KMC Forums - Darth Tyranus vs. Darth Plagueis (Sabers)

Dooku going head-to-head against Yoda�whose physical augmentation by RotS was arguably greater than that of Sidious�should suggest that Plagueis's strength shouldn't be too much of an issue, especially when considering that Hego is not on the level of Yoda or RotS Sheev.

In a prolonged combat scenario Dooku may eventually tire to Plagueis's superior force reserves, but unlike Yoda, Plagueis is not nearly as skilled or experienced in lightsaber combat, so an extensive fight won't happen as he lacks the skill to last indefinitely against a master of makashi.

The first problem is Plagueis's disdainful attitude for lightsaber combat when compared to that of Dooku, who basically centered his life around it. It actually put him at a disadvantage when fighting Venamis:

"To Plagueis, lightsaber duels were tedious affairs, full of wasted emotion and needless acrobatics. Tenebrous, however, who had pronounced Plagueis a master of the art, had always enjoyed a good fight, and had clearly bequeathed that enthusiasm to his other trainee. For no sooner had the blades of their weapons clashed than Venamis began to bring the fight to him in unexpected ways, twirling his surprisingly limber body, tossing the lightsaber from hand to hand, mixing forms. At one point he leapt onto an overhanging greel branch and, when Plagueis severed it with a Force blow, hung suspended in the air-no mean feat in itself-and continued the fight, as if from high ground. Worse for Plagueis, Tenebrous had made Venamis an expert in Plagueis's style, and so the Bith could not only anticipate but counter Plagueis's every move.
In short order, Venamis penetrated his defenses, searing the side of Plagueis's neck. "

The contrast between Venamis and Plaguies's attitudes towards light-saber combat is made, and we can deduce that having an enthusiastic view of it is advantageous over one of indifference or annoyance.

Venamis is shown to be more crafty than Plagueis because of it, and succeeds in utilizing that enthusiasm to break through the Muun's defenses.

Plagueis himself acknowledges that Venamis's enthusiasm for light-saber combat was an advantage over him as he transitions to his next concern with "worse", as highlighted in the original text.

Plagueis's strengths lie in his force powers, not his lightsaber skills. While Hego spent his life pursuing advanced force abilities, Dooku spent his mastering makashi and the art of combat.

Plagueis actually had to utilize the force to save himself from Venamis when he realized he wasn't going to win through his own skill:

"Realizing that the fight could go on indefinitely, he took himself out of his body and began working his material self like a marionette, no longer on the offensive, instigating attacks, but merely responding to Venamis's lunges and strikes."

I interpret this description as Hego giving himself up to the force or otherwise utilizing an advanced force technique to weasel out of the situation rather than relying on his own skills. Only after this was done did he succeed in defeating Venamis through frustration:

"Gradually the Bith understood that something had changed-that what up until then had been a fight to the death seemed suddenly like a training exercise. Exasperated, he doubled his efforts, fighting harder, more desperately, putting more power into each maneuver and blow, and in the end surrendering his precision and accuracy."

So we see what caused Venamis to lose. He became frustrated and impatient, something that Dooku's personality has never demonstrated, and turned to brute strength tactics over precision and accuracy.

This suggests that Venamis's precision and accuracy was what gave him the edge towards the beginning of the fight, not brute strength. In other words, Hego could handle brute strength, as it didn't seem to be effective when Venamis turned to it in desperation, but struggled against the Bith's original dependence on precision and accuracy.

"Makashi was described as elegant and focused, and was based on balance and footwork to outmaneuver opponents. Fluidity, precision, and economy of motion were relied on, rather than strength..." -Wookieepedia

"Two Makashi maneuvers were the "contentious opportunity" and the "Makashi riposte". The "contentious opportunity" was based around recognizing and exploiting an opening in the opponent's defense before swiftly moving to strike the exposed enemy. The "Makashi riposte" was similarly designed to slightly alter the angle of an opponent's attack before quickly retaliating with a counter strike."
- Wookiepedia; footnoted as Jedi Academy Training Manual

Not much explanation needs to be done here. Dooku's style was literally designed to utilize precise and accurate movements to recognize and exploit an enemy's defenses. Venamis successfully did it, there is no reason to believe that Dooku couldn't.

Plagueis actually defeated Venamis through a combination of surprise and taking advantage of Venamis's lapse in technique due to frustration:

"At the height of Venamis's attack, Plagueis came back into himself with such fury that his lightsaber became a blinding rod. A two-handed upward swing launched from between his legs caught Venamis off guard."

Plagueis outwitted, not out-dueled, Venamis. After giving himself up to the force or utilizing an unknown force ability to leave his physical self, he waited for the right opportunity before returning to his form. This happened to be at the height of Venamis's frustration, as the previous paragraph states how he gave himself up to desperate power-strikes at the cost of precision. Only then was Hego able to utilize a surprise attack to defeat the Bith.

So Plagueis never once actually relied on his technique to defeat the Bith. He tried early on in the fight, but after having his defenses penetrated, he knew he was outclassed in combat by his more enthusiastic and hence more crafty opponent.

Finally, Plagueis confirms his personal stance on fighting with the following quote said to Venamis shortly after his defeat:

"The future of the Sith no longer hinges on physical prowess but on political cunning. The new Sith will rule less by brute force than by means of instilling fear."

According to vocabulary.com, prowess is defined as a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation

As I said earlier, Plagueis loathed lightsaber combat and instead dedicated himself to the study of abstract force theories. This aforementioned statement when coupled with his analysis of Venamis's style and biography confirms that Plagueis was limited in his knowledge and application of advanced lightsaber technique. I also interpret it as a show of dominance over Venamis, as he suggests the idea that his outwitting of the Bith's superior prowess alludes to the political power the new generation of sith should pursue over fighting skill. He was described as a master of lightsaber combat by Tenebrous, but what does this mean? Plenty of prequel era jedi were also recognized as such but easily lost to various opponents.

Dooku holds a significant skill advantage over Plagueis, and seeing how Venamis quickly penetrated the latter's defenses, I have no reason to suspect Dooku would be unable to do so in a reasonable period of time before exhausting his force reserves to Plagueis's strength.