nathan summers
the man called cable
In a PHYSICAL confrontation, yes, Norrin Radd has the overwhelming upper hand. Nathan has no hopes to match him. But were Cable to simply have focused his efforts on telepathic assaults, I'm sure it would have been a much more even playing field. Perhaps even allowing Cable the advantage.
While Silver Surfer displays various physical and energy manipulating feats I somehow doubt he'd be much of a match for a telepath of Cable's stature. Nor do I believe Norrin Radd's mental abilities rise over anything than the basics that allow him adequate protection from most " average " telepaths. ( Unless Silver Surfer is an omega level telepath and has the ability to also travel to the astral plane, etc. ) Something Nathan Summers certainly is not.
If Nathan was able to crack his board then under speculation I'm assuming he could crack Norrin's mind. He easily communicated with Silver Surfer telepathically. Which means he had a foothold. Again, under speculation and what has been said about Nathan's powers he could have more than likely either pulled Radd onto the astral plane and out of a physical playing field or rendered him incapacitated in some fashion.
Any ideas?