cantjr
To me AC should really not be counted as being sephiroth (bring on the flaming) since its more to being a reincarnation of him and not truly him, as I've read more and more of what has been said i must say that they have two different of styles to be compared fairly where as my second question of the better marksmen is is a bit more fair since they can be evenly compared. The true question is not really who is better but who has survived. The true result of it would have to be in a sword fight who would win. If you take out Advent Children for swordsmanship because of Sephiroth not being Sephiroth, then you have to take out FFVII as well because that isnt Sephiroth either, its Jenova shapeshifting into Sephiroth. So were looking primarily at their skills before the game then. In that case, Sephiroth would best Cloud due to his enhanced skills from birth. If you use the Cloud from later on though, Advent Children even perhaps, Cloud would best Sephiroth. He may not have superior agility, but he has more power with each swing and can take a lot of punishment on his body, as proven through several other bouts weve seen take place during his life.
The better marksman though, is Vincent. He relies more on his accuracy with one shot at a time rather than spraying an array of bullets at the target in hopes of taking it out.