i always believed gaara is a very good counter to minato (to those who think i'm his hater I like minato just not u fanboys,i also believe gaara is a very good counter to itachi as well)
the reason is,
1. his sands act as he wishes, unlike other elements that can not be solidified or those that can not be manipulated, or has less density.
2. his sands can become a shield, can become a spear. defence and offence, midrange and close range, all possible
3. minato can't tag his sands, because basically sands can disperse and come together as well, making his tags useless (to tag, one needs a surface, and there is no surface in the sand once gaara decides to change its form)
4. his ultimate defence, which he used against both sasuke and deidara, will need a very good attack to penetrate, and i don't think minato has such an attack(chidori was successful probably because it was lightning)
5. gaara, if i recall, should have quite good chakra reserve, as former jinchuriki. thus even in long battle he's not exactly in a disadvantage.
6. just like kisame, gaara can basically make any place his battle field with his sand to a certain extent, making things to his advantage, and unless you can fly, you're always going to be fighting the sand since you're stepping on it.
7. with that third eye, he doesn't need to reveal himself to the enemy and can always hide in his ultimate defence.
still minato is dangerous, smart, and fast, rasengan and hiraishin combo, all those dangerous seals and plus the shiki fujin, summons. Still say gaara wins
Toads can hop all they want the bigger the target the easier it is cetch them -_-
Gaara's sand is fast enough to block and 'swallow up' Minato's kunai. Minato doesn't want to teleport into Gaara's sand, doesn't he?
Gaara's third eye prevents Minato's attempt to sneak up behind. Any location with earth (90 percent of wear ppl woyld fight)Location favors Gaara also. He can grind more sand from the ground and send a sand tsunami at Minato, making Minato's tags on surroundings useless.
The only way I c minato winning is because of gamabunta withy he oil thts it but gaara hasn't let tht stop him with the 2nd mizukage who has more oil and better uses of it then gamabunta who just spits it out and minato wouldn't know about oil being gaara weakness cuz well he present during tht time in the war lol plus gamabunta wouldn't just use it out of no where it's for a combo attack mixed with fire which minato doesn't have
And gaara could just fly as well as create more sand