Predaking. He has the coolest name out of all of the combiners. (and most of the combiners have really cool names)

His red orange yellow black color scheme is my favorite.

The individual Predacons had guns and swords.

His g1 toy was the biggest. While I would agree that size isn't everything... for a combiner, it is an added appeal/ bonus.

I coveted Predaking so much when I was little. He just looked so incredibly badass. Then, when I got older, and rewatched the g1 cartoon, I saw Skylynx make an absolute joke out of Predaking, lol.

 

Devastator, then Superion and Defensor.

 

In that case, Voltron  

 

Piranacon.

....


... you need a reason?

 

Hey, I stuck to the individuals members transforming to robots and vehicles.

Otherwise it's Combattler V.

 

Speaking strictly about toys, Combiner Wars changed the game. Superion, Unite Warriors Computron are awesome and so is Bruticus. POTP Abominus is up there as well.

Even given that, I still vote RID2001 Rail Racer/ Car Robots JRX. No combiner kibble/partsforming is a plus in this case.

 

I really agree that CW did change the game, as ever since the G1 scrabble city, we never had anything like them, where we got the original sets in modern engineering, that looked simply great, accurate, and fairly solid. If only they would have been done with better (less brittle) plastic (such as Siege type plastic), they would have been near perfect for most, aside a bit of overused of some molds with the repaints. I always liked the combined larger figures, within TFs or in the Chogokin world, Power Rangers, etc... and the truth is, the G1 were absolutely terrible for their flimsiness, so when CW came out, they were simply amazing, and I ended up getting more of them than I though I would (5 of them).

And of course, there's a huge "BUT"....

And the "but" is that I would never consider any "scramble city" type combiner to be a proper combiner, simply because every part/member is exchangeable with any other team member, so while in a way it's a strength as one can combine any figures together for a "custom" combiner, it does mean that being able to exchange all members like this also means that the "team" aspect isn't an absolute truth. The only defining figure of any set is technically the central core figure.

For example, using Bruticus: You have Onslaught as the core, so you get the torso and head of Bruticus, but change the arms and legs with the Aerialbots, or any other limbs figure, and you have who? it's going to look like Bruticus, but isn't really. Where does the gestalt's character ends up being the actual character, and when do you say that this is a totally different figure, or do you go with it still being Bruticus regardless?

That's why I would consider Devastator, Centuritron (I guess Predaking because he can't share his members) and such combiners that are completely dependent on specific, non-replaceable/exchangeable members to be "true" combiners, so to create the merged "entity".

So since the question is not "who is your favourite", but "the best", we have to consider the aspect of the best toy, or simply which would be the best (stronger) of them that would be able to defeat the others.

Toy wise, I might go with Predaking, but I don't have it, and seeing reviews that actually show that the KO/similar is actually better of many ways, I have to refrain on declaring it the best. Devastator as a whole would win, as combined, he is absolutely great. The individual robots though have lots of flaws, and the combining engineering is a bit difficult. But as far as the figure, once combined, is, he's amazing.

Fiction/battle wise, if you consider the amount of metal plating construction trucks have, and flat out sturdiness they'd have, Devastator would be freaking hard to stop/damage... way more than any other character would/should be. Strength wise and armour wise, he's be vastly superior.

And outside this, as other members stated, he was the original, that opened the door to combiners and the interest for more.

 

Nah.

Based off stats

Strength
10
Intelligence
9
Speed
10
Endurance
10
Rank
9
Courage
9
Firepower
9
Skill
9



G1 toy is awesome. Never got the combiner wars version.

 

In all seriousness, I'd probably go with Predaking. I've owned 4 different iterations of the combiner: G1, UT Warlord, MMC Feral Rex and the KO of the PotP titan and I'd go with Feral Rex as my favorite of them all.

 

When I was a kid, my favourite was Computron, followed by Defensor. I liked both toys, but Computron had an edge on the account t of actually having a proper origin story in the cartoon.
Looking at the current toys, the best combiners are by far titan Devastator and Predaking. I'm giving an edge to Predaking for being more posable.

 

Superion is the only combiner wars set I still have completed and I still think it’s my favorite of that line.

Of the originals though, bruticus or predaking is probably my favorite design. Or computron, no wait, Devastator? Damn it’s hard to decide. Ooh, abominus

The Iron Factory DJD combiner has quickly become my favorite combiner figure in general though, it’s so well done.

 

For me it was ALWAYS Predaking for the cons . When I first saw him on TV back in 1986 I was aww struck !
As for the bot side it was Superion. Always wanted him , never was able to find all the members though . Honestly my mom wasn’t going to drive me all over hells creation to look for him either lol. Fans toys will fulfill my dreams though.

 

Hmmm. Interesting question.

This is a tough call, so I think it’s best to go through all of the criteria in a systematic and objective manner to see who comes out on top:

Best Original Toy Design:
Devastator (6 bots > scramble city)

Most Cohesive Group of Alt-Modes:
Devastator

Best Color Scheme:
Devastator

Most Integral to Transformers Lore:
Devastator

Most Awe-Inspiring Screen Performance:
Devastator (‘86 Movie)

Best Name:
Devastator

Best Updated Version:
Devastator (Unite Warriors)

Fewest Extra Feet Parts:
Devastator

Most Old School:
Devastator

Most Imitated by 2nd-Rate Combiners:
Devastator

It looks like Devastator comes out ahead by pretty much infinity.

Second place goes to: who cares.

Long live the original. Long live the king.

 

Combiner Wars Titan Class Devastator. The whole Combiner Wars play pattern is clever and a lot of fun, and Studio Series Devastator is shaping up to be one of the most unique and interesting takes on a Combiner, aesthetically, but the latter has yet to be completed and the former is dwarfed by this big, beautiful behemoth.

The individual robots are bulky and sturdy with simple yet still fun transformations, and they combine into a towering giant that looks a cohesive whole with such a menacing yet uncaring expression. Out of all the Combiners I have, Devastator is always the one I take down to fiddle around with.

EDIT: Volcanicus is a distant second because of how simultaneously regal and brutal he looks compared to other Combiners, but he's wildly unstable in combined form and I mostly like him for the individual Dinobots that form him.

 

Devastator will always hold the place as the first combiner I ever knew about and I still think he is awesome. However, Bruticus is just so bad ass! Especially the CW version with shuttle Blast Off! As for Autobots? Superion. I've always loved Transformers with Jet alt modes, so a team of them that combine into an amazing giant robot?! Here's my money!

 

Took me a long time to get Streetwise as a kid. I eventually just used a "kidnapped" Drag Strip for the missing leg.  

The combiners were some of my favorites as a kid. Some of the teams in my collection weren't completed until much later in life (was missing Slingshot, Dead End, and Wildrider for a long time). I did find a G2 Slingshot in the store but it broke and I was back to one-legged Superion until I finally got a G1 Slingshot on eBay. My G1 Hook broke as well so I awkwardly have a yellow G2 Hook in the team.  

Sadly missed the best of Combiner Wars in the stores. If I had the extra money to spare I would have gone for the Volcanicus team...perhaps someday.

Neat childhood story: I finally got all the Combaticons to form my first combiner (Devastator wasn't too far behind). However,the foot stand peg broke off in Brawl...my parents and I were able to get the peg out but I still had a broken foot stand. I actually wrote to Hasbro and told them what happened, asking if I could get a replacement...and they mailed it to me free of charge. Very cool of them.

 

Damn never knew he was that well put together.

 

Bayverse Dragonstorm - Spiky Ghidorah
G1 Predaking - Strikes me as the one that can solo a squad of combiners (Devastator/Bruticus/Superion/Menasor).

 

Lol, compare that with today's broken Pulse purchases - "Er, here's a random robot of similar value. Sorry it's Chromia."

 

Future hopeful purchase is CW Devastator, though I imagine it'll be crazy expensive. G1 Devastator was one of my first combiners but it seemed like a stiff breeze would knock it over.