My favourite hokage is the 4th, his cool and calm attitude and his ability to rationally think his way through any fight is why he is so powerful. Oh, and not to mention most of his abilities require absolutely no hand signs.
However, no other hokage reminds more of what a ninja is then the 3rd, he reminded me of what a ninja really is in naruto by using techniques to win in battle and not spamming the same shit over and over again. Hiruzen was a god of shinobi because he studied to master all aspects of the shinobi. "Fire Style: Grand fireball jutsu"
I'm not convinced that he hashirama and tobirama were at there best, it doesn't make sense that they claim hashirama was soo strong, and he really didn't seem that way to me.
I'm not saying your wrong, just that it seemed weird to me.