X-MEN: WAR -- THE RESULTS!
Those you that are especially devoted — or just bored on the weekend — or perhaps both! — may have seen yesterday’s unusual hybrid Substack/Twitter post all about my X-Men nostalgia for Jim Lee’s awesome early 1990’s X-Men card deck and how my brother Scott and I mixed those beloved cards with the classic card game WAR for maximum fun (and bonding) as kids.
They are truly some of my favorite child/teen memories and something my brother and I will always share and that made us close and probably even today helps keeps us close. Those shared experiences are everything, aren’t they?
Anyway, you can read the full original post here if you like:
And here’s a link to the Twitter voting thread that went with it:
Of course, despite my checking BEFORE I did the post (apparently not very well) friend of the stack Matthew Rosenberg (who has his own very great Substack that you should all be reading btw) mentioned that Substack DOES have polls now.
Let’s check again.
Sorta makes me want to do the match ups again, with just us paid subscribers in our little intimate Substack — so we can see what results we get with a smaller/more focused group? I don’t know — if you guys would like to do a smaller private vote with just us for this, let me know in the commen — OH WAIT. WE CAN DO A REAL POLL FOR THAT NOW.
Y’know what? I’ll put it at the bottom after the write up, I think you’ll be better able to judge at the end whether you want to do more.
Here we go - results of yesterdays Twitter match ups along with some bits of commentary from yours truly:
I think we probably have the correct winner, but I would have liked to see this one closer. LOTTA folks out there seriously underestimating Remy.
This one is shocking to me. I love Emma Frost as much (or more than) the next guy, and she is INCREDIBLY POWERFUL, but this absolute hammering is not found in evidence. Wade literally can’t die — at least as much as Wolverine, and I’d argue he’s been dead and chopped up and every other possible thing MORE than Logan over the years, so I think saying he’s as indestructible as Wolverine is not unreasonable. I would agree that a telepath is probably the worst possible draw for Wade, but I think he is dramatically underestimated here. I like the idea of Emma winning, but I’m not sure this is the right result.
Girl, what a terrible draw. I am sorry. Even your OUTFIT is made of metal. You were dead before you took a breath. Thoughts and prayers, Lil.
This is a good match up and I thought it would be closer. Honestly? This one is a dice toss for me. I think Iceman’s powers are more vast (or can be if he uses them well) but I think Bishop is definitely the better fighter and even though he’s a bit softer/cuddlier these days than in the 90s, I also think he’s also probably more ruthless than Bobby (that happens when you’re from the future), and that kind of thing means a lot in a battle like this I think.
We definitely have the right winner here, but it shouldn’t be this kind of beating. Kitty definitely takes it thanks to her smarts and her powers being pretty good against a “brick” character like Guido, but this beating is not cool. We love you, Guido.
I think Cannonball is the right pick, but this is a more interesting match up than I expected and I think the results are right on actually.
No slight against Dazzler, who I think is often underestimated power-wise, but this is a shock to me. I didn’t even think it’d be close. For me it comes down more to their personalities than their powers. Alison drifts in and out of being a hero, she mostly wants a different life (and who could blame her?!). Meanwhile Cable is a battle tested time traveling soldier his whole (long ass) life. He is IN THIS TO THE END. I think that matters in a fight like this, even if Ali’s powers are more impressive pound for pound.
This should be closer. I do think there’s some natural bias in the polls toward “core X-Men” — i.e. ALL of the Excalibur characters (except Phoenix/Rachel) got beat by their more well-known “X-Men” contemporaries — and that mostly suggests to me a lack of knowledge/exposure about who they are and what they can do. Basically the same problem that would happen to Scott and I all those years ago when we dealt a character card for someone we hadn’t yet experienced in the comics or cartoon. The Magik card was the perfect example. We liked the card, she seemed cool and powerful…but we had no idea who she was or what she was capable of (and as mentioned in the previous post we didn’t trust the back of card stats).
Magik is also one of the best examples of how my brother and I would be unable to play X-Men War today. Back then we had all the same materials — we had read all the same comics and watched all the same cartoons — and we were each other’s person to talk to about this superhero stuff. So our opinions re-inforced each other’s and our bubble was small. Today we’ve read and watched different things and formed opinions in separate bubbles and like the vast internet, would probably disagree a lot.
ANYWAY, I think Siryn is a reasonable winner in this match up — she’d probably get my vote — but the spread should be much smaller in my opinion. Anyway, pour one out for my beloved Excalibur characters. I love you all so much! D:
Hrm. Again. Though I agree with the result, I disagree with the spread.
Yeah, I am against the crowd on this one. Domino is great and admittedly “Luck Powers” are especially tricky in a match up like this, but I think people really forget how insane the idea of a fight against someone being not just one person…but 10 people…or 100 people…or maybe 1,000…how about 10,000? That is a freakishly impossible wave to fight. Plus all of them are annoying (I love you, Jamie!)
Maybe Domino’s luck and ruthlessness gives her the win, but if I was betting money… I’d bet on Jamie.
Disagree on this one too. I think, ironically, one of Mystique’s greatest strengths (absolute ruthlessness) is curbed by her getting paired with her son, who she might at least think twice about being ruthless with…but I still think she’s too clever and too much of a survivor with too much experience under her belt, and Nightcrawler is perhaps too softhearted/kind (especially against a parent). She takes this battle for sure in my opinion.
Hrmm. Again, I think people just don’t know what Meggan can do. She’s SO powerful. I mean, she goes everywhere in bare feet for Christ’s sake. Do you know how powerful your base form has to be to never ever wear fucking SHOES?
I think Sunspot COULD take this — he’s got incredible raw power — but it should be neck and neck in my opinion, not this blowout.
This was one of the most interesting and surprising pairings for me — and I’m glad to see it so close (we almost got a WAR! .1% away!) — I feel like these two characters are chronically underrated and underappreciated, so seeing them up against one another was fun.
This is another one where I have to go against the crowd. I feel like these numbers should probably be reversed. I PREFER Colossus as a character (and design), but I think Brian Braddock beats him in most fights. They’ve got pretty similar power sets except Brian can fly…AND has enhanced senses…AND has a brilliant scientist brain…which, no disrespect Pete, is better in this scenario than being a sensitive artist and poet (I know of which I speak, Pete, dumb creatives represent!)
That said, Brian’s history with his powers is a bit fluid. There were times when without an amulet he would lose them, and then later it was the suit, and later I think it was something tied to his emotional state? So those are all great weaknesses that Piotr could exploit…if Brian ever stopped flying around him or something maybe?
Never had a chance, Blue. Sorry.
Also, please come back and be this character I loved as a teen instead of the nightmare you have become. Pretty pretty please! <3
Woof. Yeah, I mean, I think that “animal characters” — especially female ones like Wolfsbane and Feral — are often underestimated but as far as I’m concerned Magik is one of the most powerful mutants on the planet. Rahne never had a chance.
Seriously, if I’m a powerful X-Man and I have to draw someone to fight…Magik is near the top of the list of who I DO NOT want to draw.
Ouch. This one hurts my soul a bit. I love you Jubes! I think it’s both the right result and probably the right split. Especially if Rogue can siphon power from a distance… yeah. Goodnight.
I think this is also a case of people not knowing what Cerise is capable of — she has impressive energy powers (shields and such) and she’s also an incredible fighter. But yeah, against Ororo? Who has an insane amount of pure power, AND is a great fighter, AND a brilliant leader and tactician? Yeah, Cerise is going down hard and fast. Sorry girl, I’ll always love you!
I like these numbers! I think this IS a great match up. They have different strengths and different personalities and it would be a super interesting fight.
I feel like everyone who voted for Boom Boom ALSO knows her from NEXTWAVE — where she is presented a bit differently than she is in X-Men comics. And I’m here for both. Sorry, Maria.
I think this is probably the correct response, but I think this is one super interesting and unexpected fight. I’d like to see it! (I just don’t want to write it — writing speed characters well for more than a second is impossible to me).
Agree to disagree. I like Warren a ton as a character but I think Forge gets this, even without preparation, he’s low-key the Batman figure here and his brains alone are gonna get him the win in my opinion.
SHOCKING. I did think Jean was going to take this — which is fascinating because 10 years ago I wouldn’t have said she had a chance — but I NEVER expected this kind of beating. And I do think the split is way too big. But I’m excited to see Jean making this happen.
Oh! And for those of you that picked a hand (A or B) before we began…the winner is…PLAYER B — by one single hand!
Thank you all for playing along. This was a lot of fun to do while I was feeling blocked and now I feel rejuvenated! Thank you.
So, now that we have finished…are we done with this, or would it be fun to do our own run through with images and polls all integrated here and limited to Paid Substack Subscribers for the voting and discussion? I’ll leave it to you guys:
And a follow up:
I have news for you guys.
This Substack is just all polls now.
Okay, that’s it, gotta get back to work — I hope you all had a great weekend! <3
~Kelly
Poll-aris. That's it. That's all i've got to give. (This post is so chock full of data, interesting breakdown of the results. 10/10)
yessss, let's try it again!
Thought the matchups for Domino & Longshot were super interesting in this round (Madrox & Quicksilver), I think these are funny cases where specifically in these matchups they just need to be able to hit either the right Madrox to win or hit Quicksilver in just the right place at the right moment, which to me gave them the edge (but this advantage for the lucky characters doesn't work for me the same way were they to be matched up against say, Magneto or Cyclops or Magik, etc).