User blog comment:The ASL Pirates/4th Gear & Marine Ranks/@comment-24850639-20150318165513

I don't really care much for Gear 4th either, but I have to say I think the whole "gear" concept makes sense. We've got some pretty clear-cut proof that you don't need a Devil Fruit to kick major ass in the One Piece world (Roger, Rayleigh, Shanks, Mihawk, etc.) However for those that do have one, mastery of your DF is EVERYTHING. We've seen people develop new innovative ways to use their fruit time and time again, with Luffy being our best example. We've seen just how much of a genius he is when it comes to fighting, and each gear is a representation of a new array of abilities. I'm personally dumbfounded that people think it's "too early" for Luffy to reveal a new "gear" or technique type. Have you not all seen how powerful Doffy is? How effortlessly he's beaten people like Law, and anyone else who challenged him? How easily he anticipated and blocked Luffy's gear 2nd? Overcome his haki (as a clone)? Outside of Kuzan he's easily the most powerful opponent Luffy's fought so far, and he's gonna have to go all out if he hopes to win. Doflamingo would wipe the floor with everyone Luffy's beat so far, Rob Lucci included. Yeah I said it. Sure its great that Luffy was able to somehow break free of Doffy's strings and defeat his clone, but have we really seen Doffy get serious yet? I think not. Yes, Luffy will eventually defeat a Yonko/Admiral, but does that mean he should ready to do that now? Absolutely not. Was Luffy ready to beat Rob Lucci during the Arlong Park arc? Was he ready to beat Moriah during the Jaya arc? Luffy's gotten stronger after and even during every fight because he's been pushed to new heights, so it makes no sense to me that people don't see Doffy as being such an opponent. Especially based on what we've seen of their skirmishes so far.

As far as the ranking system goes, remember that that "scuffle" with Luffy and Fujitora wasn't canon, so we can't base anything off of that. From what we saw in the manga, it was only Zoro seen clashing with him, and they more than likely added that scene to emphasize Luffy's determination to get to Mingo, as he won't hesitate to take down someone he considers a friend/acquaintance to do so. If they did actually clash in the manga, it definitely wasn't shown. But either way like I said before, I don't think it makes sense for Luffy to be ready to take down an Admiral as he is now. He's gotta work his way up to that level, and I think Doffy is a good first stepping stone. With that said, I agree with your rankings for the most part, aside from Brook and Franky. I think they could take on Vice Admirals too. As we've seen, there's quite a bit of variance in strength of Vice Admirals, and Vergo vs. Smoker was the perfect example of that. We have Garp who went toe to toe with legends like Chinjao, Roger, & Shiki, and then we have Maynard, who got owned by a side character. I feel confident Franky could have taken on Bastille even.