Aqua Metrias shows just how strong Lucy's attacks have the potential to be though. She also has UM. Sagittarius arrows should also work.
But Urano Metria didn't even take out Angel the first time Lucy used it... I know Lucy's improved A LOT but this is Brandish, a spriggan; nothing compared to O6 Angel...
Actually we do since it was re-directed at Lucy, someone who certainly has more durability then Juvia and she seemed to be hurt a decent amount.
Not only was it re-directed, it was magnified, so Lucy took it a few times amplified and still was not KOed, which tells me one of either three things:
- It was not a very powerful attack.
- Her durability is insane... vastly insane... Much insaner than it should.
- She's got some kind of water immunity in Aquarius stardress
Also I don't know why Lucy would have more durability than Juvia :S
Honestly I could see Loke alone being able to do similar damage under the circumstances (he managed to bruise Jacob). Again, this is against a Gray who was doing strictly CQC and was holding back immensely (moreso then Juvia I would say, since his will power is likely a lot stronger). If Gray was as he is normally he would have likely took her out in one-two punches (see what he did to Invel, granted with more shots).
Yes he was. POF is not a valid excuse. As he was against Invel is simply a bloodlusted Gray (aka full power Gray), as he was against Juvia he was clearly holding back. Juvia even contemplated letting him win, so your overestimating Ice Locks power.
I indeed think Loke would be a threat to Juvia, but I can't agree on the Gray part since he
couldn't hold back as his mind was being controled. Imagine, Juvia, whose will when it comes to Gray is much stronger than anyone's will so far in Fairy Tail, was being utterly controled (until she commited suicide) and was battling/hurting Gray (although she'd much prefer to commit suicide than hurt him). The control of ice lock was so precise and strong, Juvia actually couldn't prevent from doing something she'd give her life in order to avoid; until somehow she regained control; I don't know why you'd think any of them were holding back pre-suicide.
What he did to Invel is no justification. It's not like Gray could beat spriggan-level characters like that, under normal circumstances. By no means do I think he could take out Juvia out of 1 or 2 blows; they were training together for one entire year and Juvia is no pushover. The fact Gray could defeat Invel with such ease was clearly plot: he was angry as heck and it was a poor excuse to make him as strong as Natsu, who can casually oneshot/twoshot spriggans now...
She defeated him Pre-TS with very unconventional means that absolutely no one else can do (making her the absolute counter), as far as overall power is concerned she was visibly inferior to him.
The reason is Keyes is as unconventional as the method she used to defeat him. As you mentioned, she is Keyes counter. If he is utterly intangible, not even current Natsu should be able to defeat him. It's not like he is more powerful than "x", it's that he's got a special ability that makes him invincible for many.
Doing the same that she did Pre-TS would mean an excessive amount of exposure to magic barrier particles (which would be needless) and Keith may have learned from his mistake so he avoided doing the stupid decision.
Right, but that does not necessarily imply Juvia is still weak or she couldn't defeat him or anything. It just means that Keyes is as "invincible" as he's always been; not even if Juvia was spriggan tier could defeat him by conventional methods.
Do you think Lucy could deal with Keyes, provided that she does not have anything to counter his intangibility?
In regards to Brandish Vs Lucy. Brandish was unquestionably holding back, but I do not think it was in physicals so what Lucy did to her is still valid.
I, on the other hand, believe that having blocked a kick from Taurus stardress without flickering, a kick which, mind you, could push a spriggan back several dozens meters and make him break what he hit on, and kicking Lucy back with such ease and speed, makes Brandish a way more proficient cqc fighter than Lucy. And I do believe then it comes to physicals Brandish was also holding back.
She simply did not utilize her magic to its uttermost lethality. No question that Brandish is tiers above Lucy (even though as it stands, she is the weakest Spriggan in direct combat), but I'd argue that Lucy is also tiers above Keith.
I wouldn't say so, though; she seems quite proficient at cqc to me, it's just that she hasn't had the chance nor the need to fight like that. As for Lucy being above Keith, it's the same dilemma. Lucy can be as powerful as she wants, but if she does not have a proper counter for MBP intangibility I don't see how she'd beat Keyes.
I view Lucy as at least a tier above Juvia. Her performance against Brandish was unquestionably impressive whereas Juvias are very questionable (Struggling with Keith and her fighting Gray has a shit ton of circumstances to consider).
I respect your opinion, and I would love to see it your way. Lucy is the protagonist and deserves more credit. I seriously love her and I'd love to see her kicking ass. But by her showings and Juvia's, I still hold them as equals, both with different strengths and weaknesses.
I know Lucy's showing might've looked more impressive. She was fighting a spriggan after all. But, again, it was not a fair fight. As for Keyes, the plot demanded for Juvia to be "worried" and not to perform too good in order for her to do the UR with Meredy, that was kind of PiS if you ask me. I can't believe that an already powerful mage, almost from the main cast, from Fairy Tail and after training for 1 year with Gray, hasn't received the same growth ratio treatment as other FT mages.