Nami vs Devon feels obligatory
Jinbei vs Burguess works since both are the helmsmen. But I think Burguess could also either be an opponent for Franky, since both are cyborgs now, but that's only if Burguess's enhancements go beyond his face. If not, then its all Jinbei
Robin vs Pizarro makes sense since both can grow multiple limbs, and now both have the means to manifest as bigger versions of themselves.
Sanji vs Lafitte could work, but I think only character-wise, since both like to work behind the scenes, at least initially, and Lafitte seems to hold a lot of influence, but not as much as Shiryu and Aokiji seem to hold. Plus, he has kind of an okama-vibe which could rile up Sanji. Otherwise, Lafitte looks like he's more of a Brook opponent.
For me it's:
Decided:
Luffy vs Blackbeard
Zoro vs Shiryu
Nami Zeus vs Devon
Usopp vs Van Auger
Chopper vs Doc Q
Robin vs Pizarro
Brook vs Lafitte
Jinbei vs Burguess
Undecided:
Sanji vs either Vasco Shot or Kuzan. Vasco Shot because Sanji deals with food while Vasco deals with liquor, both are the perverts of their crews, and both can use fire now. Kuzan because it's Fire and Ice, which is a good match-up, and Sanji hates Aokiji for what he did to Robin after the Davy Back Fight. I also think he could end up fighting Pizarro, since both are from North Blue and both are royalty from there, suggesting a link between the Avalos and the Vinsmokes.
Franky vs either San Juan Wolf or Buguess if the latter has more cybernetics.
Loki vs Sanjuan Wolf, Kuzan, or Burguess.
And finally, Vivi and Carrot vs Stronger and Caribou because
@CoC: Color of Clowns's theory drove me insane.
Blackbeard/Cross Guild will join forces. Teach is smart: he knows who his real enemies are right now.
Are the Straw Hats dangerous? Of course. Are they on the Blackbeard Pirates/Red Haired Pirates level? No, Luffy had to have a Marine Admiral save him from Saturn.
Teach is competing with Shanks right now, the dude who can one shot Luffy/Law/Kidd (Luffy is weak to slashing attacks and isn't near Shank's ridiculous fuck-you Haki. Luffy and Law both get what Kidd got if Shanks fights them at 100%). Teach knows he can't beat Shanks; that's why he ran at Marineford, and hasn't gone to Wano, yet.
Who is known as Shank's equal? Mihawk. What does Croc, Hawk's ally want? Pluton. What does Teach want? Laugh Tale.
This is important: Mihawk and Croc DO NOT want to become King of the Pirates, just BUGGY (there's a reason Buggy is the Yonkou, not these small-timers).
Through Caribou's info, Teach can offer Crocodile the Pluton he always wanted, and Mihawk an entire army of Samurai/a defensible military fortress in Wano. Wano is everything Cross Guild wants: Croc wants Pluton, Mihawk wants swordsmen to fight so he's not bored. Mihawk got so bored he started teaching random wild war monkeys he found of his island (Humandrills) swordplay. THAT IS HIGH LEVEL BOREDOM.
Cross Guild allying with Teach sets up Blackbeard vs Luffy better, because it gives us more to work with. Cross Guild allying with Teach slots Zoro into Mihawk for his Blackbeard fight, gives Shanks a reason to fight Mihawk again, gives us multiple enemies near Loki's level to justify Loki and Yamato joining, and puts Teach nears Rocks' level in terms of crew strength.
Pre-Fruit Burgess challenged Pre-Fruit Sabo in Dressrosa, and Shiryu is on Magellan's level. Ivankov, 2nd Rev Commander, lost to Magellan handily, and Crocodile/Jinbe, two Shichibukai working together, both wanted nothing to do with fighting Shiryu.
If Cross Guild joins Teach, the Black Cross Guild looks like this:
Black Cross Guild:
Admirals: Blackbeard/Buggy
20 Titanic Captains: 1. Mihawk, 2. Kuzan, 3. Shiryu, 4. Crocodile, 5. Burgess, 6. Van Augur, 7. Laffitte, 8. Doc Q, 9. Stronger, 10. Sanjuan Wolf, 11. Pizarro, 12. Vasco Shot, 13. Catarina Devon, 14. Apoo, 15. Caribou, 16. York, (everyone past here is not fighting a Straw Hat) 17. Galdino, 18. Alvida, 19. Cabaji, 20. Mohji (I think Apoo is a spy for Teach who will help sneak him into Wano via the secret Mogura Port with the Gondola Apoo used to bring the Numbers to the Golden Kagura for the Raid, and Caribou will get a spot over telling Teach about Pluton/Poseidon).
Who in the fuck is fucking with that crew? WHO?
So, here's where I'm at: I believe the Blackbeard fights will be very thematic, and they will happen on Laugh Tale. The Straw Hats will clash with the Blackbeard Pirates in Wano for Pluton, and lose to them. Then, they might fight here and there again, but, the final battle is on Laugh Tale.
Straw Hat Line-Up:
Admirals: Luffy and Loki. Luffy runs the Straw Hats, Loki runs the Grand Fleet (Hajrudin is gonna love this). This lets Loki join without really joining (Law 2.0), and gives us someone to run the Grand Fleet.
20 Straw Hat Officers: 1. Zoro, 2. Nami, 3. Usopp, 4. Sanji, 5. Chopper, 6. Vivi, 7. Karoo, 8. Robin, 9. Franky, 10. Brook, 11. Jinbe, 12. Tama, 13. Momo, 14. Yamato, 15. Bonney ,16. Lilith
Luffy vs Teach: Obvious.
Zoro vs Mihawk: Obvious. Zoro and Mihawk need to fight before Imu is taken care of, IMO. Laugh Tale is the best place for them to fight narratively, because the stakes are the highest, the One Piece. Imu's hax allows Mihawk to be the Strongest Swordsmen Zoro faces, since V. Nusjuro's devil hax from Imu will still make Gandhi a stronger fighter overall.
Loki vs Kuzan: Man trapped in ice vs man who traps in ice. Loki is Violent Giant who seeks to destroy the World/World Government (Loki wants what Rocks wanted, to erase the WG and replace them with another rule). Kuzan was friends with a friendly Giant (Saul) who he trapped in ice, in order to stop the Final War/Ragnarok, which Loki desires, by keeping the Ancient History/One Piece hidden. Kuzan almost beat Akainu (I actually think Kuzan won, BTW), he needs a serious threat to defeat him.
Yamato vs Shiryu: Bloodthirsty, disloyal jailer swordsman who fled Wano, vs kind, loyal Samurai who was jailed in Wano (Shiryu is from Wano, IMO; I think a lot of people were like Oden and wanted to leave/left, but Oden SUUUUCKED at sailing)
Sanji vs Crocodile: Mr. Prince vs King of the Crocs. Lot of bad blood been brewing here for a while. Sanji is royalty; Crocodile hates royalty. Sanji feeds people/Croc starves them. Sanji is the reason Croc didn't kill the Straw Hats in Rain Base. Croc abused Vivi/Robin. Sanji comes from a military state that worships military power; Croc wants to make one, Utopia.
Franky vs Burgess: Burgess is a wrestling themed fighter, and Franky is also along those lines. Franky's the only person with the durability to take Burgess's hits at this point who's not Sanji. I do think we'll see Vasco and Franky clash, though, because Drunk Franky would be really, really funny. Both Burgess and Franky are very loud/brash, but are actually calculating under their exterior. Furthermore, out of any Blackbeard Pirate, Burgess's design language is similar to Franky's: they both have the small legs, medium waist, large abs, and then FUCKING GIGANTIC SHOULDERS archetype.
Usopp vs Van Augur: Somehow more obvious than Luffy vs Teach, it's THAT OBVIOUS.
Robin vs Laffitte: Robin is the Straw Hat most associated with criminality. She's been wanted worldwide since she was 8, and her major arc was about the government arresting her and trying to transfer her to Impel Down. All of Robin's suffering comes from abuse of authority; Laffitte was fired for using his position as sheriff to abuse prisoners. Laffitte is known as the Demon Sherriff, Robin the Devil Child.
Chopper and Tama and Gifters vs Doc Q and Stronger: Animal Tamer + Emergency Food Supply vs Evil Doctor and Flying Horse (Chopper is based off the flying reindeer Rudolph). Chopper needs to fight Doc Q, and Tama is most viable against an animal combatant: however, Stronger can fly, making it hard for her to turn him. Likewise, Tama's animals will have a hard time with a flying horse dropping plagues, and Chopper will have to heal Tama's Animal Companions during the fight. If anyone ever wanted to see Genderbent Gifters, god bless, this is your fight. Finally, Tama is the perfect size to ride on Chopper in many of his forms.
Jinbe vs Sanjuan Wolf: The Helmsman vs the Battleship. Sanjuan Wolf fights in water, despite his Fruit, and Jinbe excels in water. Jinbe shines against large fighters like Linlin, and suffers against speed (Gunko). Interesting match up.
Vivi and Karoo vs Pizzaro and Caribou: Going a bit out of order, we have a Pure-hearted Princess vs the Corrupt King. Caribou is a natural counter to Karoo on some levels, but, Karoo can run on water; can he run on Swamp? Caribou also likes kidnapping princesses, whereas Vivi and Shirahoshi are close friends, now, with Shirahoshi being the Princess Caribou targeted. Finally, Koby, who met Vivi on the way to the Reverie, fought Pizarro, and is honest to a fault like Vivi. Also, the name is right there: Karoo. Car
ibou.
Jewelry Bonney vs Vasco Shot: Women abuser vs child who family was destroyed by abuse against women. Bonney got "scales" from the Celestial Dragons, Vasco breathes fire like one. Heavy Eater vs Heavy Drinker.
Brook vs Apoo: The Battle of the Bands and Bones we were denied in Wano Act 3, Oda is saving Brook vs Apoo for when Apoo betrays Wano and helps Teach enter the country. This fight NEEDS to happen. Can Apoo's sound attacks works on a skeleton-man with no eardrums? WE'LL FIND OUT
Momonosuke vs Catarina Oden Devon: You thought one Oden clone was enough? Kanju-Ruh Roh, Raggy. Momo's desire is to surpass his father. IMO, Catarina's Awakening will let her turn into anyone she touches or looks at: allowing her to become Oden, and allowing Momo to surpass his father's legacy in direct combat.
Lilith vs York: Honestly the fight that interests me the most. York and Lilith HATE EACH OTHER now, and I'm kinda guessing, based on their personalities, there was always some bad blood there. York broke the Twice Rule, never kill your clones. This would be more brain than brawn, and possibly involve Seraphim usage, which would be interesting.
...
Well, that was larger than I expected it to be (wish women would tell me that).
Probably the last Blackbeard vs Straw Hats post I make before Pluton is dealt with.
God I can't wait to see Sengoku's dumb face when he finds out Buggy and Teach, the Sons of Rocks, teamed up. I got beef with everyone involved in Ace's execution, still, I need the Buddha to get slapped. Black Cross Guild is gonna go so hard.
Buggy and Teach, nature's best frens