opinion - Xenovore and Neo Gaitox. By a hair.

[piebot]

Hmmm, the terrain defiantly favors Brizgilas and Leviathan. Those too being great borrowers allows them to borrow to safety if things get bad. And they could also use that ability for hit and run attacks.

The Xenovore is also at another disadvantage, a lot of his agility is not going to be useful to him. He can dance around and stuff, but he doesn’t have anything to latch on too. So he won’t be able to get around the battlefield as well, and in this case I think that is going to be deadly.

Neo-Gaitox is going to be pretty useful, with his ranged weapons and immense ego to protect him. But I think that after a few minutes of trying to play whack a mole with Brizgilas he is just going to get frustrated, call everyone stupid, and go home.

But I still think that Brizgilas and Leviathan have everything going got them in this fight, and with Xenovore being at a disadvantage I think that Brizgilas and Leviathan are going to win them this match.