[nicky g]

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The thinking with the tiger is that he is much more flexible/agile and that the hippo's main methods of attack should be fairly avoidable by the tiger. The hippo has the choice between trying to charge him down or biting him. The tiger should be able to evade these; he's as fast and much more agile; I'd say he could run rings around the hippo. While the tiger can't deliver any kind of one-off killing attack that the hippo can, and could easily get squished if he makes a mistake, if he's quick he can repeatedly use his claws to inflict pain and damage and should be able to get the hippo's back a few times. Eventually the hippo will succumb.

That's the thinking anyway. Some of us are also biased towards tigers.

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You have the Hippo's tactics all wrong Nicky. The Hippo is notgoing to run after the tiger. He is gonna rope-a-dope him. Tiger had to be ultra careful with his strikes, and will wear himself out looking for an opening. Even if he has a few successes, they will not deplete the Hippo much. The Tiger will tire and slip up. One kick to the head and the Tiger is KOed. You really think the Tiger can finish the Hippo without getting hit once?

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Well if they both adopt our respective tactics it could be something of a stalemate, as I think the tiger's best bet is to let the hippo charge and then dodge. As far as kicking goes, I really doubt a hippo is particularly good at kicking. Powerful yes, but quick and accurate no. I also don;t think one kick will put him out unless it's a lot more accurate than a hippo could realistically manage against a fast moving tiger; if you kick a cat it doesn;t die. IMO the hippo will also tire long before the tiger.