I think it works, mainly because it isn't about Doom vs. The FF. It is Doom vs. Reed in a very close and personal way.
They are, on the one hand, two of the few people who could actually genuinely understand each other (this is usually seen in the instances when they work together versus a common threat, when they usually complete each other's sentences and in general act like the scariest team of Mad Scientists every) both of them are in an intelligence league all of their own, and to some extent they are the only ones that can talk to each other about some things.
And on the other hand this is precisely what Doom cannot stand. He is intensely jealous but on the other hand he craves approval. I don't think Doom seriously *wants* to destroy Richards. He just wants to *beat* him.