Top 10 most technically skilled lightsaber duelists in the SW mythos
So, what do you think?
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According to me :
1)FOTJ Luke skywalker
2)ROTS Yoda
3)DE Sidious
4)Darth Caedus
5)ROTS Mace Windu
6)Galen Marek
7)ROTS Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader
8)Darth Bane
9)Darth Revan
10)FOTJKyp Durron
It's hard to put in a specific and accurate order. I prefer the tops of each era.
The Old Sith Wars have Kun and Ulic, and I think Nomi was pretty up there. Despite their technical ambiguity, Revan and Malak have got to be tops of their time. The Exile and the Triumvirate can f*ck off.
The New Sith Wars got Kas'im as numero uno, followed up by Bane. Zannah (I haven't read DoE yet) would be next. Other than that I can't think of any others that have detailed accounts of their saber prowess.
Yoda, Mace, Dooku, Sidious I'd call top tier for the PT. Anakin, Kenobi, Bulq, Drallig, Fisto, Kolar, Tinn, Maul, Ventress I'd all call the second tier of this era. Grievous too, to be fair.
The NJO has Luke, Caedus, Katarn, Horn, Jaina and if you wanna count his moment of lucidity, Rhysode. Lumiya was good too. I don't know where Mara stands.
Legacy only has a few names so far. Krayt is the best IMO.
MISC: Qui-Gon and Bondara were called the best of their generation circa TPM, but taken as a part of a whole they fall behind a good few of the others. Marek was pretty damned skilled too, but as he exists in his own quasi-era, he can go to hell. Not to mention much of his combat victories were a result of his Force powers more than his saber skills. And Ahsoka can go to hell too. Go to hell and die.
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Palpatine [at some point], Dooku, Sora Bulq, Depa Billaba, Maul, Kas'im, Raskta Lsu, Mace Windu, Anoon Bondara, Vader, and Ulic Qel-Droma are contenders. Yoda, Bane, Obi-Wan, and several of the Jedi on the Clone Wars-era Council could be considered as well.
I'm not sure I'd rank Luke in here at all. His gift is raw power, and he's a comparatively dominant swordsman because he has so much of it; I don't know how much of a role classical skill actually plays in his victories.
and i really dont think the point of this thread is who are the best or most skilled duelists. thats why i didnt list people like yoda luke anakin etc. they may be the best and most skilled duelists of their eras but that doesnt mean they possess substantial technical skill or knowledge.
Granted, the little jackass is on ignore so I don't see his opening post ([SPOILER - highlight to read]: and I don't want to), but technical skill indicates those duelists with the most skill, not power or overall ability.
That is to say that Force powers have nothing to do with it, which is why Eminence was unsure of where to place Skywalker. The reason that he listed Anakin/Vader (and I'd agree), is likely because of the Rise of Darth Vader flat out states that Vader was able to borrow tons of techniques and maneuvers from pretty much every existing lightsaber form and combine it into an unorthodox, unique style.
If Force powers are to be ignored then I wouldn't rank Sidious in the Top 5 or even Top 10 at all. Every time he beat some opponent with the lightsaber it was due to his way superior speed (Force Speed, so it's actually a demonstration of superior Force powers) e.g. versus the trio in RotS or versus Maul in their practice sessions. However, once his speed became a non-factor like versus Yoda and Mace he just lost and coupled with the fact that he has forsaken his lightsaber for many years on several occasions just leads me to believe that his actual skill with the lightsaber is not really up there with the all-time greats.
@Top10: For me it would be about the same that Eminence listed (minus Sidious) with Kas'im probably being on top.
But is it really enough to simply be a "high-level master of multiple forms" for making it into a Top 10 list of the most skilled lightsaber duelists of all time?
I didn't deny his skill but, like I said, for me it's just not enough to be up there with the top dogs.
Last edited by DrunknClockwork on Jun 5th, 2010 at 08:57 PM
I figured it would be enough to train a high-level master of multiple forms, but that line of thought introduces a slippery-slope factor: Plagueis trained Palpatine, etc.
I shall fink.
Edit: Hot damn, I left off Tyranus. No such list of candidates is complete without the Count.
Last edited by Eminence on Jun 5th, 2010 at 09:01 PM
Sidious' technical proficiency with a blade shouldn't even be in question. His effortless slaughtering of 3 of the finest Jedi in the order, tacked on to his duels with Mace (the master of Vaapad), Yoda (the master of Ataru), and Luke (the master of God knows what) should be proof enough of that. And, as was mentioned earlier, the fact that Sidious can take sole credit for training Maul from the ground up in the ways of lightsaber combat, should suffice as additional proof of his technical skill.
[EDIT]
As for Grievous: even Mace admitted that he was proficient in all forms of lightsaber combat, including Vaapad (which he duplicated on the fly, mind you.) So yeah... Good choice.
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Last edited by Galan007 on Jun 5th, 2010 at 09:23 PM
In a display of vastly superior Force-speed. He didn't meticulously outduel them in a stunning display of skill, he cut them down before they knew what hit them.
M'kay, I can agree that he slew Agen and Saesee mainly with speed. However, he wtfpwned Kit while fighting Mace at the same time. That's skill, right thur.
You can't say someone who TRAINED someone with a lightsaber is as good as the student. Being able to teach doesn't put you up there.
Luke is referred to as the best lightsaber duelist in the galaxy several times in LOTF, and again in FOTJ. Unless you are saying the entire galaxy is worse with a lightsaber than say in Bane's day... (something that would be EXTREMELY difficult to judge) (ROTS era was golden age of the Jedi, but we have no such assurances about the Bane Era)
That said, seeking the most skilled lightsaber duelists WITHOUT the force which makes the whole thread P O I N T L E S S since no one should CARE what they are like without the force.
Jun 5th, 2010 03:49 PM
