Many fantasy shonen series have a well-defined battle system, which may use video game statistics, swords, magic or even spiritual powers. In the case of Fairy Tail, wizards like Natsu and Lucy use magic to fight the forces of evil on behalf of their guild. Magic has the potential to shape the entire world, and the strongest wizards are truly fearsome.
Being major protagonists, Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster each wield considerable magic power, and they are eternal rivals with the classic "fire and ice" duality between them. When dark guilds or demons of the Tartaros guild threaten the peace, it's up to these wizards and their fellows to save the day with every ounce of their strength. But when it comes down to it, who's the better fighter: Natsu or Gray?
10 Natsu: Eating Fire
Natsu takes "fire eater" to a whole new level. It's not just a magic trick; it's an actual part of Natsu's moveset. Nothing happens if he eats his own fire, but if any other fire is present, Natsu can gobble it right up, and in great quantities, too.
This can negate any opponent's fire attack and gives Natsu fuel for his own magic, which can turn the tides in a hurry against some opponents. Nothing like turning the enemy's blistering hot magic into a snack.
9 Gray: Creating Barriers
Gray can create ice, and many works of fiction show just how flexible and effective it can be as it's a solid element unlike air or fire. Toshiro Hitsugaya, Katara, Haku, Ghiaccio and many other anime characters can make ice, too, not to mention Bobby Drake of X-Men fame.
One advantage Gray has is his capacity to make barriers or walls that slow down an enemy's advance, or he can use those barriers to make an easy "divide and conquer" strategy for himself and his fellows. Splitting up the enemy like that can wreak havoc on them.
8 Natsu: Aerial Maneuvering
Not everyone in the Fairy Tail guild can fly, despite calling themselves fairies. Natsu is an exception, though, and he makes good use of this. While not truly capable of flight, he can propel himself high into the air with jets of flame.
Doing this allows him to catch up to enemies high in the air, or Natsu can fly up there, turn around, and rush back down to the ground to deliver a mighty blow with a lot of momentum behind it. Not even Gray can pull that off.
7 Gray: Cannons
Gray's ice is perfectly capable of forming cannons for performing ranged attacks. This isn't the strongest move in Gray's arsenal, but it's effective, and he can totally take enemies by surprise with it.
Sometimes Gray's allies will keep the enemies busy and lure them into position, so he can hit them with a terrific blast from his ice cannons. Gray himself might create walls or cages to further reduce the enemy's mobility.
6 Natsu: Reckless
If done correctly, making a reckless move can change the tide of battle. The best part about being reckless and not planning ahead is that you will take anyone by surprise (and off-guard) if they expect you to do things more cautiously.
An athlete or fighter doesn't need a stratospheric IQ to trick or confuse their enemy; they just have to act in an unpredictable way that foils the enemy's plans. More than once, Natsu's rash, aggressive ways have taken an enemy by surprise when they thought he was going to sit still.
5 Gray: Ice Devil Slayer Magic
For a time, it seemed as though Gray's powers had reached a plateau, but then he proved everyone wrong. He fought against his own father, Silver, during the Tartaros arc and gained his powers upon the latter's death.
It was Ice Devil Slayer Magic, and once Gray obtained it, his icy powers reached the next level. When he manifests this form, marks appear on his skin, and he is able to freeze large areas in a snap. He can even freeze the magic of Etherious-form Tartaros demons when using this incredible power.
4 Natsu: Demon Form
Gray may have his ace in the hole with his father's Ice Devil Slayer Magic, but Natsu's own ultimate form might be superior to even that. He is, in fact, an Etherious known as E.N.D., the most powerful of the Demon Books of Zeref.
He is Etherious Natsu Dragneel, and this demonic form can devastate just about any foe that gets in its way. When Natsu went on a rampage, Gray had to use the full extent of the power Silver had given him just to stay alive. It's a good thing Erza intervened when she did.
3 Gray: Trapping Opponents
This is related to Gray's ability to make barriers, but this time, he's actually making cages entirely out of ice. And they're not just blocks of ice with a space in the middle; these are ornate cages, like a giant birdcage, complete with decorations.
It must take some real skill to make these, and Gray calls them "Ice-Make: prison." It's a great way to capture an enemy or to separate two enemies so they can't assist each other. Natsu can't pull this off, but Gray can.
2 Natsu: Lightning Dragon
One of the perks of being a Dragon Slayer, as Gajeel and Laxus can attest, is the ability to eat elemental magic and borrow it. Primarily, Natsu eats fire, but he can also eat other forms of magic and temporarily wield them — if he can handle it.
He once ate lightning and combined it with his own fire to create Lightning Fire Dragon Mode. When using his and Laxus' powers together, Natsu can deliver some serious damage to any opponent, and for a time, it was his mainstay technique.
1 Gray: Lost Iced Shell
This is not a technique to be used lightly, since it will cost the caster his or her life to use. Ur used this Lost type of spell to contain the demon Deliora, and Gray has since learned to use it, too. He nearly trapped Zeref in ice this way.
If Gray is in a position where defeat means death, then he can give his life to achieve victory instead, and trap his enemy in near-indestructible ice. It's likely that even the almighty Zeref would have been trapped for quite some time in this spell, which would grant the world peace.