Smoker being in Elbaf finally give me a reason to keep the following Nika wankfest that this arc will be
Even in the worst case scenario (he keeps getting Ls), it wouldn't change from Punk Hazard
My hopium is that as the first logia introduced in the series, Oda might want to officially introduce logia awakening through him. And if he were to get a significant boost, it'd be a good hype for stronger logias.
Norse Mythology is full of Gods. They lived in the sky: Valhalla.
The Elbaf Giants we know live on the ground, and worship the Sun God, Nika.
I don't think the Norse "Gods" of Elbaf would appreciate Luffy showing up in their territory.
Really love the concept of Smoker being the first Awakened Logia.
Awakening occurs when your Body and Mind match up, and Smoker has always been one of the most ideologically consistent characters in the series, who always used his power to protect people first, and fight pirates after that.
There's a great chance Elbaf is the last "big" island with a fully realized arc in the series before Laugh Tale, so, having Smoker, the man Luffy fought before the Grand Line, helping Luffy reach the end of the Grand Line is also very poetic.
Even if Smoker does fight Luffy, we all know they'll be fighting as allies by the end of the arc.