@Razh:
First he relied on Vergo and the others to wrap it all up. Then he realized he made a mistake and sent Buffalo and B5 to pick up Caesar. Realizing he fucked it up yet again, he flies there by himself. But of course, it's too late by then.
Then he pulls out an awesome move with fake news, catching SH in a trap. It was just too bad that a good part of the plan relied on the daughter of the former king, the one Dofla violently replaced. Who could have known she would betray him, amirite.
He also sent a task force comprised of Jora and henchmen to capture Sunny. We all know how that went. What, other Dofla pirates were too busy with.. sitting in the palace and derping around? Gladius, B5, Buffalo, Pica? (The ones that weren't part of Colliseum operation.)
Ok, he couldn't have known Revolutionaries would get involved. Still, there was no legitimate reason to put the real mera mera into the ring. Diamante could have just held it in a safe or something, and "give it to the winner". Even if the fruit thing wasn't Dofla's idea, he's the one that relied on Diamante, since he's such a fucking genius.
Trebol and Sugar are in the league of their own when it comes to being dumb and careless. I guess that's one situation where Dofla really couldn't have done anything.
You know, there was a little more suspense while marines were still in play. But they've been cockblocked by Sabo pretty much. Probably won't do much helping for Dofla side.
Still hoping Dofla has another ace up his sleeve. Something from CP-0, or maybe a couple of new Pacifista models. Maybe some allied pirate crew, even though we already have way too many characters.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Doflamingo stated he wouldn't underestimate them after Punk Hazard. Even so, If Doflamingo went there himself, we would question why he didn't trust his subordinates. He was limited to who he could send because Buffalo could only hold so much weight and get there at a good time. Overall I would say there was a lot going on that it's hard to say if that was overall stupid. Also Doflamingo only left after Law taunted him.
I can agree with using Violet, though to a certain degree he may not have been planned for her to switch sides since he was holding both the king and her niece hostage. While stupid overall, I don't mind completely. As far a Joa, would've been better to send some extra help, but as shown, it was Brook being cunning that got them out of that situation (I know she wasn't smart about it, but I like how it went down). As for some of the others not going, I guess It was a question of if they were needed. The situation, to Doflamingo to what he knew, was good. He had people set up where they needed to be, and they would be able to take care of the situation (With four of the crew gone his odds were much better). Yes he could've had them elsewhere, but then things would have to have been written much differently for everything to work.
Agree with the Mera fruit. While getting a cool scene with Sabo it was stupid to put it in the ring, but like you said no Doflamingo's fault. Despite being silly, I liked how Sugar was taken down. Yes the scene could've been done a lot better, but overall I liked it. I don't exactly see how they were being stupid (from the perspective of getting rid of everyone, not their personality). Sugar put the spice bomb in Ussops mouth, he made crazy face, she faints. I will agree that Sabo stopping all the Marines is silly. He's been hyped up just taking on an Admiral, so they don't need to keep doing it. Overall though while not as tense as some arcs, there's enough for me to enjoy. Numbers never have seemed to matter, so one can't really say how bad things are for either side.
By the end of this arc is when final opinions will cement. I like this arc quite a bit, but after a certain point I can say It won't hit the top three best arcs. It will be interesting to see opinions once this arc ends.
