In comparison to Captain Kirk, Captain Picard is a superior captain and leader.

Thanks to Pro for his excellent response. Pro promises to address the displays of tactical ability I presented next round, which I am happy to allow. However, I do really hope he does, because while my opponent has spent a great deal of time refuting the Khan battle; that was really only a small part of my round, and really only meant to demonstrate that Kirk is an experienced tactician. --> Khan <-- I'll freely confess that it was in other battles that he truly shone as creative and exceptional. I'll simply note that it was his idea to use the 'prefix code' plan to turn a completely hopeless situation in which the Enterprise was severely crippled against an enemy ship with similar combat abilities into an eventual victory. In addition, it is an extremely questionable tactic to claim that because Spock saved the ship the Kirk is a deficient captain - how many times has Picard's enterprise been saved by someone under his command? Even discounting Data, TNG's Spock counterpart, we can see that Picard constantly relies on his crew. This is such an obvious point (Ships have crews, not just captains...) that I won't give any examples. Just pick an episode of TNG at random and one of Picard's subordinates will undoubtedly play a pivotal role. --> Q <-- Firstly, it is quite wrong to compare 'besting' Khan and 'besting' Q. While the fight with Khan was a death-match in which each was intent on destroying the other, Picard's mind games with Q were nothing alike. Q, while certainly an a-hole, who sometimes put lives at risk to pursue his own goals, nevertheless cannot even be reasonably categorised as a villain! In the first episode of TNG, he merely observes Picard while hoping he makes the wrong decision, interfering minimally in the mission. That Picard eventually came out on top is hardly any kind of impressive feat. All the subsequent encounters have usually just been Picard having to make the right decisions while under some scenario perpetrated by Q or the Q continuum. [1] [2] Let's compare this to an encounter by Kirk against a similar being: Trelane. Trelane was a childish being with virtually unlimited power, having complete control over matter and energy. Unlike Q, who had no desire at all to destroy the Enterprise or its crew, Trelane was a childish, spiteful being who had no problem at all with killing people to further his own interests. Despite facing such a powerful and sadistic foe, Kirk manages to stall him until his parents arrive and take him away, even destroying some of the technology Trelane uses to supplement his immense powers. [3] --> Hugh <-- That Kirk never encountered the Borg is an irrelevance - we can only judge both captains on the experiences they went through, since it is obviously impossible to see how both captains would act under the exact same circumstances, a point I will return to in a bit. It is explicitly stated that the Borg left Picard intact so they could use him as an ambassador to humanity, so him remaining intact isn't a point in his favour. Pro makes the argument that it would have been wrong for Picard to take the opportunity to destroy the Borg. Firstly, a blindingly obvious fact needs to be addressed - this wasn't his reasoning at all! He didn't use Hugh because of Hugh's new found individuality. This is clearly shown by the fact that when Crusher suggested that line of argumentation Picard thoroughly refuted her, stating that while wiping out a race would be normally out of the question, the terrible threat posed by the Borg required it. It was only because of his chat with Hugh that he decided not to use him. Secondly, seriously? It isn't justifiable to wipe out a race with the intention, capability and desire to wipe out and assimilate all life in the universe? Imagine, if you will, the vast number of worlds the Borg undoubtedly took over and assimilated because they weren't stopped right there right then. From Voyager, we can see they spread far and wide across the galaxy, bringing death and destruction to the lives and identity of countless sentient races. Imagine the countless lives that would have been saved if Picard had used the G-damn virus! This decision was heinously stupid, and frankly he should have been stripped of his status for it. He put the entire universe at risk because of his own idiocy and short-sightedness. This is easily enough to decide between the two once and for all. --> The Nexus <-- There is a huge mistake my opponent is making here - he assumes that Kirk had been there for years, when in fact time is completely relative in The Nexus. In fact, KIRK ARRIVED AT THE SAME TIME AS PICARD. When Picard entered the Nexus, Kirk had also just been transported from the Enterprise, without the knowledge of what he was inside. The only reason Picard managed to break the illusion what because he already had detailed knowledge of what it was, while Kirk had no idea - he probably thought he was in heaven! Regardless, Kirk also breaks the illusion later on, realising that what he truly wanted was to make a difference. [1] http://memory-alpha.org...(episode) [2] http://memory-alpha.org...(episode) [3] http://en.wikipedia.org...