Off-the-cuff partial answer: The question of who would actually win in a fight is the least important part of Mercs.
To elaborate -- let's say that Sephiroth and Orochi are in a side topic duel. It doesn't really matter who would "actually" win if they fought. If Orochi's leader can legitimately convince voters that Orochi would win, then he deserves the win. And whoever initiates the duel has to take voter respect and the likely arguments into consideration when deciding whether to initiate.
To put it another way, I don't see a match topic primarily as a way of genuinely finding out which team is the strongest; it's primarily a game of convincing people.
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You put your RESOLVE HAT back on, which conveniently is the same hat as your NORMAL HAT.
{Drakeryn}