Overall, when it came down to the most important parts of the battle, Apex had the clear advantage. He had evidence that Raikage couldn't just outright blitz Hiashi, despite a large part of it being flawed. Kratos had no real evidence for why he believed Raikage would blitz Hiashi with no reaction. They both agreed when it came to Gentle Fists' effectiveness against the 3rd.he opposition gets beaten in CQC, Apex had the edge mainly due to the shortcomings of his opponent.
Apex's strategy can only begin to work if Vacuum Palm is really completely invisible, but it's not completely invisible as shown when Hiashi uses it, when Hinata uses it, and when Kaguya uses a similar technique. Though regardless of that, Kratos' counters weren't very strong, mainly because he pretty much agreed that Air Palm is invisible, and relied on the Raikage aimlessly running around to find Hiashi, and the black lightning argument, which doesn't help him dodge the attack as it won't tell him how large it is, even it were invisible. Even if it were, the black lightning strategy can only work if he knows what he's supposed to be countering. And when Apex brought up his Shunshin speed being irrelevant in close quarters, Kratos' only counter was "Hiashi isn't fast enough to touch him in CQC" with no evidence behind that.
Smh. And not to mention Apex addressed the black lightning scenario. You said that it might not overpower it, and provided no evidence once again. Though I'm sure a shockwave with the power to blowback something as large as a Bijuu handily counters black lightning of all things.
And when it came to finishing off the opposition, Apex's argument was better for the simple fact that Kratos gave no finish strategy for the Raikage and failed to provide evidence for points that are crucial to his argument. The bulk of his main argument was that Raikage was too fast for him to react, and since he couldn't prove that right, his argument fails as a whole. While Apex's strategy can't happen, he still managed to explain why Hiashi can react, why he won't get obliterated in CQC and why Raikage can't just outright tank his attacks. Kratos failed to prove that Raikage can blitz or that Raikage is way too fast for him in CQC.
My vote goes to Apex. Supported his vital points with evidence while Kratos' vital points had no or little evidence supporting them.