Venom VS Bane

This was one of the few battles where I actually had a decent amount of prior knowledge on before the prediction blog came out. With me having the gist of Bane and Venom being one of my favorite Marvel characters of all time, I was pretty hyped for the battle. The connections were also not bad with both being evil counterparts of the protagonists that are also physically stronger (though Ben and Chad didn't realize this until after looking into the battle).

Analysis

The analysis were informative as always. In fact they were so informative that they were actually able to come up with a feat for Bane that made it less than a stomp in Venom's favor. Specifically surviving SuperBat's beatdown. In terms of feats, the analysis do a good job at stating feats without giving the audience a way to gauge the feats until the conclusion (though its still safe to assume that a giant carnival ride is a bigger feat than lifting a truck). The analysis were pretty decent in the entertainment department with Boomstick name ratings being a notable aspect. However, while the analysis is decent on its own, it pales in comarison to other episodes. The analysis does do its job in being informative but it could be better by putting in more feats and/or calcs. It also isn't as entertaining as other episodes so I give the analysis a 5.8 out of 10.

Animation

Now unlike the previous episode, I freaking love the fight choreography for this episode. The animation starts out as a homage to Batman while also mixing in a bit of Mook Horror Show. It demonstrates Bane's superior skill in martial arts while also maintaining Venom's superior power set. The way Venom finishes Bane is well-done and the way Bane dies (with Venom overloading him with webbing to the point where he explodes) definitely fits this episode more than Batman VS Spider-man (where it was originally intended to appear). Unlike the last episode, the advantage ball is passed around rather than keeping it in one combatant so I'm comfortable giving the animation an 8 out of 10 (and upon further inspection despite Scrooge VS SK's superior animation, it really didn't deserve a 9.5/10).

Conclusion

The conclusion is as expected yet, it is dealt with in a tactful manner. Rather than simply righting the episode off due to him being physically superior, the episode actual tackles calculations for several feats such as the carnival ride weighing around 200 tons and calculating Venom's reaction speed to be 1,500 miles per hour. Yes it does end with essentially what I said they didn't do but they actually give justifiable reasons rather than using powerscaling to Spiderman. As such I think the conclusion deserves a 7.5 out of 10. That brings the total score to 21.3 out of 30 or 71%. 

Scrooge McDuck VS Shovel Knight

I'm going to be honest; when this matchup was first announced I was pissed. The only connection I could see was "both collect money" and that really isn't worthy enough to become a DEATH BATTLE! However, as time went on I discovered more and more connections between the two. Both were treasure hunters (and judging by the amount of jewelry behind Shovel Knight, it was an important aspect of his character) who had a 'partner' but lost that partner at one point in their life resulting in them heartbroken and these partners were still alive after the protagonists lost them. Both had similar arsenals with a means of generating extreme heat, becoming intangible, generating loud noises, turning opponents into gold and even had a similar technique. So by the time this battle got released I was actually pretty excited.

Analysis

One thing I noticed about this episode is that it seemed to be a contrast to Lara Croft VS Nathan Drake. Both gave the background but then while that episode spent more time going over feats, this episode spent more time going over the combatant's arsenals. It goes so far that Wiz and Boomstick even share their favorite weapons the characters have. Now they still go over the combatants feats but there's not as much emphasis on it, making the episode a bit unpredictable. Also adding to the unpredictability is that the 'weakness trap' as I'm calling it wasn't used. While I disagree with Shovel Knight being dumb, I understand that that was put there in an attempt to avoid making the episode predictable. Unfortunately the matchup itself destroys all of that but I'll explain what I mean by that later on. With all this I give the analysis a 7/10.

Animation

Well this fight of all episodes finally showed me the difference between fight and animation. On one hand I'm disappointed with the fight itself as it portrays Scrooge as winning on pure luck. He only manages to get a solid hit in until 13 seconds prior to the end of the battle. This is a problem I also noticed in Meta VS Carolina (with Carolina only winning because of Maine's Brute Shot). While the animation is purely made for entertainment, most people will still think of this as how the fight will play out (hence why you see people arguing about the details of the animation) and by portraying the victor as only winning because of a combination of sheer luck and their opponent's weapon, you get rid of the feeling that the victor actually earned that win. The episode also didn't show as much of either combatant's arsenal as I would've liked and is quite short. The fight does have its moments such as Shovel Knight swinging the cannon ball back to Scrooge and Scrooge's comeback is especially good as Shovel Knight dies with honor... by slipping over a pool of gold and getting decapitated by his own weapon.

However, that all changes when you look at the animation itself. Every movement is fluid and it creates a semblance of quality that surpasses even some 3D animated fights. The animation has a nice flow to it and this is even shown in the music used when it easily changes from 'The Ancient Ship of Doom - Act 1' to the NES theme of DuckTales. This animation greatly improves upon the quality of previous 2D episodes and I look forward to seeing more of Jetz battles in the future. Seriously this episode has made me think of Jetz as the Torrian of 2D battles. With this I give the animation 9.5/10

Conclusion

Now as I've said the outcome was obvious just because of the sheer matchup itself. This is what happens when you pit a character with 70+ years of comic books (as well as other mediums) against an indie video game character with one game (and a bunch of cameos). Yes the majority of Shovel Knights game is fighting, giving the illusion that he has more combat experience but in canon its still a few days. Scrooge on the other hand has more source material and has gone on more adventures than Shovel Knight so while DB's claim that Scrooge has 100+ years of experience is incorrect, Scrooge still has more canon experience than Shovel Knight. Yes Shovel Knight has a bigger arsenal that could provide more hax but Scrooge's arsenal literally destroys the laws of physics and doesn't have as much of a catch. Yes Shovel Knight has faced impressive threats such as dragons and the Order of No Quarter but Scrooge has accomplished feats well above that such as surviving the center of the earth. 

There's also the problem with the format of 'Shovel Knight' in that many of the feats Shovel Knight performs in that game are 'player influenced' and as a result make the feats extremely iffy in my opinion. Yes Shovel Knight 'could' dodge meteors but if the player isn't fast enough then Shovel Knight will just end up being hit by them and the game doesn't even acknowledge these meteorites. Canonically Shovel Knight just beat Black Knight and that is that. This is likely the reason why DB didn't cover the meteorite feat (though according to the prediction blog it wouldn't have mattered if it was included). 

With the format of 'Shovel Knight' this episode put a nearly featless character against a character with 70 years worth of feats on his belt. The result was obvious. from the getgo. However, despite that the episode's reasoning is sound. They show that Scrooge was superior in stats, had a superior arsenal and brought up Shovel Knight's finite supply of magic. I give the reasoning a score of 7.5/10. That brings the total score to 24/30.