We're talking about optimizing damage, not what pushes Lucci back further
And Bound Man isn't also just about pushing someone back further.
It is the mere fact that Bound Man is pure raw power, designed to break through massive defences like nothing.
Even with mediocre hardening, Luffy managed to overpower Katakuri's block mochi guard and damaging him quite significantly with just 3 hits. The same Bound Man almost put Doflamingo to sleep with 4 hits as well.
G5 is great in dealing the most efficient kind of damage to the opponent but only because its mechanism drastically boosts the damage output, doesn't mean it is also stronger than the mode which is filled with fullbody hardening + rubber + elasticity and using its tensile force to create destructive damage output.
Those attacks that rubberize opponents could probably be more efficient in transferring all of the force from Luffy's attacks into the opponent's body.
I agree with this take; from the looks of it, Luffy made Lucci's body rubbery to deal as much damage as possible to him.
Yet again, there is a lack of proof that this kind of attack is also superior to Bound Man imo.
Point is even if Kong Gun is stronger, the energy is dissipated/wasted whereas those rubberized punches could be optimized to transfer the force. Resulting in more damage.
So you're basically saying that one attack has more raw strength but the other one is more penetrative? Idk if we can say that the energy really gets wasted like that; after all, the entire mechanism is about launching as much concentrated power as possible. That's how Bound Man increases its attack potency 3 times.
Maybe calling it stronger was the wrong wording. More damage is what I meant.
The issue is that we have no actual valid comparison between G4 and G5 to make concrete statements.
Maybe Kizaru vs Luffy - if it happens - will give us more answers regarding G5 and G4. Imo, G5 lower end moves are definitely G4 tier - considering the fact that 3 hits almost koed an awakened high tier zoan like Lucci - but it is definitely debatable whether it has the same damage output as a Kong Gun.
Also, if G5 is just stronger in literally everything, this would make G4 completely useless. I doubt that Oda gets rid of this mode like that, unless we'll see G5 + G4 transformations, similar to Bajrang Gun.
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Luffy used G5, his strongest form, to deal with Kaido then and Lucci now. No amount of coping is gonna drag Lucci to King's level, let alone Queen's.
Let's just ignore ACoA and ACoC, as well as the fact that Luffy was literally near death when fighting Kaido lol.
He didn't "need" G5 against Lucci. This was just a moment for Vegapunk to witness its power, nothing else. He wasn't pushed to his limits, he wasn't damaged, he basically toyed with this guy throughout the fight. If Luffy was death serious and at 100%, he would have simply used ACoC along with G5. Why didn't he use it?
Also, what? King has portrayal and feats over Lucci, it is debatable whether he's even above Queen lmfao. One was nearly koed by 3 hakiless hits, another one took 2 CoC slashes before being defeated by Zoro's new CoC mode. There's literally no argument in favor of Lucci when it comes to durability and endurance.
