Welcome to the second "versus!". I am your host, the amazing squid. This is a thread I do in-which I pick two characters in mtg and face them off against each other. This weeks paring is

*drum role*



Previous results:


Along with the pole, it would be awesome if you could make a post saying why you think so. You may even be able to convince some people to change there vote!

Yeaaaah nicol bolas is the standard..what's it called, Mary sue? Kinda villain. The thing with all the power and always has a way out. He has so many ridiculous powers now that it's stupid. Even if niv was a walker it wouldn't matter.

I want Niv to win on account of being way more interesting, but I don't suppose that would happen. Actually, giving Niv walker powers makes them pretty much the same character- self-centered dragon walker of immense power frequently undone by pride. Niv is smarter, but Bolas is more ruthless and also stupid powerful, even by walker standards.
It makes me feel dirty but I'm going to have to vote for Villain Sue Bolas here.

Niv is smarter but bolas has more wisdom.

Bolas.

Niv's a nerd who doesn't work out.

Okay, as with the first Versus battle, I'm going to apply my special standard of analysis to this question. For those of keeping score at home, this means I will rely on:

10 percent shoddy reasoning
10 percent logical fallacies
20 percent random guesswork
70 percent obscure pop culture references
-10 percent math

Now, having put this matchup through the aforementioned rigorous OrcishLibrarian Method (TM), we get the following result: Prohibitive favorite Nicol "The Big Bad" Bolas lives up to the hype and defeats Niv "Smarty Pants" Mizzet.

What do we know about Niv Mizzet? Sure, he's a big dragon, but he's also a thinker, with a builder's mindset. He's all about making things work to his own specifications under tightly controlled conditions. In Team Fortress 2, he'd be the Engineer - extremely deadly if confronted directly and on his own territory, but vulnerable to surprise attack.

And Mr. Bolas? Again, big, nasty dragon, but he's a schemer, a puppeteer - the kind of evil genius mastermind who turns his enemies against each other when he isn't just roasting them alive. In Team Fortress 2, he's the Spy - cunning, deadly, lurking in plain sight and you don't even see him until its too late.

So here's Niv Mizzet, camping in a corner on the map near the other team's spawn, and he's got himself a nice setup: fully upgraded turret, dispensary, the works. He's got his back against a corner for protection, and he's just sitting there, spamming his hammer on his machines to repair the occasional damage. He thinks he's got it all planned out.

But he's still wary. He's afraid of Spies. What he really needs is a friendly Pyro to hang around and Spy-check everyone who comes past.

And, look, here comes the Pyro! He waives hello with his hammer. All has gone according to plan.

But wait, what's this? It's not a Pyro at all! It's Bolas Spy, who comes out of disguise and starts slapping sappers on all Niv Mizzet's gear. Oh no!

Niv Mizzet has a moment of indecision: does he try to shotgun down Bolas, or to get rid of the sappers. What does he do? He doesn't have time to plan.

Before he even realizes it, he's hammering away at those sappers, because his first instinct is to protect that cool stuff he built. But he also came out of his corner to do so, and that's when he gets knifed in the back. Game over, man. Game over.

The Verdict: Nicol Bolas by technical knockout in the third round.

Also, as a bonus, here's the post-fight interview:

Sportscaster: Nicol, tough fight out there tonight, but you pulled it off. Niv's a tough opponent, and some pundits in the media had been speculating that you've lost a step as you've gotten on in years, but it didn't look that way tonight. Do you think you outplayed Niv, or did you just want it more than he did?
Bolas: *eats sportscaster*

Would niv know that bolas has mind erasing touch? Because I doubt it. I think the fight would be over pretty quick.

I think Niv would win by virtue of his sheer intellect and flexibility. Nicol is pretty smart too, but his plans seem ultimately exceptionally short sighted, even if slightly less so than Niv's.


Nicol is also a Mary Sue, so he needs to die.

Wasn't Niv beaten by a mindless nephilim?

Or he "got bored".

I believe he killed two nephilim before the third "bored" him. He also fought them more or less simultaneously.

OK So yah nico seems like he would win because of the hole mary-sue thing, and depsite niv being a better character, nico has that hole "you may have just killed me but this is probably still all part of my plan feel."

Anyway contest is ended, nico wins, put your suggestions for new ones down bellow.

Sarkhan vs Kiora on the Volcanic Island

Ashnod v. Thalia
Radiant v. Akroma
Crovax v. Olivia

Jace vs Ashiok

Squirrels v. Beebles

I've always been convinced that Niv telepathed "I'm bored now" to cover up the fact he got his @$$ handed to him. He couldn't stand his followers seeing him as anything less than their god-parun, so he severed his connection while he went off to heal.

In other news: Oh my gog guys quit it I had to hit submit four times.

You can pry the quick reply button out of my cold, dead hands, sir!

Oh yeah, that's what I was implying too.

I think it's funny people are calling Nicol Bolas a Mary Sue character but Niv-Mizzet was always the obnoxious "I'm soooo smart" guy to me.

Ashiok vs ashiok at an existentialist symposium.