Greatest Metal Guitarist

In what has likely been the biggest upset so far in this competition, Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi was defeated by Avenged Sevenfold's Synyster Gates. The Avenged strummer has pulled off two insane wins already; also beating the one and only Steve Vai in Round 1...

Last week, we pitted 32 of metal's greatest guitarists against each other for the ultimate battle of shredder superiority. Our Round 1 match-ups received hundreds of thousands of votes and after a number of hard-fought battles, we move on to Round 2 with 16 guitarists gone and 16 guitarists moving on to Round 2!

Although Vivian Campbell was to Ronnie James Dio as Randy Rhoads was to Ozzy Osbourne, the current Def Leppard player was unable to score a win over Dream Theater's John Petrucci. Dream Theater and Petrucci claim a fan base unique to the metal realm thanks to both phenomenal songwriting skill and technical prowess...

Although the two shared the stage in Exodus during the band's formative years, Kirk Hammett and Gary Holt found themselves as competitors during our Round 1 series of voting. While Holt is one of thrash metal's most powerful guitarists and has filled the spot of Slayer's Jeff Hanneman with phenomenal precision, it was Metallica's Hammett who snagged a Round 1 win...

Claiming victory by a comfortable margin, the one and only Zakk Wylde beat out Motley Crue veteran Mick Mars in Round 1 of our Greatest Metal Guitarist competition. Wylde is surely a favorite to make it all the way to the end, but unfortunately for the Black Label Society/ Ozzy Osbourne fret blazer, so is his latest opponent as we enter Round 2...

Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman may shred faster than a supercomputer, but the axeman crashed after going head-to-head with 'Dimebag' Darrell Abbott. The memory and legacy of Pantera's master shredder remains ironbound thanks to the rabid dedication of Pantera and Damageplan fanatics...

The unorthodox nature of Adam Jones' guitar playing has elevated him to the highest of standings. Somehow able to inject a dose of every psychedelic element on the planet into his axe, Jones' unmatched style allowed his victory over Machine Head's Phil Demmel in Round 1...

In battle between old school and new school, immortal Ozzy Osbourne / Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads claimed a decisive victory over Between the Buried and Me's Paul Waggoner. Waggoner is damn good, but Rhoads and his masterful body of work allowed a landslide win to occur...

It was sensei vs. student in our Round 1 battle between Joe Satriani and Testament virtuoso Alex Skolnick, but in the end, the pupil was unable to defeat his master. The man who mentored both Skolnick and Metallica's Kirk Hammett now moves on to Round 2 of our bracket, facing one of extreme metal's best-ever shredders...

Black Sabbath guitarist and master of the riff Tony Iommi ran away with his victory against Morbid Angel's Trey Azagthoth in Round 1 of our Greatest Metal Guitarist competition. Iommi has continued his legacy as a metal god with Sabbath's newest album, '13,' proving that despite his recent battle with cancer, the heavy metal strummer is as vital as ever...