@burnface:
The difference being is that Vos has his own showings that would put him above Tiin as a duelist (beating Bulq, beating Morgukai warriors, beating Tholme), has the similar accolade of being one of the best swordsmen of the Jedi order, i,e more substantial showings than a sparring match.
Vos' dueling feats aren't superior to Tiin's sparring match. The Morgukai's best claims to skill are overwhelming Tholme, and fighting evenly with Secura individually. Vos fought them at the same time and whilst heavily fatigued and injured, and he did it with a form poorly suited to fighting multiple opponents, but this is still only enough to approach tier 8, not step into it. The Bulq fight was circumstantial and Bulq isn't even a tier 8. Tholme really isn't that impressive of a fighter.
Whenever he has been put up against the calibre of opponent only a tier 8 could truly match, he hasn't managed to achieve results. He's a tier 7, Tiin is a tier 8. Although there are always some circumstances behind Vos losing to guys like Windu and Dooku. With Windu, their first fight was well before either of their primes. In their spar, Vos was out of practice with his lightsaber and was holding back - when he stopped holding back, Windu ended the spar inconclusively. In his fights with Dooku, he utilised Ataru - a form Dooku knows every single weakness of from him fighting Jinn thousands of times. And when he fought Kolar he simply wasn't in his prime. Despite this, Vos never achieved showings to suggest he can do anything more than hold his own against a tier 9 for some time before being humbled (which is a step up from being stomped, at least), whereas Tiin, before having decades of time to further improve, was already showing high levels of parity with Windu in a similar sparring match to the one Vos had with Windu.
Where has Vos been accoladed as one of the best swordsmen in the Jedi Order?
Also in the panels they're merely locking blades, casually speaking, and Mace let completely loose on Vos in his match. Even Vos has more quantifiable showings other than relying on a mere sparring match (where Mace didn't go all out possibly), reputation, , and to reiterate this is Mace far from his prime (which was the end of the CW). It's a bit of a stretch to suggest he is an equal to prime Mace, and there isn't much suggesting that he is superior to Malgus or Katarn as he lacks the showings to compete with either.
You're ignoring a few things here. Mace hasn't ever let fully loose on Vos, ever - he was visibly going at the same pace as he was with Tiin. The sparring match can't be described as "mere", because from a skill standpoint, Windu looks for error in his opponent - if Windu can't find much of any error in Tiin's form where he has others in a similar time frame, it stands to reason that Tiin is very much close to Windu. And this brings me back to the point that Kyle and Malgus have nothing to surpass this. Unless you can actually debunk the sparring match in some way and show that it isn't a true showing of skill on Tiin's part to not have his form picked apart by Windu, then you can't keep writing it off as just a "mere sparring match" and talking about how Tiin lacks life or death combat feats. Cin Drallig doesn't have the same level of combat feats as Aayla Secura, but if you account for his accolades, position as a lightsaber instructor and his knowledge of the seven forms, I think you'd be hard pressed to prove he is far behind Aayla.
Also, as has been said, Tiin was also far from his prime, and Tiin also would have been holding back if Windu was holding back - neither of which are real issues as far as the feat is concerned anyway.
The ambiguity lies in the fact that he is casually speaking with him, this is Mace before his prime, and Tiin has no other quantifiable feats of his own.
Mace was casually speaking with Vos too, as well as casually picking him apart. He couldn't do the same with Tiin. Tiin was also before his prime. And this spar is a feat.
Even if Tiin was "approaching" it's difficult to gauge this; given the calm nature of their match-I'm not sure if there is anything else other to be ascertained than ambiguity in that showing. The fact Katarn took out 7 Jedi without training, was considered a quantifiable threat by Caedus, and Malgus had bested Darach, Zallow, Satele Shan, and theoretically matched blades with Hero/Wrath/Barsen/Nox at once would put them well beyond a mere sparring match (as they were all combat situations). To summarize even if those opponents were featless there is a clear progression in the skills of Malgus, Katarn, etc- and towards the end of their respective careers we can logically deduce they got better- unlike Tiin who is resting on the laurels of his accolades as he lacks feats of his own to even show a quantifiable level of skill.
He was absolutely approaching, and Jedi often spar calmly, but it doesn't mean they are holding back anything. There is no proof that Windu was even holding back on Tiin in the first place.
Those 7 Jedi were nothing to write home about at all as duelists, and he fought them one at a time which is more a feat of endurance. The minimal training part is impressive but it doesn't do much to elevate the showing. Actually, there's nothing quantifiable about "being a threat" - a threat can be a very small thing, plus Caedus was injured at the time to boot.
Come on now, man. For one, not Darach, nor Zallow or Shan are within two tiers of Mace's skill, so Malgus beating them hardly makes him better than a tier 8. Next, I know you absolutely deplore when people use ambiguous showings from boss battles in games in order to justify a position, so you can't sit and tell me about how Malgus "theoretically clashed blades" with that strike time all at once. We have no clue of how that fight canonically went down and it's not a showing of skill better than what a tier 8 is capable of producing.
There isn't actually much to show that Malgus got more skilled with a lightsaber, but with Kyle he did get better by becoming the battlemaster. But if you want to really talk about unquantifiable, Kyle's lightsaber skill "in his prime" is just that.
And you can't seriously tell me that after the spar with Windu, fighting through the Clone Wars for years, and then being accoladed with being among the best in the Order from several sources, doesn't denote Tiin increasing in skill himself, alongside Mace and the other Jedi of his era.
Malgus and Zallow were martial equals for their time for one (Deceived), but given the fact Malgus bested him martially and not through the force he was the better duelist based on that- as well as the fact he would've had to match blades with whichever respective strike team he fought. There is no evidence Tiin could've handled Barsen/Hero/Wrath/Nox- or that Tiin would've been able to handle beating 7 nexus enhanced Dark Jedi, would've survived an encounter with Caedus, given he has no real substantial dueling showings of his own. There is a clear line of progression for the skills of Katarn/Malgus that is completely absent from Tiin. Again I'm not arguing moving him down, only that Katarn and Malgus should be near him due to their actual showings (not riding on accolades solely)
Malgus besting Zallow isn't enough to put you within under a tier of someone like Darth Maul.
He didn't "have to match blades" with the strike team - are you forgetting Malgus' colossal Force power? Which, by the way, is the only reason he would do any better than Tiin against the strike team, not through superior skill with a blade.
You don't think Tiin could kill 7 featless beings? You must think pretty lowly of him. And when was it stated they were on a nexus?
Kyle also shouldn't be surviving an encounter with Caedus - he essentially didn't.
There are different ways to show lightsaber skill other than clear cut dueling showings in life or death situations, man. Accolades, creator statements, sparring matches within context ect. You don't just need to beat someone, or fight evenly with someone, or contend with someone who is good to be good yourself - Tiin sparred evenly with a tier 9 duelist who actively tries to pick apart his opponents. This is beyond Malgus and Katarn's ability to replicate.
I can't speak for others but I argued for Maul to be moved up to 8.5 or 9
He's too even with Obi-Wan to move up to a 9, and outside of that he hasn't done anything a tier 8 can't do. He is a tier 8.5 though, in fact he's anywhere from 8.5-8.9, if you want to get stupidly meticulous. He's at the top of tier 8 but not quite tier 9. Anakin sets the benchmark for the bottom of tier 9, which is the foundation for this entire list, pretty much.
Those are still two dueling feats that would put him above Tiin in my book, given that Tiin has no other showings I can reasonably draw to adequately and objectively place his skill. Even then I wouldn't place Mundi any higher than low tier 8.
Mundi being low-tier 8 is arguable IMO, but considering he lacks a solid win on his record or any accolades, I find it hard to place him. You could argue he's close to the likes of Maul based on his fight with Grievous, by taking away every negative circumstance in that fight and placing Mundi in a fairer one. He had an opportunity to fight Ventress but the fight was way too short to make much of. I think Jinn level is a good place for him to be, as Jinn likewise contended with Maul with some poor circumstances.
Also, sorry if I countered anything you rescinded already.
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