I liked Crocodile as well, but he had to struggle with all the various tools he had, and never accomplished his plan.
Doflamingo had nothing, but slowly built up a crew. At some point he learned of the treasure, and so constantly his life was indanger. With his strength and the help of his crew, he built up his power. He then was able to get in a position of not being sought after by the WG. With that he was able to spread his influence. Even with some protection, I doubt it was a cakewalk to do all that stuff. A lot of it may have happened while he was on the run, to gain at least some influence.
Whether you like Crocodile more than Doflamingo is up to you, but it's clear who is more successful. The difference, which is the key here, is we saw Crocodile unfolding his plans during the arc. In this arc, Doflamingo has already succeeded, so there isn't anything to see when it comes to actively planning to take over stuff. Crocodile was on the offence, Doflamingo is on Defence.
Also, Crocodile had a really hax fruit as well. He could create sandstorms at will on the desert island. While Doflamingo can control people, it will only get him so far, as he can only control up to certain people in strength, and he probably has to be close to control them at will, as we see anytime he actively controls someone himself.
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
I liked Crocodile as well, but he had to struggle with all the various tools he had, and never accomplished his plan.
Doflamingo had nothing, but slowly built up a crew. At some point he learned of the treasure, and so constantly his life was indanger. With his strength and the help of his crew, he built up his power. He then was able to get in a position of not being sought after by the WG. With that he was able to spread his influence. Even with some protection, I doubt it was a cakewalk to do all that stuff. A lot of it may have happened while he was on the run, to gain at least some influence.
Whether you like Crocodile more than Doflamingo is up to you, but it's clear who is more successful. The difference, which is the key here, is we saw Crocodile unfolding his plans during the arc. In this arc, Doflamingo has already succeeded, so there isn't anything to see when it comes to actively planning to take over stuff. Crocodile was on the offence, Doflamingo is on Defence.
Also, Crocodile had a really hax fruit as well. He could create sandstorms at will on the desert island. While Doflamingo can control people, it will only get him so far, as he can only control up to certain people in strength, and he probably has to be close to control them at will, as we see anytime he actively controls someone himself.