r/whowouldwin Aug 18 '22

Event Character Scramble 16 Tribunal

Tribunal is now over!

Click here to pick your Veto or Opt-Out of NSFW subs

Thanks to everyone involved for your hard work. :)


Here is the sign up for the email list. If you are interested please sign up, as this will keep you up to date with an email for every Scramble post that is made, making sure that you don't miss a thing.

Come join our official Discord Channel! It’s the most active community for Scramble by a HUGE margin, and is the first place to get new info as it comes out. You don’t even have to participate in the chat to be a part of the fun, so just swing on by!


Refer to the following links for easy access to all the resources you need to debate cases:

Season 16 Tiersetter RT’s for Predator and Galahad

Current list of unclaimed backups

Signup FAQ

Link to the Pre-Scrambled Roster for this season


Featured Submissions

In an attempt to help aid the review process, we will be highlighting a section of the submissions each day to focus the lens on a group of submissions. Understand that these submissions aren’t being picked due to any reasoning or bias beyond their position on the list alphabetically, our goal is to help you focus on specific parts of the submission list each day in the hopes that characters that would normally pass under the radar are given proper scrutiny.

Here are the featured submissions for today.

The link will be changed each day until we’ve covered the entire submission roster or until Tribunal has ended.


Here’s how this works.

For the next One and a Half Weeks, all characters are under review. If you think a character is not in tier, whether they be too weak, too strong, too nebulous, or somewhere in between, here is where you can air your grievances. We'll be going through all of the submissions during this time, all I ask is that you follow along and call what you see.

Tribunal will end in about 2 weeks, on Monday, August 29th, or when all cases are closed if that happens first.

To clarify, this deadline is subject to change if we decide that there are unresolved issues that warrant some more time. Don’t worry, we’re not going to spend the entire time arguing about Pyramid Head. If we get done early and there’s only a couple cases left a few days before Saturday, odds are good we’ll wrap those cases up and end Tribunal early. Every remaining case will be notified if that’s happening.

If you have a problem with a character:

  • Create a comment with the name of the character in question, a link to that character sheet, and the username (with /u/ to notify them - /u/GuyOfEvil for instance) of the submitter. Then list what questions/problems you have with the character.

  • Please be respectful when calling out characters, and remember that you are probably pointing out problems with someone's favorite character/series.

  • Keep in mind that Tribunal is for judging whether a character is too strong/weak for the tier. Whether or not you personally like the character or think they’re good/well-written has no bearing on whether or not they’re in tier.

  • Please give a detailed complaint about each character a separate reply to make sure that conversations are organized. Quick thoughts on multiple characters in one post are fine as well as long as you keep each case clearly separated.

  • Starting with the initial complaint post, each person involved gets five full posts to argue their point back and forth. If a decision is not reached by that point, judges must be called in to make a decision. If that happens, the person issuing the complaint and the person whose submission is being complained about both get one closing post to argue their case to the judges before they rule on the issue. We will allow a little lenience on this when a case involves several people arguing amongst each other as that’s difficult to manage with a limited number of posts, but if it starts to get really long-winded a GM will generally step in and force a vote.

If your character is called out:

  • First, realize this is not a personal attack. We're just trying to ensure that this tournament runs smoothly for everyone.

  • Please address the concerns brought forth, either by standing firm and arguing for your character’s inclusion, or by buffing/nerfing the character. Please keep the amount of buffs and nerfs to a minimum. This isn’t a good place to redesign the character from the ground up, and you don’t get any extra Major changes at this point. If the judges determine that it would take more than one Major change to balance the character, your character can also be ruled out of tier that way.

  • If it’s agreed that a character cannot work in its current state and can’t be easily edited, replacements from the backup submissions will be issued. If one of your characters is being removed you are free to request a specific backup to replace your submission, otherwise a GM will choose for you.

Swapping Backups

If a character is ruled out of tier, you will have the opportunity to swap them with a character from the backup list. Here are some quick clarifications about that.

  • Once you ping a GM (please ping /u/GuyOfEvil first, but myself or /u/OddDirective can also pass it on to him) with your backup swap of choice, they are now locked in. You are unable to pick a backup, then change your mind and pick a different one later.

  • If you pick a NSFW backup to replace one of your characters, you will be unable to opt out of receiving NSFW submissions. Keep this in mind when you’re choosing a backup.

  • If your character is ruled out of tier, and by the end of tribunal you have not picked a backup to replace them, GM’s will default to filling in the slots with your backup submissions. In the case that you have no backups and are seemingly unavailable to pick backups, the GM will swap in characters of their own preference. Since you will be guaranteed one of these submissions in your pool, it’s best to remain active in tribunal, or you may get a character you’re not satisfied with.

If you see a problem with the roster:

  • Make a post and let us know. Odds are, you will have to resubmit the form with the correct info so if you want to just go ahead and do that and let Letter know to look for the new entry, that would save time.

  • If your problem is that you don't show up in the list, it’s because you never filled out/submitted the form... just go ahead and do that NOW, assuming that you started your sign up process before this post was created. Here’s the form. If you need to make a change because you swapped things out, just make sure you’re signed into the same account you initially used and you’ll be able to update your form. Please let Letter know either on Reddit or on Discord if you do this. DO NOT CHANGE YOUR FORM IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE A BACKUP REPLACEMENT FOR ANOTHER CHARACTER. We’ll handle those swaps personally when Tribunal ends.


Judges

In order to streamline the decision making process, we have selected a small panel of judges that will, along with the GMs help make decisions on characters where a resolution cannot be reached.

Please give it up for...

/u/TheMightyBox72, /u/Corvette1710, /u/Ultim8_Lifeform /u/Wapulatus

There were a lot of great applications this time around, so if you weren’t picked don’t feel too bummed out. It was pretty close between everyone.

Here's how the judge system works:

  • If a submission is called out and all parties involved cannot agree as to whether the submission is in tier, ping any three of the judges.

  • Once judges are being called in, the argument is effectively over. Both sides of the argument will be allowed to post a Closing Argument which sums up their stance, their argument thus far, and any other major notes they might not have been able to touch on just yet or counter-arguments that hadn’t been answered yet. Be complete on this, as this is your last chance to get your word in before the judges decide on the case and effectively close it.

  • Three of the judges or GMs involved will then each make a statement on whether they think the character is or is not in tier and why. If they're able to come to a complete consensus, then that decision is made final. If a complete consensus is not made among the judges, then the resolution defaults to the majority decision. However, in this case, the decision can be appealed.

  • To appeal a decision, respond to the post in which the statements are made explaining why you think the arguments made were wrong or inaccurate. After an appeal is made, the remaining two judges will step in and also vote. This vote out of 5 is effectively final. If the previous vote was 2-1 and the new vote is 2-3, them’s the breaks. This is also why an initial unanimous vote among 3 is final, as changing a 3-0 vote to a 3-2 vote doesn’t accomplish anything.

  • If a final decision is made, then that decision is completely final. You cannot argue it further. If that means a character is in, they won't be brought back up again. If that means a character gets removed, your options are to choose the backup you want to replace them or let a GM choose instead. /u/GuyofEvil is in charge of the backup list, so ping him or have a judge ping him to get any backup swaps sorted out.

  • To be clear, GMs can do whatever they want and don’t answer to you. If we want to take the place of a judge in a vote, we will. If we want to singularly decide on something, we will (note that this will be very rare and most likely only happen near the end of Tribunal to wrap things up or in cases where something is clearly un-submittable, such as a character from a literal porn series). If we say something needs to be removed for whatever reason, what we say goes. The judges will handle the majority of the Tribunal process, we’re just here to smite shit from the heavens. That takes work, though, so expect the judges to do more judging than us.

  • If a GM takes the place of a judge in a vote, they’re effectively identical to a judge for that vote. That in mind, if the vote goes 2 to 1 and gets appealed, the remaining judges can still step in on the final 2-person vote.


Veto & NSFW Opt-Out

We will be implementing an opt-out similarly to last season, wherein after Tribunal a link will be posted here letting you designate whether or not you wish to receive a character that is considered NSFW for sexual content. We may also include extreme gore as NSFW.

Additionally, in the same form you will be asked to veto any one character. If you want to, you may designate a character, and you will be guaranteed to not receive them.

A few notes on this process:

  • A link to this form will be posted on this thread in the top section after Tribunal has ended. The link will also be posted on the Scramble Discord channel. 2 days (48 hours) after the link has been posted, the form will be locked and the GMs will prepare to scramble rosters.

  • We will not be indicating in any way what characters are and aren’t NSFW. This isn’t an opportunity for you to choose to veto a specific list of characters. This is an opportunity for you to decide whether or not you want a character with NSFW content. NSFW generally only applies to sexual content- we don’t typically include violence and gore in this opt-out.

  • To that end, anyone who is underaged is automatically opted out of receiving NSFW submissions. While we are aware of certain individuals this applies to, if it is found that you are hiding your age in an attempt to receive a NSFW character on your team despite being under 18, you will be immediately disqualified.

  • While we did ask in the signup form whether your submissions were NSFW or not, final judgment falls to us as GMs. We may choose to include characters in the list that weren’t marked, and vice versa.

  • Your veto can be for any character you absolutely don’t want, whether or not they’re included in the opt-out or not. If the character is included in the opt-out, you apply for the opt-out, and you also veto the character, you do NOT get to pick a second character to veto.

  • You cannot veto your own submissions or backups you pick to replace a Tribunaled submission. If you do, the veto will be ignored.


Discord Rules on Tribunal Discussion

In order to ensure that every scrambler is equally able to contribute to the Tribunal, discussion of specific Tribunal cases will NOT BE ALLOWED on the Discord channel. We believe it is unfair for people to “come to a decision” on a character entirely out of your field of view if you are not on the server, so the topic is banned entirely. Linking to a discussion with the intent to have a Discord user comment on that chain on Reddit is perfectly fine, but actual discussion of the cases will result in the users being warned the first time, and kicked the second time. We have a zero-tolerance policy on this situation.

36 Upvotes

570 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/Cleverly_Clearly Aug 18 '22

/u/HugeFanOfBigfoot

Ryouga Hibiki

First of all, wanted to congratulate you on your first time in Scramble. Second, I'm a big fan of Ranma 1/2 so I'm happy you pulled a submission from that, especially for one of my favorite characters from that series, even though I kinda cringe to look at my oldest respect threads now.

Unfortunately I just do not think he's in tier. I agree with you that the Predator is a very tactical fighter and Ryouga may actually be dumb enough to just not know what to do about an enemy that can turn invisible and take potshots at him, but this part of the tiersetter RT seems to negate this idea:

Predator is a combatant with superhuman physical attributes who is singularly concerned with hunting his opponent and engaging in a "fair" fight in order to kill them. He is primarily a melee fighter, but practices a form of reciprocity with his opponent in that he will mirror how they engage with him--melee to melee, ranged to ranged. For example, if an opponent were to engage him unarmed and unarmored, Predator would mirror them if possible, discarding his weapons and armor.

Predator will engage in a fair fight per rules, even discarding his weapons and armor if the opponent wants a fistfight. If Ryouga wants a fistfight, he's going to get that and he will win. If it turns into a ranged battle, the Shishi Hokodan could just obliterate Predator if he even gets close considering its range and power. I don't think that this kind of fight where Predator chips away at Ryouga is feasible, and because as you've said he's over tier in terms of both offense and defense, I have to say he is better suited for a higher tier than this and he isn't in tier for this one.

3

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 18 '22

I would argue there has been a major rewriting of history when it comes to how the Predator fights. He literally never comes out of invisibility in the first movie unless he thinks he’s alone or his system is damaged. He also shows himself more than willing to blast people in the back without warning, so I don’t really know where the notion the Predator wants a fair fight comes from. I always understood the Predator to be a critique of how human hunters use technology so advanced the creatures they hunt don’t have a chance. In Prey, whenever something doesn’t go the Predator’s way, he immediately goes invisible.

And I think we see in Ranma 1/2, that Ryoga’s weakness to water consistently hinders him, and he likely couldn’t go like a day without falling in. Without his scaling to Ranma, his best physicals are tearing through concrete and lifting those chunks at the ice rink. His shishi hokodan is a problem, but I think it would be manageable.

Regardless, if the verdict is final, I can live. And I’m glad to stumble across another Ranma fan :)

2

u/Cleverly_Clearly Aug 18 '22

I'm not sure how the Predator functions normally, but this is a "tiersetter Predator" who operates only using the feats presented in the RT and operates according to what is written in the RT. You may be right about how this fight would actually occur against the real Predator, but this is what Ryouga is being pitted against.

It's not my verdict. I'm just an observer and I don't have any power to make a definitive statement. If you believe you have a case, you can bring it to the judges so they can look over the argument, or you can concede and pick a backup.

2

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 18 '22

Oh, I literally don’t know how anything works. I just saw you open with “congratulations” and assumed you were a judge. 🤷🏻‍♂️

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly Aug 18 '22

Nah. Do you want to bring it before some actual judges, or do you want to pick a backup?

1

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 18 '22

Sure, let’s go to the judges, why not?

1

u/Cleverly_Clearly Aug 18 '22

Link to beginning of conversation

/u/GuyOfEvil

/u/TheMightyBox72

/u/Wapulatus

I think this is a pretty cut-and-dry case, the justification provided is that Ryouga is much stronger and more durable than Predator but Predator will capitalize on Ryouga's dumbness and juke him with invisibility for a several-day-long marathon fight. I don't think this matches how Predator is presented in the tiersetter RT.

1

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 18 '22 edited Aug 18 '22

Hey, I did more research into the rules. I learned specifically what the minor change system is. Do you think it balances him out with 2 minor changes: take away shishi hokodan and his durability feats that come with it, and establish that he has his water canteen on him during the fight?

That essentially makes him Ryoga from early Ranma, with a more easily exploitable weakness.

I just realized what I was thinking of was closer to “specific win condition” than “unlikely victory” for the Predator

P.S. I do want to point out that it’s funny you say “several day long” as if every single Predator movie doesn’t feature a Predator conducting his hunt over several days.

Also, I think you’re majorly downplaying how hard Predator’s invisibility exploits Ryoga’s terrible sense of direction. He could never find an invisible Predator. Which I pointed out, the original Predator always was until his system was damaged.

2

u/TheMightyBox72 Aug 19 '22

Hi, I actually am one of the judges.

Unfortunately, I think even without the Shi Shi Hokodan, the character is simply too strong in his base form. This is already surpassing the level of damage Predator can take, let alone a blow like this. And he's seemingly considered to be a skilled martial artist, I don't see how Predator would avoid every hit.

My verdict is that the character is not in tier, however the verdict is not final until a 3/5 majority is reached. Though you are free to swap out the character at any time.

2

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 19 '22

I have a feeling Ryoga’s not getting out of here. Are all of the characters on the backup list prescreened? Or will I have to potentially defend them as well?

4

u/LetterSequence Aug 19 '22

They're not prescreened, but defending them is really up to the person who submitted them (you can chime in with a defense if you wish). If a backup you pick is later deemed too strong or something we just let you pick someone else.

1

u/HugeFanOfBigfoot Aug 19 '22

Cool, thanks for the info!

→ More replies (0)

2

u/GuyOfEvil Aug 19 '22

Famous Old Manga

Translated in the 80s

Read From Left To Right

Unfortunately, I think this character is pretty obviously not in tier.

Since this character is mostly a melee fighter, the tier Predator will likely engage him in hand to hand, where it is obviously completely non competitive. Feats like this and this are going to just one shot the Predator, and stuff like this is also really obviously just way above anything in this tier.

While Predator behaving super rationally and fighting him invisibly over a long period of time may be in character for the actual Predator, the tier Predator is not exactly the same version as the one in the movie, and it's in character behavior is pretty clearly defined in the thread.

And it's a good thing this is the case, because pretty much no other submitted character would be able to use the combination of things the Predator would have to use in order to beat him, he's pretty obviously going to be an issue for all the rest of the pool to beat.

Sorry, but I don't think there's any set of changes that wouldn't make him Not In-Tier

2

u/Wapulatus Aug 19 '22

SCP-920 - Mr. Lost

Yeah there isn't a lot of ambiguity with this case.

Predator Actions

Underlined and highlighted on the tiersetter profile:

This tier is an abstraction of the Predator, and any feats not in this RT do not apply.

This applies to how the "character" of the tiersetter is interpreted, as Clev says. If the tiersetter page says the tiersetter will act a certain way, they will act that way regardless of how the character the tiersetter is based on will act.

So what the tiersetter page says takes precedence. And the tiersetter page explains that Predator will fight reciprocally with an opponent, match hand-to-hand with hand-to-hand etc.

I don't believe that based on the tiersetter profile Predator would camp with its invisibility + projectiles unless that is something the opponent is also trying to do.

Overwhelming Physical Ability

And so this sub falls apart as a result. The character is very obviously too strong/durable for the tier. Stuff like this level of striking and this level of durability are so much higher than this tier that they would be more welcome in a higher scramble tier altogether.

Summary

It's great to have new users in scramble, and yeah I can understand the confusion with the tiersetter. Just keep in mind for the future that tiersetters =/= the original character, they are completely original things that are molded out of feats from a specific character purely to act as a measuring stick vs. other characters.

Ryoga Hibiki looks like an interesting pick in general and could find a home in a later scramble where the tier is higher.

Verdict: Not In-Tier

2

u/GuyOfEvil Aug 19 '22

/u/HugeFanOfBigfoot

Ryouga has been ruled out 3-0, please choose a Player from the backup list to replace them