Monarch Laciel said:
Also, as I brought up Caster was fighting against someone of equal speed to Cu/Lancer (Medasa Lancer)
I'll admit your first point, in that Gae Bolg isn't necessarily instant.
On the other hand, I just realized something. Why are we assuming that Medusa Lancer is of equal speed to Medusa Rider? We have no actual feats for Medusa Lancer besides keeping up with Caster Cu and possibly outpacing Shielder; and being anime-original, she doesn't have an official parameter sheet to compare her with other Servants. The most we have to go by is Lancer Medusa Lily, who has A rank Agility, but there's no statement yet as to whether the two are inherently related or are from different parallel worlds.
I also question the canonicity of First Order, seeing as Medusa wasn't a Lancer in the Fuyuki Singularity, and Hassan and Benkei were missing entirely. Also, Caster has C rank Agility. He should NOT have been capable of keeping up with someone with A rank Agility, who should be nearly twice as fast.
In addition, how fast are Caster's fireballs compared to Lancer's melee attacks? A reminder that Archer EMIYA easily kept up with Caster's attacks in First Order, despite having incredible trouble against Lancer's attacks in Unlimited Blade Works once Lancer was allowed to go all-out. It's not concrete evidence, but it does imply that Caster's ranged attacks are considerably slower than Lancer's melee.
Also, I just re-watched the scene where Caster one-shot Medusa Lancer, and the rune was below her. Runes have to be drawn/carved by hand or through some physical medium, that's just how they work. So that confirms that it was a trap.
Then there's Lancer's Protection From Arrows. It's description states that it allows him to perceive and evade any kind of ranged attack with considerable ease; which allowed him to hold his ground against Gilgamesh for half a day. Caster's runes also count as ranged attacks, so that puts Caster at an even greater disadvantage. Remember that Lancer knows that Caster's fireballs explode. He'd dodge them instead of parrying/blocking, which PFA still assists him with.
So when it all comes down to it, Caster can't dodge Gae Bolg, while Lancer can dodge most of anything Caster can throw at him. Caster has some serious firepower, but Wickerman is way too slow and Lancer has a skill that allows him to evade the rest of his general attacks. Lancer is faster, stronger, and has more hax.
Even putting aside the WoG stating that Cu Chulainn is strongest in the Lancer class (Cu Alter doesn't count, since he isn't actually Cu), I really don't see Caster pulling a victory here.
