@Blissed:
Again, I don't know how anyone can say Doflamingo doesn't count. Of course it'd make sense that Kaido would trivialize the feat, he's a Yonko after all. But that doesn't change the fact that it was still an important victory for Luffy and co. It wasn't just another defeated Warlord. As Doflamingo himself said, he was one holding the reins, the most influential Underworld broker, who had Caesar, another arc villain working under him, and so on. Taking him down was effectively an act of war against Kaido due to halting the SMILE production, so again, saying it doesn't count, that beating Kaido would be the first prominent thing they have done since the timeskip, is quite baffling to me, but whatever.
But we were talking about "big pirate games", that's why he doesn't count. In a vacuum and itself, defeating Mango was good and all. By no means am I saying they did not accomplish anything. However, we were talking about when do the big vs little pirate games start. From the moment they set out from Fishman Island, the targets have been the emperors. Luffy declared war on Big Mom before getting to Punk Hazard. In Punk Hazard, Law proposed Kaido to be the target. What I am getting at is that Doffy was just a side mission. In fact it was only until Law got captured and Franky made his plea that they decided to take him down instead of letting Kaido do the work.
This is further emphasized by how only half the crew stayed behind to take him down. Contrast that to pre time skip where the entire crew was there for Crocodile and Moria. The New World changed the perspective of the warlords as big threats by having the crew separated. Not to mention the state Mango's crew was in, which were but a shadow of their former selves. Add on to that most of the Straw Hats did not even have a fight to their limits, we can see that even though they achieved quite a bit by defeating Mango, he was not the first real threat of the New World. Having Kaido trivialize the victory at this stage of the story only hits home that only after one of the emperors gets taken down will the "big pirate games" will begin for the crew.
Having the crew aiming for his head doesn't count neither, because there have been many before them that tried. That's why Kaido told Kidd to tell them to just stop. For the crew to be recognized as one of the big players to the world it is a victory they need.
What reasons are those? Are you thinking a giant is going to join?
Well, as I have been saying the past few pages. I think that Wano should be at best the alliances that have already been established, plus the full crew with the addition of Jimbe. No grand fleet, or nada. Introducing a potential new crewmate would be awesome, however as we have seen with every new crew member, they would inevitably take a chunk of panel time to get elaborated on and make them stand out, when I think that the Straw Hats should have all the focus and the splashes to be used on the Minks, samurai and WB pirates. I think that Kaido is their first big conquest in the New World and once the crew has overcome, then a new character can be introduced to reinvigorate the crew's dynamics.
Not in the typical sense. I imagine a (of course) female giant that has a disease that makes her really small. Not a devil fruit power, but a disease. She would be around Chopper's Kung Fu point size-wise, she is clumsy, and her disease has made her bone density so high she is a walking bulldozer. Whenever she blushes she runs through walls. And with recent chapters, the people of Elbaf hate her because they are reminded of young Lin Lin and her monstrous strength.
I mean scout, lookout, something else entirely, I don't really care. As I've already said, it's a often referenced position alongside the helmsman position, so it has always been in my mind when considering candidates. If something else becomes obvious, or if people provide alternative positions, I'll factor that as well when meeting new characters. As others have said, it may very well be a position that just suddenly reveals itself to us later on for whoever ends up joining.
The new crew mate could be a fighter/brawler. They could have an advisor, quartermaster, cabin boy etc. I think Carrot fits better as a fighter position than lookout.