Battle of the Week: Cyclops vs. Gambit

It's time for our Character of the Month's final Battle of the Week (click here to be awesome and vote for the next CotM)! Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, had a pretty intense time in this weekly segment. He barely defeated Wolverine, lost against Nightwing & Robin, and beat Ninjak. There were a lot of options we were considering for the X-Man's final opponent, but readers kept suggesting one character: Remy LeBeau, a.k.a. Gambit. So, why not be nice and give the people what they want, right? Read the rules, do some research and then cast your vote! The poll's open until Friday morning (PT), so that's more than enough time to think this one through and show a character a ton of love and support.

Gambit's advantages: mutant power allows him to turn any object into an explosive projectile-- he can control the amount of force behind the blasts -- and throw said objects with impressive accuracy; power also allows him to set traps; above human level agility and reflexes; very skilled in savate and stick fighting; willing to use dirty and cheap tactics.

Cyclops' advantages: accurate, concussive optic blasts which can be fired at a range of different power levels and can even be ricocheted; an incredibly gifted tactical mind; praiseworthy melee capabilities which focus on countering and throws.

Match Rules

• Combatants are in character.
• This is a random encounter (aka no prep for either side).
• Cyclops' powers are pre-AvX and Gambit has 2 decks of cards as well as his bo staff.
• They're fighting in a generic downtown city setting. It's unpopulated, at night and all standard city lights remain on. Assume they start roughly 25 feet apart and visible. However, there is a good amount of cover in the location (parked vehicles, bus stops and such) and the entire area is on limits (alleys, rooftops, building interiors, the sewer, etc).
• Incapacitation, knockout or death all count as elimination. Making a tactical retreat counts as a loss, too. "What's a tactical retreat?" It's leaving the fight with the intention of not returning to the battle in the immediate future. Going to another spot in the environment to catch your breath for a moment or two or for a tactical advantage is not a tactical retreat.
• Hey, you know what would be really cool? Treating everyone else in the debate with respect. If you think someone's saying something that just isn't true, go ahead and stick to the facts to point out why. There's no need at all to drop insults just because you disagree with someone. Seriously, this is just talking about a fictional fight, there's no need for immaturity and mudslinging.
• If you think the poll isn't going how it should, making an informative post about why a character is being underestimated and spreading the word is far more useful than complaining. Just saying.
• One more thing: you don't need to write an essay to have your post highlighted in Friday's article. Sometimes concise posts can be way more effective than a flood of paragraphs.

Check the homepage this Friday for an updated article with the following:

• Thoughts from the staff.
• Viner Arguments for both characters.
• If we're lucky, blurbs from industry talent.

Want to suggest a match for an upcoming Battle of the Week for Cyclops? Tell us below or share it via twitter.