#MakeThisBattle Feedback - August 11th

Apologies for the delay on releasing this set of feedback! But we'll make it up to you with a faster turnaround next time. [Hopefully] In the MTB hot seat this week we have EpicLLOYD. But, as usual you'll also get some second opinions from Nice Peter and HeadMonk too. 

The theme this time was 'Go East' so some of the selected match-ups fit that theme. Did your ideas delight or dismay? Remember to vote in the accompanying poll and tell us your fave idea! But, lets get down to it and find out shall we! Take it away Lloyd!

Jack Torrance vs Norman Bates [submitted by Paddy]

Gosh, this is one of those ones where you wish the main character of the Shining was better known. I fear "Jack Torrance" is gonna produce a "huh?" reaction from most people.  Norman Bates is far more well known but unless you call it; "Norman Bates vs That Guy from the Shining" I think you're playing catch up from the top.

Oda Nobunaga vs William The Conqueror [submitted by ithinkitsdivine & eoghan]

I'm very intrigued with Oda Nobunga. I think doing a battle with a would be a perfect opportunity to really teach people about that whole period of time. He's a perfect rep for Japan but probably not hugely known in the West. Just his armour alone is super impressive (google it); would certainly be a challenge for Morgan to produce. But on the flip side - if we are gonna go with an English king for an opponent, I think it'd have to be a better known one to offset the deepness of Oda. Maybe King Richard the Lionheart .  

Jackie Chan vs Sylvester Stallone [submitted by Tuff McAwesome]

I like. Jackie Chan just makes me smile. He's long overdue in my opinion anyway. We'd have to find the right person to play him but there's so many talented stunt actors here in LA that I think we could do it for sure. Sly Stallone as a match up is kinda random but he's suuuuuch a fun character. Rambo, Rocky and so many other jokes we could go for days. He'd also be an easy way to bring Jessie Wellen back for another episode.  

Ibn Battuta vs Marco Polo ft. Leif Erikson [submitted by theformerprez]

Ooooooh. This is really fun. One person with a really popular name in Marco Polo. One fairly well-known explorer in Leif Erikson. And one new name that we Americans can enjoy learning more about. It's a really fun idea. I could see people learning a whole bunch about ALL the explorers of the world rather than just Chris Columbus.

Gary Gygax vs Shigeru Miyamoto [submitted by Leo M.R]

Gary Gygax! So funny. Miyamoto is a giant as well. I like both these people but I think Gygax is just too niche. If we did Miyamoto we would have the opportunity to open up the whole video gaming world. Seems like it'd be a missed opportunity not to go down that road. A battle featuring other video gaming giants might work better. But I do dig tabletop gaming vs video gaming. It's a pretty good idea.

Buddha vs Mao Zedong [submitted by Robert Rosenthal]

How have we not done Buddha yet? That's a great idea. Is this gonna piss Buddhists off? I know spiritual leaders can get a little hairy in that way. I kinda don't care that much. Mao, is a good match but I think we gotta go with the title "Chairman Mao" rather than Mao Zedong.  He's got a great look and rich history, albeit not the friendliest. Matching him up with Buddha is good though, cos that super uber goodness of him can counterbalance Mao.  

Attila The Hun vs Hannibal Barca [submitted by CrimCrim]

Really cool. Both characters are great and we've been trying to find ways to get them in an battle for a long time. I'm not sure the connection is strong enough cause it's sort of a third party relation - they were both enemies of Rome. And that kinda gives them more in common than the usual kind of conflict we go for. Either way, I wanna see Hannibal on an elephant in ERB one day for sure.  

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"Pete's Hot Takes" - Pete looked through the ideas and offers a few thoughts.

Jack Torrance vs Norman Bates is brilliant, almost as brilliant as Jackie Chan vs Sylvester Stallone, which may be my new favorite suggestion. Whoa, auto-correct is teaching me that Sylvester has two "LL" in his name. Lloyd must be in heaven. In all seriousness, Jackie Chan vs Sylvester Stallone has everything, what doesn't it have? Everyone knows them, there's legit history there, the characters are big, fun, tons of reference material. The stunts could be incredible. The voices are so distinct. I'm in love. 

I also want to quickly say that Gary Gygax vs Shigeru Miyamoto is also very good. I think that's the best match-up I've seen for each of those individuals. It's a pretty niche battle, but it's a rich niche. Riche niche. I'm coining that as my new phrase. I've never actually played Dungeons and Dragons, so the idea of having to go all out and get into it and play a few games delights me. What will I wear? This is a nice set of match-ups overall, I'm a little jealous. Hope you had fun Googling Lloyd!

"Monk's Hot Takes" - our manager always has something to say!

It was tricky just to choose seven match-ups this time. So first off - well done folks for all the great suggestions! I'm kinda sold on Torrance vs Bates purely cos I think Lloyd could be a perfect Jack and Pete a perfect Norman. And its a good excuse to get Pete back into a dress for a quick segment too. ;) I do also like Leif Erikson a lot. A viking rep seems like it should happen one day and he's an interesting character cos he wasn't your typical warrior type viking. Does Polo and Battutu scream excitement though? Not sure. But it's certainly an idea worth exploring. 

The characters of Rocky & Rambo have got thrown around a lot over the years in YouTube comments. And I love them both. But maybe the best option is to use Sylvester Stallone and then you can bring in those individual characters too. But from this selection of ideas I think the one that stands out is Buddha vs Chairman Mao. Ordered a book about Mao today and I am gonna dig around and see if this match-up has the potential I think it might.

PS Quick shout out. One of our patrons [Alvin Franco] suggested we do a Japanese royale featuring five Japanese creatives - and whilst I didn't love that idea, I do think there's potential to do a Japanese or "Far East" royale featuring key people from across the centuries. Maybe have a think about that Alvin. ;)

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We now need to start a new round of makethisbattle! So we need a new theme!

As the last theme seemed to create a lot of cool ideas... I want to take a look at a different continent this time around. The theme is "Southbound". 

We are looking for match-up ideas featuring people or characters from South America. We have only ever featured Che Guevara from that whole continent and I think it's obvious we have neglected a whole array of potentially awesome people. So, let's try to solve that problem. :) 

You can ignore the theme completely if you prefer. :) But when selecting the match-ups for feedback we will pick 2 or more that match the South American theme. 

Same rules apply. Seven match-ups in total will be selected. Three suggestions per person. You can post them in the comments below, email them to erbpatreon@gmail.com or post them on the Discord server in the dedicated '#make-this-battle' channel.

Deadline for submissions is... 5pm PT on Friday 21st August