This week, two powerhouses faced off in a battle that would likely consist of a lot of punches and paffs. In one corner, we have Colossus, the super-strong and super-durable X-Man. In the other, we have Aric of Dacia, a man from the past who's now wearing an incredibly sophisticated and powerful armor. They're sporting completely different advantages and the community had all week to think about who would win if these two decided to duke it out. The poll was absurdly close for most of the week, but now all of the votes are in and one of them took a small lead. Ladies and gentlemen, Colossus wins this one.
The mutant earned 50% of the votes and Aric's support wasn't too far behind. The Visigoth received 45% of the votes and 5% thought this battle was simply too close to call. While Aric is wearing the most powerful weapon in his universe, it's important to keep in mind how he fights, too. The guy's brash and loves getting up close and personal. If he were to keep in the air and focus completely on projectiles, he could eventually BFR or even incapacitate the X-Man (e.g. trap him under a great amount of rubble). However, that's not something he tends to do and even remarked in issue #9 that "the ground is a Visigoth's domain." Attempting to go all Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots with Piotr would be a big error and even after enduring a hit or two from Colossus, Aric may still opt for close combat just because he'd be so enraged and would want to beat his enemy as viciously as possible. It's not a guarantee he'd be that stubborn, but it's definitely a possibility.
Simply put: X-O's never faced someone as strong and as durable as Colossus before. If those Vine mechs could temporarily hold Aric in place, then you bet Colossus' massive strength could definitely hinder Aric in close combat and his durability would hold up, too. Colossus obviously won't kill Aric, but he has the strength and durability required to temporarily knockout the Valiant character. And in the event Aric does take to the sky, Colossus is hardly helpless. The man has numerous displays of throwing things -- be it Wolverine or rubble -- with solid accuracy. The advantage is obviously with X-O in that scenario, but Piotr won't just stand around and get blasted apart without doing something about it.
Ultimately, It'll no doubt be a good fight and both characters will get tossed around quite a bit, but Colossus' sheer strength and toughness should allow him to take it when the fight reaches close range... and given Aric's mentality, that's absolutely not far-fetched.
As always, there were some solid posts made throughout the week. If you took the time to vote or jump into the debate, give yourself a nice pat on the back and then treat yourself to a snack of your choice. You've earned it. It wasn't easy picking just two posts to highlight, but it had to be done. So, read on to see key arguments made by the community.
Viner Argument of the Week for Colossus is by kidman560
"1. Durability- Colossus has gone toe to toe with Gladiator and traded punch for punch with him for a long time until Gladiator understandably won. However i dont see X-O having any attack that even comes close to a single Gladiator strike let alone multiple. Colossus has also tanked blasts from the Omega Sentinel so Manowar's energy attacks wont do much here either. And now ive gotten word that he survived a Celestial Attack... and people think Manowar's energy attacks will even bother him?
2. Strength- Colossus again just Crushes X-0 here. as ive said before Colossus has fought and hurt Gladiator before. Colossus has also sent Juggernaut flying with a single punch (which not many people can do) so there really is no debate about who is stronger
3. Speed- Colossus appears slow but he has taken on members with high speeds... Riptide, Iron Man, Guardian (from Alpha Flight) and Omega Sentinel. These are all beings of fairly high speeds. I may not be an expert on Manowar but i highly doubt his speed is greater than Guardian or Iron man. SO while Colossus may be slower in over all speed it does not affect the battle in a significant way.
4. Intelligence- it is my understanding that Aric is "hot-headed" that is a word that no one would use to describe Colossus. From what i can tell X-0 is more than likely going to charge straight at Colossus. This is exactly what Colossus needs to secure the win. 2 shots from Colossus and i dont think Aric is going to have it in him to get back up or fight
All in all what it comes down to is i havent seen anything that remotely gives me the idea that Aric can hurt Colossus.
Colossus wins"
Viner Argument of the Week for X-O Manowar is by TheAmazingImmortalMan
"Ok one of my favorite X-Men vs my favorite Valiant character. Piotr is incredibly durable and strong, his raw strength is not easy to match and with the setting in a generic city with items in the way such as cars and what not that will give Colossus a lot of options too play with as far as chucking small cars lamp posts and large pieces of building and concrete to make up for the immediate advantage that Aric has, which is ranged fighting. Aric has his blasts from his suit that will still give him an advantage in that regard, I do believe Piotr is durable enough to tank a few of those blasts.
Aric will also have the advantage in speed not only can he fly, but he can also move incredibly fast, and his reaction speed was insane when he fought the invading armies in Unity and the first Unity squad, where it was stated XO was faster than anything they have measured. He flies and tears through ships and hordes of enemies with ease, even without the armor Aric is a great h2h combatant and was trained by the Eternal Warrior. The only downfall is Aric shows the tendency to lose his temper, and he lets it get the best of him at times. The Armor has a healing ability and can tank a most of what Piotr can dish out.
IMO Aric would take the win eventually, Colossus while formidable is limited in forms of attack, and the XO Manowar Armor gives Aric a lot of artillery and versatility in this fight."
There's no teaser for next week's battle because we're still narrowing down the many options. This segment tries to avoid the cliche (Hawkeye vs. Green Arrow! Deadpool vs. Deathstroke!) and aims to make matches that'll make you really think about the various advantages each character has and how critical they'll be in the fight. So yeah, needless to say, we try to make sure the fights are balanced and that a good case can be made for either side before moving forward with 'em. We feel bad about not giving you a teaser, so here's a look at Colossus celebrating his victory.
Previous 'Comic Vine Battle of the Week' results
- Daredevil vs. Nightwing (Winner: Daredevil)
- Ultimate Captain America vs. Deathstroke (Winner: Deathstroke)
- Arkillo vs. Hulk (Winner: Hulk)
- Snake Eyes vs. X-23 (Winner: X-23)
- Moon Knight vs. Red Hood (Winner: Moon Knight)
- Catman/Deadshot vs. Bullseye/Punisher (Winner: Bullseye/Punisher)
- Aquaman vs. Thing (Winner: Aquaman)
- Deadpool vs. TMNT (Winner: Too close to call)
- Movie Black Widow vs. TV Green Arrow (Winner: TV Green Arrow)
- Movie Batman vs. Movie Dredd (Winner: Movie Dredd)
- Predator vs. Boba Fett (Winner: Predator)
- Luke Cage/Iron Fist vs. Scarlet Spider/Venom (Winner: Scarlet Spider/Venom)
- Cardiac vs. Hobgoblin (Winner: Hobgoblin)
- Gambit vs. Nightcrawler (Winner: Nightcrawler)
- Sinestro vs. Wonder Woman (Winner: Wonder Woman)
- Zombie Apocalypse Scenario (Winner: Deathstroke)
- Superior Spider-Man/Hobgoblin vs. Wolverine/Omega Red (Winner:Wolverine/Omega Red)
- Marvel vs. DC Dodgeball Scenario (Winner: Marvel)
- Bloodshot vs. Daredevil (Winner: Bloodshot)
- Movie Faora vs. Movie Thor (Winner: Thor)
- Elektra vs. Shredder (Winner: Shredder)
- Marvel vs. DC Paintball Scenario (Winner: Marvel)
- Animated Versions: Batman/Katana vs. TMNT (Winner: TMNT)
- Luther Strode vs. Sabretooth (Winner: Luther Strode)
- Guardians of the Galaxy vs. X-Force (Winner: Guardians of the Galaxy)
Want to suggest a Battle of the Week? Feel free to comment below or send it to Gregg via Twitter. Keep in mind, it doesn't have to be Marvel or DC only, but it must be comic related!