I have a few considerations about this thread.
I'm gonna talk as a Dungeon Master and how I would conduct this "boss battle".
First, having to divide your atention into attacking and defending someone else indeed "nerfs" you. But, as a team, things get a little more tricky.
If you have a party consisting of a Warrior devoted to draw attacks from the enemy and protect his allies, a Rogue dedicated to sneak around the battlefield, dealing huge chunks of damage with sneak attacks, you could say the "warrior" is "nerfed"? Well, yes. Does it mean it would be better if the Warrior was full offensive mode? No exactly. Depends on who is able to deal more damage. If the Rogue is capable of dealing more damage than the warrior, then they benefit way more with the Warrior being "nerfed".
If all 5 SN's decided to go full attack mode and not care about the others at all, BELIEVE ME when I say that Big Mom would have killed all of them already.
The MOMENT they ALL decided to go for Kaido, BM would not stay still. She would send dozens of lighting strikes and flame attacks towards them.
If they are not covering for each other, it is EXTREMELY easy to pick them off. And only the power of miraculous dice rolls would save them.
Having said that, Oda IS NOT a tactical fighting writer. His fights are extremely simple.
Try to watch an anime called World Trigger. There, the fights are waaaaay more tactical. There are strategies, improvises, payoffs, etc.
One Piece at best has some kind of "gimmick". Only tactical fighters we have are Nami and Usopp.
Zoro had 3 clean hits on Kaido.
1- the first one alongside Killer. There was nothing to distract him there. kaido was not throwing an attack back at him, nor was Big Mom.
2- The flying slash. He blocked the boro breath, then immediately went for the counter attack. Kaido just WATCHED. Big Mom tells him to dodge, he dodges. Again nothing being launched to hinder Zoro's attack. Big Mom strikes him down AFTER it.
3- the tatsumaki. Luffy got swallowed, and Zoro had to get him free. He makes a clean named attack against Kaido and makes him spit Luffy. This one you can argue Kaido's tornado hindered the attack a little, but considering he effectively countered them, it's kinda not feasible to think that.
Team fights do not follow the same logic as a solo fight. Although there are scenarios where having a teammate can actually hold you back, it doesn't look like the case here, since Zoro is still getting his clean hits on Kaido. He didn't need to tank anything for Luffy. He countered the flames. He received BM's lighting attack on his own.
So no, he is not nerfed. In fact, he was "buffed" for that flying slash attack, due to Law's ability to teleport him.
But, in general, he is exactly what he is.
It's better not to take this "nerfed" or "buffed" thing too seriously, because the fact that BM and Kaido are getting outnumbered could also be considered a "nerf" to both of them. Just enjoy the team effort. Once the fight is over, we can analyze everything and try to point out who contributed more.
But let me just say one more thing. If Law doesnt throw a single attack moving forward, and just keeps teleporting everyone around the battlefield, I would 100% consider him the MVP of the fight. Battlefield control is EXTREMELY important, and his ability provides exactly that. But it is Oda. They will just throw a bunch of attacks until the enemies are down.
I'm gonna talk as a Dungeon Master and how I would conduct this "boss battle".
First, having to divide your atention into attacking and defending someone else indeed "nerfs" you. But, as a team, things get a little more tricky.
If you have a party consisting of a Warrior devoted to draw attacks from the enemy and protect his allies, a Rogue dedicated to sneak around the battlefield, dealing huge chunks of damage with sneak attacks, you could say the "warrior" is "nerfed"? Well, yes. Does it mean it would be better if the Warrior was full offensive mode? No exactly. Depends on who is able to deal more damage. If the Rogue is capable of dealing more damage than the warrior, then they benefit way more with the Warrior being "nerfed".
If all 5 SN's decided to go full attack mode and not care about the others at all, BELIEVE ME when I say that Big Mom would have killed all of them already.
The MOMENT they ALL decided to go for Kaido, BM would not stay still. She would send dozens of lighting strikes and flame attacks towards them.
If they are not covering for each other, it is EXTREMELY easy to pick them off. And only the power of miraculous dice rolls would save them.
Having said that, Oda IS NOT a tactical fighting writer. His fights are extremely simple.
Try to watch an anime called World Trigger. There, the fights are waaaaay more tactical. There are strategies, improvises, payoffs, etc.
One Piece at best has some kind of "gimmick". Only tactical fighters we have are Nami and Usopp.
Zoro had 3 clean hits on Kaido.
1- the first one alongside Killer. There was nothing to distract him there. kaido was not throwing an attack back at him, nor was Big Mom.
2- The flying slash. He blocked the boro breath, then immediately went for the counter attack. Kaido just WATCHED. Big Mom tells him to dodge, he dodges. Again nothing being launched to hinder Zoro's attack. Big Mom strikes him down AFTER it.
3- the tatsumaki. Luffy got swallowed, and Zoro had to get him free. He makes a clean named attack against Kaido and makes him spit Luffy. This one you can argue Kaido's tornado hindered the attack a little, but considering he effectively countered them, it's kinda not feasible to think that.
Team fights do not follow the same logic as a solo fight. Although there are scenarios where having a teammate can actually hold you back, it doesn't look like the case here, since Zoro is still getting his clean hits on Kaido. He didn't need to tank anything for Luffy. He countered the flames. He received BM's lighting attack on his own.
So no, he is not nerfed. In fact, he was "buffed" for that flying slash attack, due to Law's ability to teleport him.
But, in general, he is exactly what he is.
It's better not to take this "nerfed" or "buffed" thing too seriously, because the fact that BM and Kaido are getting outnumbered could also be considered a "nerf" to both of them. Just enjoy the team effort. Once the fight is over, we can analyze everything and try to point out who contributed more.
But let me just say one more thing. If Law doesnt throw a single attack moving forward, and just keeps teleporting everyone around the battlefield, I would 100% consider him the MVP of the fight. Battlefield control is EXTREMELY important, and his ability provides exactly that. But it is Oda. They will just throw a bunch of attacks until the enemies are down.