Nerf League: Nominations

[SnowFire]

Certain duelers resting on their laurels too much?  Do they have cool backup games that rarely come into play due to some overcentralizing move?  Do they have some fun yet weak alternate form that never makes sense in the DL?  Or do you just like pain and punishment by depriving innocent fictional characters of their toys?

It's time to "balance" them in our own new patch.  Welcome to Nerf League.

(yes this is really silly)

So.  Nominees for this tournament are normal duelers, but with something loopy about their setup - locked weapons or classes, disallowed moves, a DL suboptimal build, something.

Give 'em a snappy name in your nomination. The handicap must be described in six words or less.  (Longer explanations of weird edge cases might be okay if pressed, but you should be able to describe the general idea succinctly.)

Examples:

* B-Ending Riou, no Forgiver Sign (S2)
* Nyx Avatar, no Moonless Gown (P3)
* Bronze Age Elincia, locked Bronze Sword / Heal Staff (FE10)
* Blue, no Stasis rune (Saga Frontier)
* Souji, locked Izanagi-no-Okami (P4)

Notes:
* You *must* specify a specific form for characters with multiple forms (e.g. multiple games, boss / PC splits, etc.), as often the restriction might make no sense otherwise!
* No limit on nominations.  I have no idea if other people will even care about this.  If there are enough noms to fill things out, I will probably try to give characters listed toward the top of submitted lists an automatic in, then semi-randomly select the rest, with possibly some hand-done stitching to even out the noms-per-person.
* In the same way, you can submit unranked games for this, but they shouldn't be TOO obscure, and I reserve the right to keep the total number getting in fairly limited.
* It's okay to nominate the same person for multiple divisions.  If we have Fei-no-Yamikei in Heavy and Mage Fei, no physical attacks / deathblows in Puny, that's okay. 
* While this isn't the Buff League, it's fine if a dueler gets something compensatory that's flavorful they don't normally have as a consequence of the loopy interp-du-jour, e.g. Pokemon with a move they can get via TM but not leveling up.
* It's fine if you ban stuff you disallow in the DL anyway, but know at least some others consider them: consider it a chance for everyone to be on the same page at least.
* BUT, try to avoid "scaling only" nerfs, e.g. "SH3 Lady, except scaled vs. a level 55 party".  That's not as fun.

Let's go with the usual 4 divisions, + an optional Puny for aiel hype.  (If noms are low to any division, it might just get merged with nearby ones.  I'm flexible.)

Been pretty quiet around here lately, so probably starting this in a week or so.

[SnowFire]

Some sample nominations from me (I might add more later):

Godlike
Valefor Fangirl Yuna, other aeons prohibited (FFX)
Bruiser Jade, no BoltX (BoF1)
Decelerated Divine Weapon, no Accelerator, start on form 3 (WA4)
Redeemed Ghaleon (Lunar 2)

Heavy
Flame Champion Chris, True Fire / Phoenix (S3)
Non-explosive Jessica, no Fisticuffs/Magic Burst (DQ8)
Just Guv, no Call Team, no Dragon Soul (DQ8)
B-ending Yuri, no Amon / Seraphic Radiance (SH1)
Bow Lenneth (VP1)
Pauper Orlandu, no Excalibur (FFT)

Middle
Dark Flier Sumia (FEA)
Crimson Master Ringabel, see character topic (BD)
Asleep Johnny Garland, no Purgatory / Ether Purge (SH3)

Light
Bird Jesus Pidgeot, Moveset: [Mirror Move, Sand-Attack, Quick Attack, Sky Attack]
Limiter Elly, no Hyper Deathblows, no Dream Rod (XG)
Abandoned Deus, all supports destroyed (XG) (conveniently enough what we have a stat topic entry for anyway…)
Dauntless Sanaki, no Rudol Gem (FE10)
Dark Knight Henry (FEA)

Puny
Grounded Ulki, no items, no starting transform gauge (FE10)
SuperBlackAielWizard, no attack magic / enemy status (FF1DoS)
1v1mebro Soren, locked to daggers (FE9)

[Nephrite]

Godlike
Discriminate Loki (Loki w/no Indiscriminate)

Heavy
Type-1 Body T260G, All other abilities legal (SF)
Timelord, no Overdrive (SF)

Middle
Alys Brangwin, No Death
Tidus, no Sonic Steel or Caladbolg

Light
Reno 1, no Pyramid

Puny
Marle (no Magic, so only first two skills) (this maybe light?)

[Magic Fanatic]

Godlike
Blue: No Rune, No Rouge


Heavy
Ryu 3 with an F in History: No Genes.
Ted LIVES! Don't believe Windy's Lies!: Tir McDohl with no Judgment
Showboat Raquel: No Basic Attacks


Middle
Poverty Ashley: No ARM upgrades except in Hit%
Lightweight Hilda: No Curvy Form
Berserker Mustadio: Must have Equip Axes and Axe.


Light
Izanagi fanboy Yu Narukami
Waterbottle Gobi: Always underwater, no basic attacks.
Freya, Friend to all: Only abilities from current equipment.


Puny
Pacifist Riki - No Absorbs

[Dark Holy Elf]

Godlike
Dream Deported Lady: stock initially set to zero

Heavy
White mage Ryu3: no Accession or Bonebreak
B ending Riou: no Forgiver Sign (seconding this one, if necessary)

Middle
Rune Walsh, proper magician: staff equipped instead of shields
edit: removed Rosa

Light
ElfChallenge Arnaud: Initial equipment only, no Slow Down
Diamond Mog: No Snow Muffler

Puny
Normal Mode Genevieve: Her only NM form, from Jayle's recruitment sequence

[Dhyerwolf]

Hopefully these all are the right divisions. Trying to also keep a relatively even number of noms per division.

Godlike
Fou Lu (Bof 4)- Tyrant only, No Dark Wave
Terra (FF 6)- No Ultima or Drain
Reicher (MK 2)- No non-Holy moves can be used

Heavy
Myria (Bof1)- Scaled only against Agni (Could be Middle?)
Lulu (FFX)- No Celestial
Rosa (FF 4)- No Holy
-->NEB has her in Middle, I could see either way (still has that nasty status and defensive tricks. Granted, I put her third in line for a reason)

Middle
Shante (ATL 2)- No Add on Skills
Hiro (Lunar 2)- No Triple Sword
Poo (EB)- No Cloak of Kings
MOMO (XS 3)- Only has 120 EP

Light
Feena (Grandia)- No Time Gate
Jansen (Lost Odyssey)- No Doublecast
-->Could be a little strong for Light (so could go in Middle? Pretty borderline)
Sasarai (S3)- No True Earth Rune

Could come up with more if noms need padding.

[Pyro]

Godlike:
Deathless Evans. Deatheven with no death.
Belial needs a new tailor: Belial, no 4d pockets
Arrested Development: Ryu3, child.
What if the Protagonists were smart? Penultimate boss (Bravely Default), Normal ending boss forms.

Heavy:

Not-Invincible Elc. Elc without Invincible
Lilka's decressed. Lilka with no S or E crests.
Chivalrous Rika: PS4 Rika, no Eliminat.
Maxim of Myth: Lufia *1* Maxim

Middle:
Bright Knight: Dark Knight (Bravely Default) with all Dark elemental damage set to 0.
Noa with a bad makeup artist: Noa (Legaia) with no charm status affect.
Yuri Lowell, high as a kite: Yuri (ToV) with no Tension skills (the overlimit ones).

Light:
Selfish Clarissa: Clarissa with no sacrifice.
Democracy came to Telios: Caineghis with no trueshift.

[Veryslightlymad]

Godlike:

Heavy:
Narshe Kefka. (FF6 boss fight)
Assassin Marisa (FE8)
Unglitched Lucian (VP)

Middle:
Terra: Magitek Armor, ONLY (FF6. Might actually be heavy. unsure on hit rates.)
Dark Knight Cecil (FFIV)
PC Magus (Chrono Trigger)
Sniper Neimi (FE8)


Light:


Puny:
Ted (Suikoden 1)


MORE TO COME?!?!?!!?

[Dhyerwolf]

Narshe Kefka might be Godlike? Has some speed (in the questionable FF 6 way) and has clean OHKO damage and turn 1 Confuse (which is nasty in FF 6). Better to probably have sometime like that too high instead of too low?

I think that Marisa nom is DL Marisa since Assassin ends up the better class due to the EXP gain.

[VySaika]

Godlike:
White Mage Yuna - Yuna with no summons at all. Still godlike.
Frue Final Jenna - Jenna Angel locked to form 3, the one with the orbs.

Heavy:
Beached Doomwhale: Kyogre with Drought in effect instead of Drizzle. Assume Groudon snuck into the match second to get his weather effect going just to mock his rival.

Middle:
Pro-Life Nina 2 - Nina2 without Death.

Light:
no ideas

[SnowFire]

I have added snazzier names to some of my nominations. 

Good stuff so far, but a few thoughts / questions:

MF: That Gobi is a fine form for Buff League, but this is NERF League!  I guess it works if we also specify "no basic physicals".  Also is Freya really hurt that badly by no Dragon's Crest to go all the way to Light?  Also I assume that's base Izanagi, not Izanagi-no-Okami (which resists all including Physical, so should make Middle at least, even if it's very one-dimensional...  Mind Charge -> Megiadolan or bust.)  Also, I suspect Agrias sinks all the way to Light, unless this is LFT Agrias...  no Holy Sword with an Axe, right?

Dhyer: While I did say "no scaling only interps" in the setup, I suppose Tyr/Myria1 might be the sole exception, since it's such a gigantic and clear change.  So sure.  I'd agree Middle sounds right too, a lot of her damage sinks to lol vs. Agni defense even if she's still insanely tanky.

Pyro: Care to specify a laguz interp for Cain?  He's probably still Light, not Puny, under the harshest one, which is probably the most thematically appropriate for Nerf League.  (No gauge, no items, final destination.)

VSM: Inclined to think Magitek Terra/DKCecil/PC Magus are all Heavy, and agree that Narshe Kefka can work as an uninspiring Godlike, but looks good otherwise.

[Dhyerwolf]

Yeah, either division works for Myria.

Freya gets literally no DL change from no Dragon Crest, because it's not a move that translate into the DL without a lot of extra fighting to boost it.

[Reiska]

Godlike
Portable Minato: no Fusion Spells (e.g. Armageddon), weapon locked to rapiers (though that's normal for the DL anyway).  I think this is an appropriate division; he's basically a weaker Yu in this form.

Heavy
Reasonably Leveled Rolf: no Megid

Middle
Lazy Blue: No OverDrive.  (Do we need to ban runes without OD in play?).
Insomniac Ness: no Magicant stat boosts.
Healer Yuna: no Aeon usage and no Holy. 

Light
Super Trainee Amelia: Exactly what it says.  (Compared to General Amelia at 20/12, loses 1 HP, 2 Skl, 1 Spd, 1 Def, 1 Res, and 5 Con.  Also loses the 8% chance to null damage, but gets +15% critical rate in return.)
Actually Mute Crono: MP locked at 0, has Prism Specs to sorta compensate

Might add more later.

[Excal]

Light
Final Duel Cloud - Equipped with the Buster Sword just like his final duel with Sephiroth.

[hinode]

Light
Dawn of Souls Tiamat (FF1:DoS)
Meme Sabin (FF6) - Suplex only

Puny
Staff Girl Laura (FE10) - No tomes, staves only, final destination
Magical Kongol (LoD) - no physical attacks
Classic Hrist (VP1) - A ending, aka the one who most people voted Jogurt over
"This Isn't Even My Final Form!" Milon (FF4) - Milon1

I wanted to nom BOSS KAIN but he's not in the stat topic, sadly.

[Reiska]

I'm pretty sure Boss Kain is solidly not rankable on account of the fight being heavily scripted, but really, he's so simple he doesn't really need to be in the topic anyway.  Faces only Cecil, to whom he does 3HKO damage (and is just shy, IIRC, of 2HKO; he tends to hit for around 40-45% of Cecil's HP as I recall).  Uses only Jump, which is faster than the PC version (no landing lag), and the battle ends after his third jump even if Cecil is somehow still alive.  Also outspeeds Cecil by a notable margin IIRC? I want to say he's close to doubling.

[Magic Fanatic]

Edited a few of my noms with taking most of Snow's suggestions to heart.  And yeah, for this Narukami, do I need to specify base Izanagi only?

[Nephrite]

Would we be able to nominate bosses and say they need to stick to their in-game AI routines? For example, Boss Magus and make him switch between barriers?

[SnowFire]

Only if the AI routines are very well documented and ideally well-known, lest it run afoul of the 6 word limit.  "Acts per AI script here" with a link is succinct, a long rambling guess at what the AI script is is not.  I think Magus is a bad example though as he's not very different from DL Magus (some force him to rando-select barriers anyway).  Something like VP1 bosses might be better (e.g. Boss Lezard, must act according to script - so Great Magic on turn 3, Reflect Magic on turn 5, dinky spells otherwise, etc.).

[Jo'ou Ranbu]

I'll note that Deathless Deathevans is an off-the-beaten track Middle. He's not even a great Heavy -with- it.

Godlike

Fate Stormless Ghaleon (L:SSSC)
HP Bufferless Izanami - Second-form Only (P4)

Heavy

No Doublecast Lulu (FFX)
True-Runeless Hugo (S3)

Middle

Nerfed Cecilia Lynn Adlehyde (ACF form only)
Dragonless Ryu (BoF1)

Light

No Heal/Hi-Heal, Yes Odoryuk Yulie Ahtreide (WA4)

Puny

Auto-silenced Cristo/Kyril (DQ4)

[Dark Holy Elf]

Deathless Deathevans is surely Heavy due to that HP. He's Barubary minus about a third of the damage but with double the durability and way more speed and dispel (obviously a winning trade), and while I think Barubary may well be mediocre enough for Middle, there's no way Evans is unless your boss respect is completely in the toilet.

[Nephrite]

In that case, is Discriminate Loki (so Loki without Indiscriminate) still Godlike?

[Dark Holy Elf]

I would certainly say so myself but your Loki HP and defence respect may vary.

[Nephrite]

Eh, what's the harm in him getting beaten.

[SnowFire]

Due to surprisingly excellent & fast turnout (only Djinn/Super/Random/CK/Ciato of the usual suspects not nom'd yet), I might start this earlier than expected - Monday or Tuesday night?  So get any additional nominations in now.

hinode: It occurs to me that mage Kongol, uh, kind of can't transform without physical attacks.  And even if given 500 SP entering the fight, if he can't kill in those 5 rounds he then also loses.  Care to add a proviso?  e.g. physical attacks deal 0 damage & don't inflict status [but do gain SP]?