[larsdangly]

It's pretty easy to show, either with enough arena fights or just a relevant statistical analysis, that either extreme is similarly poor strategy (and that a 10/14 combatant is't much better).

One of the strengths of the game is that there is a surprisingly large trade-space where starting Melee characters (24 pts in ST+DX) are different from one another, and have advantages in various tactical situations and equipment match ups, but that none are fundamentally stronger across all or most situations. I've looked at this issue in some detail and am pretty confident this is true.