Widowmaker VS Ellis is a Death Battle by Sinnovalos.
Description[]
Season 1 Episode 5! Overwatch VS Left 4 Dead! Finally! Widowmaker faces off with that memorable sniper from a Valve game. No, not that Aussie fella, the L4D2 survivor. Does Ellis have the means to survive against the cold blooded assassin?
Interlude[]
Boomstick: Snipin's a good job, mate. It's challenging work, outta-
Wiz: And sometimes it is a necessity to complete the job at hand. Whether the environment is a professional assassination or a fight for survival, sniping is almost as guaranteed as anything to find a way to enter the fray.
Boomstick: So today, we throw two of video games' better marksmen into each other's crosshairs to find out who gets their head blown off first.
Wiz: Amélie Lacroix, the genetically altered Widowmaker of Talon from Overwatch.
Boomstick: And Ellis, Left 4 Dead 2's sniping survivor of the Green Flu outbreak. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyse their weapons, armour and skill to find out who would win a Death Battle.
Widowmaker[]
Boomstick: So.. Widowmaker kinda took the scenic route to becoming the assassin she is known as now.
Wiz: If by scenic you mean, tragic, absolutely. Widowmaker was once Amélie Lacroix, a world renowned ballerina dancer from Paris. Unfortunately, her husband was a key member of Overwatch, a faction of heroes that opposed another unit called Talon.
Boomstick: Failing to the husband, Talon hit him where it hurt the most: right in the loved ones. Amélie was abducted, and while she was rescused by Overwatch, it was too late.
Wiz: Amélie had been brainwashed, and murdered her husband as he slept. After doing so, she would return to Talon to complete her physical and psychological alterations. Gone was the once prolific dancer and loving wife, and in her place was only Widowmaker.
Boomstick: The experiments by Talon physically altered her, making her blue skinned and slowed her heartbeat down - though this was never just about being colourful. It actually served a practical use; the blood pulsing through her no longer alters her aim at longer range, meaning she keeps composed during the most intense of shots.
Wiz: Indeed. This has helped her out snipe another top agent in Ana Amari. Even with the disadvantage of Anna's superior mechanical eyesight.
Boomstick: The alterations were only enough to get her so far. To become the true assassin Talon needed, Widowmaker would rely on a valuable set of tools to get the job done. Multiple times.
Wiz: Firstly, her visor is not just for show; it is actually able to snap over her eyes and grants her thermal sights. This even works through walls and objects - and can also offer her team mates the opportunity to capitalise on this vision.
Boomstick: So, like Squad Sight from XCOM?
Wiz: Right! Only Widowmaker is not going to pass on an opportunity to get the kill. This ability lasts 15 seconds, and only takes 0.5 seconds to actually set up. She can also charge her Ult Charge over this time - 1% every 3 or so seconds.
Boomstick: Widowmaker is equipped with a Grappling Hook as well - allowing her to get away from close range experts like Genji - she can use it as leverage for a better shot, or just as a means of travel. Man, she's like the traditional bounty hunter isn't she?
Wiz: Very much so. She can even use the hooks to gain unorthodox angles and shots. After incapacitating guards, she hooked it around her leg and dangled upside down against the side of a building. And she still had a clean sight of her target after that.
Boomstick: So, Spiderman and Boba Fett had a baby. Yeah, I can dig that.
Wiz: She can cover her back with Venom Mines - self explanatory in name, they emit poison on targets who trigger it. While they can be destroyed, they are often placed to counter flankers. With the range she can get on these mines as well, it is not too rare to see her use them as a grenade. They worked a treat in the Alive trailer, halting Tracer in her pursuit of Widowmaker.
Boomstick: And even when Tracer was able to escape the mine's effects, Widowmaker was still successful in her mission, tricking Tracer in to dodging an attack that was meant for the person Tracer was supposed to be protecting. Such cunning! So devious! Man, she's like a cruel ex.
Wiz: But her trademark weapon is her Widow's Kiss rifle. Effective at long range, she can pull off headshots from great distances and with perfect precision. It takes shy of 2 seconds to reload this gun - and she can fire 10 rounds in a second.
Boomstick: Wait. That rate of fire sounds ideal for close range too.
Wiz: It.. sort of is. Though close range battles are not within her usual tactics, she can hold her own in a one on one gunfight. She was also fast enough on the draw to track and destroy a Pulse Bomb that was thrown through the confusion of dust and smoke in her fight with Tracer.
Boomstick: With a 40 meter range, it's basically an SMG on steroids. And with Widow's physical alterations, she is not going to waste that distance or the rate of fire.
Wiz: The rate of fire and the range capabilities make her a nightmare for defending hallways and long range corridors. But she can be quite endangered when she goes up against tank units and others with abilities to absorb a lot of damage; firing a shot will give her position away.
Boomstick: She's also not the physically strongest unit, though is skilled enough of a fighter to drop several bodyguards during her escape from Tracer.
Wiz: Her acrobats make for a nimble foe - one that easily slips through fingers even when cornered. She is fast enough to consistently dodge gun fire while running towards the source of said fire. And these were automatic weapons too. Basically, if you ever get the chance to finish her, you better take it - because she will not make the same mistake otherwise. She's as skilled and as ruthless as they come - a real threat to even the best of Heroes.
Widowmaker: When I was a girl, I had a fear of spiders. I was told they felt no emotion, that their hearts never beat, but I know the truth. At the moment of the kill, they are never more alive.
Ellis[]
Boomstick: So, Ellis is a kid. He's basically the guy everyone thinks they would be in a zombie apocalypse.
Wiz: Whereas Coach, Rochelle and Nick have a serious outlook on the world after the Green Flu, Ellis seems to treat it as a cool hang out with three new friends. The apocalypse allowed him to venture out of his home town: Savannah and encounter different kinds of environments.
Boomstick: He would remain a member of the group through the cities, swamps and rivers and... everywhere. Man, he must be some fighting zombie machine or some shit.
Wiz: He has a serious amount of confidence in himself and a seemingly unbreakable spirit - despite Nick's best efforts to dampen his spirits. Throughout their adventure to New Orleans, Ellis and the group discover that they are indeed carriers of the Green Flu infection. Meaning that, while not turning into a mindless infected, Ellis still carries the virus of the Green Flu and infects others who are not immune.
Boomstick: It is probably that trait that turned the pilot in the build to Swamp Fever.
Wiz: But despite staring certain death at the hands of the military in the face, Ellis aids the survivors to the last helicopter out of the apocalpse. They were safe... for now. Ellis proved a more valuable member than his personality would indicate; depending on safe room chatter, Ellis comes up with the plan to use the Burger Tank sign as a way to signal Virgil through the storm. And he also used his initiative to think up Jimmy Gibbs' car as an escape route.
Boomstick: So, Nick ain't always right to call him out. That said, Ellis can be a strain on people's patience...
Coach: Boy, you are wearin' me out...
Rochelle: Ellis, sweetie, can this wait?
Nick: He's like a five year old. With guns. And a comprehensive grasp of every swear word in the English language.
Boomstick: A real crowd favourite!
Wiz: Ellis fancies himself a sniper - replicating the snipers from the movies. His preferred choice is the Hunting Rifle - one of the most powerful weapons in the game. Ellis' Hunting Rifle carries 15 shots per magazine and has 150 shots altogether. At 90 damage per shot, it can tear through infected with ease and cuts through a lot of terrain with little issue.
Boomstick: The scope helps a lot at long range (duh) and the accuracy can be amplified with the Laser Sight upgrade. This essentially closes the reticle of to a narrow point, allowing for precise shots.
Wiz: The rifle can be upgraded further with both fire and explosive ammo rounds - which last for 15 shots. Fire bullets ignite foes, whereas explosive rounds can stumble, or gib targets in one hit!
Boomstick: The rate of fire of this weapon is 240 rounds per minute but if you're trying to spray this weapon like a bleedin' uzi, you're not doing it right.
Wiz: Ellis also uses the weapon to batter through infected, knocking common infected down with a single strike most times. However, Ellis can only melee with the gun a few times before fatiguing. Moreover, it takes several shoves to kill the majority of infected - with Tanks, Chargers and Witches being exceptions.
Boomstick: Or Jockeys when you're the last man standing on Expert...
Wiz: In a bind, Ellis prefers to dual wield two glock pistols - 15 bullets in each clip. The pistols have no maximum ammo capacity, so they are a valuable tool thanks to their ability to rapid fire - dealing damage in a much faster rate.
Boomstick: They aren't necessarily strong guns, but that is kinda the point; they are a last ditch effort weapon, that happen to be compensated with fire rates. Oh, and don't be trying to pull of pistol shots from more than a few yards because they absolutely suck at range.
Wiz: As a melee alternative, Ellis can swap to an Electric Guitar. This is a heavy weapon that Ellis can swing with enough force to knock the heads of common infected. It is one of the harder hitting melee weapons, and has one of the longest reaches as well, but the problems stem from Ellis' slow recovery between swings.
Boomstick: The guitar is great for wailing on one common, and even most specials, but in a group environment it is really slow. And it cannot cut through Smoker tongues - which is a bit of a drawback.
Wiz: It can still kill a Tank in short time, but that only accounts for the Tank not fighting back; which literally never happens. He may also consider a Molotov cocktail - creating a burst of fire that covers a chunk of the field for a short while.
Boomstick: But, Ellis also has means of tiding himself over should he need it. He has a First Aid Kit, which takes around five seconds to use - it heals 80% of health too! Sweet healthcare perks!
Wiz: However, the survivor is defenceless to protect himself when he uses a health kit until the healing has completed. So, in the short run Ellis might be better suited to use the Adrenaline shot. This injection gives Ellis a speed boost for a 15 second interval. It also restores 25 health - allowing for several actions to be completed quicker such as healing, reviving team mates and running through infected.
Boomstick: It does wear off though, and then Ellis needs to heal cos... well... he has nothing going for him then.
Wiz: Right, and Ellis is not the physically strong character he maybe pretends to be; in the trailer, a Jockey was able to overpower him without any hassle, and if a Smoker or Charger gets a hold of him either, he can't fight out on his own. But, despite that he did survive 6 campaigns worth of punishment and terrain - you know he has toughened up along the way and can be considered a threat to anyone looking to pick a fight...
Ellis: Kill all sons of bitches. That's my official instructions.
Intermission[]
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all.
Boomstick: It's time for a DEATH BATTLE!
Fight[]
Location: Concert Finale, Dark Carnival (Left 4 Dead 2)
The metal bar barricading the saferoom door fell to the floor and, following two weaker kicks, a third one booted the red steel frame open. Out wandered the lone survivor, his flashlight alone lighting his path to the open gate leading to the concert stage. From behind him came an awful fuss. Ellis spun on his heels and saw the glowing eyes of the horde charging down the barricade inside the hall. "Holy shit. Shit!" he yelped, running out into the open and turning back on himself. As the infected were about to leap through the door, Ellis shot the supports on either side, forcing the metal door to slam shut before them. Ellis sighed a heavy sigh, before getting on with his plan. If he was going to find rescue, he would need to start the Midnight Riders' finale!
He ran up into the stands, finding the controls for the lights. With a smirk, he flicked them on. "Lights!" he confirmed, following the flicking lights back down to the stage. Once he was there, he noticed the band's guitars, all laid out neatly before the speakers. He couldn't help himself. He grabbed the closest one and ran to the microphone. "Every lady's crazy when her daddy's-"
Ellis' solo was cut short when a gunshot knocked the mic stand over. "What was that for?!" he whinged, drawing his own rifle to find the guilty party. From the scaffolding, he noticed the rifle of Widowmaker pointed down to him. "Ain't that a load of shit? Why in the hell would you stop the Riders?"
"Contraire. I just saved the memory of their music from your l' absurdité." Widowmaker mused, pointing the gun down at his forehead this time. Ellis had a second to buy himself time. "TAANK!" he screamed, pointing behind the assassin. Widowmaker rolled over to face the beast, before her face grew red... How had she fallen for such a simple play? She saw Ellis running over to the tape deck and used her grappling hook to swing on over.
She landed on the stage, just at the opposite side of the deck and planting her hand on the desk, just as Ellis was about to hit the button. "No." she said smugly. Ellis smirked, pulling her hand close and punching her as hard as he could into the speaker. As she was about to draw her gun, Ellis hit play and turned the volume up as loud as he could.
"1! 2! 3! 4!!!"
FIGHT!
Widowmaker glared at Ellis, firing off shots at the fleeing survivor as he ran to the lorry trailer on the left side of the stage. She jumped over the tape deck and knocked off the music, Ellis shot the supports of the tarp above her, burying her under it for a moment. Ellis ran over, guitar raised and ready to bash her head in. From beneath the cover, Widowmaker kicked frantically and managed to catch Ellis in the face at least twice, before finally freeing herself and firing at the survivor. Ellis backed behind a metal case, and reloaded his rifle - arming it with fire bullets this time. Widowmaker went high, swinging off the roof of the stage, and Ellis struggled for success when he opened fire, his shots hitting the ceiling and the back wall. He backed off again, finding stairs to the stands where he ran behind a bit of scaffolding, hoping to see Widowmaker before she flushed him out.
Ellis waited a sec, before he heard the footsteps on the wood above him. He scoped in and fired as soon as something landed before him. Much to his shock, it was Gnome Chompski, who Widowmaker had used as bait. Now knowing exactly where Ellis was, Widowmaker started plugging the wooden shelter with gunfire. Ellis screamed as he ran from his hiding spot, throwing a Molotov back at it to catch out the assassin. Widowmaker felt a slight burn on her thigh as she ran past, but it was nothing to slow her down. She scoped in and shot Ellis in the back of his leg. He fell forwards, dragging himself around the corner of the scaffold Widowmaker had initially been hiding at. He pulled out a pack of pills and swallowed them. "That'll keep me for a bit."
In the meantime, Widowmaker moved down to the stage, placing a Venom Mine behind the tape deck, just in case Ellis tried to use it again. Her being on lower elevation suited Ellis, though, and the survivor began pelting her position with sniper bullets. One clipped her visor, knocking her over but the rest were too late as she already used her grappling hook to pull herself off the stage and behind another set of metal cases. Ellis watched her the whole way, and climbed the top of the scaffolding, grabbing his prize from the top of the vantage point. "This is gonna be cool." he smirked, firing a grenade from the launcher and blowing away the cover of the Talon agent. "Irritant." she spat, hooking up and through the window behind the stage. Another nade blew up behind her, knocking her onto her front but she was generally okay. Ellis didn't want to let this go to waste and ran over, throwing Molotovs through the gap after her, not permitting her to have an easy ride.
Fighting through the burning room, Widowmaker kicked open a door and fell to the outside, just beyond the perimeter of the concert. She took a moment to compose herself, knowing Ellis was looking for her all over. She slithered into the stadium's interior, and began running towards the doors at the top and center of the arena. She saw Ellis picking up cans of fuel and retreating to the stage. As she guessed earlier, he was going to restart the concert. She positioned herself by the lights control booth, and scoped in on the survivor.
Ellis placed a last gas can, and then looked into the stands. With a strain, he saw Widowmaker at the last moment, dodging a shot from her rifle, though not entirely as his cap was blown off mid stride. He returned shots, but Widow ducked behind cover. She then fired back and Ellis copied, hiding behind the cases on the stage. After a few tense moments of silence, both snipers reloaded. Ellis switched to explosive rounds on his gun, and fired in the general area Widowmaker was hiding. The shots didn't hit her, but they didn't need to as shrapnel planted into her back and arms off the wall. Widowmaker cried out and Ellis used this cue to run over to the tape deck. "What the hell?" he demanded, seeing the ejected tape. And then the Venom Mine from before went off. "Shit!" Ellis rasped, desperately swatting the poison from his face. He reached for his adrenaline shot to buy time, but just as he popped it, Widowmaker killed the lights.
"Bonne Nuit." she whispered, activating her Infra-Sight. With a nice, clear view of Ellis' diminishing health, and desperate struggle to actually see where he was, she fired on him ruthlessly. Ellis body was clipped in both arms and his left leg, dropping him to the floor. He drew his pistols and fired in to the stands, hoping any shot would connect with her. No, nothing. Widow landed before him and drove her foot into his chest, smashing him into the wall. Ellis swung with the guitar as Widowmaker closed in, but she weaved and then hit his exposed ribs with her gun's butt, winding him. Ellis coughed and desperately tried to find clean air, but the assassin offered nothing. She grabbed him by the heels wrapped her grapple around his neck. She then connected it to the roof overhead, slowly hanging the survivor.
She leaned in and whispered into his ear. "Atteindre le haut." She then pulled away as Ellis desperately fought against the tightening grapple. Widowmaker stood the mic back up, just in time for the snapping of Ellis' neck to sound all over the stadium. She kicked the button for the stage fireworks as the encore of eerie silence and smell of loose sparks on Ellis' hanging body proved to be his swansong.
KO!
Conclusion[]
Boomstick: Well, Nick was right about someone dying there as an adult.
Wiz: Unfortunately for Ellis, Widowmaker had enough to surprise him and then some with her skills and fire power. In a direct comparison of weapons, Ellis had more variety, being able to switch from sniping to grenade launchers and to melee combat. The problem was that Widow could easily adapt to fight off any new weapon Ellis brought to the table. Sure, a Grenade Launcher or Explosive Ammo would have killed her with a direct hit but, for a sniper, she is never stationary often enough to bank on this outcome.
Boomstick: Her rifle has also been shown to be more effective at longer range, and pull off way more precise finishes than anything Ellis might have hit. And more often than not, she is doing it under fire from other foes such as Tracer, who gave her no real time to line up an effective shot.
Wiz: Ellis' guns had power on their side, effortlessly decapitating or dismembering most common infected, but again this comes down to him being able to predictably pick them off. Widowmaker also had more ways of creating gaps in the combat to set herself up better, through ways of her Grappling Hook, which offered movement far superior to anything Ellis could whip out.
Pop Up: An Adrenaline shot would have been Ellis' best bet for creating seperation or closing the distance. Not only was this less accessible than Widow's hook (as Ellis can only carry one and can only benefit from the speed boost for 15 seconds) but it also didn't offer much for gaining leverage or multi elevation combat.
Boomstick: But wait, couldn't Ellis have just hit Widowmaker with Boomer Bile to nullify her better precision vantage points?
Wiz: Well, if he could get a throw precise enough, then sure, maybe. But that isn't very likely. Also, Widowmaker could simply use her hooks to get out of reach and wait out the blindness. And that would also be dependent on her falling for one of his tricks before he fell for one of her's. I mean, Widowmaker could leave Venom Mines in choke points that Ellis had no real counter to, unlike someone such as a Tracer he can't undo his steps and take back triggering them, and his adrenaline wouldn't allow him to out speed the explosion either.
Boomstick: Widowmaker was far more experienced at dealing with other human combatants, evidenced in her clashes with Overwatch. Of course, you can't just plainly say Ellis would be useless against another human; his guns and other weapons certainly are as capable as anyone else's of putting someone down.
Wiz: But on a consistent level, he wouldn't be able to dictate the flow of the battle the way he'd want. For the majority of an encounter like this, Ellis would be running around trying to put out the fires Widow started and undoing the little bits she moved into place, such as constant switches between fire rates and cover. There's also the fact that Widowmaker was the only one capable of benefitting from lighting and other such visual factors. Ellis really had nowhere to run. As capable as he is of thinking of strategies, there was little in his head that could help him overtake the assassin at any point.
Boomstick: What about his durability and healing items, shouldn't they have helped?
Wiz: Oh, they certainly shrunk Widowmaker's margin of victory. Ellis had way more on demand means of healing himself through pills, adrenaline or health kits. The problem is that two of those do not offer a permanent health recovery and the one that does would leave him exposed for too long.
Boomstick: But his durability was an issue; Ellis can survive having cars lamped into his face, endured the powerful assaults of Tank punches and Charger batterings. He is one tough cookie. But against regular old gunfire and poison? Ellis has never really been shown to fare well against either of those.
Wiz: All in all, Ellis was a decent opponent and would give Widowmaker a lot to think about. But in a contest where he couldn't get a foot ahead, or even know where to expect his next threat to come from, he found himself ensnared more and more in the Widowmaker's web before the survivor had finally been overwhelmed.
Boomstick: Widow wouldn't just hang around to see what he came up with.
The Winner is: Widowmaker!
Custom Track[]
