The Hangar's Cybertron Conference Tag Team Tournament: Open!

[Outtsyder]

Normally, a Semi-Final Round would have two matches to determine the two final teams to square off in the Cybertron Conference Tag Team Tournament. However, since one of these teams does not have an opponent, they will advance directly into the Championship Finals, set to take place in two more weeks from now. In the meantime, there are still two other teams to battle it out for the other spot in the Championship Finals… and you must choose who it will be!

If any team has had to put in the least amount of effort to win their matches, it’s Megatron & Nemesis Breaker. In the first two rounds alone, they’ve run a nearly-unstoppable path of destruction and barely suffered a scratch against two otherwise great teams; Backstop & Snarl offered little resistance, and Landmine & Overhaul gave none at all. However, the combining Decepticons will not have an easy time against their next upcoming opponents, who’ve boosted their powers and strengthened their resolve in their dedicated mission to protect Cybertron. After clipping the wings of Starscream & Thundercracker, and solving the puzzle of Sideways & Soundwave, Red Alert & Hot Shot of the Cybertron Defense Team now step up to the plate and promise they won’t let up in the slightest against Megatron and his dangerous new weapon. Will Megatron & Nemesis Breaker see the duo as nothing more than another stepping stone to victory… or does the Cybertron Defense Team have enough power and mental capacity to neutralize Megatron and skin the black-and-grey cat, as they duke it out to face EVAC & Crosswise, who await their opponents in the Finals?

As usual, the rules are simple: in the match-up provided, you, the membership, get to vote for the winning team. Capsule profiles of the participants will be provided again in this post, and you pick which team would more realistically win the match. (Important note: The key word is "realistically". Please be objective and without bias in choosing the winning participants in each match, and base your pick on the profiles given or their portrayals in official fiction, such as the show and/or the mini-comic in the TF Club newsletter; notfrom non-canon sources such as fan-fiction re-interpretations.) A victory in this hypothetical battle can be gained by forcing one or both members of the opposing team to surrender, or rendering the opponent unable to continue after a 15-second down period. Outright destruction is not necessary to win, but a very likely possibility. (No draws or ties are allowed; you MUST pick a winning team.) And given the possibilities of the tournament votes, it is possible for teams of the same allegiance to fight each other in the next round… should the results lead that way.

In the event that the outcome of this fight's vote total is a tie, both combatants will be eliminated; with no further opponents to fight, EVAC & Crosswise will automatically win the Cybertron Conference Tag Team Championship by default. However, provided there is an opposing team in the Finals, and the tournament final's vote becomes a tie (when the Finals are opened), a re-vote will be opened; there must be a championship winner.


Match 13: Megatron & Nemesis Breaker vs. Cybertron Defense Red Alert & Hot Shot

Megatron & Nemesis Breaker (Decepticon, Cybertron) – The Leader of the Decepticons has fashioned for himself a dark doppelganger of Leobreaker, forged from the liger-Autobot’s self-doubts and Megatron’s own dark spark. Megatron is a merciless, powerful and intelligent Triple Changer, his power improved by the Armor of Unicron into his body. Megatron transforms into a highly-fast Batmobile-like race car and a Cybertronian jet, armed with a dual missile launcher; Cyber Key Power unlocks booster engines in his vehicle modes; in robot mode, unlocks a forearm-mounted “Unicron Power Claw”, or a hand-held armor-piercing rotary chain gun. Nemesis Breaker transforms into a liger, with great speed, stamina and durability; Cyber Key Power unlocks wrist-mounted armor-slicing “Platinum Claw” blades in both modes. Can combine into “Dark Claw” mode, with Nemesis Breaker becoming a combat arm for Megatron, enhancing their combined powers further. Megatron refuses to accept that anyone can defeat him, and such doubts can psychologically impair his effectiveness; Nemesis Breaker, though powerful, appears to have little personality of his own.


Cybertron Defense Red Alert & Hot Shot (Autobot, Cybertron) – Veterans of the Unicron Trilogy Wars, now upgraded with major military enhancements as part of the Cybertron Defense Team. Red Alert is a cool-headed expert medic and scientist with extremely sophisticated strategy; the thrill-seeking Hot Shot has exchanged a degree of speed for armor and weaponry. Red Alert transforms into an eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier with an extra-large missile launcher and additional twin guns, and uses an arm-mounted multi-tool for both offensive destruction and improvisational repairs; Cyber Key Power reveals a long-range, large-scale-destruction energy blaster hidden inside shoulder-mounted rocket. Hot Shot transforms into an armored combat truck with roof-mounted dual blaster cannons and surprising maneuverability, while robot mode has greater strength and very numerous arrays of hidden rocket pods, with a retractable wrist-mounted Energon dagger; Cyber Key Power maximizes his firepower to overwhelming “Death Blossom”-like levels. Increased strength, durability, armament, and skills make them tougher and more dangerous than before, but are physically slower; teamwork is improving, but can be impaired due to differing personalities.



Match 14: no match: EVAC & Crosswise advance directly into the Championship Finals


To cast your vote for the winners in each fight, you can e-mail me at excellence-execution@excite.com, reply right here in this thread, or even let me know in a Chat or IM. In the rare moment that we might talk in person or on the phone, cast votes also count there. As usual, you cannot cast your vote for the same matches more than once (yeah, an anti-ballot box-stuffing measure).

Voting for this round will be open, until the deadline of Saturday, June 17, 7pm Pacific Daylight Time. Next week, the results will be posted… along with a new thread to launch the opening of the Championship Final Match of the Cybertron Conference Singles Tournament.

Outtsyder

[Safeguard]

Match 13: CD Hot Shot and Red Alert

Can't really say anything.... Megatron and NB are powerful when combined, but I'd guess the CD duo have the firepower to counter the attack. One strike from Red Alert's beam could easily make NB deattach himself from Megatron. Then it would be easier to battle.

[Outtsyder]

There's about three-and-a-half days left until the deadline drops on Saturday evening. If you still haven't cast yuor vote for this Semi-Final round, there's still some time left.

Outtsyder

[Outtsyder]

Only one day left to cast your vote in this Semi-Final match. If you still have yet to choose the winner of this match to meet EVAC and Crosswise in the Finals, do so soon!

Outtsyder

[Kamikaze]

CD red alert/hot shot. A battle claw isn't as good as all the weapons that CD has. Plus CD are veterans of a previous war.

[Outtsyder]

Voting is now closed. The results will be tallied up and posted shortly.

Outtsyder

[Outtsyder]

We’ve now reached the end of the Semi-Finals of the Cybertron Conference Tag Team Tournament; with only one match and one already-advanced finalist team, this was a pretty straightforward round… unless it ended in a draw, in which the entire Tournament would be even more straightforward. With one more week to go to the Tag Team Championship Finals, let’s see who will face off in one week’s time…


Match 13: Megatron & Nemesis Breaker vs. Cybertron Defense Red Alert & Hot Shot

The Decepticons have had almost no trouble in their path toward the Finals of this Tournament, barely losing a step in the first two rounds. Some had commented and felt that this match, however, would be a difficult one, and as it were, they were right. It was combination power versus sheer firepower, and a lot of intangibles that made choosing a winner difficult for some voters. Right when it ended, however, it came out to be an extremely tight win… for Red Alert & Hot Shot. “The Cybertron Defense Team would be facing down the guy who'd nearly killed them, so that might provide extra motivation to not be defeated again,” wrote 138 Scourge of Ben Yee’s BWTF Forums. “If Megatron and his kitty didn't come into the battle combined already, then one of the CD Team could take out the liger, and then gang up on Megatron. And then maybe they'd have a shot. That's a bunch of ifs and maybes, though.” There were just enough ifs and maybes to give 54% of the vote to Red Alert & Hot Shot, who now move on to face their Autobot allies in the Finals.

WINNERS: Cybertron Defense Red Alert & Hot Shot


Match 14: EVAC & Crosswise vs. no opponents

Due to the lack of opponents that would have come from the Round-2 match of Optimus Prime & Wing Saber vs. Scourge & Dark Scorponok, EVAC & Crosswise receive a bye in the Semi-Finals, and advance directly into the Championship Final Round to face Cybertron Defense Red Alert & Hot Shot.

WINNERS: EVAC & Crosswise (via bye)


Thank you to all who participated in the Semi-Finals of the Cybertron Conference Tag Team Tournament. More tournament fun is still taking place right now, with the Cybertron Conference Singles Tournament Championship Finals pitting Scourge against Vector Prime! And be ready for next week, Saturday, June 24, as a Cybertron Singles Champion is crowned, along with the opening a new thread to determine the Championship Winner of the Cybertron Conference Tag Team Tournament. And even if you’ve never played before, you can still join in anytime you wish!

Outtsyder