Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-14610890-20131218030737/@comment-11188061-20131218163052

Let me make a more realistic measurement of these combatants' capabilities than people going stupid and say, "if Yang's hair get cuts she's gonna win", because mind you, the exact opposite would happen. But first, I must clarify that that these two matchups' winners are completely dependant on plot device. If the plot wants Pyrrha to win, she wins. If the plot wants Weiss to win, she wins. The first round is usually the more objective, but the Semi Finals in any battle anime usually allows whoever has the stronger 'memory flashback' or 'promises' or 'bonds' to win. Very cliche, very un-objective, and the worst part is you can't ignore those bullshit factors because it can happen, but well, we have to try.

Let's start with Pyrrha versus Yang:

As many people have mentioned, this is a really hard match to decide mainly because both of them are extremely proficient at fighting, experienced in their own ways, and can be very smart. In fact, it might be better if I just list out each of their advantages and work from there:

Pyrrha:

- Her polarity Semblance gives her a definite advantage. We do not know how long Pyrrha's Semblance range is or how much control she has, but just judging purely from Jaune's Episode, I say she can easily manipulate Yang's gauntlet, make her lose balance at a critical moment, and score some extremely nasty hits. Her Semblance control is absolutely top notch, as seen from how she managed to position Jaune's shield perfectly from a distance to block the Ursa's strike. Hell, she might even be able to do matrix - stop bullets in mid-air and shoot them right back at Yang!

- Her eerie discipline in battle no matter what circumstances. Pyrrha is by far the coolest and most disciplined warrior we've seen in battle so far. She acts and reacts perfectly even when under the pressure of a crisis (though all of Team JNPR are the same), like when she pulled off those pinpoint spear counters, blocks and throw on a falling bridge. She fights like a textbook and executes everything perfectly, but that wasn't the scary part - it's the fact that she's able to react perfectly on reflex that's scary.

- Weapon. She has longer range on her spear, and a shield to block hits and bash things when she needs to. And trust me, that shield bash is going to hurt and create more pressure than the spear hits, and Pyrrha is definitely an expert at using a shield. That thing alone nullifies a majority variety of hits Yang could throw at her (you can't really spin kick for example, without risking getting shoved off balance by the shield. You can't really aim for specific body parts either since with proper position the shield can block a large majority of the torso). And never forget how she speared Jaune to a tree during the Emerald Forest episode, that is just out of the world.

- Wits. She doesn't usually let it show, but Pyrrha has a playful streak that could possibly match Yang's. This also mean that she's used to improvising in fights, and this girl can play dirty if she needs to.

Yang

- Weapon. Pyrrha's spear may have a ridiculous amount of range (rocket + Semblance = spearing Jaune with stupid accuracy from miles away), but Ember Celica excels at repeated barrage. With some good timing she can easily keep Pyrrha on the defensive with some good ol' one-sided shooting, and Yang isn't shy enough not to use what some people would call a 'dirty' tactic in some fighting games (HADOKEN YOU TO DEATH!). Pyrrha may also find herself hard-pressed by her burst punches, which may catch her off guard if especially during the first few hits.

- Wits and adapatability. This is probably Yang's greatest strength. As I've mentioned before, she adapted immediately during the Yellow Trailer from fighting a 1 vs many battle, a 1 vs 2 Elite battle, and finally a 1 vs 1 Elite battle who initially has a ranged advantage on her. She will find a way around Pyrrha's shield and spear battle stance, and she will find a way to counter that Semblance.

- Fearless risk taker, and yet capable of assessing the situation analytically. Yang isn't going to be afraid to take a spear to the face, whereas Pyrrha herself might hesitate to perform such a blow. Yang won't be afraid to take calculated risk because she's confident that she can handle whatever that comes even if she fails, and she'll jump at any opening Pyrrha presented at full strength. However, she is not stupid enough to fall for a fake and bait either, as seen from her fight with Melanie.

- Controlled and disciplined. Yang manages her Semblance usage very well. She was fighting non-stop during the Yellow Trailer, and throughout she was being extremely careful with her Semblance usage, and it was only at the end when she got mad at Junior and used her full power all at once.

- Dirty fighting. Duh. If she can distract Pyrrha with some verbal harassment she's definitely gonna do it. Same mentality as Sun (in regards to him breaking laws) here; there are NO RULES TO WAR AHAHAHAHA! More importantly, Yang is used to fighting in all kinds of situation, dirty or not, whereas Pyrrha seems to be more geared towards formal duels and battles. The easiest example would be that Yang would go for the groin kick if she can whereas Pyrrha probably won't resort to that unless the situation calls for it.

- Endurance. Both of them have monstrous stamina and endurance I suppose, but Yang will be able to take more beating than Pyrrha. It's simple - Pyrrha's fighting style is more defensive counter and relies on baiting frustration with her shield before following up with a few surprise spear jabs to vital parts. Yang's style is the head-on pure melee who isn't afraid to eat blows and even major hits. With exception to Jaune (in the future), there isn't anyone who has higher battle endurance than her right now (excluding the adults).

So... after that length comparison, my winner goes to '''Pyrrha! '''My reason is actually largely unrelated to the above stated information.

So first, this is an equal-skilled match where both combatants have the chance of defeating their opponents. Therefore it will eventually turn out into a fight to see who can keep their cool to the last minute, and as you would expect, Yang most likely cannot.

1) First, Pyrrha would be stopping a large majority of Yang's hits, frustrating her and probably causing her to call Pyrrha names, which the latter will ignore. She will take a few hits before learning that getting angry isn't going to solve her predicament.

2) In addition to that, Pyrrha's Semblance will be causing huge problems for Yang, and she will come very close to being defeated by the methodical Pyrrha who tries to end the match before things could drag any further.

3) Yang comes up with a crazily risky tactic to counter Pyrrha's Semblance and scores in a few good hits. She presses her advantage until Pyrrha eventually manages to stop the onslaught, but notes that her Aura level has dropped significantly due to Yang's powerful offensive strikes.

4) Now then, here comes the hair factor. As both combatants continue to test the waters with their Aura level almost falling towards the red area, Yang will attempt another risky strike that got blocked, while narrowly avoiding Pyrrha's counter. Which accidentally cut off her hair.

Yang will likely go berserk. She will lose her cool, and she will throw her strongest strike at Pyrrha, surprising the latter with the sudden burst of strength. However, Pyrrha will block the strike with her shield, though the poor thing might shatter in the process. She will then proceed with a classic counter and strike Yang down.

Yang will not be able to counter. As I've mentioned before, Yang cannot use her Semblance for a prolonged amount of time. It's exactly like an explosion - when she burns all of her fuel the resulting burst is massive, but after that she would not have any energy left. If Pyrrha manages to survive that final one-hit-ko, Yang would not be able to react in time due to exhaustion and be defeated by Pyrrha. Hence, Pyrrha is the winner. This is my imagined scenario of how the duel will go.

Blake versus Weiss.

In all honesty, the battle between these two is not one of skill but of mentality. I'm not even going to compare anything like I did with Pyrrha and Yang because it won't be a fight of skill. Instead, let's talk about their mentality. Weiss will be the victor, but it will be an extremely bitter win which sinks her further into the perfection dilemma. Cue character development.

Blake, as usual, is the hesitant fighter. Going up against Weiss, she might even be more hesitant than usual because they've just resolved a major argument regarding her Faunu/White Fang origins. However, the opposite may also be true. Regardless, Weiss will persuade Blake to go at her with everything she got, and so as not to let down Weiss' expectation, Blake will do exactly so. She will fight better than she did with Lie Ren (which by the way, I'm still calling it Lie Ren's win).

Weiss on the other hand, is in a huge inner struggle. As I've mentioned before, she will totally underestimate Jaune, and Jaune will totally score at least one unexpected hit on Weiss before being defeated. This will shake her to the core. She will be carrying to the duel the fact that she got hit by the weakest fighter in all of Beacon.

Ultimately, Weiss has the better ranged advantage and absolute stubborness plus refusal to be defeated at anything. I predict that she will win narrowly with Blake congratulating her on a good fight, but Weiss can only answer halfheartedly, noting that again, she couldn't defeat Blake as easily as she thought she would.