First of all, the attacks that Jellal used against Jura like
Meteor and
Grand Chariot happened in the beginning of the fight. In a way, they were testing each other's power. And if he knew Jura was that strong, why would he use an attack that wouldn't be able to match Jura's defense? Seeing that even Jura was nervous and the confidence Jellal had, it's not that far-fetched to say that
Sema would have affected him. In fact, it was proven later that Laxus' attack had an effect on Jura and was able to injure him. So, logically, an attack like
Sema from Jellal would have caused some damage. Unless you want to tell me that Laxus > Jellal in GMG?
Not really. This comparison is very valid. I don't think you understand what I'm saying. Holding back has nothing to do with your best or worst spell. You can hold back on one of your strongest spells if you really want to. The only reason why Natsu wasn't fired up was because he was beating up fodders. Meanwhile, Jellal used one of his best spells because he was going up against all of Oración Seis (who are individually many times stronger than the fodders).
This is what I'm saying. Natsu destroyed them with an intent to win, not kill (giving them a chance). Jellal fought Oración Seis with an intent to beat them into submission (giving them a chance). In the end, both the fodders and Oración Seis survived only because they were both given chances to live.
Anyways, you know when someone is holding back. It wouldn't make sense for Jellal to tell Meredy he wanted to give them a chance, yet used
Sema with the intent to go all out and kill. I don't need to explain the obvious anymore than I have.
I honestly don't see why this has become a discussion either. I agreed with another user that Laxus has more plot armor than most characters because he is a mage of FT which is true. You cannot deny that because its a fact thatHiro Mashima cares more for his main characters than side characters. Both Gildarts and Laxus have their fair share of plot armor because they a part of Fairy Tail. But who is more important to the story? Definitely Laxus. So who has more plot armor? Laxus...
No. Gildarts wouldn't have
Red Empyrean or anything similar to that because Hiro Mashima only gives plot armor to characters that are relevant to the plot. We already saw Gildarts crippled by Acnologia. No plot armor there.
Yeah, Spriggans have more MP based on hype. I don't disagree with that. But that doesn't mean Laxus and Jellal lag far behind Spriggans MP. They might have
similar MP levels even though they
aren't exactly the same.
One's action can portray their intelligence. If you see a random guy running down the street with no clothes and yelling something, you probably wouldn't think his mind is working properly. Not saying that the guy is dumb but he probably isn't what you would consider smart. Besides, I think it was portrayed that Wahl is abnormal given Dimaria's words.
Yeah, but lightning is not that fast when we compare to Jellal's
Meteor. They are more or less comparable. The only speed feat that would beat them is like Mest's teleport.
Three Layered Magic Circle: Mirror Water may not help against a nuke but it would definitely block an
Lightning Dragon's Roar,
Halberd of the Raging Bolt, and physical attacks infused with magic. So I still think it would be relevant when considering Jellal's defense.
Actually, the attack does have feats of blocking and reflecting intangible attacks. Mystogan proves this.
I don't mind Laxus having
Thunder Palace but it is quite useless. Using your argument from earlier, since Pre-Timeskip Erza tanked it while getting hit by many of them at once, then it shouldn't be that strong now. The only difference here is that Laxus wasn't holding back here because the amount of damage caused by each lacrima is
fixed.