Quote Originally Posted by Vikenlugaid View Post
I have answered to that already. They couldn't know V was going to be key since the counterspell, and that happened all of a sudden (that's precisely the point of counterspell) so they only knew it when it had already happened, too late to pull. Rest of the fight V was not really that relevant for de Mechane to advance, the fiends just thought they lose the good opportunity there, which is exactly what happened.
You do realize V was a key player all throughout the encounter, blasting giants left and right well before the clerics (about whom the IFCC probably knew, since they were monitoring Hel's game closely) showed up? Whether the Mechane is brought down by hurled rocks or a Blade Barrier is largely irrelevant. So no, you didn't answer the question.

And if you don't like my argument ok, but that doesn't mean it is a bad argument.
Like I said, it has too many moving part and it contains too many presuppositions the validity of which you cannot prove.

I find the argument "this gate, the last gate, is the only one that doesn't have a good big epic last line of defense" far worse than mine.
What if it has one? Lirian's wouldn't have stopped Xykon as he is now and Girard's would have been equally ineffective. Even Dorukan's was figured out after an admittedly long while by Team Evil. That doesn't guarantee jack.