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Trying to gauge who would come out ahead in a fight between two highly-trained operatives is kind of tough since it involves gauging who has received the better training, who has more experience, and who is tougher overall. Both Black Widow and Mystique are deadly enough to take down a wide array of opponents thanks to their deadly skill sets, but trying to determine who would still be standing if they fought is a little bit tough simply because they’re both capable of messing the other up if they’re able to take advantage of the slightest slip each other’s defense. Some say that Black Widow would end up winning this fight since she’s tougher, has been trained to kill, and doesn’t rely on any powers. To some people, this means that she can win the fight because she’s had to put up with adversity when it comes to picking a fight that she might not want but is still forced to withstand in order to survive or get whatever she needs. The trouble with this logic is that, as a mutant, Mystique has had to put up with a great deal of adversity and has absolutely needed her training to survive. Also, the fact that she’s a mutant means that ‘turning off’ her powers is akin to weakening a regular human, as her powers are a part of her and can’t be removed without some life-altering event.
credit: Marvel Comics
Black Widow is a highly-trained spy that is able to take down a variety of opponents.
There’s no denying that Natasha has been trained in some of the most brutal methods and has been able to defeat some truly impressive foes, but at the end of the day, she is human, and she is reliant on the weapons that she carries as well as her skills. Underestimating her is a serious mistake since she’s taken on other heroes and won when there’s no possible way that such a thing should have been possible, which is why such moments tend to happen off-panel in order to make it work. But the fact is that she can challenge quite a few characters in the Marvel Universe, even if she’s not bound to win that often.
Mystique’s ability to emulate a wide number of people is enough to fool the likes of Wolverine at times.
Initially, Mystique wasn’t able to mask her own personal scent as altering her appearance was as far as things went with her power. But after being resurrected at some point, her powers were given a serious upgrade, meaning that she could mimic other bodily aspects that she hadn’t been known to accomplish in the past. The point is that Mystique can become anyone she needs to be in order to move around undetected. Like Black Widow, she doesn’t benefit from super strength, and she’s essentially someone who is at peak levels of endurance and stamina, but in hand-to-hand combat, the Black Widow might have a slight edge simply due to her training. That edge might disappear, however, when it comes to Mystique’s insane ability to blend into wherever she might be. Natasha is known for having a great sense of intuition, but even she can’t hope to do any better than the likes of Wolverine when it comes to determining when Mystique is around.
credit: Marvel Comics
The location wouldn’t really matter since both combatants are capable of adapting on the fly.
If they were strictly one on one in a given location, it’s fair to state that this would be a much harder fight since Mystique might not have as many people to mimic, and whoever she did appear as would likely be suspicious to Natasha. But in a crowded area, it’s easy to think that Mystique would be able to get the drop on Natasha since being able to take on the appearance of pretty much anyone. Plenty of people are going to keep arguing for Natasha simply because she does have a seriously impressive skill set, but what folks need to realize is that if they want to see what happens when Mystique loses her powers, they’re asking for an unfair fight since giving these two women their natural skills and abilities means accepting that Mystique is a mutant and she’ll be able to call upon her shapeshifting abilities.
It might be a tough fight, but Mystique’s ability would give her a serious advantage.
In a hand-to-hand battle, it’s easy to state that this fight would be exceedingly tough since, admittedly, Natasha does have great spatial awareness and is capable of reacting to danger rather quickly, but Mystique’s ability to change her appearance so quickly and with such accuracy is enough to give her the edge in this fight.