Which team do you think would win? The freedom four (Legacy, Bunker, Tachyon, and Wraith) vs. the known Prime Wardens (Argent Adept, Haka, Tempest, and Fanatic)?
The Freedom Four.
The Prime Warden have more raw power (and overall coolness), but less experience working together as a group.
And considering that Legacy might even be able to take them all on by himself...
I know this isn't 100% supported by the game play (or by comics-logic) but shouldn't Tachyon win.. every time?
I mean, homegirl can hit you before you know what happened. I know she's not particularly strong, but... couldn't she like tie everyone's shoelaces or something?
Most of them wear boots that don't have laces.
And now we know why.
I would have to go with Prime Wardens, if it were an actual battle and not gameplay.
For starters, between the two most resilent people on each side, Legacy and Haka, Legacy can get hurt by Haka, Argent, and Fanatic very easily, Tempest probably could hurt him, but have trouble. While with Haka, Legacy is probably the only one that could hurt him easily. Tachyon would have to push herself to the limits, while Bunker's Omnicannon can do the trick, it takes charging time.
Bunker is slow moving and relies on his suit too much. Considering what Haka has done to a tank and what Argent has done to a Space Ship, outlook on him lasting long is very poor.
Considering Tempest's control of the wind, Wraith's knives will easily be shut down, micro-targeting computer or not. It probably won't stop Bunker's Flak Cannon, but it will at least weaken it.
Also about Tempest, his control over lightning will make things even more difficult for the FF to move around as they have to be constantly aware of the Lightning. Well besides Legacy, he has Danger Sense after all.
Finally, the FF will have to gang up on Fanatic to take her out, as she gets more powerful with every blow. Since there are so many only members, they will not be able to do so early on. Meaning they will want to avoid hitting her as much as possible.
I think the mid point of the match will only consist of Legacy and Tachyon versus Haka, and Fanatic. I don't see Legacy and Tachyon out lasting either of these two, as previously mentioned Tachyon will be using a lot of energy to even land a hit on Haka. Plus Haka's natural healing is impressive, so hits towards him do recover fast over time. Then of course Fanatic, probably beaten quite a bit at this point, meaning she could beat down a injured Legacy.
I think the freedom four get the advantage of first strike, due to Wraith's stealth and Tachyon's speed. Between the two of them, they can take out Argent Adept pretty quick - too sneaky and fast for the other Wardens to effectively defend their squishy wizard.
Legacy can hit Haka, and the two are likely to be physically matched. Both tough and strong, and they hit a stale mate. They'll likely pound on each other while they wait for their remaining teammates to decide the battle. Bunker has a flak cannon for anti-air attacks against Fanatic, and he can breath underwater, which allows him to go after Tempest.
Now that the Prime Wardens know what hit them, they can counter attack. Haka continues grappling with Legacy, while Fanatic and Tempest Dismantle the bunker; they took some hits from him, but not enough to take them out.
Then it's kind of a cat and mouse game. Legacy and Haka pound away at each other, while Tempest and Fanatic hunt around for Wraith and Tachyon. Wraith and Tachyon have a hard time hurting those two, but can avoid most of the attacks as well.
At this point, it becomes a question of which team can get their tank out of stalemate. Wraith can snipe at Haka with her dart gun and weaken him, while Tachyon can occasionally hit him for a lightspeed barrage. Tempest probably can't do much of anything to Legacy (not without hurting Haka), but Fanatic can hit Legacy HARD. However, like Ironic pointed out, the Freedom Four have better team work. I think they'd manage to drop Haka before Legacy falls, and from there finish up the remaining two. If Legacy can take out Tempest (which is possible, but complicated, since unlike Superman, Legacy actually needs to breathe). Then Wraith can snipe away at Fanatic while she finishes knocking Legacy out.
Then, a badly hurt Fanatic has to battle a weary Wraith and Tachyon, and will probably lose. She can't stair airborn forever, because Wraith can keep sniping at her. But, whenever she flies down to engage Wraith in melee, she gets suckerpunched by Tachyon.
Oh the scenerio is the FF ambushing the Prime Wardens?
If that's the case than the FF will easily win. Legacy Flying from above, smashing Fanatic into the ground. Bunker blast Haka with a charged Omni-cannon. Tachyon rushing in and hitting Argent at full speed. And Wraith launching all her equipment at Tempest.
It depends a bit on the location of the fight.
Freedom Four has tactical teamwork, precision, stealth, and speed. While Prime Wardens are more raw power / natural energies.
So freedom four has an advantage in a location with stuff for cover and concealment vs Prime Wardens having the advantage in open fields.
also the rules of the fight... are they worried about damage to locals, if so, prime wardens might hold back and therefore get nerfed in that process while freedom four is already about price attacking and therefore is not nerfed by worrying about local civillians.
and so on...
but if you stuck them out in an open field and they went at it, i'm say prime wardens.
if you stuck them in Rook City/Megalopolis or something like that, then I'd say Freedom Four
That's a really good point. I hadn't thought about environements. That probably does decide who wins. Wraith's stealth and Tachyon's speed don't help much in the Realm of Discord, and Tempest should be romping powerful in the Ruins of Atlantis.
I don't think that matters, even if it were the Prime Wardens ambushing the FF exactly how long do you think it would take for Tachyon to realise they were under attack and then respond?
And Wraith, the Wraith is always ready, planning five moves ahead, that's why she's the goddamn Wraith.
In what environment?
Mars base: sequence ends, everybody dies.
An ambush would still be in favor of one side over the other. If Prime Wardens were to ambush the FF, all it actually would be is send Fanatic in and wreck the heck out of the land by bringing forth the end of days. I'm not so sure that will give proper reaction time.
So if they were to have a fair battle, then both parties should be aware and it would have to be somewhere that they would be on equal grounds.
Well, why don't we PVP this and try it out? I'm sure someone's suggested rules for hero vs hero already.
It really wouldn't be hard to do as a one-on-one match.
One person would be the Prime Wardens, the other would be the Freedom 4. Coin flip determines who goes first and if there's any conflict as to which team takes environmental damage. Most times, there won't likely be conflict, as the Environment will usually target the lowest hp, the highest hp, or all targets.
Something like Take Down would only affect one Hero Deck, I'd say... I can't really think of any other cards that would need any alteration.
You'd probably also have to alternate between sides: F4, PW, F4, PW, until everyone has gone, then Environment turn. Maybe even do an Environment turn halfway in between, as well.
Gameplay: (assuming original heroes for all) I do a lot of pvp and how this would go down: Legacy can tank Haka all day if he gets lead from the front and next evolution, Tachyon with damage boosted is a nightmare pvp, those Hyspersonic assaults stink, and Wraith with sucker punch and stun bolts can really hurt fanatic or Tempest. The strength of the Wardens is Haka if you can keep Legacy from tanking him, and Tempest being a boss. What it always comes down to though is card destruction. (we play that ongoing destruction also hits equips and the hero destroying chooses what is destroyed) AA has the huge advantage here, as he can perform away any card he wants, Tempest with Ball lightning is also a beast, and Haka is the only one lacking any destruction, although end of days isn't a great option most fights. On the F4 side Tachyon and Wraith carry the burden.
With Vernal Sonata and Reclaim from the deep, and the superiority in card destruction I'd say most games are going to the Wardens. Card destruction really hurts Legacy, and Haka can generally outburst Tach in a short game. One-shot damage goes to the Wardens as well, even with the F4 boosted one Tempest is going to nuke down the F4 faster than they can deal with him.
By the generally most important attributes I'd go Wardens pretty heavily:
One shot burst: Wardens
Base power damage: Wardens
Less ongoing/equip dependent: Wardens
Card destruction: Wardens
Damage negation: F4
Real Imaginary world combat: The freedom four need Legacy to tank Haka, which he could do for a while. They have to get AA out of the fight, which Wraith and Tach could do, while Bunker tried to hold off fanatic and Tempest. AA needing protection would be the achilles heel of the Wardens, they should let him lose while eliminating Bunker, I honestly don't think you could focus Wraith or Tachyon down, they can go evasive pretty well and buy time. Focusing Tempest and AA down is the key, once they are out Haka can be beat. Fanatic is a wild card, as she could really turn the tide or have little impact, depending on how well you manage her.
I understand that AA isn't superhumanly tough, but I don't think you guys are giving him enough credit in most of your analysises (sp). If we look at this outside the card game, which is how this started, AA would theoritically have access to all of his songs. That makes him fairly tough with his defensive boost, healing, and extra actions. If it isn't a complete ambush AA really makes it a tough fight for the F4, I don't think he'll be taken out before he can act.
Also, a point not mentioned yet, the Prime Wardens are the only side that has healing for the team members. Tempest and AA can heal the entire team, while Haka can heal himself and Fanatic can bring herself back from the dead (overstatement but fun). The only similiar things for the F4 are Wraiths self-healing and Bunker's self-healing. Legacy and Tachyon have no way to recover from the hits they take.
Uhm... motivantional charge for Legacy counts. And Synaptic interrupt for Tachyon redirects damage, which is even better than healing.
Oops, forgot motivational charge. Legacy has never been my first choice of hero so I'm a little weak on his cards.
As for synaptic interruption, it is good, but it isn't better than healing. It prevents damage and hurts someone else sure, but consistent healing over a game can make up for far more health. Tempest's cleansing downpour is much better in terms of protecting health. It can also be used more than once.