Question Gen 1 Year 2 Combat Finals

Gen 1 Year 2 Sem 1 Combat Finals are upcoming. You can use this to pose interesting setups and guess who will be on the crash. I will start first.

My predictions of the crash participants are

1) the nations
2) Team Absinthe

I would like to have a combat final of Chaka vs Slingshot. This is because almost all of Chaka's moves uses kinetic energy to deal damage and slingshot absorbs them and thus she would need to be creative to win.

ebony841 wrote: I would like to have a combat final of Chaka vs Slingshot. This is because almost all of Chaka's moves uses kinetic energy to deal damage and slingshot absorbs them and thus she would need to be creative to win.

Is Slingshot one of the IRC RP characters? If so, I wouldn't expect to see her used in a canon story.

With regard to Chaka's moves, raw damage does not equate to a win, as students are graded on how they took advantage of their powers AND their skills. As a "mistress of ki", she's not limited to kinetic energy-based attacks.

ebony841 wrote: My predictions of the crash participants are

1) the nations
2) Team Absinthe

I wouldn't expect either team. If you want to see Kayda in action and giving people a run for their money, I'd expect the Ghostwalkers, Las Tres Amigas, or Team Phoenix. Team Absinthe isn't the high-powered group that STAR League, Jr. or Team Kimba were and are. They've also only had one outing so far and might aim for a low profile. Maybe Outcast Corner again, just because it's fun to see them tortured like that.

I dunno. I feel like a crash would be appropriate for Team Absinthe. They're weaker overall, sure, but their team dynamics are very strong. They're each specialized enough that, at least for the first year, evaluating them as a group would be more valuable than as individuals. In all honesty, the only one good enough to go one-on-one with someone else is probably Fixx or Dana.

That said, Flytrap is a great way to test Survival track students, almost even cruelly.

I think Tansy, Kayda, and Lanie are pretty much guaranteed to end up doing another crash.

I'd like to see Ribbon versus Hippy, since they're both friendly and could go all out against each other without either worrying too much about hurting the other. But that might not work out in Alyss' favor, since most underestimate how absurdly strong she is for her size. Fey versus Ribbon might be fun. Ribbon has experience against caster types, and ebidium could through Fey off her game.

Lol. I remember vaguely that even teams that are not combat based, eg Venus Inc. are also thrown into the crash.

I was thinking of Flytrap vs Jay Jay of the nations. That would be a great test of Jay Jay's abilities other than teleporting.

null0trooper wrote: Maybe Outcast Corner again, just because it's fun to see them tortured like that.

Didn't Jericho arrange with Oscar Bardue, for Outcast Corner to be transferred from the Syndicate Track Crash Syllabus, to the Neutral Track Crash Syllabus, after Darwin?

So the Outcasts would be a good bet.

Some points to keep in mind:

1. Combat Finals are split in two sessions -- Underclassmen (freshmen and sophomores) and Upperclassmen (juniors and seniors), with group tests (usually a Crash) being the exception where a student could participate in the "wrong" session. So, it's really unlikely we would see Hippy X Ribbon solo Final -- Hippy is, I think, a senior now, and Ribbon is a freshman. Fey X Ribbon? Maybe, it depends on whether Fey is classed as a sophomore or a junior(*)

2. While direct confrontation is amusing to the public, the Finals we have seen so far did not actually require that. Fall Finals just required that you keep the other student away from the spindle until you finish answering the questions; Spring Finals strongly suggested collaboration.


(*) There's a bit of conflicting information on how a few students -- Tennyo, Fey, Pejuta -- are classed, since they were older/had already some high school when they came to Whateley.
I think the sane way to look at it thusly:
- for regular academic issues, they came as sophomores
- but in mutant-specific subjects (and socially), due to their lack of previous experience, they are treated as freshmen. There was some mention in the early Fey and Tennyo stories that Whateley encourages students to have the "full four-year experience" to demote them to Froshes.
We might see the consequence of this in a couple years, when these students become "senior emeritus" ,like Kodiak. I don't think it was ever said that the "senior emeritus" thing was created specifically for him;

STAR League Jr. is the major exception, since they had competent, extensive previous training in their powers, so they were taken as "full" sophomores.

Sir Lee wrote: We might see the consequence of this in a couple years, when these students become "senior emeritus" ,like Kodiak. I don't think it was ever said that the "senior emeritus" thing was created specifically for him;

This is a little finicky, so I'm happy to clarify. If we closely read Pomp and Conspiracy we see that Kodiak was actually on the Honor Roll and he had sufficient credits to graduate. He was 'Senior Emeritus' because he had developed a new power and needed instruction in it, not because he had failed or was being held back for scholastic reasons. As we see below:

Pomp And Conspiracy wrote: And so they marched, one after the other, and while Wyatt wasn't the only senior who didn't graduate, he was the only one who hadn't failed and thus was the only 'senior emeritus'. When the last newly graduated alumnus took their place, Ms. Claire smiled and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Class of 2007!”

Students who fail to have sufficient credits merely repeat their senior year, as seniors again. Students who need additional instruction, but by credits and scholastic merit SHOULD have graduated are referred to as 'Senior Emeritus'. It's a nit pick of a distinction, but meant as an ego salve to the rare students it happens to. Generally the school offers distance learning of college courses to round out the curriculum of such students so they get some, if not all of their freshmen year of college at the same time.

null0trooper wrote: Is Slingshot one of the IRC RP characters? If so, I wouldn't expect to see her used in a canon story.

Slingshot is Centurion's girlfriend. She absorbs kinetic energy to power her moves. You just need to drop her into Fixx's glue or Flytrap's trap to nullify her but I couldn't see how Chaka could do it. Chaka, I remembered did very poorly to other kinetic energy absorbers like Slab

ebony841 wrote:

null0trooper wrote: Is Slingshot one of the IRC RP characters? If so, I wouldn't expect to see her used in a canon story.

Slingshot is Centurion's girlfriend. She absorbs kinetic energy to power her moves. You just need to drop her into Fixx's glue or Flytrap's trap to nullify her but I couldn't see how Chaka could do it. Chaka, I remembered did very poorly to other kinetic energy absorbers like Slab

Got it. Thanks!

First thing to try would be to get Slingshot to use up her energy reserves. Ki's great for making sure you're not in the line of fire. It would be interesting to see if yin energy is absorbed the same as yang energy. An energizer trying to power through unbalanced chakras might put themselves in a bad spot.

Use the environment: luring an opponent into a water hazard or a security vault is often fair game.

If all else fails, wear the girl down, close in for a joint lock and/or handcuffs. Add some needles in the right points, and let the girl's own nervous system do the damage.


Keep in mind that Combat Finals don't always require direct combat. Slingshot's ego could be enough to gain her a poor grade if she refuses to cooperate when needed.

Kinetic energy absorbers may be hard or easy to deal with, depending on the particular ratio of charge vs. discharge. For instance, Aquerna did not land a single punch on Buster, yet he managed to charge anyway (by essentially hurting himself) -- suggesting that he does not tap much into his power reserves to run around, climb stair etc.
OTOH, a kinetic energizer who DOES expend his "charge" by running around could be dealt with by "soft-style" martial arts -- the styles that use the attacker's own strength against them. It wouldn't be particularly easy, and it might take a while, but they would eventually expend their reserves.

ebony841 wrote: Lol. I remember vaguely that even teams that are not combat based, eg Venus Inc. are also thrown into the crash.

I was thinking of Flytrap vs Jay Jay of the nations. That would be a great test of Jay Jay's abilities other than teleporting.

I assume you meant Jay Blue Lake (Jay-Jay is the nickname for Scrambler - no biggie, it's an easy mistake to make). The problem with that is that Bluejay is a junior in 2007-08, so unless it's part of the Crash, he wouldn't be matched to a freshman.

Oops. I meant Bluejay.

While Chaka doesn't fare up well against Slab, Slingshot would probably be a different story. It would be a bit tricky, but I could see Chaka managing to restrain Slingshot with literally no excess force (thinking along the lines of Aikido here) - provided Slingshot doesn't manage to power herself up otherwise. With Slab, it's different as he has the size and leverage to make that more-or-less impossible.

Sir Lee wrote: Kinetic energy absorbers may be hard or easy to deal with, depending on the particular ratio of charge vs. discharge. For instance, Aquerna did not land a single punch on Buster, yet he managed to charge anyway (by essentially hurting himself) -- suggesting that he does not tap much into his power reserves to run around, climb stair etc.
OTOH, a kinetic energizer who DOES expend his "charge" by running around could be dealt with by "soft-style" martial arts -- the styles that use the attacker's own strength against them. It wouldn't be particularly easy, and it might take a while, but they would eventually expend their reserves.

So basically how Neo beat Yang in Vol 2 of RWBY

Forgive me, for I somehow glossed over Sir Lee's post and effectively restated the majority of it.

I was also thinking of matching Shroud with Ribbon. Ribbon always tries to tone down her strength. I feel that she needs something that she would have no chance of defeating if she does not use her full strength. Furthermore, if she tries to wrap her ribbons around Shroud, Shroud can possess her own ribbons and there will not be of any effect.

No she can't. Shroud is unable to add more material to herself. Only Jade can do that.

Oh. Thank you for your comment. But surely Shroud can cut herself out with all the weapons in him. Besides, I remember that Jade once casts a charge into a centipede which then crawls to the victim's underwear and take control of the underwear (to avoid the cloth tearing) and then levitating the victim. I also remember that Jade can take control of the guns and explosives when she is in a cloud form to permanmently disable them, Pardon my pronoun usage.

Shroud is somewhere between an astral projection and a PK manifestation. Her powers are a bit different than Jade's. To be honest Jade has one power, she is able to 'cast' (for lack of a better word) instances (Jinn, Shroud et al) of her consciousness into objects. As far as I know she still requires an object or a collection of objects... Jinn and any other manifestation of Jade's has the ability to fly lift 200+- lbs, occupy a single grain of sand (or at least a very small pebble) or Shroud's Hallow.... But none of the instances of Jade is able to divide itself. So if Jade casts into say a box of itching powder, then she can turn that box into a sphere of about 6' in diameter that would be unpleasant to be in. However that is a very vulnerable form for her to be in as it would be mostly naked spirit and vulnerable to capture by an avatar... See the story To Bottle a Jinn.

You are misremembering. There was no mention of the plastic centipede "taking control" of the underwear -- it just grabbed and pulled.

In fact, possessing the underwear and distributing the force would sorta go against the whole point of giving someone a wedgie.

And men's briefs are surprisingly strong. Generations of bullies have given wedgies without breakage being a major issue. I mean, if briefs tore easily, giving wedgies would be more about getting someone's briefs than about physical pain.

Anne wrote: Shroud is somewhere between an astral projection and a PK manifestation. Her powers are a bit different than Jade's. To be honest Jade has one power, she is able to 'cast' (for lack of a better word) instances (Jinn, Shroud et al) of her consciousness into objects. As far as I know she still requires an object or a collection of objects... Jinn and any other manifestation of Jade's has the ability to fly lift 200+- lbs, occupy a single grain of sand (or at least a very small pebble) or Shroud's Hallow.... But none of the instances of Jade is able to divide itself. So if Jade casts into say a box of itching powder, then she can turn that box into a sphere of about 6' in diameter that would be unpleasant to be in. However that is a very vulnerable form for her to be in as it would be mostly naked spirit and vulnerable to capture by an avatar... See the story To Bottle a Jinn.

Jade has more powers, high level regen, and adorable chaos.. Arguably puppy dog eyes should be on her MID...

mhalpern wrote: Jade has more powers, high level regen, and adorable chaos.. Arguably puppy dog eyes should be on her MID...

Generator vs. Tink, in a massive jungle gym, with a pit of green jello underneath it all.

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Jade has more powers, high level regen, and adorable chaos.. Arguably puppy dog eyes should be on her MID...

Generator vs. Tink, in a massive jungle gym, with a pit of green jello underneath it all.

What would the spectators have done to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment?

mhalpern wrote:

null0trooper wrote:

mhalpern wrote: Jade has more powers, high level regen, and adorable chaos.. Arguably puppy dog eyes should be on her MID...

Generator vs. Tink, in a massive jungle gym, with a pit of green jello underneath it all.

What would the spectators have done to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment?

Did I mention the "penalty balloons" filled with glitter, to see who succumbs to "Red Button Syndrome" first?

Just a simple "Transport and Control the Prisoner" scenario, so there'd need to be a gangplank over the pit, maybe in the form of a labyrinthine maze. Between the walkways, hidden traps, and supporting scaffolding, the jungle gym aspect is sorted from the start.

And let's volunteer Drama as the prisoner. Because blatant use of her powers should be so very helpful.
Not Fractious, because that's almost as cruel as nominating Bloodwolf.

Maybe Lightbrite for a second run...

Thanks for replying. Who is Drama and Lightbrite again?

ebony841 wrote: Thanks for replying. Who is Drama and Lightbrite again?

Lightbrite is my mental nickname for Starbright, who's been a thorn in Ribbon's side. Exemplar, with light-based sparkle powers which are good for blinding or confusing a target. She debuts in "A Little R&R (Part 2)". She soons falls in with Exquisite, Gravmax, and Rusty Iron.

Drama, aka Drama Queen, appears in "A Little R&R 2: Alyss in Wondercute Land". As far as we know, she's a projective empath with a decent amount of control.

Bethany Farrow was a mousey brunette girl, who wasn’t much at all to look at. But in spite of that, she acted as though she was the prettiest and most popular girl in school, and since she was an empath, and could manipulate people’s emotions, she sometimes got other people to go along with this delusion.

They both seem unhealthily fixated on diapers.

On a practical note, I suspect that projective empaths and telepaths may be difficult to match up in combat finals. The strategic advantages they get by being very good button-pushers can be dangerously offset by their opponents' reactions to that sort of manipulation.

Maybe as Domoviye suggested,
This combat finals is to capture the suspect.
Tink vs Generator
Who do you think can capture Imp?

Fighting Empath's/Telepaths wouldn't be too hard as long as they found students who knew how to shield properly. Or do like they did with Fey...Just drop a roach aka "Mule" on them.

Team Shenanigans does seem like a good candidate for the crash

I think Team Absinthe might have good chances to become a really strong team... maybe they might even get through a crash.

With prepared Fixx and Abby they have incredbile variety as well as cunning. Sphere as their current heavy hitter is quite versatile as well with her... well her sphere.

When and if Porcelain loses her masquerade I think chances are quite high she would join the team too. Porcelain is very powerful on her own and a little bit trained in tactics and stuff from her father if I am not mistaken.

When she needs to join a training team Jinx will most likely go for this one too so they will have luck on their side.

Spring Crashes didn't include Ghost Walkers, so I would expect a Fall Crash for them. Outcasts might get another one, they have new members to torture er educate. Team Absinthe and Shenanigans might be a bit new for a Crash, TK was together all Semester, as opposed to a few weeks. Team Phoenix could get some fun. Tansy, could also get a Crash.