@onemoment:
At this point I'm more interested in comparing Croc with the shichibukai at this point, I left out a lot of my feelings about Croc vs. Luffy. But I'll add a few more things. However, what makes you think Croc wasn't using his sand powers effectively? Also, why suggest that Croc lost his head during the battle? You're suggesting his will is that weak? That's kind of lame.
He used them effectively twice, and inhuman luck allowed Luffy to come back from certain death each time. In round 1, Crocodile annihilated him without effort. In round 2, he combated his weakness and still swiftly defeated Luffy. If you recall, much of Crocodile's mantra was that people should learn their place, and the fact that Luffy continued to challenge him, who was a Shichibukai who far outclassed him, annoyed him to no end. He challenged Luffy to a fight "as a pirate," opting to fight him hand-to-hand with his weapon rather than using his sand powers, which could've easily allowed him to repeat the results of round 2. Croc didn't just want to kill Luffy, he wanted to prove a point. Adding to that, he wanted to make sure Luffy wouldn't survive from some twist of fate (which, ironically, he did again), so he used the poison.
For most of the fight, Croc had him. The poison was in Luffy's body, and thus he was going to die. The fact that Luffy DIDN'T, and continued fighting was driving Croc nuts. Shit was building up that was pissing him off. Croc began losing his composure, and threw out the Sables Pesado out of a pissed-off impulse. When Luffy STILL kept coming, he fired off a Desert la Spada without thinking, just desperate to hold him back. To Crocodile, what Luffy was doing defied all logic in several senses, and eventually it got to him.
He's not an idiot, he knows how to you his moves. We all saw how Luffy countered his moves until that point.
He didn't USE his moves in that fight. Not until the end.
Spada was always barely dodged. There was no reason to think it wouldn work again. Plus, DS's suggestion of using a spada as a distraction is overpowered and unrealistic. Croc would need to run the distance of a Spada and get to Luffy in one second, the time of the attack.
First of all, we saw that Croc can teleport. The guy's powers were massively broken. Second of all, Crocodile had a continuing habit of severely holding back, which doomed him. We saw that in rounds 1 and 2. He doesn't like to try. When Luffy made him use the Ground Death, he was pissed. Not because Luffy struck him, or blasted him into a stone structure, but because Luffy made him put effort into something. Crocodile's biggest weakness (and a necissary one to make him beatable) was his complete contentment with his overwhelming power, and the fact that he was fine with flicking out death and destruction without effort. The fact that Luffy was a total rookie cemented this habit; had Luffy been a more renowned pirate, it's likely Crocodile would've given more of a damn, and not let his cockiness get himself beaten.
Ground Death is overrated. Though it can dry anyone on the ground, notice that in the end all it did was get Luffy's sandals. All Luffy needs to do is get out of range or punch Croc's attack, or perhaps punch he while he's using it. Since Croc needs he hand on the ground, its not like he could move.
…Punch the attack?! Everything on the ground turned to sand until Crocodile decided to stop. Luffy had to head to higher ground. Also, Ground Death worked very quickly; Ground Seco was the slow attack. Ground Death was the "okay, fuck this, just die now" variation. Notice when he switched to this attack, the ground below rapidly dried up.
Also, Ground Seco alone is basically an earthquake maker. You're not going to be able to keep your footing unless you can fly/hover/whatever.
Sables I forgot about at first, but I don't remember it actually doing damage to Luffy. Now Ground Secco, that's the sand pit right? I wonder why he never used that again, maybe it require a floor made of sand?
You're thinking of Desert Girasole, which is situational. It has to be done in the desert. Sables didn't hurt Luffy because he couldn't get near it; it was a city-destroying sand tornado. The wind tossed Luffy away. If you want to see the kind of power it has, look at Yuba. And that's just something Croc does for fun.
And that just leaves Pesado, which as we saw Luffy broke through. If you're thinking "use it at close range," then why couldn't Luffy just dodge it? It's a huge attack. That just leaves the touch of death, and for some reason Croc's too slow to use it on enemies faster then Luffy.
Croc's not slow at all. Hell, the guy can teleport, fly, and presumably become a sandstorm himself. It all goes back to that cocky attitude; he didn't even use it on Luffy until he was tired of his bullshit. He wanted to put Luffy in his place, so he showed off what real Devil Fruit power looks like (round one), gave a big "fuck you" to Luffy's water tactic (round two), and after Luffy pushed him too far, he got the touch.
I don't want to hear "Croc wasn't fighting at his best." In any other fight, that just amounts to an excuse. There's no reason to assume Croc gave it his all, he was fighting for his goal after all! What more of a reason does that guy have to fight? If anything, I'd expect worse out of him in a rematch with Luffy. Yes, most of Croc's attack are one-hit kills, but the problem is none of them ever hit!
Call it an excuse all you want, that's the case. Luffy was a stupid rookie, to him. Who the hell was he to warrant any kind of effort in regards to his powers? Even in round three, Croc continued trying to prove his point. He wasn't fighting for his goal; as far as he was concerned, his plan was in no real danger. He had the king, he just about had the country, he didn't need to worry about the tomb collapsing, all he had to do was shut up the uppity rookie in front of him.
As for none of them hitting; rounds one and two. Girasole buried Luffy, and Luffy got the hand of doom after barely escaping the Ground Death, which could've been continued until the structure Luffy climbed on collapsed, as well. Spada, as you said, was barely dodged, and was done the first time to show off his power to Luffy, to make his point.
Now, back to the real topic, I only see these attack doing worse again other shichibukai, save for the unknown ones. It's not that "Croc defeated first so he looks weak," but moreso that the other shichibukai have shown more impressive abilities. For one thing, barring the logia defense, they're all faster and stronger then Crocodile. While they don't have one hit killers, their attack are still incredibly strong. True, Gomu gomu no storm is impressive, but couldn't it by matched by a few dozen paw cannons, or a shadow boosted assault, or one swing of Mihawk's sword?
Again, for the umpteenth time; it wasn't just to Storm that knocked Crocodile out, it was the bedrock as well.
As for the other Shichibukai, if you wanna make this a vs. kinda thing, you'd have to take into account that Crocodile would be much more wary of skilled veterans like them. Crocodile treated Luffy like a stupid newbie, and got beaten for it. It's incredibly doubtful, however, that he'd do the same with the other Shichibukai. Were he to face someone like Kuma or Mihawk, I doubt he'd fire his Spadas with such little care.
We're talking about someone with the power to kill groups of people all at once in a matter of seconds because he wants them to go away. If you are solid, and/or a living creature, Crocodile can kill you. All of the stuff he threw at Luffy aside, I need only point out the Nameless Sandstorm of Doom he used on the pig pirates. Again, something he did without trying.
Also keep in mind that, NSoD aside, the strongest attack we saw him do (Ground Death) wasn't even revealed to be his strongest possible attack; just something he felt would deal with Luffy.
Luffy vs. Croc is full of controversy, but amongst the shichibukai Croc seems like the clear weakest, perhaps only standing a chance against Moria. Not to say Croc is "weak," but he is weak compared to these world level enemies. I always thought that was essential to his character. He's just below the level of world class fighter's like Kizauru or the yonkou. He's a man who never had faith in himself or anyone else, as suggested by his lines, his constant back-up plans, and his search of pluton. Without that Ao Kiji would have stopped him later.
Aokiji-whou-what?! We know nothing of Croc before he became a Shichibukai, other than his bounty was lower than it should've been. As for not having faith in himself, I have no idea where you got that. He was cocky, he looked down on everyone else, and he was confident that his plans would work out, because they were meticulously planned. That's why he had all those backup plans; he's thurough. It was his lack of faith in others that made him such a dangerous planner (and a great villain for a series like One Piece); he figured people might fail, so he planned for it. Thus, stopping his minions didn't stop his plans.
He wanted Pluton to start an empire. How does that show a lack of faith in himself?!