The Energon Pub

Who wins?

I'm going with Swoop. He's swifter, more agile, and has his rockets to blast Cutthroat out of the sky.

Swoop easily defeats Cutthroat in most scenarios, especially in the air. Cutthroat isn't even capable of true flight, only staying aloft by gliding on currents of wind. He'd be pretty helpless as Swoop flies rings around him and takes him down with his missiles.

Cutthroat might have more of a chance on the ground, using his greater strength and durability in hand-to-hand combat. His dragon-mode claws and flamethrower can also inflict serious damage in close quarters. Swoop can still fend him off with his thermal sword, though, and given enough distance between the two, his missiles are also usable in robot mode. Cutthroat's electromagnetic weapon is powerful enough, but I think Swoop still has the advantage in firepower.

Also, Cutthroat's recklessness and relatively low intelligence works against him, whereas Swoop seems fairly level-headed and has at least a decent intelligence. (I'm thinking of his interaction with Grimlock in #76 of the U.S. comic).

In short: Swoop definitely wins in the air. On the ground, though, Cutthroat has a fair enough chance if he can close the distance and catch his opponent off-guard.

Cutthroat, Swoop couldn't even beat Divebomb.

Yes, but the difference is that Divebomb is capable of true flight, unlike the leaping-and-gliding Cutthroat. A Swoop vs. Divebomb match would obviously be much closer for that reason alone.

cutthroat. barely.

Swoop drops massive bombs on Cutthroat and wins. However, he needs to avoid Cutthroat's very dangerous magnetic weapon. He should be able to manage that.