Best fighter in WoT without OP

[Harmless Bandit]

I think it's pretty obvious that Rake wins. Everything. Always. He is too awesome.

*Cough*Dassem Ultor*cough* Also, I think Mok or the Soldier/Knight of Death could take him.

Rake allowed Dassem to... do what he did. It's not because he's better.

Well, Dassem still beat Rake, didn't he? And the mere fact that he threw the fight doesn't prove that he would have won regardless. In fact, that he might otherwise have lost would give him the incentive to lose on his terms.

 

You do remember that the whole point of the fight was to get Dassem to beat Rake in that manner, right?

That not once did Dassem manage to drive him even a step back?

That Dassem intended to kill him?

That killing Dassem was not Rake's intention?

That Dragnipur was something of, er, shall we say, a burden? Rake couldn't even stand a minute before the fight (you know why), wielding that sword is not the easiest thing.

Rake's aim was not to win, so I fail to see how the possibility of him losing might prompt him to 'lose on his terms'.

He wanted to manipulate Dassem into doing what he did. And he did it. If you want to claim that Dassem won, go ahead. It doesn't change the fact that all went according to Rake's plan.

 

Edit: it was not my intention to derail this thread, maybe this should be moved somewhere else, I don't know.

[YoungKing]

I'll take Mat every single day, and twice on Sundays.

 

Nobody would beat him 1 on 1.

[Mr Ares]

I'll take Mat every single day, and twice on Sundays.

 

Nobody would beat him 1 on 1.

Why? As the books show, Mat is not invulnerable, he can be killed, same as anyone else. What makes him immune to defeat in 1 on 1 environments?

 

You do remember that the whole point of the fight was to get Dassem to beat Rake in that manner, right?

Was it?

That not once did Dassem manage to drive him even a step back?

Nor did Rake gain any ground on Dassem. It wasn't a long fight.

That Dassem intended to kill him?

Only because he was in the way. He wanted Hood. Rake was between them, so if Rake wouldn't move, Dassem would go through him

That killing Dassem was not Rake's intention?

Wasn't it?

That Dragnipur was something of, er, shall we say, a burden? Rake couldn't even stand a minute before the fight (you know why), wielding that sword is not the easiest thing.

Thus reducing his chances of winning. Thus increasing his chances of needing to be sure he lost in the correct way. Hence throwing the fight so early.

Rake's aim was not to win, so I fail to see how the possibility of him losing might prompt him to 'lose on his terms'.

Rake couldn't win. If he realized he was incapable of winning, he would make sure he salvaged something from the loss.

He wanted to manipulate Dassem into doing what he did.

He wanted him to attack, so he forced his hand. Dassem attacked. Rake couldn't win, so he made sure he lost in the right way. If he never intended to win, why did he start the fight in the first place? There were other ways out. What was so important about destroying Dassem? He was left a broken man, robbed of what had kept him going, left with nothing. Is Rake just a complete arsehole, or was there another reason? Such as engage, if you can win, do, if you can't, lose in the right way. Dassem won. He beat Rake. Dessembrae defeated the Black-Winged Lord. Of course, that could just be me wanting to make an Erikson book make sense, but it's the best theory I'm aware of. Rake wanted to either kill Dassem, or lose in the way he did. After the initial engagement, he didn't fancy his chances at victory, so made sure he lost in the way he wanted to.

[Harmless Bandit]

Anyone who hasn't read the Malazan Book of the Fallen should not read this.

 

You do remember that the whole point of the fight was to get Dassem to beat Rake in that manner, right?

Was it?

Yes. That final blow, that assured Rake to enter Dragnipur. How is that not clear?

 

That not once did Dassem manage to drive him even a step back?

Nor did Rake gain any ground on Dassem. It wasn't a long fight.

My point being, if Dassem was superior, he should have been driving [a burdened] Rake back.

 

That Dassem intended to kill him?

Only because he was in the way. He wanted Hood. Rake was between them, so if Rake wouldn't move, Dassem would go through him

It doesn't matter why. That he wanted to kill him is enough. A fighter's intentions should come into play during a fight. If I fight with the intention of just incapacitating you, I will hold something back, while I will go all out if I need to kill you. But in no way am I saying there is a league between Dassem and Rake. I believe they are almost evenly matched, with Rake holding the edge.

 

That killing Dassem was not Rake's intention?

Wasn't it?

I'm gonna go ahead and ask you whether you read the books. What would have Rake accomplished by killing Dassem? Nothing. They are not enemies. He provoked him, Dassem responded, which is what Rake needed. They fought. That final blow was the important thing there, what Rake was aiming at, but I can't fault him if he wanted to have fun along the way.

 

That Dragnipur was something of, er, shall we say, a burden? Rake couldn't even stand a minute before the fight (you know why), wielding that sword is not the easiest thing.

Thus reducing his chances of winning. Thus increasing his chances of needing to be sure he lost in the correct way. Hence throwing the fight so early.

You are skirting the issue. Burdened as he was, Rake held Dassem (in prime condition) back to a stalemate. Now imagine Rake without Dragnipur's pressure weighing him down, using a sword like Vengeance, without any added burden, and fighting with the intention to kill Dassem to boot. He would win. And the fight wasn't as short as you seem to believe.

 

Rake's aim was not to win, so I fail to see how the possibility of him losing might prompt him to 'lose on his terms'.

Rake couldn't win. If he realized he was incapable of winning, he would make sure he salvaged something from the loss.

You've got it backwards. He didn't need to salvage anything, entering Dragnipur was not a secondary goal he could settle for if he couldn't win. It was his MAIN objective. Dassem was the one driven to kill (therefore win), not Rake.

 

He wanted to manipulate Dassem into doing what he did.

He wanted him to attack, so he forced his hand. Dassem attacked. Rake couldn't win, so he made sure he lost in the right way. If he never intended to win, why did he start the fight in the first place? There were other ways out. What was so important about destroying Dassem? He was left a broken man, robbed of what had kept him going, left with nothing. Is Rake just a complete arsehole, or was there another reason? Such as engage, if you can win, do, if you can't, lose in the right way. Dassem won. He beat Rake. Dessembrae defeated the Black-Winged Lord. Of course, that could just be me wanting to make an Erikson book make sense, but it's the best theory I'm aware of. Rake wanted to either kill Dassem, or lose in the way he did. After the initial engagement, he didn't fancy his chances at victory, so made sure he lost in the way he wanted to.

 

Not to be condescending, but read Toll the Hounds again. You are treating this as a duel, which it was NOT.

Where on earth (or should I say Wu) do you get the idea that Rake wanted to win? To kill Dassem? If he is not planning to win then he shouldn't fight all? This is not a black and white thing.

 

Plans were made long before the fight, plans that involved Rake sending Hood into Dragnipur, and then Rake himself ending there. That was the PLAN, the important bit being Rake inside Dragnipur. What other means are there to accomplish that? Rake impaling himself on Dragnipur in his basement? Handing it to someone else and asking him to cut his head off? For whatever reason, he didn't choose any of those options (assuming they were available). But we know Hood wanted to be relieved of his functions, and the situation inside Dragnipur was dangerous (which Rake needed to address), so a plan was fashioned that combined all of that.

 

What kept Dassem going was an obsession, and that's not healthy. He will probably play an important role in events to come, and I've seen it theorized that Hood and the others wanted him with his full mind, clear of the obsession. Killing someone he respected might jolt him back from his insanity, as he realized to what lengths he was willing to go just to satisfy his obsessive need. Perhaps that's why he needed to be broken, why him fighting Rake was needed.

 

And maybe Rake wanted to, for his last fight, face one of the best there is. Who knows? Or have him guard Dragnipur against nasty creatures that would come looking for it?

[signdragon]

bandit and ares,, this book doesnt exist in randland.  Rand could take both of them with his good hand.

[Harmless Bandit]

Yes, about the book, that's why I wondered before whether it should be moved somewhere else. Maj?

No, about him taking them, as much as I like Rand, they would...pwn him.

[Mr Ares]

You do remember that the whole point of the fight was to get Dassem to beat Rake in that manner, right?

Was it?

Yes. That final blow, that assured Rake to enter Dragnipur. How is that not clear?

It is perfectly clear. Must I spell it out for you? That was the Rake's intention at the end, doesn't mean it was always his intention.

 

That not once did Dassem manage to drive him even a step back?

Nor did Rake gain any ground on Dassem. It wasn't a long fight.

My point being, if Dassem was superior, he should have been driving [a burdened] Rake back.

Rake is always burdened. If he was superior, he would be driving Dassem back. As it was, he was unable to gain any ground.

 

That Dassem intended to kill him?

Only because he was in the way. He wanted Hood. Rake was between them, so if Rake wouldn't move, Dassem would go through him

It doesn't matter why. That he wanted to kill him is enough. A fighter's intentions should come into play during a fight. If I fight with the intention of just incapacitating you, I will hold something back, while I will go all out if I need to kill you. But in no way am I saying there is a league between Dassem and Rake. I believe they are almost evenly matched, with Rake holding the edge.

I see no reason at all to believe that Rake has the edge. Dassem wanted to get past Rake. If he had to kill him, he would, if he could get past only by wounding him, he would. Getting past was the intention, Rake's death was a means to that end.

 

That killing Dassem was not Rake's intention?

Wasn't it?

I'm gonna go ahead and ask you whether you read the books. What would have Rake accomplished by killing Dassem? Nothing. They are not enemies. He provoked him, Dassem responded, which is what Rake needed. They fought. That final blow was the important thing there, what Rake was aiming at, but I can't fault him if he wanted to have fun along the way.

What would be accomplished by Rake killing Dassem? It would put Dassem in Dragnipur. Where he could fight chaos, help buy time for Brood to show up. Brood was needed to take charge of and destroy the sword, but he wasn't there yet, and others wanted to get their hands on it. That meant that it needed protection. Which part of this is unclear? Did you not read the book? Or understand my point? Rake wanted to get inside Dragnipur, but he didn't want to just leave it lying around. If he wanted to merely have Traveller & co. guard it, he could just ask. Put the First Sword into the sword, use him. If you cannot kill him, at least make sure you get inside - that you get killed with your own sword. He entered the fight with plan A being to win, to put Dessembrae in their, but plan B being to get Ultor to put him in. He was going to go in anyway, he just went in sooner than he planned. Because either he couldn't beat him, or he just didn't want to risk losing in the wrong way. Do you have a better explanation for why he would put everything at risk by having some "fun"? Didn't seem like he was having much fun at all.

 

Rake's aim was not to win, so I fail to see how the possibility of him losing might prompt him to 'lose on his terms'.

Rake couldn't win. If he realized he was incapable of winning, he would make sure he salvaged something from the loss.

You've got it backwards. He didn't need to salvage anything, entering Dragnipur was not a secondary goal he could settle for if he couldn't win. It was his MAIN objective. Dassem was the one driven to kill (therefore win), not Rake.

You are still failing to provide any adequate explanation for why that happened as it did. I have not got it backwards. Entering Dragnipur was the ultimate goal, not the primary goal of this encounter, which was to put Dassem in the sword so he could be used to fight chaos. Failing that, he planned to die in the encounter in such a way as to put him inside. He would go inside anyway, when Brood showed up, but doing it this way left Dragnipur open, too open. Rake could no longer give it the protection it needed. He was willing to settle for this loss. Dassem was driven to get to Hood. Rake was in the way. Rake held nothing back, because he couldn't afford to, but Dassem couldn't afford to use everything up because he still had to face Hood afterwards. Rake's death against Dassem was a contingency plan.

 

Not to be condescending, but read Toll the Hounds again.

No. You need to understand what went down in that scene. As it is, all we are given is that Rake started a fight for no good reason, then threw it. He was planning to die, eventually, when Brood arrived, to take charge of Dragnipur. In the meantime, Rake would have wished to protect it. If all he wanted was to die, why fight? Why not just kill himself, why not just Give the sword to Dassem and tell him to kill him? Trying to make sense of Erikson is not necessarily wise, but if you do not try, then all you are left with is a bunch of random things happening for no reason. I thought about why why Rake did what he did, not just his death, but why he fought. This is the reason I came up with, and I have seen none better.

You are treating this as a duel, which it was NOT.

Yes, it was.

Where on earth (or should I say Wu) do you get the idea that Rake wanted to win? To kill Dassem? If he is not planning to win then he shouldn't fight all? This is not a black and white thing.

This is a black and white thing. Why did he fight Dassem? Hood was summoned to make him vulnerable, killed so he could abandon his responsibilities, and to help fight chaos. Rake planned to go inside Dragnipur to protect the gate to Kurald Galain. Brood would destroy Dragnipur when that was done. But by dying when he did, he left Dragnipur vulnerable. Why did he fight? To kill Dassem, to get him in the sword, to help buy time for Brood to arrive so Rake himself could enter later. That is an answer that makes sense. What is yours? And no, you should certainly not say on Wu. That is not the name of the world, so there is no reason why you should.

 

Plans were made long before the fight, plans that involved Rake sending Hood into Dragnipur, and then Rake himself ending there. That was the PLAN, the important bit being Rake inside Dragnipur. What other means are there to accomplish that? Rake impaling himself on Dragnipur in his basement? Handing it to someone else and asking him to cut his head off? For whatever reason, he didn't choose any of those options (assuming they were available). But we know Hood wanted to be relieved of his functions, and the situation inside Dragnipur was dangerous (which Rake needed to address), so a plan was fashioned that combined all of that.

Yes, that much is all clear. But why did Rake fight? why didn't he kill himself, or just ask Dassem, or Brood? There were any number of other possibilities, but none which could potentially put another god inside Dragnipur, to help with the fight against chaos. That is why Rake wanted to kill Dessembrae, if he could.

 

What kept Dassem going was an obsession, and that's not healthy. He will probably play an important role in events to come, and I've seen it theorized that Hood and the others wanted him with his full mind, clear of the obsession. Killing someone he respected might jolt him back from his insanity, as he realized to what lengths he was willing to go just to satisfy his obsessive need. Perhaps that's why he needed to be broken, why him fighting Rake was needed.

Or, it might leave him a broken wreck of a man, no use to anyone. Dassem wasn't mad. Indeed, he has proven himself of standing face to face with his former master and talking to him. He has shown himself willing to do other things, have other goals in the mean time. He has had friends. In short, he is driven by one long term goal, killing Hood, which is not that unhealthy. He is still rational.

 

And maybe Rake wanted to, for his last fight, face one of the best there is. Who knows? Or have him guard Dragnipur against nasty creatures that would come looking for it?

But by denying him his vengeance he was left a broken man, who did not lift a finger to stop the various parties attempting to take the sword. Wanting to fight one of the greats for his last fight involves putting everything at risk, to no real gain if he doesn't plan on winning. He could have simply asked Dassem to guard Dragnipur if that was what he wanted, a far surer path. He could have shown him that Hood was dead, there are any number of things he could have done. But, by choosing to fight dassem, he put himself at risk of being killed by Vengeance, not Dragnipur. The best reason for him to fight Dassem is to plan to kill him, to use him against chaos, or, failing that, to go inside Dragnipur earlier than planned.

 

Harmless Bandit and Mr Ares, this book doesnt exist in Randland.

Irrelevant.

Rand could take both of them with his good hand.

No, he couldn't. Dassem is an impossibly good swordsman (Erikson doesn't much care for realism), and a god. Rake is worshipped as a god, can turn into a dragon, and can use magic (warrens are not OP), in addition to being an impossibly good swordsman (who needs realism?). Rand would have a chance. Nor would Mat. Moridin might, as TP isn't OP, so is permitted, and Shai'tan would be in with a shot, but aside from that, no-one could in WoT.

 

Yes, about the book, that's why I wondered before whether it should be moved somewhere else. Maj?

You could just go to the Malazan thread in General Discussion.

[Mockingbird]

As far as characters outside the series goes Drizzt wins EVERY SINGLE FIGHT. Other than that, luck is no differrent that skill, for all intents and purposes, when it is as reliably as Matt's.

[Harmless Bandit]

Mr Ares:

 

If I understand you well, you contend that Rake's plan was to:

 

Kill Dassem, so that he could be used in delaying chaos, while he waited for Brood to arrive and destroy the sword. Once Brood arrived, Rake would go inside the sword as well.

So he challenged Dassem, with that goal in mind. Now, into the fight, Rake realized he was outclassed. Dassem was too good, Rake would not be able to kill him. And so he decided to salvage something, by entering Dragnipur (but, according to you, sooner than he had planned to).

 

You see nothing wrong with that? Here:

 

Just after Rake killed Hood:

 

'The other, (Rake) at this moment, [was] profoundly ... vulnerable.

Things noticed.

Things were coming, and coming fast.'

 

Consider the state in which sending Hood into the sword left Rake in. You would have me believe that he would be stupid enough to try and put another god inside there? What would that do to him? He has limits, you know. It would either kill him, or leave him so weakened he wouldn't be able to lift a hand to defend himself. Which would foil his goal (entering the sword). Seeing as Brood was not yet there, Dragnipur would be taken by something else.

 

Furthermore, of all gods in the world, Rake had to go and pick the very one who would do anything to kill Hood? The latter who, yes, you saw it coming, had JUST been sent into the sword? What do you think Dassem would do the instant he saw Hood? Go for his throat, that's what. Rake needed an intact Hood inside there, and he knew Dassem wanted to kill Hood. Why would he risk compromising his plan by sending Dassem into the very same place Hood was? That would be insane. Plus, Dassem would most likely be so preoccupied with Hood he wouldn't spare chaos' army a moment.

 

Additionally, unless Dassem is more powerful than Hood and his army, he would not have accomplished much. They were getting choped into pieces. No single force can repulse chaos. Hood and his army were there just to delay it until Rake arrived, and they both knew this. And it's clear from the conversation between Draconus and Hood that the latter was not expecting Dassem there. No, he was waiting for Rake to arrive. That was the plan. And from what is in the book, it worked; Rake arrived when expected to. But nowhere in the book do we even get a hint that that plan included Dassem being inside the sword.

 

But you're saying Rake had to have intended to kill Dassem because otherwise he wouldn't have even challenged him. Because (according to you) killing himself or handing the sword to Dassem to do the job are preferable options to a random fight he didn't even intend to win.

Now this might be me, but Rake doesn't strike me as the suicidal type. Still, if indeed suicide/killing himself is a better/easier option, why didn't he do it? I don't know, and I can only surmise that there is a reason for it. After all, why would he take the complicated way out when there is an easier one?

 

The same goes for asking Dassem to do it.

 

'He said,' continued Dassem, 'that you would not yield.'

'No, I will not yield.'

'Please help me, Rake, help me to understand...why?'

'I am not here to help you, Dassem Ultor.' And Samar Dev heard genuine regret in that admission.'

 

Why would Dassem accept to kill Rake, even if the latter asked him to? He would need some sort of explanation, an explanation Rake was not willing to give. What's more, Dassem could feel Hood close-by, and he also knew Rake would stand in his way. How do you think he would have reacted had he found out that Rake had just killed the object of his vengeance? Me thinks it wouldn't have helped Rake in anyway.

 

And however you choose to see it, Dassem was OBSESSED with killing Hood. He might not be mad, but his obsession was a fell thing. Surely there are better reasons to keep going? And I don't buy for an instant that he would have settled for just wounding Rake so long as it got him out of the way. Rake is not the type of person just that would stop. Plus, Dassem should know (even if just by reputation) that Rake is not the type of swordman you hold back with, irrespective of whether you have another engagement afterwards. He couldn't afford to hold back, seeing as that might just get him killed.

 

Yes Rake was always burdened by the sword, but at that time there was more than just the usual. You can't ignore that. I might have been wrong in assuming that because he didn't want to kill Dassem he held a tiny bit back. As it is, he probably gave all he had. WHILE under more strain than usual, and he matched Dassem's skill and speed. That leads me to think that without the toll Hood and his army placed on him, Rake would have more than matched Dassem.

 

All I can do about why the fight took place at all is speculate. I don't know the real reason. But it could be as simple as this: Dassem was driven to find Hood. He would clear any obstacle from his path. Hood was needed elsewhere. It was necessary that Dassem did not find that out. The planners directed Dassem's attention to Rake, counting on his obsession to try to get Rake out of the way. Which he did, and Rake used it to his advantage. In fact I might go as far as saying that Rake had counted on that. Before they fought Dassem was already resigned to the fact that he would have to fight Rake.

 

Hell, it could be that SE wanted it to happen. But I don't buy that Rake needed Dassem inside Dragnipur to delay chaos. That doesn't make sense, what with Hood and his army already doing that, and the enmity between Dassem and Hood.

 

[bad company]

So are we still talking about WOT here ::)

[Mr Ares]

As far as characters outside the series goes Drizzt wins EVERY SINGLE FIGHT.

Why?

 

So are we still talking about WOT here ::)

No. We have taken this thread to new and more interesting places.

 

Now, into the fight, Rake realized he was outclassed. Dassem was too good, Rake would not be able to kill him.

Or at the least that Rake thought the match sufficiently close that he was reluctant to risk the plan by getting skewered by Vengeance.

 

Consider the state in which sending Hood into the sword left Rake in.

It left him briefly incapacitated. Putting Dessembrae in there would likewise leave him temporarily incapacitated, but able to recover, able to protect the sword. His death would leave him permanently incapacitated.

 

Furthermore, of all gods in the world, Rake had to go and pick the very one who would do anything to kill Hood?

Dassem was there. But Dassem is not so irrational as to ignore the danger chaos presented to the Gate to Darkness. He would prefer to kill Hood, but he would put his vengeance on hold to deal with something more important.

 

Additionally, unless Dassem is more powerful than Hood and his army, he would not have accomplished much.

He might not need to. But even if he can help buy just a few more minutes...

And it's clear from the conversation between Draconus and Hood that the latter was not expecting Dassem there.

I doubt Rake would have told him.

But nowhere in the book do we even get a hint that that plan included Dassem being inside the sword.

Indeed not. All we get is Rake deciding to start a fight for no real reason. If Rake's motivations are not included, not even hinted at, then are we just supposed to shrug and say that we suppose he had one? Or do we try and work out what it is? It's still a pretty poor show, a book the length of Toll the Hounds, I think it's the longest Malazan book to date, and while he can waste hundreds of pages on the boring irrelevance of the Dying God, and spend a lot of time setting things up not for the finale of his 10 book series, which does not appear much closer at the end of this book than it did at the end of the last one, but for his mate's book, several years down the line, he still can't find room to tell us why Rake decided to fight.

 

Now this might be me, but Rake doesn't strike me as the suicidal type.

Given that his plan was a)Get killed with own sword, b)Sacrifice self to protect gate to Darkness and affect reconciliation between Andii and Mother Dark, I fail to see how he can be considered as anything else. His plan was a twofold suicide. So why did he feel the need to start a fight with one of the best swordsmen in the world, and then throw that fight? Why the needlessly overcomplicated suicide?

Still, if indeed suicide/killing himself is a better/easier option, why didn't he do it? I don't know, and I can only surmise that there is a reason for it. After all, why would he take the complicated way out when there is an easier one?

Exactly my point. We are not given the reason, we have to invent it. Why did he go to such lengths to die in that way? Why not just kill himself? Why the fight? Why risk having Dassem beat him? If Dassem is able, by chance, by simply being better, for whatever reason, to beat Rake in such a way that does not involve Dragnipur to the face, then chaos overcomes the armies of the dead, it overcomes the Gate to Darkness and all Rake's planning is for nought. No return to the embrace of Mother Dark for his people. That is a lot to put on the line, so would he really do it just for the sake of vanity? When he is supposed to go on to sacrifice himself? It doesn't quite add up. But, if you look at it a different way, that fight was one he intended to win, he only lost it because Dassem was too good for him, he couldn't guarantee victory. He threw the fight, yes, the plan worked, in the end, but it didn't work perfectly. That, to my mind, makes sense of the whole mess.

 

And I don't buy for an instant that he would have settled for just wounding Rake so long as it got him out of the way.

But he didn't want the fight, Rake did. So to say he was the one who wanted his opponent dead is counter-intuitive.

He couldn't afford to hold back, seeing as that might just get him killed.

Nor could Rake. So Rake couldn't afford to hold back, lest he get Vengeance through the face. Everyone loses.

 

Yes Rake was always burdened by the sword, but at that time there was more than just the usual. You can't ignore that. I might have been wrong in assuming that because he didn't want to kill Dassem he held a tiny bit back. As it is, he probably gave all he had. WHILE under more strain than usual, and he matched Dassem's skill and speed. That leads me to think that without the toll Hood and his army placed on him, Rake would have more than matched Dassem.

In the short term he was able to match him. Not able to gain anything on him. Without the strain, he might have been able to match him over the course of a much longer fight. Maybe even gain some ground on him, although whether or not he could kill him is still up in the air. As it was, he used everything he could, and brought maybe a minute or two, before retiring from the fight by virtue of getting his own sword hit back into his face.

 

All I can do about why the fight took place at all is speculate. I don't know the real reason. But it could be as simple as this: Dassem was driven to find Hood. He would clear any obstacle from his path. Hood was needed elsewhere. It was necessary that Dassem did not find that out. The planners directed Dassem's attention to Rake, counting on his obsession to try to get Rake out of the way. Which he did, and Rake used it to his advantage. In fact I might go as far as saying that Rake had counted on that. Before they fought Dassem was already resigned to the fact that he would have to fight Rake.

He would clear any obstacle from his path. Yet they decided to put Rake in his path? When Rake is necessary for this plan? What if he got killed? That's a huge risk to take. Fighting Dassem with the intention of losing gains him nothing. Why not just tell Dassem? Ask him to wait. Just tell him Hood is dead and show him the headless corpse to prove it. There are other options that do not involve the plan being put at risk of catastrophic failure by virtue of Rake being killed but not going inside the sword. So what did the fight gain him, or what could it gain him? If the plan was to win if possible, it could gain them a little bit more time, which could make all the difference.