It’s widely accepted by fans thatCyclopsis one of the greatest tacticians in the Marvel Universe, let alone theX-Menfranchise. No one can set a battlefield quite like the most seasoned leader of the X-Men, and Scott Summers has once again proved that he’s the smartest fighter around. True battle prowess includes knowing when to attack and when to let an enemy destroy itself, and he’s proved that he knows the difference.
InX-Men #18, the team is stuck in abattle against the 3K X-Menon multiple fronts, with Cyclops leading the main group of X-Men in the largest leg of the fight. 3K’s X-Men are a newly formed group trying to prove themselves against the ‘original’ X-Men, and the members are still green in terms of working together as a team.
It’s the perfect opportunity for Cyclops to prove just how observant and tactical he truly is. As the fake X-Men members devolve into infighting after their leader falls,he holds his X-Men back until their opponents have fully fractured, arguing that to attack straight away would be to unite their enemy.
3K is a new villain group with mysterious members including Cassandra Nova. Lately, they’ve assembled their own X-Men roster under the tutelage of the mercenary Wyre.
Cyclops Proves He’s the Smartest Fighter By Staying Out of the Fight
X-Men #18by writer Jed MacKay, artist Emilio Laiso, colorist Fer Sifuentes-Sujo, and letterer Clayton Cowles
It takes an intelligent leader to position soldiers for the optimal attack, and nobody runs drills and finesses their playbook quite like Scott Summers. He’s dedicated his life to leading the X-Men, and he’s learned plenty through field and life experience, including the important knowledge of when to stand back and wait. The 3K X-Men’s internal conflict, centered around old rivalries between members formerly of A.I.M., S.H.I.E.L.D, and other groups, sets the perfect stage for Cyclops to pull out a rarely used superhero play.Quoting Napoleon Bonaparte, Cyclops argues that you shouldn’t interrupt your enemy when they’re making a mistake.
yclops didn’t just win a momentary victory; he was smart enough to roll that into long-term gains against Cassandra Nova’s anti-mutant fighters.
In his long tenure as the leader of the X-Men, Scott has worked with many rosters, including volatile combinations. The particular lesson he uses to take down the 3K X-Men came courtesy of his long years and repeated conflicts with Wolverine. The two have come to blows more than once, giving Cyke the perspective he needs to see the same situation unfolding within the 3K team. It’s no surprise that Beast - who has served on both the Avengers and the X-Men - considers Scott an evenbetter field leader than Captain America.
Not only did Scott spare his own team possible injury, buthe allowed a lasting rift to form among his enemies. His X-Men came out ahead, and they struck a much deeper blow against their enemy than an optic blast or another headbutt from Juggernaut could have accomplished. Cyclops didn’t just win a momentary victory; he was smart enough to roll that into long-term gains against 3K’s roster of wannabe X-Men. By capitalizing on 3K’s lack of trust in each other,Scott changed the game, and he did it by using a tactic that pretty much every superhero on Marvel’s books would have ignored, with the Avengers in particular prone to charging in at the first opportunirt.
Cyclops Knows Every Way to Approach a Battle
He’s a Genius Fighter Because He Has to Be
Precision and quick decision-making, even when facing incredible odds and life-threatening situations, are the hallmarks of Cyclops' leadership. He’s led the X-Men through multiple extinction-level events, fought against godlike enemies, and walks away from every single battle with a new lesson ready to employ during the next. He’s rarely known life without a fight, and he’s carried the burden of leadership for so long that he doesn’t know how to put it down. In that sense,he can’t afford to be anything less than the most intelligent and tactical fighter around. His friends and loved ones depend on it.
His unparalleled grasp of battlefield tactics, including when to keep his head down and let things play out, isn’t just a quirk of his character. It’s a necessity. TheX-Men have counted on Scottto win fights and keep them alive since he was a teenager. Failure has catastrophic consequences. The showdown with 3K’sX-Menwas just one moment in a long line of examples ofCyclops’brand of intelligence and his ability to read a situation to best plan an entire team’s next move, and it will not be the last time he shows that he’s Marvel’s smartest fighter.
X-Men #18is available now from Marvel Comics.
Cyclops
Cyclops, a.k.a. Scott Summers, is the X-Men’s core team leader and one of the first characters to appear in the franchise. As a human/mutant hybrid, Cyclops has the power to launch massive bursts of energy from his eyes that are regulated through the use of a specially designed visor. Despite his calm and collected demeanor, he tends to lose it when in the presence of a fellow team member, Wolverine.
X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
