Saturday, October 18, 2014

Saesee Tiin VS Shaak Ti

 
MARTIAL ARTS
Shaak Ti was a master of form two Makeshie and form four Ataru, creating a high paced and acrobatic form that was still very precise and accurate. Although she certainly hasn't had the most experience in such arenas, master Ti has still been involved in her own fare share of duels. She battled and defeated one of Dooku's dark acolytes Artel Darc and held her own against a small army of magnaguards during the battle of Coruscant. Although Grievous defeated her on Hypori, this was the first time any Jedi has faced the killer and lived to tell about it, not to mention the fact that all the Jedi involved in the fight were on there last bit of energy. Noticeably, master Ti also managed to stalemate Anakin Skywalker in a duel, and considering that Count Dooku, Cin Dralig and many others are among Anakins kills, that is no mean feat. Shaak Tis final battle was against Vaders secret apprentice Starkiller on the planet Felucia. Although she was an excellent duelist and presented a major challenge, Starkiller eventually overpowered and defeated her.

A member of Mace Windus personal team of Jedi, as well as something as a personal rival of Windu himself, Tiin was considered one of the best swordsmen of the time. Tiin was a master of both form five variants, Shien and Dejem So, and it has been theorized that he had some practical knowledge of form four, Ataru. Tiin was somewhat overconfident, his fighting style basically consisting of charging into battle and driving forwards with a strong offensive style. A veteran of  the Clone Wars and the Yinchorri Crisis, Tiin was undoubtedly a powerful warrior and he constantly sparred with fellow Jedi master Mace Windu. All that being said, his skills with the blade DID take a back seat to his telepathic and piloting skills, with Tiin being the second Jedi to perish against Dark lord of the Sith Darth Sidious and actually losing a sparring match to the young Padawan Obi-wan Kenobi. Although he was considerably skilled in battlefield situations, Tiin at the very least doesnt live up to his reputation in a serious lightsaber duel.

Seasee Tiin is by no means a pushover and could probably hold his own in a good majority of situations. However, Shaak Ti is on an entirely different level when it comes to martial skill: She has consistently shown a greater understanding and, more importantly, a greater skill with the Lightsaber. I give Shaak Ti the edge in martial arts.

FORCE POWERS
As A Togruta, master Ti had a deep connection with the living force and nature. She was easily at her most powerful on jungle planets such as Felucia, where she could use her powers to control wildlife, massive creatures and even affect things on a planetary scale if she stayed there long enough. This was not to say she was useless in a more common setting, far from it. She was still capable of self augmentation, tuteminues and crater creating force pushes.

As previously mentioned, Master Tiin dedicated a lot of his time and skill towards telepathic abilities, this being the reason I personally believe he was one of the Jedi masters taken with Windu to confront Sidious. However, these powers were not practical in a one on one sense, forcing him to lower his guard if he wished to use them. His telekinesis was notably powerful and accurate, although his other powers remained at the level of a standard Jedi master.

Seasee Tiin is a master of telepathy but the one time he tried to use this ability in one on one combat was the ROTS novel, where it is directly responsible for his death. This leaves much more mundane powers as the decisive factor here and, although Tiin is a powerful force wielder, especially with telekinesis, Master Ti, again, has demonstrated not only more raw power but also more skill and refinement with her powers. I give Shaak Ti the edge in force powers.

PHYSICAL SKILLS
A Togruta female roughly in her sixties, Shaak Ti still remained in excellent condition. Unlike average beings, light side users can remain in there physical prime well into what others would consider "old age", with Qui-gon Jinn being able to keep pace with Darth Maul being a good example. In addition to this, master Ti's montrolls provide her with echolocation, giving her an edge in personal combat.

As a Ikthochi, master Tiin was extremely hard headed and tough, due to his natural physique. The Ikthochi were also noted for there tough hide and natural telepathic powers, although I already addressed those. Tiin was a noted practitioner of unarmed combat, employing them freely against thugs and droids alike.

Both Shaak Ti and Saesee Tiin have demonstrated a high level of endurance and tolerance for pain, although Shaak Ti slightly more so and although Ti's echolocation can be matched by a standard Jedi senses,  it would give her a slightly greater skill in this area. For multiple reasons, Shaak Ti gets the physical edge.

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT
Master Shaak Ti was equipped with a standard blue bladed Jedi lightsaber. During the battles of Coruscant and Hypori Master Ti demonstrated at least a basic understanding of staffs and dual wielders.

Tiin wielded a standard Jedi lightsaber with no real differences from the standard weapon. Although it previously was powered by purple and blue blades, by the time of ROTS the blade was powered by an emerald crystal.

Unsurprisingly, these two standard Clone Wars era Jedi are equipped with standard Jedi equipment and although Ti has knowledge of a wider variety of weapons, she doesn't actually carry any. Shaak Ti and Seasee Tiin are equals in terms of weapons and armament.

THE VERDICT
As stated by many other versus series creators, a majority of edges does not necessarily mean they automatically win. This is not one of those cases. I mention this every time I use Tiin (and Kit Fisto for that matter) but it bares repeating: It's not that he isn't powerful and skilled, it's just that he isn't geared towards one on one combat. However, this goes even further for Tiin then it does Fisto: whereas Fisto is at least skilled towards ground combat, Tiin was almost completely dedicated to starfighter piloting and telepathy, due to his great enjoyment of the former and near obsession with the later. This is not to say Tiin is useless in a combat situation, but out of Windus strike team, I would peg him as the least skilled in standard combat. This is not to say this is an easy victory for master Ti: she may be (in my opinion) the fifth most powerful Jedi of her age, but she still isn't perfect and despite his limitations in such situations, Tiin can still bring a good degree of skill to bare. That being said however, Ti is much more varied and practical in terms of the Force and the superior duelist by a rather large margin. I declare Jedi master Shaak Ti the winner.

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