I'll give it to Zuko and Zhao. What I took away from Zuko and Azula's Agni Kai in the series finale is that Zuko was every bit Azula's equal in firebending mastery, mental state or not. Learning from the Sun Warriors and the last Dragons seemed to progress his firebending tremendously.
After learning from the Dragons, we have three encounters as far as Azula v. Zuko is concerned.
1. Boiling Rock, Azula v. Zuko and Sokka.
Here we see Zuko fighting Azula briefly with Sokka's assistance. Here we see how Zuko's firebending style is beginning to change. He's far less reckless with his strikes, and is beginning to adopt more of a "counter" strategy to Azula's attacks. We see him using various moves to block and cancel out Azula's firebending with his own. Sokka helps out in some capacity, but his assistance is limited in value against Azula, who has more than held her own against multiple opponents many times.
Azula > Zuko
2. On top of the airship, Azula v. Zuko
Here we see what could very well be a perfect draw between the two. Zuko is able to surprise Azula with his newfound prowess, and they both end up being knocked off of the airship IIRC. Azula escapes on her own merit, Zuko get caught by Oppa and the Gaang.
Azula >= Zuko
3. Agni Kai, Fire Nation. In essence, Azula v. Zuko
The final fight between the two has them pitted against each other in a fire duel during Sozin's Comet. Both Azula and Zuko's firebending power is greatly amped. There are several little points in this fight that suggest to me that Zuko had surpassed Azula in skill at this point. Granted, Azula is unhinged at this point, but bear with me...
A. Zuko was able to control the center of the field.
We have Zuko matching Azula in raw power during this fight, with their generic sheets of flame basically clashing and sliding off of one another. We also see Zuko using innovative counter bends and some highly advanced bending moves, one of which forces Azula to adopt a look of shock, and forces her to dodge the attack instead of meeting it head on. When she begins to "fire skate" about, blasting Zuko with various attacks, Zuko remains balanced and continues to counter her moves, as well as knocking her to the dirt with a AoE firebend that catches her off guard.
B. Zuko is far less fatigued by the confrontation.
Here is where we see Zuko's change in style really shine. After altering his technique and refining his style, he appears to expend far less energy as opposed to his Book 2 self.
Essentially, he focuses on redirection and countering attacks, waiting for an opportunity to strike, rather than trying to overwhelm an opponent with offense.
This is highlighted in his Agni Kai with Azula. He forces Azula to expend more energy defending herself and trying to gain an upper hand than he expends defending and countering her attacks. Azula is shown breathing fairly heavily prior to forcing Zuko to take that lightning shot. Zuko is even comfortable enough to taunt Azula while appearing to remain fresh and energized.
C. The "feel" of the fight was leaning heavily in Zuko's favor.
Unhinged or not, Azula was outclassed by Zuko in the Agni Kai. By a pretty considerable margin. Zuko was clearly the superior firebender in the confrontation.
Azula was going to lose that fight pretty handily prior to taking advantage of Katara's prescence in the field. In my opinion, Azula being bats*it crazy during the fight didnt have as much of an impact on her skill as we are led to believe.
I dont think her being in her normal state of mind was going to make that big of a difference during this fight, as Zuko had largely let go of his anger and frustration, something that Azula had used to unbalance Zuko in their prior confrontations.
End of Series Zuko >> Unhinged Azula
End of Series Zuko >= "Sane" Azula.
Zuko will at least be able to keep Azula occupied, while Zhao may be able to get in a few hits. If Zhao gets taken out early by Azula (which is probably what will happen), I think Zuko takes this a very, very tough fight.
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