Okay, so the last match-ups weren’t so much battles as they were all-out massacres. Sylar successfully de-brained Michael Scofield, while Spartacus eviscerated the unscrupulous businessman Jim Profit. Today, we’ll try to pick a couple of match-ups that might give you some pause before voting. In the CRT bracket, we have a battle of brains, as Sherlock Holmes goes up against Lex Luthor. Meanwhile in the Plasma bracket, Echo takes on ‘Supernatural’ hunter Dean Winchester.

Just a note here: I’m going to stop posting videos, except for a few exceptions. Most of the ones I’ve found are simple amateur music videos that don’t really illustrate my point anyway.

This was one of my favorite match-ups going in. When I picked these two characters out of the bowl at the same time, I smiled and thought to myself that I couldn’t have planned a more perfect opening round match. It’s a battle of two geniuses. One uses his genius for good and the other for evil, but both use it to satisfy their giant egos.

Sherlock Holmes – There have been many Sherlock Holmes figures over time in TV and movies, but for this tournament we’re going with the modernized version. BBC’s new ‘Sherlock’ features a modern-day Holmes who tracks down criminals in a world filled with cell phones and the internet. However, even with modern technology, Holmes still uses his intellect to solve the most important cases.

Strengths: Holmes’ brain and his power of logical deductive reasoning are just as deadly as anyone’s fists. He can out-think and out-smart opponents without even trying to physically fight them.

Weaknesses: This isn’t Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock. He doesn’t frequent fight clubs and sport chiseled abs. His ability to best someone physically is limited.

Lex Luthor – Here’s another great mind. Luthor spent most of his time on ‘Smallville’ plotting against Clark Kent while caring on a very tenuous relationship with him. Lex is a devious, underhanded genius who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Will his evil mind be able to defeat the world’s most famous detective?

Strengths: Luthor is adept at all manner of downright scummy behavior. He uses his great intellect to plan elaborate traps for his enemies. He always gives the Man of Steel a worthy adversary, by showing that brains really do stand a chance against brawn.

Weaknesses: Like Sherlock, Luthor has a huge ego to go along with his genius. His hubris always seems to be his downfall. The question is which ego will get in the way here? Will the characters cancel each other out in the battle of wits?

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This match-up features one of the many kick-ass females who’ve been included in the tournament. Echo has unique abilities and skills, but if there’s one thing Dean Winchester is good at, it’s fighting things with unique abilities and skills. I think that this will be a pretty even match-up. The Whedon fan base may sway the vote, but let’s find out.

Echo – She’s a blank slate, so to speak – a human who can be implanted with skill sets and memories in order to complete certain tasks. No matter the job, no matter the danger, the information can be uploaded into Echo to become exactly what you want.

Strengths: Echo performed many tasks over the first season of ‘Dollhouse’. She was used numerous times as a sexual companion, but don’t let that fool you. She kicked plenty of ass along the way too.

Weaknesses: Echo is plagued by memories of her past life, which could end up getting in the way if they crop up at the wrong time. She’s also dependent on the company to upload the needed memories. Otherwise, she’s as docile as a child.

Dean Winchester – Dean has been hunting down all manner of demons, evil spirits, vampires, werewolves and any other supernatural being you can think of for seven seasons now. He’s completely skilled at dispatching the world’s worst otherworldly villains. He’s quite possibly the most experienced person in this tournament when it comes to fighting people or entities with exceptional, super-human skills.

Strengths: Over the years, we’ve learned that Dean is a master at just about any firearm he picks up. Hand-to-hand combat also proves pretty simple for him. He’s experienced in creating and fashioning makeshift weapons for special occasions. If there’s a special weapon that’s needed to take out a certain monster, Dean can make it. He’s a jack of all trades when it comes to dealing with paranormal baddies.

Weaknesses: Dean’s biggest weakness was revealed later on in the series. He doesn’t want to have this life forever. He wants to settle down and have a family. He wants a regular life. It’s possible that his heart just isn’t in it, and that could be just the advantage his opponents need to win.

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