I was going to stay impartial because i am the op but this is kinda whack.
Everyone is agreed that is skill what determinates this outcome. However, after looking at waves that are in nature, natural talents, Pray Style isn't really something Byleth should be to worried on the long run due the fact outside Reason magic, none of the other Byleth techniques and abilites are really hindered by. This is also considering that the wave technique, Pray Style, will harm the user after the activation. And the condition of achieve total superiority, should be compared to how the other franchises scaled skill wise.
Waves will seal up all forms of magic though, its a continous power null. I dont quiet get why Reason magic should be fair game? Wave nulls things far more complicated than just basic healing. The Drawback only applies to weak humans, like Anne. Dry dosnt suffer from them
You are really underselling what it means to be a Pray Style user. The Pray Style is the far superior and revamped Mayer Style, which is a amalgation of all martial arts native to earth and beyond. Literally the best of all Martial arts is unified in the Mayer Style and the Pray Style further pushes it to perfection.
The only reason I am fine with divine pulse is the way it works I presume means that wave techniques wont really matter.
Correction: The only reason Divine Pulse is fair game is because its source is from a low 2-C goddess and that is without a doubt above the paygrade of Waves.
While Knight Run skill wise could be a really skilled verse, I wouldn't call the Fire Emblem verse "unskilled by comparasion". Again, their reputation is similar to the reputation Byleth and many of his students got, and the many of the ranks that they receive after selection of candidates, survival of events, graduation and living legends know as Cold Heroes can be compared with many of Fire Emblem Three Houses events with the exception of how candidates are chosen to be part from Garreg Mach Monastery, with civilizations from ages around the world, many different ranks from the Knights of Serios including knights that are in direct service like Catherine that could even whipe out armies of knights, on a similar possition to the rank of Type Zero, and civilizations that are revengeful after a massive lost almost 1000 years ago with even higher technology that are way advanced compared to the technology avaliable in the Crurch of Serios, and tactical wise the verse is also really high in terms to strategy.
Alright look. You are comparing a medieval world, a signle i might add, to a universal civilization. Knight Run knights are literally the greatest warrios across the entire universe, humans who have to fight planetary wars with nothing more than a sword and the occasional paranormal power at their disposal.
I can garantee you, a nameless mook knight would outskill 80% of the Three House cast alone. Do you know what Knight Trainees, something even below a squire, are made of? The greatest prodigees of their homeplanet across the universe, a single Knight can wage wars against entire armies. Dry scales so massivly above that it isnt even funny.
Dry is so skilled he can perfectly parry attacks from Fear, who is too fast for him to even react too with nothing but skill, someone who learned under Pray, the most skilled Knight in the entire series, so until i get actual skill feats then i dont buy into Byleth being anywhere near that. Knight Run is basically in the top 10 of the most skilled series on this wiki.
Dry engaged Fear using mandala, but it was stopped via Balisarda, one of the Phenomena Weapon. This is one example of one of Mandala weakness, it works via observing probability, meaning that while is a really strong tool at his disposal, is not flawless and considering that the gaps aren't really far enough. This makes Divine Pulse the more reliable tool overall with the knowledge gain in the battlefield and enough time to work for a strategy with the time stoped, this doesn't use one of Divine Pulse limited uses.
Balisarda sealed the ability, it was not a flaw of the technique. I dont even understand what flaws you are talking about, Mandala worked perfectly until Balisarda sealed it up (important to add that both abilities sealed each other up), which is simply a clash of the physics breaking nature of Phenomenon weapons (Balisarda) and Mandala. I dont really follow the reasoning of why Divine Pulse is more reliable either. You do realise that whatever progress Byleth made Dry will see thanks to Mandala right? And heck, even without Mandala, Dry's analytical prediction, as i outline in the feat with Fear above, should fully suffice to dominate Byleth in a sword fight.
Skill aside, worst case scenario Dry could just nuke the entire battlefield and sufficate Byleth by burning an area the size of europe down.
