I keep seeing people saying the Law vs Vergo was a low diff fight. No, it wasn't. Because it ended up in one slash doesn't mean it was. The difficulty of a fight isn't only seen by the length of it. It was a all or nothing type of situation. The first one who landed the hit(or managed to overpower the other) would have won. What do you think would have happened if Law didn't manage to bypass Vergo's armament?
It's him that would have lost that fight. He had to use the strongest slash he ever used to date to defeat him(even against Doflamingo, he never used a slash of that amplitude), basically like the final clash between Zoro and Daz Bones. Would you say that it was a low diff fight for Zoro? No, because if he didn't discover the breath of all things and unlock his new and most powerful technique at the time(Shishisonson), he'd have lost. Law is stronger than Vergo, but the difference wasn't that big. It's for that reason that for people who read my posts concerning the range where i place Law, i put the difficulty of that fight in the high difficulty range
Enies Lobby Zoro couldn't take on Lucci seeing how much he struggled with Kaku. So that's not true. I don't think you understood where I was getting at. I meant that you won't see Zoro get a beating like Sanji, Luffy or Smoker did with Doflamingo. A scenario where he suffers from serious injuries and loses due to a overwhelming difference in power.
I meant post-timeskip. Sorry to have not specified. And why won't Zoro receive beatings? He already received one against an admiral and i'm fairly confident that the reason Zoro is having it easy at the moment is because of the Wano arc where i see severe beatings coming for him, necessarly for his evolution
And? He never saw Tashigi as a threat and he got pinned down after Smoker intercepted him. That's ridiculous, he was in danger when he got pinned.
She wasn't a threat because her haki wasn't strong enough to block his cutting ability. Still even the weakest one are enough to cause distractions that could allow the strongest to take advantage on you. Crocodile is miles away from Akainu in terms of strength, yet he could still cut him in half and help Jimbe and Luffy to escape. While Zoro was aiming for fodders, Tashigi could block him. His focus was completely on Tashigi when Smoker came out of nowhere to block and outmaneuver him. You seriously can't use that scene especially when afterwards, he never managed again and was on the other side the one who ended up on the floor
It's hard to say really. Law low-diff'd Vergo but mid-diff'd Smoker. Zoro hasn't shown haki feats to put him over Vergo (or close to it) so he'd be taken out easier than Vergo did. There's people that Law can take out with much easier difficulty than Luffy can, i.e. brawlers such as Vergo/Smoker. I wouldn't use Law's victories & the difficulty of those victories to gauge how Luffy would do since they have different fighting styles.
Depends. First of all, i'd not call the Law-Vergo fight a low diff fight(read above). For the Zoro matter, it's just a development problem. He showed armament versus Monet, but we simply don't know how strong it is due to lack of development, exactly like Fujitora, but you won't see me say Law can defeat Fujitora, but i admit that without haki, it's hard to fight Law. To fight Law, you either have to have strong enough haki, good maneuvrability(enough to outmaneuver him) or being a logia. Smoker filled the last condition at the very least, so he was a natural enemy to Law's ability and to win, Law had to attack him close with hakified hits, yet he still won
It is different and that scan isn't relevantly similar. "There's no point in fighting you unless you're at full power", suggests that they're near equals. It also suggests that Luffy will be fighting all out as well.
No it suggest nothing. Once again,
he never saw Smoker in 2 years. He had no way to know how strong he was. He just felt Nostalgic about him. Smoker always used to chase him and they know each others behaviours(it came to the point Smoker even knew the island he'd have to take when starting in the new world). Luffy knew he'd always try to chase him and was simply telling him that he'd be ready for it when he'd be at full power. Doesn't mean however that he thought they were near equal. That's just a grasping at straws type of reading comprehension
That still doesn't suggest Zoro is stronger, she was just shocked that he could intimidate her without "attacking".
The fact Tashigi couldn't believe such growth-rate was possible heavily shows that she never encountered someone capable to grow this strong this fast and that includes Smoker
Luffy has trust in all his crewmates. Nothing surprising here or doesn't have as much meaning as the one I posted. Luffy intends on going all out the next time he meets Smoker or at least giving it his best.
Not really. Luffy isn't like that. He only has trust depending on the situation. For example, in little garden, he almost laughed at M5 when he heard he defeated Zoro, telling him that such a thing was impossible for him(that was after observing his skills in combat in Whiskey peak). Zoro also said the same thing when same M5 said he captured Luffy. In skypiea he couldn't believe Zoro lost to Enel. However, against Lucci, he thought he was the only one who could defeat him. Against Kizaru, he thought escape was the only thing that could save him, perfectly acknowledging they were no match. Against Mihawk in the war, he didn't even try to fight(Zoro himself didn't try to fight later). They are like this. Their overconfidence come from what they witness.
I think Oda's writing is being underestimated/undermined here the most. You're ignoring the rivalry/portrayal Smoker has been given since part 1. Smoker's feats. are good as well. Zoro was placed in a corner during the PH arc, the three top dogs were Smoker, Luffy & Law. They are indicated to be near equals. I like to see these three as the M3, where Smoker is the Sanji of the M3, Luffy is the Zoro of the M3 and Law is the Luffy of the M3. (from a power standpoint)
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Once again, the position where someone is placed in a drawing in no way indicates strength. King Riku was placed alongside Law and Luffy with 3 stars when Kyros and Zoro only had 2. You think King Riku is stronger than Kyros? Let alone Zoro? No, they were placed there because they were the head of the different organisations, not in terms of strength. Just like Smoker is the head of the marine G5, Law and Luffy being head of the alliance. Because of this, they'd obviously be the most highlighted. Doesn't mean however that the underling of one respective organisation can't defeat the head of another considering the head of one organisation can easily be much weaker than the rest.
Besides, Zoro wasn't even there during that event(he was outside). Smoker, Law and Luffy were the only one who were captured(alongside Tashigi and Robin), so among them, so how can you even use this accurately?
It's already quite clear that you're underestimating Smoker here the most since you stated that you had doubts if he can beat Sanji. You're already overestimating Zoro more than enough, it seriously feels like I'm reading some sort of love fanfiction when you praised Zoro for scaring off Monet.
And you're the one clearly not understanding the significance of scarring Monet. Monet while not being exceptionally strong compared to M3 level fighters is one of the strongest officers in the donquixote pirates and we see currently how strong some of the officers actually are(Lao G, Gladius, Dellinger, to only talk about them). To scarre Monet to the point she couldn't even put herself together was basically a way to say that she was too weak that a fight wasn't even necessary to win, basically like what conqueror haki does to trash, showing the exponential difference in level between one of the strongest officers in the donquixote family(and logia at that, someone Doflamingo sent to watch-out Caesar to boot) and current Zoro, just like the 50 thousand fishmen in fishmen island who were too weak for Luffy that his will enough was enough to put her down. It was THE importance of the scene that you clearly missed here because you only thought about the strength level of the opponent comparatively to M3 level fighters without actually reading deeply into it
As for the Smoker thing, like i've said it's because of the difference in their performances against similar opponents that i have my doubts
Sanji's intent was kicking Vergo's ass, whereas Smoker wanted to get Law's heart back. Smoker still managed to do more damaged with his punches than Sanji's DJ. One of the reasons why Law performed better was because that he had intel on Doffy's powers.
And here is the thing.
Nothing stopped Smoker to actually defeat Vergo while taking Law's heart back later. If he didn't opt for it is because he knew he was the weaker one. Hell, he didn't even asked Tashigi to follow him because he thought he might die in that battle. He was looking for Vergo since the start in the option to fight him all out. It was just mid fight that he decided to change his strategy for something he actually can do(considering defeating Vergo was something he couldn't). Also, unlike Smoker, Sanji had no prior knowledge to boot and was not using his higher ends techniques, but in the end, he was the one who landed 2 solid hits on Vergo when Vergo could land only 1 and that was because he underestimated the attack, all that in a small skirmich unlike Smoker-Vergo
So what is a rival to you? I just don't see the gap being that big as you're making it out to be. It's better if I illustrate it with numbers I guess. Assuming Luffy is 100...
Someone who compete with another in the same field to accomplish similar objectives is a rival. Someone who tries to fight everytime with another can be considered one as well. Doesn't mean however that they should be close in strength. You can check every definition of rivarly you want in every dictionaries and it never says they should be close in strength
