Well.....no, no one debates it because you bumped a thread that no one has touched for 4 years lol Have your doubts, Mashima's words trump your doubts. Ajeel still has the better feats so what you "SEE" is still better. So while you're "free" to post your opinion, I'm "free" to respond the way I did with a scan of Mashima's own words.
If truly NOBODY debated it and this debate was as obvious as you claims, this thread wouldn't have existed in the first place. And you can think Mashima's words are the only thing that matters, but people's opinions can be important too. If tomorrow, Mashima decided "Natsu was actually a unicorn all along, Lucy was a Lovecraftian creature who's been manipulating everyone from the beginning of the series, and Acnologia was just a big illusion in everyone's mind who never actually existed", even if HE says it's canon, I doubt many people would accept it.
And if you want proof that Mashima can make mistakes:
-Future Rogue was from 7 years in the future, yet Rogue already outclassed (or at least rivaled with) him in Alvalez. And how could there be any dragons in the future BEFORE Future Rogue went in the past to bring them back? Also... How could anyone REMEMBER Future Rogue if he technically never came back?
-If Irene can move Fairy Heart, an INFINITE source of energy, from one body to another, why didn't she do it with Zeref's curse long ago?
-If Prect could accidentally create an infinite source of magic in decades of experiences, Zeref could definitely create one himself, so why waiting for centuries if he's so eager to die?
-Acnologia never tried to destroy the world because he wanted a true challenge, and Zeref wanted to destroy him to prevent him from destroying the world. So of course, Zeref threw Acno that famous challenge, INCITING him to finally go destroy everything, BEFORE Zeref had Fairy Heart to stand a chance against him, and even then he never planned to directly face Acno but rather kill him in the past, so there was no-point in inviting him in the first place. Really, Mashima just didn't know how to make Acno join the war and stay coherent.
-If Zeref wanted to travel back in time to kill Acnologia, he could've just mastered Last Age (Ultear's sacrifice), he's immortal so he could go as far in the past as he'd want. No-need to wait for centuries, seek infinite power and start wars! But if he didn't, there wouldn't be any plot, and Mashima couldn't just think of giving him a more coherent goal...
-I could continue that list for hours.
Not defensive spells or durability, or CQC or intelligence or physical stats.
Pre-ts Natsu and Gray were able to punch their way out of MG's attacks despite being battered and beat.
Yeah, I already said Mard's Thorn attacks weren't as strong as Ajeel's attacks, why repeating it?
And how can you be so sure Ajeel is better than Mard in durability, physical stats, etc? Mashima never told us exactly HOW MUCH Alvalez characters were stronger than in Tartaros, making it difficult to compare some feats (for instance, seeing how Ajeel was badly hurt when Erza finished him, can we truly be sure Tartaros DF Natsu couldn't have finished him as well?)
I don't care what clues you're "deducing" Sherlock Holmes. It's an attack that's featless. Mard Geer is one of the dumbest characters in this series so no, I will not trust his words. Yes Grimoire Law is featless so you can't gauge its power. It's like me saying, Jellal is one of the strongest characters because of Abyss Break......that's not how it works. Canon feats only.
I'll debunk MM for you right now. Mori is supposed to be the ultimate spell that finally defeats Zeref according to Mard's own words.
But according to Zeref, MG was useless even with MM. The whole point of Alvarez is to build an empire that can exterminate humanity so Zeref can go back in time. Why not put MG if he's stronger than some Spriggans? It makes no sense on your end.
Mard may have been mistaken many times, but at least during a fight, he remains careful and has a good self-control (don't point out how he lost, I said GOOD, not FLAWLESS). Ajeel on the other hand could've just stayed far from Erza and kept throwing long-distance attacks until she died (a tactic guaranteed to work against Mard too), but no, he HAD to show himself, he HAD to get close and slowly torture her in hope she'd call him a god, because he's even more arrogant than Mard (who was just taunting with words). That's why I think Mard has a fair chance: Ajeel is likely to take pointless risks and cause his own downfall. Psychology is also an important factor to win a fight.
Power isn't ALL that matters when you seek an ally. I already told you it would've been annoying to keep Mard close since he blindly wants to destroy Zeref and Zeref still had plans to fulfill. But if you insist on power alone: Zeref could've joined Acno, even just to gain his trust until he could backstab him, but he didn't. So you can tell power isn't Zeref's ONLY criteria.
And Zeref thinking Mard is useless even with MM can be explained: Zeref wants to DIE, not be ERASED, he wants to go to the afterlife.
You can't gauge his power when he was blindsided considering he was able to split up the attack casually with one hand when he was paying attention.
This counts more as a defensive SPELL (when I said Ajeel was "5-10 Jupiter blasts level", I was purely talking of physical durability, not ALL his stats), people with a weaker durability than their own defensive spells do exist, just look at Makarov. And I do believe this spell rivals with Mard's blocking a CSK attack, except Mard was only in his Base, his Etherious form increases his powers, and his natural durability is better than his own defensive spells.
But Zeref said Larcade was the ultimate weapon, not himself, August or Irene. See how I'm using your logic against you?
He literally keeps 2 Etherious close to him what are you talking about? Are you just going to keep denying this?
The difference is that Larcade's feats directly contradict Zeref's statement since we clearly saw he wasn't on August or Irene's level. MM on the other hand doesn't contradict its own description yet since it's featless, so I can grant Mard some benefit of the doubt.
These 2 Etherious have proven to be exceptions to the "destroying Zeref" instinct, unlike Mard. Are YOU just going to keep denying this?
He is much faster than Mard Geer. Pre-ts Natsu and Gray were able to keep up with MG. After one year of training Ajeel was shown to be faster than Base Team Natsu after 1 year.
Ajeel outclasses him in every stat.. Unless you believe Mard Geer can do to Erza what Ajeel did and in that case......I don't know what to say.
I already debunked this. Ajeel was making Erza (who's miles faster than MG) look like a statue.
The WHOLE Team Natsu at once? Mind showing me scans of this? I admit I don't recall it.
I'm not convinced Alvalez Erza ALONE is as fast as Mard. Etherious Mard was still too fast for Natsu and Gray (they mostly lasted long because Mard's ATTACKS weren't very strong, but hitting him was still a challenge for them).
And dude...
-You don't like that, leave and pick up a new series
-That's what you think? LMAO
-I don't care what clues you're "deducing" Sherlock Holmes
-Lol you forgot your own proof!
-etc
You know this is just a debate about two characters (not ourselves) being compared, not a contest for how much we can mock each other? We're not kids! Are you here to help people understand or just insult them?
